CONFESSIONS OF A BIBLIOPHILE

Tuesday, 1 May 2018

WHAT YOUR PERSONAL LIBRARY SAYS ABOUT YOU..

Atlas Obscura, the site that delves into all manner of interesting things, presents some very interesting concepts...

"A LIBRARY IS, AT ITS most essential, a space that holds a collection of books. A dedicated room or building is not technically necessary. In his Book of Book Lists, recently released in the United States, author Alex Johnson offers examples of portable libraries—“sturdy wooden cases” of books and magazines that “were passed between lighthouses around the United States,” for instance. He includes the library Robert Falcon Scott took on board the Discovery in 1901, when the ship left for Antarctica, with a catalogue that specified which cabin a volume could be found in. Napoleon, he writes, had a traveling collection of French classics that was ported with him to war. It included five volumes of Voltaire’s plays and Montesquieu’s work on the Causes of the Greatness of the Romans and Their Decline.

But whatever form a library takes, someone had to have chosen the books in it, which reveal the secrets of heart and mind—their cares, their greeds, their enthusiasms, their obsessions."

To read on, go to The Tales of Libraries......

What is your library like, do any of these seem familiar?

Reasonably tidy

Very tidy

A bit haphazard like this one from Italy

Or haven't quite got enough room on the shelves?

I think my collection is a mixture of all and it doesn't worry me a bit....Some shelves are tidy, some are not, some are more or less in some sort of order, others aren't. They suit me fine, I know where things are (mostly) and no one else has to bother with them.

I aim for comfort, tidiness and the joy of knowing that I am surrounded by things I love. Life's too short to be concerned with trivia, unless of course, it's in a good book!

Which are your favourites and what suits you best?

All images courtesy of Pixabay.

Friday, 20 April 2018

TURNING PAGES

Courtesy Of Pixabay

* Diary of a Bookseller by Shaun Bythel: quest for survival

* 14 Hilarious Book Reviews From Very Concerned Readers

* The Beloved Classic Novel “The Little Prince” Turns 75 Years Old

* Writing in the Public Eye, These Women Brought the 20th Century Into Focus

* Rare Books National Library Australia

* Rare Books and Special Collections Princeton

These views may not be yours, or mine, but it's always interesting to see what others think...

Feel free to comment as to what your favourites are...

* Best 50 Australian Authors as voted for by the public

* Best Selling Irish authors Books - Alibris

* List of best-selling fiction authors - Wikipedia

* Jamie Oliver and JK Rowling top the 50 biggest-selling authors of all ...

* See top 100 authors - Amazon.com

* USA TODAY's top 100 best sellers of 2017

* The 10 best-selling books of 2017 at Unity Books, Auckland | The Spinoff

* 12 Books That Have Been Famously Banned - Culture Trip

* List of books banned by governments - Wikipedia

Courtesy Of Pixabay

Monday, 6 November 2017

A COLLECTION OF AUSTRALIA'S BEAUTIFUL LIBRARIES

Craigieburn Library, Hume City, Victoria, Australia

Award-winning Craigieburn library, Hume City, Victoria by Australian architects Francis-Jones Morehen Thorp. Photograph: Danish Agency for Culture

The Mortlock Chamber, State Library of South Australia, Adelaide, South Australia.

Mortlock Chamber, State Library of South Australia, Adelaide, South Australia. Photograph: State Library of South Australia

State Library of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland. Photograph: Jon Linkins/State Library of Queensland

State Library of Victoria, Melbourne, Victoria. Photograph: State Library of Victoria

Surry Hills Library, Sydney, New South Wales.

Surry Hills library and community centre, Sydney, New South Wales. Photograph: City of Sydney

State Library of NSW, Sydney, New South Wales. Photograph: State Library of NSW

Murray Bridge library, Murray Bridge, South Australia. Photograph: Sam Noonan/Hassell

Library at the Dock, Melbourne, Victoria. Photograph: City of Melbourne

Barr Smith library at the University of Adelaide, Adelaide, South Australia. Photograph: University of Adelaide

Library at Edith Cowan University in Joondalup, Western Australia. Photograph: Edith Cowan University

I would love to know what your favourite library is. If you would like to share a photo and tell me why you like this particular library, I would be happy to share it.

READER'S CHOICE...

Courtesy of Barry York