When I finish a manuscript – I gravitate towards bookstores, where I can be surrounded by other people’s writing. It is an awesome experience to wander around and survey all the fantastic books that are available. I love books, and when I need a treat, they are the first thing I purchase.
Sometimes, after an exercise class, I’ll stop at the local second hand store and cruise the books shelves. I’m a regular. When the cashier sees me he’ll say -”How about five dollars for the stack?” And I sail out of the store believing I’ve won the lottery.
And I have!
My books are layered in baskets all around the house. My friends know that they can always find a book to read at my place. If I could, I’d have floor-to-ceiling bookshelves, but I have vaulted ceilings. So that could be an issue.
When I see photos of an author’s workspace, I know that the majority of them will own a staggering number of books.
What about you? Are you a ‘book-a-holic’ like me?
Me too! As I write I sit in my sanctum sanctorum surrounded by books.
A degree in history tends to do that. A good thing if you want to write history; a bad thing if you have to move.
I read Sarah Dunant’s Birth of Venus last week. Wow! A very different book on a woman who wanted to be an artist in the repressive time of Savonarola, the mad monk. She manages to be an artist and hide it too.
Some cynic said, ‘Things are not the way they say they are’. How true. I love reading history to find out just how the facts differ from what we learned in school or see on TV. I am reading all sorts of books on the Viking Age right now. Did you know that those nasty marauders held
all sorts of assemblies where they made laws? And did they ever get around–from Russia to Spain and Ireland to Canada.
Me too!
I also seem to fall into the habit of reading authors with the same first name back-to-back. Shelley Adina followed by Shelley Hrdlitschka, Barbara Delinsky followed by Barbara Bretton followed by Barbara Wood. The biggest one was the other day when I realized I’d read FOUR Susan books almost in a row: Susan Juby, Susan Lyons, Susan Wiggs, Susan Elizabeth Phillips!
Next life I think I’ll call myself Susan!
Jodie, add another “me too” to the list. My office is crammed with books on a wide and wild range of topics – geology, natural history, hiking guides, dictionaries and thesauruses, writing books, and novels, including many of my childhood favorites.
Count me in. When I relocated to B.C. I purged probably 40% of my books. That was the hardest decision of the move. I still have about 15 boxes of books. Unfortunately they’re in storage since I don’t have a lot of living space. I’m looking forward to the day that I can liberate them. In the meantime, I’m trying not to buy too many books, but my willpower evaporates once I get into a book store, or someone mentions a book I think I might like. I realize that I’m quickly replacing the 40% I purged! Egads, I may have to move again.