In this fascinating article about books and their impact on our lives, the author notes: “Seeing someone’s books offers a glimpse of who they are and what they value. It also makes for good ice-breaker conversation. Some people like to snoop through medicine cabinets, but that only gives you insight into a person’s physical well-being. The books tell a tale about the person’s mind.”
After reading the article, I decided that I would examine some of my bookshelves and see what they said about me. Most of my books are scattered everywhere, with no real order to them, but there are a few with themes to them. It’s obvious I love guided journals, judging by the corner of one shelf they hold. I also have another two shelves of picture books, reflecting my efforts to write one myself. And I have more than one bookshelf that holds my writing books.
I took pictures of some of my other bookshelves.
This shelf holds a tiny selection of some of the books that have been significant to me over the years. I have had many of them for a very long time, and I still keep them, even though I haven’t read any of them for a while.
This shelf has titles that are newer to me, and some of them I haven’t read (half of them actually, the ones on the left. The two on the very left are old ones my mom had read, and which I am loathe to let go.) Do you also love having unread books on your bookshelves, savouring the anticipation?
On this shelf, most of the books are ones that I have partially read. Some of them I am nibbling in bits and pieces, and others I have temporarily put to the side, to be taken up at a different time. That is, except for the “Phoebe and her Unicorn” books on the left, which make me laugh out loud and are just as good as “Calvin and Hobbes”. They are worth rereading any time you are feeling blue. Or anytime at all actually.
This is just a snapshot, as I have many other bookshelves I could show you. What do these books say about me? Well, let’s see, I have several books about grief, several set in different cultures, three memoirs, some books about spirituality, a book about trees, and some children’s books. What do you think that says about me? I can tell you that grief certainly has touched my life, especially surrounding my parents’ deaths, and books helped me cope. Also, I am always trying to find out more about my mom, as she died when I was fairly young. One of my favourite things to do is to travel, and if I can’t be travelling, then at least I can be reading about life in other cultures. I am certainly curious about other peoples’ lives. Although I don’t belong to an organized religion, spirituality is an important part of my life. I love to be out in nature. Finally, I still enjoy reading children’s books, and I often think I have a childlike sense of curiosity.
This shelf is in my daughter’s room, and on it is some of my favourites I kept for her, hoping that she would read them. She has read the first three of the “Anne of Green Gables” series; in fact, I read the first one to her, which was a bit of a mouthful, but which I still thoroughly enjoyed doing. “Charlotte’s Web” is a book that she read at school, and she has read the graphic novel version of “A Wrinkle in Time”. The rest will have to wait until she is a little older. My daughter actually attempted to read “Pride and Prejudice”, which surprised me, but admitted that it was too challenging for her age.
So do you have an ideal shelf? Mine would be a combination of some of the books you see in the pictures, with a few additions, such as “The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe” and “The Artist’s Way”. Perhaps I should actually make a shelf with just my favourite books. It would be comforting in times of trouble to look at them, I think, a form of “bibliotherapy”.
So what’s on your bookshelves? I’d love if you’d leave me a comment.
Shoe’s Sunday Stories
@Copyright 2019 Linda Schueler
Shoe's Seeds & Stories 