After seeing this meme, under the name the Bookshelf Traveling For Insane Times (begun, with guidelines, here) on three blogs, including Tracy at Bitter Tea and Mystery and Patti at Pattinaise, I finally decided to jump in.
The photo is of the top of my small TBR bookcase, and the items there are a jumble, as that is the only place I don’t arrange my books by genre, then alpha author. Note that a couple of these are already partially read. I didn’t make any effort to put these in nice order or set up, this is just the way it looks, including one that’s backwards for no particular reason. That said, here you go:
[click
on the picture to make it as big as you like]
Notes: I recently got a batch of science fiction novels by Mack Reynolds, that’s why there are a couple of them on the left stack. I have been thinking about doing reviews of books that take place in a spaceport bar, thus three of those. The Gift of Rain has been on this stack for three years. I’m dying to read it, but something else always comes up (sigh). The Rex Stout is a non Nero Wolfe that I haven’t read. The Raymond Chandler I’ve read more than once but am kinda in the mood for again. The others tickled my brain for some reason.
Yes, I am actively working off these piles for my current reading. With so much here, and other things that suddenly catch my fancy, it’s almost a good thing the library isn’t open yet.
Tip the Wink 
Some good stuff in there, i.e., things I would read.
Cool. I might guess, or you could say which. Hope you’re doing well, my friend.
Two nice stacks, Rick, and an interesting mix. I have not read that Charlie Chan book yet. Some day I want to read A Nice Murder for Mom. I have read Death in Captivity but I haven’t read the other Michael Gilbert book. I have read The Sound of Murder by Stout but under a different title I think.
I am not familiar with any of the science fiction (or fantasy?) in the stacks, but it looks interesting.
Is that a set of cat bookends holding up the books behind the two stacks? How does that work? Very nice.
I’m looking forward to the Gilbert books, Tracy. I got that Mom book after you did a post on one. I started the Stout but only got part way in.
The bookends are a set of cats, wood, that connect together, with a flat piece on each side. Glad you like them. I’ve had them for a very long time, and am getting ready to retire them. One problem is they only work for books of a lower height, at least the parts with the cat on top. Next weeks’ post with show the new ones.
I’ve read the Gilberts for sure. Also the Chandler and the Art Taylor collection, as well as Yaffe’s Mom short stories. The Spaceport Bar collection interests me. I’ve enjoyed similar collections by Arthur C. Clarke and Spider Robinson and L. Sprague de Camp.
Have you read the Mom novel? It’s new to me. I’ve had that spaceport bar paperback for a while, and it moved from the shelf to the TBR last Fall. I’ll get to it eventually.
That was a surprise. I checked my library’s site, and though they don’t have TALES FROM THE SPACEPORT BAR, they actually had an ebook copy of AFTER HOURS: TALES FROM UR-BAR available to borrow. I did.
I haven’t read either of the Ur-Bar books, so I can’t say if they’re any good, but I like the premise.
THE SOUND OF MURDER is a retitling of ALPHABET HICKS, a somewhat infuriating (and minor) non-Wolfe novel.
I’ve been thinking of going on a Mack Reynolds binge sometime over the next few months.
There’s a lot of interesting reading on your shelves, my friend.
Jerry, I hope The Stout isn’t too infuriating, as I hope to finish it, bit amongst these books it’s low on the urgency scale. I got a bunch of Mack Reynolds paperbacks on eBay, these are just two of them. Thanks, I like variety nd these surely do show my genre leanings.
I think I read the Stout and something by Crowley but not this one, very different reading than mine.
Yes Patti, we have different reading tastes, but that’s not a bad thing. I got the Crowley after reading and liking Ka. You may have read Little, Big.
That was it, Rick. Thanks.
Like Jerry, I might binge on Mack Reynolds SF novels. He’s one of the rare writers to write about the economics of the Future. Art Scott is not a fan of non-Nero Wolfe Rex Stout books. Nice batch of books! Plenty of good reading there!
Another person interested in Reynolds. Great minds and all that. As I told Jerry, move, I got batch of Reynolds paperbacks on eBay a month or two ago. The thing about this many books (and there are the three shelves below them) on the TBR is, it makes choosing the next book to read both easier and harder.
Remember reading a lot of Mack Reynolds as a teenager. He had a few serials in Analog which later became Ace books.
Steve, I’ve enjoyed the Reynolds I’ve read in the past, so I’m hopeful I’ll like these too.
Richard, I’m so glad I found your post!
I tried to publish a comment you left on my blog, and that evening, after publishing, I searched and searched and could not find it. I’m very sorry this happened. I have no clue where it went.
I’m so interested in your bookshelf, particularly your photograph, which gave me a really good chance to browse. I have never read a novel by Raymond Chandler, though his work was discussed at length on the New York Times Book Review Podcast this past Friday. I’m also interested in Death Has Deep Roots. I’m about to look that one up. Thanks.
Hi Judith! Thank for dropping in, and I appreciate your comment. Tracy has encouraged me to try this for a while, and it’s such a good idea I couldn’t stay away any longer. I’ll be doing some more on future Mondays.
Judith, Google won’t let me post a comment on your blog, I’m not sure why. But I’ve begun reading the blog, and like it. Though I’ve change the name, the idea is the same. Add me to your list.
By the way, I see no email address for you, or I could email my comment and you could put it in. Maybe?
That’s a fun idea, I may have to follow your example and do that myself.
Fun to see a Rex Stout book on your pile as I just read a blog post today from a big fan of the Nero Wolfe books and it stirred my interest to the point that I hopped on ebay and found a cover image and copy of the first in the series that I liked and it will be here sometime next week.
I like the spaceship bar idea. I’ve always liked stories set in bars/pubs/taverns in science fiction, fantasy…really in any genre of fiction. P.G. Wodehouse’s Mulliner stories come to mind as stories told in a pub. Often these tales are about stories within stories, which appeals to me. For me I’m sure part of the fascination goes back to being a kid and seeing the Mos Eisley space bar for the first time and then reading the Han Solo books by Brian Daley, at least the first of which has an exciting scene that happens in a space bar.
I’d love to see you do this on your blog, it’s been quiet for too long! I’ll get to the spaceport bar books soon, but right now it’s old sf anthologies.
These days, it’s a good thing to “read like a kid”.
I started a post last night and just need to get some pictures taken and I will get a post up on the ol’ blog.
Speaking of ‘read like a kid’? I remember loving library Summer Reading Programs when I was a kid, and in the spirit of that I’ve started putting together my own personal Summer Reading Program (which I’ve already started despite not having the graphics completed yet).
Cool! I’m looking forward to both.
As of now, both have been posted.