Reading

Let's have a look at...my bookshelf

09:10:00 the_sky_is_starless 0 Comments

I recently finished my A-Level exams and I felt like I needed to clear my bookshelf. I'm a bit of a hoarder but I forced myself to clear out all the books I kept from my teenage vampire phase (so many regrets) and I am now left with books which I intend to keep with me throughout my life. Most of my books have come from charity shops and second-hand bookshops so they are all quite worn but I personally think this gives them more character. I love books with yellowed torn pages which have been loved by many people before me. I love finding forgotten bookmarks; train tickets, shopping lists- I even found a leaf covered in Japanese symbols tucked inside a book. I've ended up with 5 full shelves as well as some more books above my desk, with books which I couldn't find a home for stacked on top.

I decided to group my books by author and also roughly by the time period in which they were written. On my top shelf is my collection of books written in the 20th century.

My favourites are the 'Bell Jar' by Sylvia Plath, George Orwell's '1984' and 'A Room with a View' by E.M. Forster. These are books which provoked so much thought that I think they left a lasting impact on me.


Included on this shelf is 'The Blessing' by Nancy Mitford which I accidentally stole from a library a couple of years ago and was too scared to give back. My next shelf is full of my books from before this era.

I went through a Jane Austen phase when I was around 13 and the gigantic collection of Jane Austen was a birthday present from my parents. The beautiful copy of 'The Picture of Dorian Grey' was a present from my best friend but I bought another copy from a charity shop so I wouldn't have to bend the spine. One of my most prized possessions is a copy of 'Alice in Wonderland' from 1920 which we found under the floorboards of our house when we first moved in. It is fading and falling apart but it is still so beautiful.

My dad gave me my first P.G.Wodehouse novel when I was 13. It was 'Thank You Jeeves' . I was hooked and I now have a collection of over 40 and it is still growing. They are the only thing which can get me through exam season because they just relax me and transport me to a place where the only problems are pigs going missing or not being allowed to marry the secretary.

 My final shelf on my bookshelf is full of my collections of teen fiction including 'Harry Potter', 'His Dark Materials' and some John Green books. I also have some books which I keep meaning to read such as 'The Silmarilion' and 'The Moonstone'. I'll probably never get around to reading them but I still have hope.

Above my desk are my Maths and Science books.
My favourite is my copy of 'Fermat's Last Theorem' which I actually got signed by Simon Singh when I attended a talk by him which he gave in a pub in Leeds. I also enjoy Ian Stewart's books and I have all the classics such as 'Chaos' by James Gleick and 'A Brief History of Time' by Stephen Hawking.



Love Rhiannon x