I picked up a book at my local public library recently. It is My Ideal Bookshelf with art by Jane Mount and edited by Thessaly La Force. It features various writers, artists, fashion designers. They write a little about what their ideal bookself looks like. Each of these bookshelves contain five to 20 titles each . . . depending on the person. Some of the shelves (which are also pictured artistically by Moun be t) look rather pretentious to me - they look like what people maybe think their shelves should look like as opposed to what may be really there. Others look more honest (to me.) Some people have mostly what I would call classics on their shelves. Really? Really? Just classics? Sure, there are some great and well-known lives in some of them, but seriously, you don't have any fun books you like? Or books from childhood that have stuck with you forever? Several people say that Flannery O'Connor is on their shelves. (I should re-read some of her things - it's been 15 years at least.) Several people in the book have Lolita by Nabokov on their shelves. I have never ever read this one. Perhaps I should give it a try. One person included Dickens' Bleak House. I approve of that since, after all, I was one of the only people in my lit class one semester to actually finish reading the entire book! (Granted, I had a broken foot during that time - with snow outside - and when I wasn't at class or work, I was trying to heal. So reading was an easy, and necessary, activity.)
In that spirit, I should create my own list of 20 books for my own ideal bookshelf. I once did have a list of top 20 books about 13 years ago on the website I had back then. I could go find the file, but I actually
have a good idea of the titles on it, just thinking about it. Part of it will be the same, and part of it will be different, and I am not going to be pretentious enough to leave juvenile and young adult titles off. I was once a youth librarian, after all!
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Please keep in mind that this list is subject to change! It is also not necessarily in any order, but as I think of them.
The New Food of Life: A book of ancient Persian and modern Iranian cooking and ceremonies by Najmieh Batmanglij - The photos in this book make my mouth water. The recipes are also easily followed. My husband is persian, and this is my go-to book for cooking persian!
Little Town on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder - It is truly difficult for me to decide on which Little House book is my favorite. Today,it is this one. Sometimes it is The Long Winter, and sometimes These Happy Golden Years. I love the ones most when Laura is a teenager.
The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde - I have read the whole series since it started coming out. It is a fun story that is fantasy, science fiction, literature (traveling into storylines of books? Yay!), humor, etc.
Anne of Avonlea by L. M. Montgomery - This book, second in the Anne of Green Gables series, is my favorite of the series. It deals with her years of teaching in Avonlea, her friendships, and raiding twins with Marilla! I first read this when I was 11, and have re-read it nearly ever year since.
Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein - The definitive book of poetry. My first grade teacher introduced it to me, and my aunt gave me very own copy the next year. It is still an honored book in my life. I might start reading my son some of the poems very soon.
Queen of the Damned by Anne Rice - Yes, this a definitely a favorite. I re-read it every year or two. It is almost the perfect vampire book, and her writing is thick and lush.
(To be Continued!)
In that spirit, I should create my own list of 20 books for my own ideal bookshelf. I once did have a list of top 20 books about 13 years ago on the website I had back then. I could go find the file, but I actually
have a good idea of the titles on it, just thinking about it. Part of it will be the same, and part of it will be different, and I am not going to be pretentious enough to leave juvenile and young adult titles off. I was once a youth librarian, after all!
r
Please keep in mind that this list is subject to change! It is also not necessarily in any order, but as I think of them.
The New Food of Life: A book of ancient Persian and modern Iranian cooking and ceremonies by Najmieh Batmanglij - The photos in this book make my mouth water. The recipes are also easily followed. My husband is persian, and this is my go-to book for cooking persian!
Little Town on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder - It is truly difficult for me to decide on which Little House book is my favorite. Today,it is this one. Sometimes it is The Long Winter, and sometimes These Happy Golden Years. I love the ones most when Laura is a teenager.
The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde - I have read the whole series since it started coming out. It is a fun story that is fantasy, science fiction, literature (traveling into storylines of books? Yay!), humor, etc.
Anne of Avonlea by L. M. Montgomery - This book, second in the Anne of Green Gables series, is my favorite of the series. It deals with her years of teaching in Avonlea, her friendships, and raiding twins with Marilla! I first read this when I was 11, and have re-read it nearly ever year since.
Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein - The definitive book of poetry. My first grade teacher introduced it to me, and my aunt gave me very own copy the next year. It is still an honored book in my life. I might start reading my son some of the poems very soon.
Queen of the Damned by Anne Rice - Yes, this a definitely a favorite. I re-read it every year or two. It is almost the perfect vampire book, and her writing is thick and lush.
(To be Continued!)
It would be difficult for me to pick just 20. Our shelves usually hold twice what they are supposed to;-)
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