Bookshelf Tour 2017 – Part 1

We’ve hit June and it is about time to really get started on this bookshelf tour. I’ve decided to chop this up into five parts. This first part will focus on my new blue bookshelf that I am sure you are all very curious about. I decided to move most author shelves and favorite books to this bookshelf. To create more room. I also wanted to do more show of the covers. I think this book case turned out quite well that way.

As these posts are a lot of work I did take these pictures of this bookshelf in the middle of April in a moment there was some reasonable light. Keep that in mind if you think you don’t see something that came up in a book haul or something.

It was also a little hard taking these pictures as I have to stand on the couch to be in front of it far away enough to take pictures. And the doors do make some of the corners a little dark and the glass reflects a bit of the outside. To be honest, it looks better in real life. But then, don’t most things do?

Intro / The Number’s Game / Part 2 / Part 3 / Part 4 / Part 5
Previous bookshelf tours

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Top – Classics

 Lets start with the top. As you can see from the above photo I have two standing dolls with long legs. Wintery. I collected those and have a few more but I haven’t seen them around much lately. It is a shame because they are so pretty.

Then I have a few pretty classic editions, well mostly classics, in between two book stands. I used to have these with my other classics but lately I’ve been moving them around so they stand out more. Those book stands I had in my kid room so they are quite old.

The first three books are of  the Puffin cloth classics. They are tiny and hardcover and incredibly pretty. They certainly aren’t expensive either to be honest. I might get a few more in the next few years. I have Treasure Island by Robert Luis Stevenson, The Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum and Matilda by Roald Dahl.

And next to that are my four leatherbound Barnes and Noble classics. I use classics loosely as that last one is not one (not yet in any case). The first classic I really bought, besides Narnia and Lotr obviously, was The Complete Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. It is also the only one of those four that I have read (completely) so far. It was in the time that BBC Sherlock was a big hit.  Next to that is the very big and pretty Alice in Wonderland and other stories by Lewis Caroll. I also have The Snow Queen and other Winter Tales by various authors. And the last one I have bought was American Gods + Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman. I’ve read American Gods but have yet to read Anansi Boys. Some time this year though.

Shelf 1 – Terry Pratchett (or better known as Discworld for now)

Then we get to move on to my Terry Pratchett collection. Or better known as my Discworld collection (with the exception of one but I’ll get to that). It starts with my paperbacks and moves into my hardcovers. It is a bit of a weird order they are in. I like having the Gollancz editions together because they looks so pretty together. But only 21 or so have been released in these editions so certain arcs will never be uniform. Discworld has a bit of everything though so why not have my collection have a bit of everything as well?

It starts with the official Discworld coloring book by Paul Kidby who is also the current official artist for Discworld. It was released last year. I’m probably never going to color it in, haha. It also has pretty colored illustrations in the back. Well worth getting it for the Discworld fans. Then we have got two books from the Rincewind arc. The Color of Magic which is the very first published Discworld book and The Last Hero which is number 27 and number 7 of Rincewind. The Last Hero is illustrated. Then we get the Thief of Time which is number 5 in the Death arc and 26 overall. I have the other four as Gollancz editions. Then there is Raising Steam from the Moist von Lipwig arc number 3, I think. Number 40 overall. And then we get my lovely, almost matching Tiffany Aching arc collection. They are actually in order. The Wee Free Men, A Hat Full of Sky, Wintersmith, I Shall Wear Midnight and The Shepherd’s Crown. Numbers 30, 32, 35, 38 and 41 in the overal series. I cannot recommend you these enough! Lastly on this picture is Making Money, the second Moist von Lipwig book, number 36 overall.

Then we move on to the Gollancz editions that I am so happy with. I hope to one day own them all. Look how pretty they look next to each other. And of course I have some minions guarding them.

We start with two Rincewind books, Sourcery (Discworld 5), number 3 of the arc, and Eric (Discworld 9), number 4 of the arc. My Rincewind collection is a bit all over. It isn’t anywhere near my favorite arc of the series, but I enjoy getting them whenever I can find one of them.

Guards! Guards! is the first City Watch book and one I have yet to start. I love the cover with the dragon though.

We then move on to the first five of the Witches arc. Equal Rites (Discworld 3), Wyrd Sisters (Discworld 6), Witches Abroad (Discworld 12), Lords and Ladies (Discworld 14) and Maskerade (Discworld 18). There is one more book to this arc. After finishing Tiffany Aching and Death arc I hope to start this one.

Speaking of, next to the Witches arc I have the Death arc. If you are wondering about that name it is because it focuses on Death as a character. I think Death is the only one who appears in almost all of the Discworld books which is kind of awesome. Anyway it starts with Mort (Discworld 4), then Reaper Man (Discworld 11), Soul Music (Discworld 16) and Hogfather (Discworld 20). As previously mentioned Thief of Time is the last Death book.

Last on this shelf is Good Omens. Not a part of Discworld but a book Terry Pratchett wrote with Neil Gaiman. It was also released in a similar Gollancz edition and therefor I have it there at the end.

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Shelf 2 – Neil Gaiman and Jonathan Stroud

The next shelf consists of two authors. Neil Gaiman and, of course no real surprise here, Jonathan Stroud. I have been slowly getting more Neil Gaiman books. So far I have liked most of his books so I will be curious to see what I will like of some of his older works.

This shelf starts with two illustrated books by Neil Gaiman and Chris Riddell. Actually almost all of my books by Neil Gaiman have been illustrated by Chris Riddell now that I look at it. I want all books that are spawned by that combination. Anyway they are Odd and the Frost Giants and The Sleeper and the Spindle. Especially the Sleeper and the Spindle is a great read.

Next to that is the shiney gold spine of Norse Mythology, his most recent release. I still have to read it but I am quite curious. Next to that is the Neil Gaiman and Chris Riddell box which consists of The Graveyard Book, Fortunately the Milk and Coraline. I especially recommend The Graveyard Book.

I have two copies of The Ocean at the End of the Lane. It is the first Neil Gaiman book I read and bought by him, and over time I constantly grow fonder of it. The paperback version is English and the naked shiney hardcover is in Dutch. The cover was the same and I really wanted to show the pretty naked hardcover.

Lastly there is Neverwhere, also illustrated by Chris Riddell. This edition looked so pretty. I am very curious about the book because I basically know nothing about it.

And then we come to my Jonathan Stroud shrine. Kidding. Sort of. I’ve often said how much I love the Bartimaeus series so it might not surprise you that his section starts with this sequence/trilogy. Some call it a trilogy as they like to ignore the preguel The Ring of Solomon. Anyway the section starts with the graphic novel of The Amulet of Samarkand, the first book. I don’t think they ever continued releasing the series as a graphic novel which is a shame of course. Then there is the The Ring of Solomon, the sequel, that did not quite live up to the main trilogy as many feel. The main books that are The Amulet of Samarkand, The Golem’s Eye and Ptolemy’s Gate. I own two copies of Ptolemy’s Gate because there are claw marks in the taller one… The Golem’s Eye is my favorite as the spine shows. Lockwood & Co. is his next series and I think it will finish this year. Sad face. Anyway, this series consists of The Screaming Staircase, The Whispering Skull, The Hollow Boy and The Creeping Shadow so far. I really enjoy this series and it is a great read for Halloween.

Shelf 3 – Rick Riordan

Rick Riordan has a shelf to himself again! Not that surprising I am sure. The shelf starts us of with three companion books to Percy Jackson. The Greek Gods, The Greek Heroes and The Demigod Files. Out of these (actually out of all my Riordan books) I still have to read The Greek Heroes. The Greek Gods did not do much for me so I am a bit hesitant to pick that one up.

And next up is of course Percy Jackson and the Olympians which consists of The Lightening Thief, The Sea of Monsters, The Titan’s Curse, The Battle of the Labyrinth and The Last Olympian. They are in the wrong order. Don’t worry I changed it right away. I don’t know why this keeps happening to me, haha. I might reread these during the Summer. They are quick reads.

Then of course we have The Heroes of Olympus that really got me on board the Rick Riordan train. Choo-Choo. I really enjoyed how we got other point of views in this series. Anyway the series consists of The Lost Hero, The Son of Neptune, The Mark of Athena, The House of Hades and The Blood of Olympus. The follow up series The Trials of Apollo is right next to them with the first book The Hidden Oracle. Continued by Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard with The Sword of Summer and The Hammer of God.

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Shelf 5 – Favorites

This shelf houses some of my favorites that I wanted seperate for now from the other books. It did not quite turn out the way I wanted it to. I mean, this shelf is full aready and there are some ongoing series there. Oh well. I’ll figure it out. Bookshelves are a work in progress. Kind of like a house. Just less messier. I hope.

Anyway in the left corner you can see my Blossom Books mug with some bookmarks in it. Of course the bookmark for The Others series is first. And next to it The Others books by Anne Bishop in Dutch. They look so lovely together. I can’t wait to add the last one. The Others series consists of Written in Red, Murder of Crows, Vision in Silver and Marked in Flesh.

Next to that stack I have some other favorites of course. One new being Sorcer to the Crown, the first Sorcerer Royal book by Zen Cho. I can’t wait for another book to be released for that or to read a bit more of her other work. The Seraphina duology by Rachel Hartman of course could not be left behind. I love dragons and I love these books. The duology consists of Seraphina and Shadow Scale.

Another new favorite is Timekeeper by Tara Sim. I can’t wait for the next book to be released at the end of the year. I’ve expressed my love for On the Edge of Gone by Corinne Duyvis before. This is one of those books that I grow fonder of the more I think about it. A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness is a great illustrated book.

The Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer are last on this shelf. Unfortunately Wires and Nerves volume 1 would not fit on the stack.  From bottom to top I have Cinder, Scarlet, Cress, Fairest, Winter and Stars Above.

Shelf 6 – Manga

‘Did you finally change your manga shelf?’ Why yes, yes I did. And I even moved it to another shelf. Anyway these are still some that I treasure even if I did not get around to finishing them all. Naruto is rather well known of course. Soul Eater is a rather interesting manga. The soul thing is so appealing to me for some reason. Cardcaptor Sakura is super cute and on this side of the shelf because it is too tall to stand wouldn’t fit with the other Clamps. Poor thing. And then there is Get Backers. Get Backers is one of my big loves anime wise and so I collected some of the manga as well.

Moving over to the Clamp part of the shelf. Here you find Legal Drug, Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicles, xxxHolic and xxxHolic: Rei. I need them all though, haha. None of these are complete (though I did finish reading Tsubasa and xxxHolic). Well Legal Drug technically is. But that one is continued in another series Drug & Drop.

Shelf 7 – Merijn’s Books

And last, but certainly not least, I decided to have the lowest shelf filled with some of Merijn’s books for easy access. I won’t link or go through them. But I wanted to show it nonetheless.