For Janice - Books Part 15

That's pretty personal you know, old man!

It's been a rainy sort of week. Low cloud, mizzy, that sort of thing. But the snow we had is pretty well all gone. Nothing exciting really to mention. Bonnie had a check up yesterday; heart and lungs good, weight good. The doc wants to put her on a glucose monitor again as her reading was a bit high. I mentioned that Clyde has been licking a fair bit (don't tell him I said this because he'll probably be embarrassed.) So the vet asked me to get a sample of his pee so they could check if he might have an infection. What a little bugger. I'm trying get him to pee in a little container this morning as we went for our walk. Every time he cocked his leg, I'd place it under him and he'd stop... Grrrr! Long story short (yes, I know, too late), I managed finally to get a sample and dropped it at the vet and celebrated with a quick trip to Big Foot Donuts to get Jo and I a treat.

The Study bookshelves (see the doors...)

Anyway, back to looking at our book shelve and the books therein. Into my final room now but it might take a few posts as the den has quite a few shelves and books behind doors. 

Floating shelves

But I'll start with the collection at the opposite room first. Jo put up the floating shelves to store our cd's, as you can see. But she also said I could have the top shelf for some books.

Cadfael by Ellis Peters

1. Top Shelf. Ellis Peters wrote the Cadfael books, a historical mystery series featuring an English monk, Cadfael. Jo and I had enjoyed the TV series featuring Derek Jacobi as the crime - solving monk. There are 21 books in the series and I've enjoyed 16 thus far. It's always fun to pull one down to read.

The other side of the room consists of three sets of shelves we bought from Home Depot many years ago. The two shelves we have in the Family room come from the same set. As you can see from the first photo, they fit into the space pretty snugly. Today I'll start on the left side (as you look at the shelves) and work down from the top. I'll save the bottom rows for my last posts as they are pretty extensive.

Sci Fi & Fantasy

1. Top left (left side). This is one of my Sci Fi corners. Working from the left are some of the Fu Manchu books by Sax Rohmer. In a previous post, when I was showing off the lounge, there were the remainder of this collection, just different editions. I bought these books at Russell Books in Victoria, a special printing. The next four are Phillip K. Dick stories. I've read quite a few of his books. He's always unique. Next is a Fantasy from Patrick Rothfuss. I've read the first book in this series and thought it was great. I've read one Stanislaw Lem story, Return from the Stars. I'm not sure whether I like him or not but I'll give Eden a shot. The remaining authors are all new for me and were published in this Masterworks collection. I'm looking forward to trying them. There are Joanna Russ (one of my newest additions), M.J. Engh, Nicola Griffith, Ward Moore, William Tenn & Walter Tevis. Check them out and let me know if you like them. (Ed Note. I readily admit that I buy some of these books because I like the covers.)

2. Top left (right side). Just 3 books squeezed into this slot. I've read The Best of Saki, a short story writer (HH Munro is his name) who influenced people like P.G. Wodehouse. I bought the book in Kingston when Jo and I went there to visit Jenn one summer. He's got a strange sense of humor. China Mieville is one of a modern group of Sci Fi authors who I'm really enjoying exploring. And The Testaments is Margaret Atwood's sequel to The Handmaid's Tale, a book I've read two or three times.

Book covers again

3. Left side (2nd shelf). Iain M. Banks is another of the more modern authors of Sci Fi that I enjoy. His Culture series is fascinating. He also wrote fiction / mysteries. I think I prefer his Sci Fi, although you might like to check out The Wasp Factory. It's kind of strange; in the same vein as Lord of the Flies I think. Another Philip K. Dick, this time a collection of short stories, including The Minority Report (made into a movie). The remaining books are graphic novels. Alan Moore's V for Vendetta, one of Moore's selections I've not yet read and then another of my favorite graphic novel series, Tank Girl by Alan Martin. It's always enjoyable and I read somewhere that it's being made into another movie.

4. Left side (middle shelf, left side). From left to right, a book on Germany that I received as a going away gift when I was stationed there. The Scrabble 'book' contains a scrabble game. I don't remember where Jo and I found this but it sure looks nice. The Virgin 9th Film Guide is a list of movies and then there is one book based on a Canadian TV series that my folks used to enjoy when we were stationed in Bagotville PQ, the Plouffe family. 

5. Left side (middle shelf, right side). As I have mentioned a few times, Jo and I often find vintage books in our travels, hence the Blackie's Standard Dictionary. the other books are shelf fillers. They add a certain texture to the shelf.

6. Left side (bottom shelf... not including the two lowest shelves which will be dealt with later on). A mish mash of books here. We have a couple of Shakespeare collections. I think we found this one at a local thrift store. I don't think it was much more than $10. The next is a reference book of some sort.. LOL. Then a couple of dictionaries. I think the Webster's was one my folks had and it's been around the world a couple of times, hence the new cover. The King's dictionary was purchased in another local vintage store and is from the early 1900's. The next book is a Treasury of Use and Beauty from 1885 that I found when Jo and I were down at a Vintage shop in Nanaimo. Not sure it's there any more. I did post some excerpts from it at one time. If you scroll through my 2017 posts, you might find more excerpts... What else.... Just a variety of books. Some of the Harry Potter books that I used to buy at Superstore as they came out. A few more of Jo's movie and TV reference books. She either brought them with her or we found them locally..... We did buy some boxes of books at the Cumberland auction, just to flesh out our shelves back in the day.

So, for today, some more books and series for you to check out. More in my next post. Enjoy the rest of your weekend and the upcoming week. It's almost FEBRUARY!