What's in your bookshelf?

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  • MrBrian
    MrBrian Posts: 2,672
    Yea, I'm also very impressed by some of the books in this thread, but maybe kenny, change the question to "What's in your bookshelf, that you've read"

    I'm guilty of having hundreds of books that I've started and not finished, literally hundreds. Or maybe it's just me who does this?

    lately i've been studying Italian, so thats been my reading these days. But the last book that I read was Sun-Tzu's Art of War.
  • hippiemom
    hippiemom Posts: 3,326
    MrBrian wrote:
    Yea, I'm also very impressed by some of the books in this thread, but maybe kenny, change the question to "What's in your bookshelf, that you've read"

    I'm guilty of having hundreds of books that I've started and not finished, literally hundreds. Or maybe it's just me who does this?

    lately i've been studying Italian, so thats been my reading these days. But the last book that I read was Sun-Tzu's Art of War.
    There are 12 1/2 books on my list that I haven't read yet, but the shelf in here is my newest, so this is where my newest acquisitions are piling up. I have bookcases in every room in the house, and I've read the overwhelming majority of the books in them. Keep in mind that I spent about four months in bed this year, so that allowed me time to get pretty caught up, lol. I am guilty of buying them a lot faster than I can read them.

    I've started a lot of books that I didn't enjoy, and those I didn't finish, but I didn't keep most of them either, unless I thought it was something my kids might have to buy again for school.
    "Nothing in the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity." ~ MLK, 1963
  • HunterandHunted
    HunterandHunted Posts: 140
    MrBrian wrote:
    Yea, I'm also very impressed by some of the books in this thread, but maybe kenny, change the question to "What's in your bookshelf, that you've read"

    I'm guilty of having hundreds of books that I've started and not finished, literally hundreds. Or maybe it's just me who does this?

    lately i've been studying Italian, so thats been my reading these days. But the last book that I read was Sun-Tzu's Art of War.

    Well, Mr Brian - being an English Lit Grad from the foremost English Lit dept. in the world - I can safely say I have read all the books on my list - and countless others - if I hadn't I wouldn't have got a 1st..........H
    What do you call 3 sheep tied together in the middle of Wales? - A Leisure Centre.
  • FinsburyParkCarrots
    FinsburyParkCarrots Seattle, WA Posts: 12,223
    Ms. Haiku wrote:
    but I didn't finish

    You've got to finish a book, even if you hate it!
  • hippiemom
    hippiemom Posts: 3,326
    FinsburyParkCarrots wrote:
    You've got to finish a book, even if you hate it!
    No!!! I used to plod through books I couldn't stand because I felt the same way. Then I realized that I was no longer being graded on this stuff, there wasn't going to be a test, and life is too short to spend my leisure time on things I don't enjoy.
    "Nothing in the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity." ~ MLK, 1963
  • Hope&Anger
    Hope&Anger Posts: 260
    FinsburyParkCarrots wrote:
    You've got to finish a book, even if you hate it!

    I used to believe this until a friend told me that life was too short for bad books. Maybe I'm getting old and fearful of my own mortality, but I found that liberating and now put down books I'm not enjoying.
    "Things will just get better and better even though it
    doesn't feel that way right now. That's the hopeful
    idea . . . Hope didn't get much applause . . .
    Hope! Hope is the underdog!"

    -- EV, Live at the Showbox
  • FinsburyParkCarrots
    FinsburyParkCarrots Seattle, WA Posts: 12,223
    HunterandHunted wrote:
    Well, Mr Brian - being an English Lit Grad from the foremost English Lit dept. in the world - I can safely say I have read all the books on my list - and countless others - if I hadn't I wouldn't have got a 1st..........H

    I wouldn't have capitalised the noun "grad", nor promoted an unnamed literature department, without mentioning the university (or individual college) to which you belong. That way, other people, with more than one first, might discuss the issue of whether students who attain firsts have, necessarily, read everything on their bookshelves. ;)
  • FinsburyParkCarrots
    FinsburyParkCarrots Seattle, WA Posts: 12,223
    Hope&Anger wrote:
    I used to believe this until a friend told me that life was too short for bad books. Maybe I'm getting old and fearful of my own mortality, but I found that liberating and now put down books I'm not enjoying.

    I was thinking in terms of classic novels, rather than the usual shite, which I don't tend to buy, because I write enough of that, myself. :)
  • Abookamongstthemany
    Abookamongstthemany Posts: 8,209
    hippiemom wrote:
    No!!! I used to plod through books I couldn't stand because I felt the same way. Then I realized that I was no longer being graded on this stuff, there wasn't going to be a test, and life is too short to spend my leisure time on things I don't enjoy.

    I still torture myself. I feel like I just have to finish it if I start it like somehow it will all come together and be worth it in the end. The only probelm is this causes me to have about 3 or 4 books that I'm reading at once without finishing. I get bored too easily. I need to learn to focus and quit letting my mind wander off. If a book is really good I just can't put it down, though. I'll sneak to read it at work or at the dinner table. I wish the purely factual books Kabong likes to read could keep my attention like that. Names, dates and places go in one ear and out the other with me and he's like a book of knowledge.
    If you want to tell people the truth, make them laugh, otherwise they'll kill you.

    Man is least himself when he talks in his own person. Give him a mask, and he will tell you the truth.
    -Oscar Wilde
  • HunterandHunted
    HunterandHunted Posts: 140
    FinsburyParkCarrots wrote:
    I wouldn't have capitalised the noun "grad", nor promoted an unnamed literature department, without mentioning the university (or individual college) to which you belong. That way, other people, with more than one first, might discuss the issue of whether students who attain firsts have, necessarily, read everything on their bookshelves. ;)

    That is your particular choice sir, but having attained a First from the University of Edinburgh it is of pure consequence - through my learning there - that I use the institution's typography in qualifying my position....
    It may interest you to know that I have subsequently gained a pass in my Master's program (which of course you will know does not entail a specific qualification) and through a subtle blend of skill and determination am well on my way to completing my PHD....

    And while i may not have delved comprehensively into the more hefty tomes of Shakespeare In General, I do take snotty comments with a good dose of humour....All the while humoring the narcissism of the professed literary master of these pages........H
    What do you call 3 sheep tied together in the middle of Wales? - A Leisure Centre.
  • Hope&Anger
    Hope&Anger Posts: 260
    FinsburyParkCarrots wrote:
    I was thinking in terms of classic novels, rather than the usual shite, which I don't tend to buy, because I write enough of that, myself. :)

    Fair enough. Actually, this is why I haven't started Tristram Shandy yet -- I know it's going to take time to wade through it, and I won't give up on it. But at this time of year is just too busy for me to immerse myself in a project this big.

    I did get to within 90 pages of the end of Dune when I couldn't take it anymore and stopped reading. (I'm not much of a science fiction fan.)
    "Things will just get better and better even though it
    doesn't feel that way right now. That's the hopeful
    idea . . . Hope didn't get much applause . . .
    Hope! Hope is the underdog!"

    -- EV, Live at the Showbox
  • mammasan
    mammasan Posts: 5,656
    Forgot a few.

    DaVinci Code- Dan Brown
    Angels and Demons - Dan Brown
    Animal Farm - Orson Wells
    Fair Tax Book - Neil Boortz and John Linder
    See No Evil - Robert Baer
    Sleeping with the Devil - Robert Baer
    Holy Blood Holy Grail - Michael Baigent, Henry Lincoln, and Richard Leigh
    The Knights Templar - Stephen Howarth
    The Prince - Niccolo Machiavelli
    Johnny Got His Gun - Dalton Trumbo
    Preditory States - J. Patrice McSherry
    Camilo Cienfuegos - Carlos Franqui
    The History of Political Philosophy - Leo Strauss
    "When one gets in bed with government, one must expect the diseases it spreads." - Ron Paul
  • MrBrian
    MrBrian Posts: 2,672
    FinsburyParkCarrots wrote:
    You've got to finish a book, even if you hate it!

    You mean like a bad date? You can't just leave half way in? Gotta tough it out?
  • hippiemom
    hippiemom Posts: 3,326
    Abookamongstthemany wrote:
    I still torture myself. I feel like I just have to finish it if I start it like somehow it will all come together and be worth it in the end. The only probelm is this causes me to have about 3 or 4 books that I'm reading at once without finishing. I get bored too easily. I need to learn to focus and quit letting my mind wander off. If a book is really good I just can't put it down, though. I'll sneak to read it at work or at the dinner table. I wish the purely factual books Kabong likes to read could keep my attention like that. Names, dates and places go in one ear and out the other with me and he's like a book of knowledge.
    I did the same thing for years. Pride & Prejudice is what finally broke me. God, how I hated that book, lol. I'd made it a little over halfway, suffering through each page, until I thought "WHY am I doing this to myself?" The list of books that I want to read is virtually endless, and new ones get added all the time, I just don't have time for things I don't like, regardless of how good they may be. There are plenty of good books that I DO enjoy, I'll stick with those.
    "Nothing in the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity." ~ MLK, 1963
  • Abookamongstthemany
    Abookamongstthemany Posts: 8,209
    hippiemom wrote:
    I did the same thing for years. Pride & Prejudice is what finally broke me. God, how I hated that book, lol. I'd made it a little over halfway, suffering through each page, until I thought "WHY am I doing this to myself?" The list of books that I want to read is virtually endless, and new ones get added all the time, I just don't have time for things I don't like, regardless of how good they may be. There are plenty of good books that I DO enjoy, I'll stick with those.

    I remember forcing myself through Pride and Prejudice in the 8th grade and finally breaking down about halfway through and getting the cliff notes to get a quick summary of the ending. I do that with movies sometimes, too. If it gets too long or too many dull spots I'll find something else to do and ask Kabong about the ending later. I'm just too curious to not know the ending but too stir-crazy to sit through something I'm not that into.
    If you want to tell people the truth, make them laugh, otherwise they'll kill you.

    Man is least himself when he talks in his own person. Give him a mask, and he will tell you the truth.
    -Oscar Wilde
  • Hope&Anger
    Hope&Anger Posts: 260
    Abookamongstthemany wrote:
    I remember forcing myself through Pride and Prejudice in the 8th grade and finally breaking down about halfway through and getting the cliff notes to get a quick summary of the ending.
    I did this with Moby Dick in the 12th grade. Poor Mrs. Urquhart couldn't have bribed me to read that thing. But 20 years later, I moved to Boston and decided to try it again. (I guess it was the proximity to Nantucket.) And I LOVED it -- I even loved the whaling chapters. So much so that I was having nightmares about being attacked by whales on the open seas and drowning in a pool of whale blood. (Yeah, that wasn't pretty.)

    On the other hand, Mrs. Urquhart also assured me I would love the poetry of Elizabeth Barrett Browning, and that hasn't happened.
    "Things will just get better and better even though it
    doesn't feel that way right now. That's the hopeful
    idea . . . Hope didn't get much applause . . .
    Hope! Hope is the underdog!"

    -- EV, Live at the Showbox
  • catefrances
    catefrances Posts: 29,003
    FinsburyParkCarrots wrote:
    One random shelf? I have thirteen big ole bookcases in this room. I'll do one shelf, because even if I do one case, I'll be here all night. Er... hang on....

    The Complete Pelican Shakespeare - Comedy and Romances (Pelican)
    The Complete Pelican Shakespeare - Histories and Tragedies (Pelican)
    The Complete Works of Shakespeare (Midpoint Press)
    Shakspeare (sic) - another complete works (Kegan Paul Ltd 1909)
    Shakespeare in Production: A Midsummer Night's Dream (Cambridge)
    Twelfth Night (Oxford)
    Othello (Cambridge Schools)
    Shakespeare in Production: Antony and Cleopatra (Cambridge)
    Shakespeare's Sonnets (eds. Ingram and Redpath)
    Antony and Cleopatra (Oxford)
    Shakespeare in Production: The Tempest (Cambridge)
    The Cambridge Companion to Shakespeare on Film (Cambridge)
    The Merchant of Venice (Cambridge Schools)
    Duncan Salkeld - Madness and Drama in the Age of Shakespeare (Manchester)
    Keir Elam - Shakespeare's Universe of Discourses (Cambridge)
    The Norton Shakespeare
    Mr William Shakespeares: A Facsimile of the First Folio, 1623 (Routledge)
    Helen Vendler - The Art of Shakespeare's Sonnets (Harvard)
    The TLS on Shakespeare (TLS)
    Anne Righter - Shakespeare and the Idea of the Play (Penguin)
    The Longman Guide to Shakespeare Quotations (Longman)

    There ya go. Yes, every edition is different.

    yee gads fins! that's a whole lot of shakespeare.

    but alas tis wasted on me. i am no fan of the bard. :(

    ps. how big's your room that you can fit 13 bookcases in it?
    hear my name
    take a good look
    this could be the day
    hold my hand
    lie beside me
    i just need to say
  • Ahnimus
    Ahnimus Posts: 10,560
    catefrances wrote:
    ps. how big's your room that you can fit 13 bookcases in it?

    Haha, probably bigger than my apartment :)
    I necessarily have the passion for writing this, and you have the passion for condemning me; both of us are equally fools, equally the toys of destiny. Your nature is to do harm, mine is to love truth, and to make it public in spite of you. - Voltaire
  • redrock
    redrock Posts: 18,341
    qtegirl wrote:
    If you like Gabriel Garcia Marquez, you should also check out Isabel Allende. Especially, The House of Spirits. Great book.

    I will... thank you. :D
  • redrock
    redrock Posts: 18,341
    reborncareerist wrote:
    I am waiting for someone to list something quasi-normal, like something in the "For Dummies" series, or like 80 volumes of the long-standing Western serial "Longarm".

    Well.. along with the 'classics' (ie those that you might study in school - shakespeare, bronte, voltaire, rimbaud, descartes, balzac, flaubert, shelley, etc.), the 'contemporary' classics (Kerouac, Miller, etc.), all my Russians (Dostoyevky, Gogol, Bulgakov, Bodganov, etc.), my 'latins' (Borges, Marquez, Gomez-Arcos, amado, etc.), mixed with my reference books, history books, etc. I do have lots of thrillers, Follett, Forsythe, Koonz. etc.. you get my drift. I love those books as well... Can't always be with 'heavy stuff.

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