qos | The "Special" Shelf

havah_prewett made a reference in a recent post about the "scripture shelf" in her movie collection.

mam_adar also made reference recently to different shelves in her own library.

Since junior high, I have had a section in my own book collection called my "Select Library": shelves reserved for the books which have touched me deeply, have shaped me, and continue to resonate with me years, even decades, after I have read them.

A few months ago I was looking at those shelves and wondering if some of those books still belonged there. It had been so long since I'd last read them that I could scarcely remember the plots of one or two. In some cases there were spiritual themes I wasn't sure would still be meaningful to me. I took down a fantasy novel by Michael Moorcock (not an author I usually like) called The Warhound and the World's Pain, about a warrior jaded and exhausted by years of combat who ends up going on a quest on Satan's behalf to recover the Grail. It's a strange book in many ways, but -- to my surprise -- once again it moved me in a special way.

I'm thinking about doing a post about some of my favorite of these books. But in the meantime, I'm curious: do you have 'special shelves' or sub-collections in your book, movie, or musical libraries? If so, what is on them?

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

My special shelves are books I know I will read whenever I want an old friend, one of the books I really love and enjoy and know in my bones. The books tend to be fantasy, things that are escapist and fun and that I can curl up in bed with whenever I want comfort. They've got Charles deLint's Greenmantle, Jack of Kinrowan and Memory & Dream, the first two editions of The Journals of Anais Nin, Sheri S Tepper's Beauty, David Eddings's guilty pleasures of the Belgariad and the Mallorean, Linda Jaivin's Rock n Roll Babes from Outer Space and all the Terry Pratchett I can cram in.

My special shelves are books I know I will read whenever I want an old friend, one of the books I really love and enjoy and know in my bones.

Exactly!

Thanks for sharing the titles.

The "Special" Shelf

Hiya. Back frrom England and glad to see my books!

Re: Hiya. Back frrom England and glad to see my books!