When Bibliophiles Wed

It could be a new series on Lifetime. Maybe.

I hang out on Facebook with a lot of local writers, mostly NaNoWriMo participants. For some reason we starting comparing notes about who had the most books.

Well… Let’s just say my husband and I have been accused of being hoarders.

For giggles, I thought I might post a few photos of the vast library my husband and I have. We were both already bibliophiles when we met. We’re always getting books. We love books.

We bought our current house because it had built-in floor to ceiling bookcases.

Yet, we’ve still had to purchase, and even build, more bookcases. We haven’t counted. But we have lots of books.

It was astounding when we first compared collections. Of all our books, we only had two books in common: Photomosaics by Rober Silvers, and Barlowe’s Guide to Extraterrestrials.

The two books that my husband and I had in common when we first met.

Why these two books? Who knows. So what are the rest?

They’re spread all over the house. I’ll just show you a few, more tidy, piles. Here’s the “Coffee table book” shelf:

Mostly coffee table books, with a little fiction and a copy of Gray's Anatomy for good measure. — Mostly coffee table books, with a little fiction and a copy of Gray’s Anatomy for good measure.

How about a case devoted to field guides, horses, and art:

The top shelves are various field guides. The rest is about horses and art (which coexist in my mind).

Here’s a book case devoted only to cameras and photography:

Every book here is related to cameras or to photography. (Except the trebuchet, of course.)

We enjoy our rural life. I call this the “chicken shelf”:

These books are all about chickens and homesteading, etc. My husband made this shelf himself, and it's already overflowing. — These books are all about chickens and homesteading, etc. My husband made this shelf himself, and it’s already overflowing.

He’s an engineer and likes to tinker with cars:

A few engineering books. Only a very few.

I’m a paleontologist and have the obligatory fossils and evolution shelves:

Books mostly on fossils and evolution, though the cases also have been invaded by board games. — Books mostly on fossils and evolution, though the cases also have been invaded by board games and toys. Keep in mind, this is the stuff that is *not* in my office! My office has a few hundred books too!

We have an entire case devoted to religion and skepticism. There are a few treasures in here, including a copy of the Urantia Book:

All about religion, skepticism, philosophy, and humanism.

Because of my interest in swordplay and medieval costuming, I naturally have a stack of those sorts of books. These are in the bedroom:

A little current reading:

Something for everyone here, husband, wife, and son.

This little row has my favorite, abused, paperback copy of Gray's Anatomy. I started reading it in middle school. That explains a lot... — This little row has my favorite, abused, paperback copy of Gray’s Anatomy. I started reading it in middle school. That explains a lot…

And at my own bedside:

What's sitting by my bed. Well, a few of the books sitting by my bed. — What’s sitting by my bed. Well, a few of the books sitting by my bed.

Obviously, I have not photographed every book, nor every bookcase in this house. This is just some of them.

I just thought I’d share. Because books are cool!

5 Comments

Dave H says:

April 17, 2013 at 7:51 am

Is that a set of the Time-Life photography books on the camera shelves? I loved those things when I was in high school. I learned a ton about photography from them. Our library didn’t have the complete set, but what they did have was priceless.

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1. Penny says:
  
  April 18, 2013 at 10:13 am
  
  It is! No idea where we got those. Probably a yard or estate sale. Love them.
  
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Meagan says:

April 17, 2013 at 3:18 pm

I would LIVE in a library if I could. My husband and I move a lot so unfortunately I have to try and keep my book hoarding to three bookcases. Although the fact that my husband and I have recently gotten into collecting first editions and childhood favorites is not helping.

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1. Penny says:
  
  April 18, 2013 at 10:14 am
  
  Moving is the biggest problem for book-lovers. I’m sure there still is at least a half-dozen boxes of books in our attic waiting to come out and see the light of day again since our last move. I don’t ever want to move again!
  
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Dave H says:

April 18, 2013 at 12:20 pm

Penny, if you ever want to sell those books, I know a, hmmm, motivated buyer. (grin)
I know what you mean about moving books. I helped a couple of friends move some time back (wow, it was 20 years ago) who had a massive collection of magazines like Time, Life, The Saturday Evening Post, and The New Yorker. (She taught English Lit at Ohio State and used articles from these magazines in her classes and research.) This was before scanners were commonly available. There were 8 of us moving them to a house about 5 blocks away, and we worked from 4:00 PM until after midnight. The six of us volunteer laborers agreed that the next time this couple moves, we were going to chip in and buy them a microfilm setup.

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