Shelf Space!

For a number of years, I have really wanted a library – basically my home office with a whole bunch of bookshelves. Of course the day dream I have when I think of winning the lottery has a spectacular, multi-story, octagonal library, but in all I really want is a lot of bookshelves.

This weekend went a long way towards realizing my goal. With the help of Ikea (perhaps not the best quality, but affordable and functional), I have lined one wall of my office from floor to ceiling with bookshelves. I spent a good amount of time building and then stocking the shelves, but it was all fun.

Unfortunately, I still have some books living in boxes and others spread throughout the house on other bookshelves, but this is something I’m really pleased about.

Below are some photos to enjoy. I’m off at a conference in Lake Tahoe (tough, I know) for the next week, so it’ll be quite around here. Note, most of the books that are visible are part of The Stack – books I haven’t read yet. At my current reading rate, I have a solid decade of reading to do (and that’s assuming I get no more books – which is a poor assumption).

Showing My Stack (Again)

Last year I revealed The Stack and it was quite popular. Well lately it’s become fashionable to show your stack as I’ve seen at BoingBoing, SF Signal, and a few others who are pointing to the Flickr: Reading Stack pool. Since I’ve played at this before, I’ll play again. These images are from a few months ago when I had to re-shelve and box up some books (the pain of running out of room). Since these images were taken I’ve added another 20 or so – and yes, pretty much every book visible in the photos is to-be read.

In Stack form

Shelved

The Stack

From time to time you may see me reference The Stack – The Stack is simply the books I have at home waiting to be read. These are books that I have not read before – so it doesn’t include books that I’d like to reread. Also not included are a few nonfiction and similar books around that house that belong with The Stack but have a different geographical location, so they generally get excluded. Below is a tally of the 94 books that make up The Stack at the moment. With collections of short stories, various omnibus collections, and the exceptions mentioned above, this is just a rough count.

I typically read between 40 and 50 books in a given year, so you can see that I have a 2-year reading supply at home. Of course The Stack is ever growing as I obtain new books – there is what I like to call The Waiting List (my list of books to get) for The Stack. So happily, I have lots of reading to look forward to, though I’ll admit that there are books on The Stack that I may never get around to reading, though I intend to try.

The Stack has a strange dominance over my life – it never seems to get smaller (just a year ago I think it only had 60 or 70 books), and I often find myself staring at it as I choose my next book to read. My wife’s opinion of The Stack probably shouldn’t be mentioned.

Anyway, here it is for your enjoyment, The Stack:

Sarah Andrews – The Bone Hunter
Isaac Asimov – The Edge of Tomorrow
Jean M. Auel – The Clan of the Cave Bear
Stephen Barnes – The Cestus Deception
Richard Bowes – From the Files of the Time Rangers
Ray Bradbury – The Stories of Ray Bradbury (Alfred A. Knopf, ed.)
John Burdett – Bangkok 8
Ian Caldwell, Dustin Thomason – The Rule of Four
Jaqueline Carey – Kushiel’s Dart; Kushiel’s Chosen; Kushiel’s Avatar
Jonathan Carroll – Bones of the Moon
James Clavell – Shogun
A.C. Crispin – V
John Crowley – Little Big
Clive Cussler with Paul Kemprocs – Polar Split; Lost City
Charles de Lint – Moonlight and Vines; Tapping the Dream Tree; Trader; Into the Green; Somewhere to be Flying; Spirit Walk; Jack of Kinrowan
Philip K. Dick – The Minority Report and other stories
Gardner Dozois, George R.R. Martin, Daniel Abraham – Shadow Twin
Lord Dunsany – The King of Elfland’s Daughter
Umberto Eco – The Island of the Day Before; Foucault’s Pendulum

Harlan Ellison (ed.) – Again, Dangerous Visions

C.S. Friedman – This Alien Shore
Kinky Friedman – Guide to Texas Etiquette; Meanwhile Back at the Ranch
Carl Hiaasen – Basket Case; Double Whammy
Anne Harris – Inventing Memory
M. John Harrison – Viriconium
Robert Heinlein – A Stranger in a Strange Land
Howard Hendrix – The Labyrinth Key
Robin Hobb – Fool’s Fate; Fool’s Errand; Golden Fool
Alexander Irvine – A Scattering of Jade
Graham Joyce – Partial Eclipse and Other Stories
Guy Gavriel Kay – The Fionavar Tapestry
Stephen King – From a Buick 8; Dolores Claiborne; Desperation; Rose Madder
Ursula Le Guin – The Left Hand of Darkness; Rocannon’s World; Planet of Exile; City of Illusions, The Word for World is Forest
Kelly Link – Magic for Beginners
Morgan Llywelyn – The Elementals
Gregory Maguire – Mirror, Mirror
Gabriel García Márquez – One Hundred Years Solitude
George R.R. Martin – Fevre Dream
Ian McDonald – Tendeléo’s Story
David Mitchell – The Cloud Atlas
Michael Moorcock – Mother London
Christopher Moore – A Dirty Job
Mervyn Peake – The Gormenghast Novels
Ricardo Pinto – The Standing Dead
Terry Pratchett – Wyrd Sisters; Sourcery; Pyramids; Thief of Time; Reaper Man
Tom Robbins – Even Cowgirls Get The Blues
Kim Stanley Robinson – Green Mars; Blue Mars
James Rollins – Sandstorm
James Roscow – 800 Miles to Valdez
David Sedaris – Me Talk Pretty One Day
Dan Simmons – Fires of Eden; Hyperion; The Fall of Hyperion

Neil Stephenson – The Diamond Age
Jules Verne – Journey to the Center of the Earth
Randy Wayne White – North of Havana
Tad Williams – Stone of Farewell; To the Green Angel Tower; Otherland
Simon Winchester – Krakatoa; The Map that Changed the World
Paul Witcover – Tumbling After
Gene Wolfe – The Urth of the New Sun; Litany of the Long Sun
Tom Wolfe – I am Charlotte Simmons
John C. Wright – Orphans of Chaos
Timothy Zahn – Survivor’s Quest