Bookshelves - The Den

The Den - 2012

Back in 2012, I did a few posts showing where I keep our books, going from room to room. The above picture was taken in the Den/ Office and as you can see, it's fairly neat and organised. (Thanks to the missus, of course, as she has a deft touch when it comes to that sort of thing.

TBR shelves

Over the following years, I've purchased a 'few' books and traded in many others. In January of this year, my computer program, in which I tracked my purchases, trade-ins and the locations of our books throughout the house, crashed. Unfortunately, that meant I had to start all over, lots of fun. But for a list-maker, I guess it's kind of heaven in disguise.

A few of my TBR books

So this year, as I've gone from room to room, updating my new book list program, I've been doing some serious vetting. I think I've traded in over 200 books. Having said that, I've also bought a few. In December of 2015, I wrote a post in which I showed the various locations around the house where I keep my 'to be read' books. If I'm honest, basing this statement on my ability to read on average 100 books per year, I've probably got enough unread books to last me another 5 or 6 years. And with my steady rotation of books throughout the year, that amount shouldn't decrease anytime soon. Yes, I can survive the zombie apocalypse and outlive any need to buy a Kobo or a Kindle. The above photo shows a few of my unread books. As you can see, it's getting a bit overflowing.

A few more unread books

I try to organise the unread books alphabetically, but, sometimes they are just too big to fit in these shelves, so they'll be located in some of my other hiding places. :) Every year, I pull the books out and do a reshuffle and reorganisation so they look neater. Jo is thrilled when I do that. The dogs are always interested when I crawl around stacking books and trying to keep them from falling over as I restack the shelves.

The last of the TBRs in the Den, plus some others

The picture above, as my TBR shelves in the Den are currently organised, displays the A's and B's of my TBRs. The top shelf contains books I've read, a mix of SciFi and mystery, that I want to keep but they aren't necessarily my favourites that I want to have out on display.

My Cadfael collection

Left Side of bookcases

So let's take a look-see at the rest of the bookshelves in the Den and see if they've changed much since I last checked them out. Firstly, just inside the door is something new. We have so many Cd's, we will play them someday. We got a nice set of floating bookshelves that we set up just inside the door and we put the majority of our Cd's in there. Jo suggested that it might be a nice idea to put my Cadfael (by Ellis Peters) books on the top shelf and, of course, she was quite right. They do look nice there. I've read about 9 of the series so far; the mysteries are always entertaining. I think I'm only missing one or two of the books.

The top left corner, SciFi/ Horror/ and a few others

As you can see from the first picture, the top left has changed a bit. It's become an area for some of my Science Fiction (especially that of J.G. Ballard and on the second shelf, Iain M. Banks). I've also got some of my favourite graphic novels there, mainly The League of Ordinary Gentlemen series and some others by Alan Moore).

Iain Banks and The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen

This shelf is just below the top and, as mentioned just before, it contains some of Iain M. Banks Culture series books, an excellent series. And, yes, I do still have a few graphic novels (no comment, Jo!), but I haven't bought them since ABC Books closed down and our visits to Victoria became a bit fewer and further between.

Middle left shelf

A few new books

This shelf really hasn't changed very drastically. The top shelf is pretty well Jo's, with a few of her design books and perfume bottles. I think there are couple of newer books of mine on this shelf and Jo put a nice bowl she bought at the back, but it's not changed too drastically either.

My Narnia books

This shelf hasn't changed much either. It has a different backdrop, as you can see. The books, but one (the Bill Bryson) were all there in 2012. It contains my Narnia books (from my university days in 1974), Jo's Sun Signs book and a book about H.R.H., the Prince of Wales.

As I mentioned earlier, Jo has done a very nice job mixing and matching her perfume bottles and some other items we've purchased over the years with our books. It makes for a nice perspective.

Middle Right shelves

The Top Shelf

I did vet this and a couple of the books might be new additions, but otherwise, it's a nice mix of my books and Jo's.

The middle right

I think this is one of my favourite shelves. The books have that nice aged look. In fact, the bottom book is a German Lutheran bible that my mother's parents brought over from Germany when they emigrated to Canada after World War I. The top book is our family bible, it's been well-perused. I remember it from when I was a child, even though it's probably been around longer. The little case at the top is a set of perfume bottles I bought Jo one Christmas and I got the cricket ball when I was deployed to the Middle East a few years back.

The other side

The main books here are a collection of George Eliot's works that we bought at one of our favourite stores in Courtenay, A Gentler Time, when it had to close down due to the death of the owner. It was a lovely antique store. We still miss it.

The Right Side

The top right

I vetted this shelf quite extensively this year. It's organized a bit nicer, with some of my favourite mystery series; Martin Walker's Inspector Bruno, George Simenon's Inspector Maigret, etc.

The Top Right Part Deux

This is the other half of the top shelf. It hasn't changed all that drastically, a mix of mystery, Science Fiction and Horror books.

Top Middle Shelf

H.P. Lovecraft and others

This is another shelf I vetted quite a bit, adding some new books and leaving a bit more room for some of Jo's perfume bottles.

Bottom Middle

Another favourite shelf

I do like the old hard cover books on this shelf. It gives it a nice old-fashioned den look. On the right side of this shelf, are some of my mother's old school books, plus some antique books Jo and I found, a Dickens and a Robert Louis Stevenson. The photo in the background is one that we bought in London on one of our visits.

The other side

This side fleshes out this shelf. Some excellent books. There is a chair just snugged in this corner and it's a nice cozy spot to sit and read.

So there you go, my updated library in our nice den. It's always a work in progress, but one of our favourite rooms.

I'll try and continue with this update over the next while. I hope you find it interesting. :)