Wednesday, June 06, 2007

Bookshelf Meme with tagging involved...

Some people go to dinner parties and look in the medicine chest and bathroom drawers to see what kind of interesting medications people have. Not me. I sneak peeks at people's books and bookshelves.

People who come to my place would see the following:



This is our second bedroom which is known as "The Writing Room." It overlooks the harbor and is painted in a lovely three-version shade of the same blue. Very calming. This particular bookshelf sits under the window and, as you can see, houses a lot of crap. The books here are mostly annuals from high school, my husband's non-fiction books, our Anne Rice collection, and a lot of his political books.



Back in the corner, behind my writing desk, is another bookshelf that's kind of funky in its build. We got it eons ago at Crate and Barrel and it houses a lot of our Hollywood books. Things like how to write screenplays, entertainment guides, autobigraphies of Gable, Grant, and Chaplin, to name a few. My husband's two prized book collections (Maupin's Tales of the City and The Tao of Pooh and The Te of Piglet) are here.



To the left (...to the left...every book I own is to the left, to the left...) is my bookshelf. It's sectioned off into the top section with most all of my cooking books, the next shelf with all of the travel books, maps, and guides, and then the rest is dedicated to my romance novels. You can't really tell, but where Mr. Bigglesworth and Austin Powers sit, the books are stacked three deep. I have every Sandra Brown and Barbara Delinsky book ever written. (Including the ones Sandra wrote as Laura Jordan, Rachel Ryan, and Erin St. Claire.)



This is my Young Adult bookshelf. As you see, it's a little sparse, but there's a reason why. I only started reading YA two years ago, whereas I've been reading romance and women's fiction for 28 years. (I know!) So, it was only fitting that I get the YA shelf ready to hold even more books. As you see, one shelf features my critique partner's, Diana Peterfreund, books with a picture of us. That section will only expand when the rest of her Secret Society Girl books and her new killer unicorn YA urban fantasy series hit bookstores.



One shelf has my First Love by Silhouette books. It's a complete series of all the books they put out starting in like 1981. These books were amazing and my best reading friends. As you can see by how beat up they are, they got read a lot. My niece "inherited" the books and read them to death, as well, showing that the stories stood up for generations to come. You can bet I'm keeping these forever!



The top shelf is for me. See those Greek temples? Well, those are antique bookends that my husband bought for me for my last birthday. They are to hold...my sorority books when they come out. Get it? Sorority...Greek... Awww... Also on that shelf are fellow Puffin authors, like my friend, Linda Gerber and her Students Across the Seven Seas books.



More books. No order. Mix of mine and hubby's with some "household" stuff in there, as well. I think that's the binder with all of our mortgage information in it.



Here in the living room, in the secretary I inherited from my grandparents, is my collection of "vintage" books. The red ones up top are all classics with copyright dates going back to the 1930s. I have one book of "Plays for Little Actors" with an 1896 copyright date! (Also, note the pic of dear old Dad when he was in the Navy in WWII and the dried flowers in the middle are what's left of my wedding bouquet.)



I should be embarrassed to show this, but what they heck. This is the kingdom of books that lives next to my side of the bed (note photographic placement of five-fingered slippers from The Carlton Hotel in Cannes, France. LOL!) These are the "must read soon" books that line my bedroom. These are the books that constantly get rearranged into preference order and the stacks move according to my reading mood. If a book is really luck, it gets moved up here...



...to the bedside table. (I took these pics a while ago, so both of these books have been read and stored back in The Writing Room.)

So, that's a look at my condo full of books. This doesn't include the myriad cookbooks in my kitchen, or the boxes full of books in the closet at my sister's house in Florida that I sent to her to read.

Now, I tag, Alexgirl, Elizabeth Mahon, and Mel Francis.

Where is the strangest place you store your books?

Marley = )
Sorority Rush Begins - May 2008
Rush - A Sisterhood Novel
Pledge Class - A Sisterhood Novel

Puffin Books


What I'm reading right now: TWILIGHT by Stephanie Meyer

15 comments:

stephhale said...

Wow, Marley, that's great! I love the picture of you and Diana, so sweet! And the bookends just waiting for the arrival of your sorority books!

Steph

ps-are you loving Twilight?

Wendy Roberts said...

Your bedside floor area looks eerily like mine!

TinaFerraro said...

Marley, I thought I was alone in my First Love from Silhouette collection! However, I don't have them all...just about 25 or so. My favorites were HEAD IN THE SKY, WRITTEN IN THE STARS, and THE FROG PRINCESS. So fun!

Thanks for this wonderful tour through your book world!

Celeste said...

I was going to say something about those stacks of books by the bed, too. They look eerily familiar ;)

I like your books ends, too! They are perfect.

Anonymous said...

wow. u've got lotz of books. what's first love?

Marley Gibson said...

Oh Tina...mine were the Blossom Valley books by Elaine Harper. Loved them!!! LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT and THE MYSTERY KISS.

Marley Gibson said...

Steph...I'm not far into TWILIGHT and I'm also working on revisions so I'm not reading as much, but so far, so good. Can't wait to get deeper into it.

Anon, First Love was a YA series in the early 80s put out by Silhouette featuring just that...first loves. The books ranged in tone from sweet to sometimes sexy and there were contemporary stories, as well as paranormals. I remember one by Doreen Owens Malek where the heroine's first love was a ghost. Very romantic. I think it was called SEASON OF MIST if I'm remembering correctly.

TinaFerraro said...

LOL. I have SEASON OF MIST! And FIREWORKS by Elaine Harper. Wow, they were great books, weren't they...

Heather Harper said...

I have Confessions of a Closet Catholic, too. Yay for YA!

Anonymous said...

Hi Marley,
I check medicine cabinets and books!

Janie

Diana Peterfreund said...

Awww, cute picture! I'm so happy...

I am also a bookshelf spy. I remember the first time I was in my fiance's room, checking out his shelves and trying to figure him out on that basis.

Jennifer Echols said...

The Greek temples are too too cute!

Anonymous said...

That is really special that your husband got the Greek temple bookends for your series. That gave me chills to read it. You've got a great guy there!

TJ Brown said...

I am so not showing my book cases... just to let you know.
Teri

Marley Gibson said...

He is awesome, Kathy! Thanks for seeing that.

Awww...come on Teri...just a little peek? LOL!