My books, I love'em

[snacky]

rachelmanija posted pictures of her bookcases, so I thought it would be fun to do mine too!



In January of 2021, I had the carpets cleaned and I had to take all the books off the shelves and put them back when everything was done. So I took some pictures, of course.














The chairs are back in the room in these two:






I got a new chair last spring so I took these two pictures. You can see the bookcases with all the other stuff (besides books) on them:






My Narnia shelf, because I'm a nerd:




My small bookcase with a bunch of BoTM books:




Bonus! My desk on the other side of the room:




I was going to offer to post closeups if you wanted to see any books zoomed in, but these are pretty huge.

Comments

[maidenjedi]

Lovely!

[snacky]

Thank you!

[coffeeandink]

Leonora Mattingly Weber!!!

I love pictures of people's bookcases.

[snacky]

Yes! One of my all time faves! I've been on a Weber mailing list since 1997, and we've had get togethers over the years. It's a very small but active fandom.

Me too, now do yours! :D

[coffeeandink]

It's kind of hard to do mine because I live in a tiny NYC apartment with no clear lines of sight. But I will try.

I remember Leona Mattingly Weber and Rosamund duJardin from my childhood libraries and was very surprised to see ebook versions of them!

[snacky]

That's true, I am very lucky to have this extra space.

I was so happy to see the ebooks! Because I needed one more edition, lol.

[rachelmanija]

I never heard of either of them. What are they like?

[coffeeandink]

I hope Snacky will chime in, because it has been so long since I read them! They are very old-fashioned girl-in-small-town novels -- I thought of them as very 50s, although I don't know if that's actually when they're set or were written. Maybe a bit like the Betsy-Tacey books, if that's a reference you know?

[rachelmanija]

Oh yes, I know Betsy-Tacy.

[snacky]

DuJardin and LMW wrote what are sometimes called "malt shop" books, books for teen girls before YA was a thing. Think books that have the spirit of Happy Days or Grease.

The Weber books are my faves! They were written from WWII to the early 70s, before she died. The characters aged a bit but not as quickly as time passed. Beany Malone, the main character of the Malone series was 13 in the first book, set in WWII, and got married in 1960, at 19. The next series is called the Belford series. One Belford sister, Katie Rose, is the MC in the first five books, and the second sister, Stacy, is the MC in the last three. All the series are set in Denver, and the Beany characters make cameo appearances in the Belford series. The Katie Rose books are the ones I love the most, but I love them all. I read them growing up, in my public and school libraries. When I got online in the 90s, I found a mailing list of kindred spirits who had also read them. At that point, the books were out of print, and you could sometimes find them at library sales or ridiculously overpriced on eBay. We would do group reads, where the person who owned a copy of the book would post summaries and questions, so we could discuss them

Eventually the LMW books were reprinted by Image Cascade Publishing (who also went on to reprint series by duJardin and Emery and a bunch of others), and now are also available on Kindle!

I am still a member of the email list, and we still do group reads and discussions. We also have annual get-togethers. One time we went to Denver, where LMW children and grandchildren still live, and we had a blast. We had a dinner at the Press Club, which she had been a member, saw her papers at the library, had a cookout at her family home, and breakfast with her grandchildren.

This is probably more than you wanted to know, lol! Anyway, they're fun books about teenagers growing up in the mid-20th century. They're not perfect, but critiquing them is part of the fun we have in the group.

[goodbyebird]

Love this! (also, you are clearly a comfy chair connoisseur)

[snacky]

Thank you! I must have comfy while I read and knit and read some more.

[musesfool]

Awesome!

How was Kaikeyi? I have it on my to-read list but I can't remember anything about why.

[snacky]

It was really good! I was a little daunted at first because it's pretty long and I had a slow getting into it, but I ended up loving her and everything she went through. I think you'll enjoy!

[musesfool]

👍

[starlady]

That Narnia shelf is very good, those action figures are great. Have you read Laura Miller's The Magician's Book by any chance? I just did recently and I really enjoyed it.

[snacky]

Thank you! It was very hard to find the Lucy and Susan action figures, but I triumphed in the end! And yes, I have read it and I loved it. I couldn't fit it on the Narnia shelf, but it's just below. :D

[goss]

Love all the pics - so cozy and comfy! And Happy Birthday!! :D :D

[snacky]

Thank you! :D

[umadoshi]

I love the books and the bookcases! And such comfy-looking chairs!

[snacky]

Thank you! They are the perfect reading chairs!

[osprey_archer]

What a gorgeous set of bookshelves and what an EXCELLENT collection! I see all the Betsy-Tacys - Carol Ryrie Brink's Magical Melons and Baby Island (I've been trying for years to find her book Two Are Better Than One; someday!) - all the Little House books - the Montmaray trilogy! And I love that you have a whole Narnia shelf.

[snacky]

Thank you! You can tell that I was a children's bookseller, right? :D

Most of the collection are ones I had as a child, or ones that I loved and lost and recollected as an adult. Then there's the ones like Montmaray and the Penderwicks which I discovered as an adult and loved.

I do have Two Are Better Than One, it's just behind some of the other books. But I'm still looking for Louly!.

[osprey_archer]

Ooooh, I hadn't heard of Louly! Might have to keep an eye out for that one...

[snacky]

It's a sequel to Two Are Better Than One! Chrys and Cordy and their friend Louly and all new adventures!

[osprey_archer]

!!!!!! A sequel to Two Are Better Than One! Well, OBVIOUSLY I have to read it now. And it looks like a library I have access to does in fact have a copy...

[rachelmanija]

Your bookcases are beautiful and your reading areas are so cozy!

[snacky]

Thank you! I want people to come and sit and read with me!

[haphazardmethod]

Everything looks so fun and cozy.

[snacky]

Thank you, that was my vibe!

[k2daisy]

I will also love the REVENGE chair! I have a bedroom lamp with a REVENGE lampshade, and it makes me think of you every day.

[snacky]

Ohhh, I should get a REVENGE lampshade, to go with the REVENGE chair and the REVENGE curtains, and the REVENGE bulletin board, and the REVENGE bin, and the REVENGE pumpkin...

...look I like a theme lololol.

[kirbyfest]

I want to come curl up and read by your bookshelves!

[snacky]

You can! That's why there are two chairs, in case someone else wants to read!

[denynothing1]

Your bookshelves are so NEAT. *hangs head in shame and sidles out of the room*

[snacky]

I mean, in pictures they are! :D

[vialethe]

I spy Jon and Susan!!

[snacky]

I knew I could count on you! :D

[lone_lilly]

Thank you for cutting your porn. *swoons*

Now I gotta try to read every spine.