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Fic of the week and the wee library
Mar. 25th, 2018 05:30 pmAfter brunch (the usual eggs and toast), I wandered out to the porch and worked out there for a while. The weather is mild enough that it's a pleasant place to sit and read, which I did intermittently in between organizing books. A chapter here, a few pages there, what the devil is this sci-fi doing in with the mysteries, and isn't there a better place to put these Stephen King TPBs than in with the chick-lit?
Honestly, it isn't as if I was perfectly organized back in Florida! That would be a whopper of a lie. I *did* have things more or less categorized by fiction or non-fiction, I had my genre fic mostly in with similar, and if I had more than one by the same author, they were by gosh together. I had one bookcase devoted to mysteries, and another that was sci-fi and the spillover of the rest of the mysteries.
Even now, I can visualize those two bookcases side-by-side in the room that was supposed to be transformed into my library-office, but never was. Of course, that wasn't all! It didn't include the bookcase in the hall, the shelves in my actual office, two more bookcases in there, the flats of books in the closet, and assorted cartons here and there. Oh, and two matching low bookcases in my bedroom, three milk crates of comic books in that closet or the two shelves of cookbooks in the dining room (most of that bookcase was used for display, as is the one in my current kitchen). (And we haven't even gotten to DVDs!)
Before I left Florida, I got rid of a great many books. Quite possibly it would not be an exaggeration to say I parted with a ton of books, literally. It pained me; I suffered during the process of winnowing my library to a more manageable volume--how can I possibly be hemmed in by so many?!
Basically, it's the same sort of claustrophobia I have looking at my closet space. My world has shrunk so! I feel as if I'm going to be surrounded by boxes for the rest of my life! That's one of the reason my shelves are so higgledy-piggledy--I was so frantic to get my books out of the damned boxes and find out what I had left that I literally snatched them out of the cartons and flung them onto the shelves. Add to that the fact that they were sorted and resorted, packed and repacked in Florida as I realized how small that shipping cube was...and books were NOT the only things in the cube, so how the hell have they pulled this hat trick and expanded into the space like a burst roll of store-bought biscuits???
I tell myself that I could probably thin the hell out of non-fiction. There are a bunch of coffee table books, and not only do I not read them, I don't even HAVE a coffee table. There are a cluster of books that I keep as "reference" books for a novel I have in the back of my mind--if I get rid of those, it's like writing off writing that book. A carton of miscellaneous sci-fi is stashed in a copy paper box. There are a stack of Photoplays left from Peter's collection--I don't know how the hell those got here, they were all supposed to be sold. Thanks to GK, I have an arseload of Louis L'Amour, which I need to find suitable shelf-space for. My cookbooks are taking over my bookcase, although in a year or two after surgery, I may be willing to part with some/all of them. And--and--and!
I have ideas. Implementing them single-handedly without money, that is the tricky part. For instance, in keeping with the largely equestrian theme in my office, I've brought in all my horse-related books. A lot of them are juveniles. If I could bring in another bookcase, like the white folding one I have out in the shed, I could bring in the rest of my juvenile fiction, which would free up about half a bookcase on the porch. If I did that, that would help enormously--I could, I think, get the same mystery/sci-fi set up that I'm used to, or at least have all the fiction on that one wall. I might need to install another shelf or two, and the bookcase closest to the door will probably end up as non-fiction and leftover non-series fiction...once I get those cans of paint stored somewhere else, like the credenza under the window. There's also the question of that fucking headboard that GK talked me into getting back when the house was empty and seemed rather more spacious than it is. There's that mirror, that is probably never going to hang in my bedroom, and if I got them both OUT of the porch, I might have room for what I'd really like: a chaise...or at least a banquette. Something comfy and padded that I could lounge on and read. I have a nice little table, just right to set a cup of tea and a snack on. I have plenty of pretty linens for the table. Curtains...I have some, somewhere....
Bless you if you're still with me after all this maundering on! I welcome constructive commentary, happy thoughts and if anyone knows where one can get a bookshelf of holding....
Battle of the Bands: Captain America, Iron Man, and The Asgardians are all bands, competing for a record deal.
It's here: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14080353
From the prompt: Marvel Cinematic Universe, any, Band AU https://comment-fic.livejournal.com/897954.html?thread=107041442#t107041442
...
Honestly, it isn't as if I was perfectly organized back in Florida! That would be a whopper of a lie. I *did* have things more or less categorized by fiction or non-fiction, I had my genre fic mostly in with similar, and if I had more than one by the same author, they were by gosh together. I had one bookcase devoted to mysteries, and another that was sci-fi and the spillover of the rest of the mysteries.
Even now, I can visualize those two bookcases side-by-side in the room that was supposed to be transformed into my library-office, but never was. Of course, that wasn't all! It didn't include the bookcase in the hall, the shelves in my actual office, two more bookcases in there, the flats of books in the closet, and assorted cartons here and there. Oh, and two matching low bookcases in my bedroom, three milk crates of comic books in that closet or the two shelves of cookbooks in the dining room (most of that bookcase was used for display, as is the one in my current kitchen). (And we haven't even gotten to DVDs!)
Before I left Florida, I got rid of a great many books. Quite possibly it would not be an exaggeration to say I parted with a ton of books, literally. It pained me; I suffered during the process of winnowing my library to a more manageable volume--how can I possibly be hemmed in by so many?!
Basically, it's the same sort of claustrophobia I have looking at my closet space. My world has shrunk so! I feel as if I'm going to be surrounded by boxes for the rest of my life! That's one of the reason my shelves are so higgledy-piggledy--I was so frantic to get my books out of the damned boxes and find out what I had left that I literally snatched them out of the cartons and flung them onto the shelves. Add to that the fact that they were sorted and resorted, packed and repacked in Florida as I realized how small that shipping cube was...and books were NOT the only things in the cube, so how the hell have they pulled this hat trick and expanded into the space like a burst roll of store-bought biscuits???
I tell myself that I could probably thin the hell out of non-fiction. There are a bunch of coffee table books, and not only do I not read them, I don't even HAVE a coffee table. There are a cluster of books that I keep as "reference" books for a novel I have in the back of my mind--if I get rid of those, it's like writing off writing that book. A carton of miscellaneous sci-fi is stashed in a copy paper box. There are a stack of Photoplays left from Peter's collection--I don't know how the hell those got here, they were all supposed to be sold. Thanks to GK, I have an arseload of Louis L'Amour, which I need to find suitable shelf-space for. My cookbooks are taking over my bookcase, although in a year or two after surgery, I may be willing to part with some/all of them. And--and--and!
I have ideas. Implementing them single-handedly without money, that is the tricky part. For instance, in keeping with the largely equestrian theme in my office, I've brought in all my horse-related books. A lot of them are juveniles. If I could bring in another bookcase, like the white folding one I have out in the shed, I could bring in the rest of my juvenile fiction, which would free up about half a bookcase on the porch. If I did that, that would help enormously--I could, I think, get the same mystery/sci-fi set up that I'm used to, or at least have all the fiction on that one wall. I might need to install another shelf or two, and the bookcase closest to the door will probably end up as non-fiction and leftover non-series fiction...once I get those cans of paint stored somewhere else, like the credenza under the window. There's also the question of that fucking headboard that GK talked me into getting back when the house was empty and seemed rather more spacious than it is. There's that mirror, that is probably never going to hang in my bedroom, and if I got them both OUT of the porch, I might have room for what I'd really like: a chaise...or at least a banquette. Something comfy and padded that I could lounge on and read. I have a nice little table, just right to set a cup of tea and a snack on. I have plenty of pretty linens for the table. Curtains...I have some, somewhere....
Bless you if you're still with me after all this maundering on! I welcome constructive commentary, happy thoughts and if anyone knows where one can get a bookshelf of holding....
Battle of the Bands: Captain America, Iron Man, and The Asgardians are all bands, competing for a record deal.
It's here: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14080353
From the prompt: Marvel Cinematic Universe, any, Band AU https://comment-fic.livejournal.com/897954.html?thread=107041442#t107041442
...