What's in Your Library Challenge: I Might be a Book Hoarder

What is it that I fill my mind with? I couldn’t have answered that readily prior to having a bit of a review of my bookshelves. What I found doesn’t surprise me in the least.

So, which wing of the library shall we visit first? By wing, I mean which bookcase, as they are scattered about in every room of the house. Let’s begin with The Bedroom Wing.

I have a bookcase filled with lots of miscellaneous subjects, but probably my favorite shelf is the classics, with a strict focus on Jane Austen. I’m secretly about two hundred and fifty years old, and reading Jane Austen novels takes me back to my prime. Aww, I miss those wild teenage years.

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Some of my other favorite books from these seven shelves are my old college philosophy textbook, and lately, some books on honoring nature year-round. Yep, we take gardening to the next level.

Next, nestled against the corner of the other side of the room is a bookcase devoted to all my homeschooling texts. I will call this the North Branch of the Bedroom Wing. Here sleeps many books we are not yet ready for, waiting for their day to come. My family assists me in collecting all sorts of second-hand materials from yard sales and I’ve picked up quite a few at the thrift store. It is so fun to get another book full of teaching possibilities. I get all goosebump covered thinking about all the information my children will absorb.

We also have nearby our bedtime reading, consisting largely of The Chronicles of Narnia. Oh Aslan, you are just the best.

Now, let us carry on to The Living Room Collection (Living Room Wing just doesn’t have a ring to it). This is my four year old son’s collection really, so we could call it The Children’s Department. As you can see, we take reading seriously. I must have read thousands of books to him since his infancy, and now he reads at about a first grade level. Reading was so easy for him, swimming in this sea of sentences. Here is a shot of some dolls I picked up at the thrift store, which prompted us to read The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.

Every time a new character was introduced, we fetched the corresponding doll. There is also a whole shelf devoted to Dr. Suess, because what is childhood without a healthy dose of Suess?

Now we will visit The Baby Corner in another room. Above is a picture of my two year old’s books. She gets a chair and strains her little self to reach what she wants. A particular favorite, here is a loved nearly to shreds Mother Goose, beautifully illustrated by Scott Gustafson. I want to dive inside these pictures sometimes.

Oh, wait, I forgot the stack of library books that are also in the Children’s Department/living room. As in actual library books—this is getting a bit muddled now. I’m starting to realize maybe we have a problem. Who needs library books when you already have a library? Homeschoolers, evidently. You just can’t have too many books. This coffee table is in a permanent state of disarray as the actually-not-ours-library-books live here, as they shuffle in and out of our lives. Behind them is a CD player for when we pick up audio books.

Then, there is the coffee table on the opposite side of the couch, hidden away in a corner. This one has my books that I am supposed to be reading, but I don’t read in spring. It’s not too likely I will in summer either. Too many gardening projects, beach trips, schooling plans, and long days making for later bedtimes, which suck all introspective energy from me. Winter is my time of reading, as I turn inward, even though winter weather is pretty mild here. I will probably get back to these books on teaching and science starting around the autumn equinox.

So there you have it, a tour of our library. Hope you enjoyed it. I certainly did.

I love the idea behind this challenge from @wizardave and @happysmileyman. If you are a book lover too, check it out: https://steemit.com/contest/@wizardave/what-s-in-your-library-challenge-by-wizardave and https://steemit.com/contests/@happysmileyman/what-s-in-your-library-challenge