Bookshelves part 2

My last blog about Bookshelves was a huge hit. Obviously it resonated with a lot of you guys out there and so it should – it’s a really important subject!

Here’s some more authors and friends that take their bookshelves as seriously as I do!

Helene Young: Order my book shelves? That would take time away from reading, writing and all the other fun things in life. And I have a number of bookshelves scattered around the house from the study to the dining room to the living room, so where would I start with ‘A’ ??  I do keep them loosely in author blocks, but I usually keep the most recent books up front in the lounge room. That makes it very easy to spread the word, especially if I love them!

One dinner party I had the partner of a friend tell me I needed to throw out most of my books and de-clutter as my shelves were  overflowing… Oddly enough he’s never been invited back!

John from Booktopia: All my fiction is in alpha order under author. Non-fiction is a free for all. Except my dictionaries – they all go next to my writing desk.

Fiona Palmer: I have a few bookshelves scattered around my house and one is full of books for my kids.  I have two big shelves filled with my YA favourites, Richelle Mead, P.C and Kirstin Cast, Lili St. Crow, Stephanie Meyer, Maggie Stiefvater, Beth Fantaskey etc.  Then I have my bookclub shelf with all the ones I really liked from our reads, Sara Gruen, Markus Zusak and then I have a few with my favourite rural books, Rachael Treasure, Bron Parry, Tony Parson, Karly Lane, Fleur McDonald etc..and lastly one for the others I know and enjoyed,  Lisa Heidke, Kimberley Freeman, Katherine Scholes, Helene Young, Tony Park and the Harry Potter books. Oh, and one shelf where all my to be read pile sits in waiting.  Because space is a problem, I only keep the ones I really loved and I take the rest to a book exchange.  In a dream world, I’d love a floor to ceiling bookshelf in my office room where I write. (and if I’m still dreaming then a whole shelf would be full of my own books, you know…about twenty or so…I’m not fussy LOL)

Karly Lane: I had the three different bookshelves around the room split into the authors I know (rural fiction) then the others and then the chick lit shelf. Other than that, I don’t have any organisation, I’m lucky to have them on a shelf at all, hubby has not been receptive to recent hints regarding a new shelf to be put up!

Robyn Lane: We have nine in the house some small some big but all overflowing. Must do something about that, I’d say get another bookcase but I don’t think anyone else in the family would! I think I tend to arrange the books firstly according to their size eg in descending height I actually get quite cranky if someone comes along and puts them back out of order. Then I have the authors grouped together and then those grouped in the same genre. My system is a little bit out of wack at the moment due to books piled in front and on top of others but I do know all the books I have and exactly where to find them. I have lots of different types of books as well as authors, I’ve collected them ever since I was a teenager and Mum has also given me the ones from home that I loved as a kid some of which were hers at the same age. It is amazing how much history is contained in someone’s bookshelves, peoples bookshelves are the most fascinating subject arent they? I think you should write a book about it Fleur.  The authors I have range from classics like Jane Austen and Thomas Hardy to Science fiction – Anne McCaffrey, Ian Irvine. Crime- Ian Rankin, Michael Connolly, Ruth Rendell. I love books based on history eg James A Michener, Leon Uris, Ken Follet, travel books, Australian books, your books. “ so many books, so little time “ Anyway I am probably getting a bit carried away, I seriously sometimes think I should have been a librarian, or at least worked in a bookshop.

Margareta Osborn: I would dearly love to own a bookcase that whispers of serene antiquity and invites the unsuspecting passerby to, ‘come, select a book, switch on the delicate antique lamp and sit by me in this comfy leather chair and read, read, read’. One day I will. But for now my bookcase is in the midst of a busy farmhouse – a wall built-in at the end of a hallway. It’s a happy bookcase – one where literary snobbery is null and void. Geraldine Brooks rubs spines with Janet Evanovich. Jane Austen with Mary Grant Bruce. Robin Hobb with Tim Winton. And that’s perfectly fine at my place. My books are ever revolving. Friends, relatives and neighbours call in and grab a few, which is good otherwise my husband would know how many books I’ve actually got! I also have a special spot in my office. It’s for the authors I personally know or have connected with. You have to be very special to be here and extra special to be able to borrow these. Numerous ones are currently ‘out on loan’ including Fiona Palmer, Karly Lane & Lisa Heidke. Hope you’re having fun girls!

*Note: I can’t turn Margareta’s bookshelf around, but I love the boots – it looks like mine!