(Thanks Obscurorant for the link to the cool library image)
As the title so clearly points out, today’s post is all about books! There is a lot of great stuff in today’s post including challenge information, free book giveaways, and an upcoming photo contest just to name a few things.
So, without further ado, let’s turn the page.
Inspired by Qugrainne’s post about cleaning up the desk area, I decided to post some pictures of my most recent mess.
We recently had new duct work and a new air conditioner installed which necessitated a removal of a great deal of my stuff from the basement to my office and the garage. There was no way my books and collectibles were going to the garage, so here are just a few pictures of the mess I have been living with for the past couple of weeks (because I’ve been too lazy to get it cleaned up!).
The basement has been a big catch-all for some time now even though I had my books and collections in roughly the same area, stacked helter-skelter on some metal shelves that were given to me by a friend. As part of a desire to make a bit of a makeshift library/creative center down in the basement, I decided to get started moving this mess back downstairs today (Sunday)
What resulted was a neat if cluttered little area that is at least a decent start towards putting the basement in order and giving me a decent place to store my stuff until someday in the far future when I can build more shelves upstairs and expand my bedroom and office library.
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As you can see I decided to go the black sheet route which cost all of $3 per sheet at Walmart. Given the fact that the brick walls behind these sheets are nasty-looking, multicolored monstrosities I think this turned out pretty nice.
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On the shelf to the left of the Superfriends’ lunch box are the start of a set of books that I remember my uncle Dean having when I was a kid. This is the uncle who inspired my love of Science Fiction as you may recall. I have other books that will go in this section once I track them all down, but I am excited to have been able to include this little nod to those memories as a part of this project.
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I certainly have more stuff to bring down and some interesting ideas of some other creative things I would like to do (inspired by watching Penelope on DVD over the weekend) but I am pleased with my efforts today.
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I kept out a few of my favorite paperbacks to line this top shelf, including a couple of Robert McGinnis covers, a Frank Frazetta cover, my precious signed copy of A World Out of Time (story here), and my autographed copy and card stock cover of Colleen Gleason’s book The Bleeding Dusk. And speaking of Colleen Gleason, more to come in a moment!
I’ll post more pictures of this area at a later date as it evolves. Thanks for the inspiration Qugrainne!
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Author Stuart Clark, who should be granted sainthood for his patience with me, is giving readers a chance to win a copy of his book, Project U.L.F. This is being done to celebrate his completion of the manuscript for book 2! Head on over to Stuart’s site for all the particulars, and good luck!
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Bellezza has decided to jump back into the challenge business with the second iteration of her Japanese Literature Challenge. I did not get to join in the last challenge due primarily to the fact that I was in the manic grip of science fiction mania in January and February of this year. However, due to my newfound adoration of Haruki Murakami, there is no way that I am going to miss out on the challenge this time.
The details:
Read three books of your choice. They can be a novel, a work of poetry, a children’s book, graphic novel, biography or autobiography.
Read them between July 30, 2008 and January 30, 2009.
If you wish to join let me know in the comments here so that I can create a blog for the challenge participants.
Bellezza made wonderful prize packs for her first challenge and she is already hard at work on this challenge’s prize packs. Click here to see the first one.
My plan is to read:
Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman–a collection of 24 short stories by Haruki Murakami.
Fruits Basket Vol. 1–manga translated by Kansas City resident Kelly Sue DeConnick (well past time to read this!)
and I’m leaving my third option open. I know I would like to read The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle and Norwegian Wood, both by Murakami, in the fall if it works out. I also have some other manga sitting on my shelves downstairs that I could also read for the challenge.
Thank you for hosting this again, Bellezza. I am really looking forward to it! I encourage you all to join in!
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Stainless Steel Droppings’ favorite paranormal romance author, Colleen Gleason has her fourth (of 5) book in the Gardella Vampire Chronicles series coming out on Tuesday, August 5th!
Once again it is my pleasure to encourage all of you dear readers to do your part to make the first week of the release of When Twilight Burns Colleen’s best sales week ever! The way you do that is to purchase the book between the week of Tuesday, August 5th to Monday, August 11th. As an extra incentive to wait, should you see it early, I am once again holding a photography contest.
You know, like the one we did for Rises the Night (here) and The Bleeding Dusk (here). As we did for the last contest, there will be a winner for most creative and a random drawing winner. I am working with Colleen to figure out what the prizes will be, but they are always good. By telling you today I am giving you a little extra time to get creative should you choose to enter the creativity contest.
I must admit, given this book’s cover I am not quite as enthused about the pictures that will be coming in this time vs. the cover for The Bleeding Dusk. Why? Because I may end up with more of this (click here)! 🙂
Oh well, I look forward to your creativity.
Later in the week I will be posting a non-spoiler review of When Twilight Burns just to whet your appetite and hopefully Colleen will once again agree to a set of grueling interview questions.
Just to clarify the rules again: Buy When Twilight Burns between the week of August 5th and August 11th. Take a picture of yourself with the book…it can be something as simple as you holding the book or as elaborate as you want. Send your pictures to me via email to cvincent68 (at) comcast (dot) net by Thursday, August 14th at 11:59 CST to be entered into the drawings. Make sure to check out the previous two contests for creative inspiration.
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Well, there you have it. With books I could go on and on, but it is Monday and no doubt most of you are as excited about going to work as I am. 😉
Have a wonderful day!
hahahahahahhahahahahahha your mess was WAY worse than mine, Carl. How great do your shelves look in your new library cavern!? Very nice. With the dehumidifier running, it is nice and cool and you are surrounded by all that fabulous stuff. Great job on the clean up. But….. we still can’t see your desk…..
I was negligent, Carl. Thanks for the pingback!
Now you have me thinking about my below ground disaster area. It is nice and cool, and I do have boxes of books down there….
Very nice and neat! The after pictures of course ^_^. Wish i had a basement, all of my overflow is in the garage! I’ll try to send you pics so you’ll appreciate your neat as a pin basement corner! One of the plus’s of having to move your stuff is that you find things you had forgotten you owned, or at least i do ^_^.
Ha! I’m not nearly as brave as you Carl…I’d never post a picture of my office space. Ugh.
Thanks again as always for your support of my books! And, actually, I’m sort of anticipating the photos for this book cover contest. 😉
Holy Smokes, Carl, you have a lot of books! I loved seeing your collections and the new way that they’re organized. Never would have thought of the black sheet idea myself, but it’s an effective one.
Thanks for posting about my challenge. People who wish to join can either leave a comment on my announcement or at the review site (by clicking on my name above). It’s never too late. I want to read more Murakami as well, although to be honest, Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman wasn’t working for me as well as After Dark. I’m going to try Wind*Up Bird Chronicles for sure.
It’ll be fun to read Colleen Gleason’s lastest…and see the photo submissions!
I’m not afraid to go down into your basement now!
Oooooh! So neat! I’m impressed. Can you tell I’m a neat freak?
Wow,Carl-looks good! Is the garage looking as good too? Ha! One step at a time,huh?
Love you!
Qugrainne: You’re welcome. The reason there are no pictures of the office yet is that it is still a bit of a disaster! I have magazines and art and challenge goodies, etc. laying all over as well as recent comic purchases, etc. It will be back in shape later in the week and I will post proof!!! 🙂
SGTaylor: yes, send me pics! I love peaking into other people’s windows, per se.
Colleen: Fessing up to it in picture form is just a way for me to motivate myself. My ‘office’, where my computer is at, is generally pretty neat and tidy and so it wasn’t confessing too much to show those pictures. That is a bit of an abnormality. Although it does pretty adequately represent what my basement looked like before the air conditioner work AND what my garage looks like now!
Bellezza: And that is just the books in the basement!!! Although one of those bottom shelves is computer games and not books. But there are still a lot of books! Hopefully this will motivate me to check things out of my own ‘library’ vs. that urge to run to the bookstore…something I have been very good about lately in comparison to past years.
I’ve read about 5 stories in Blind Woman so far and have really liked one and found the rest just okay. I’ll certainly be continuing it though as I find even his ‘okay’ stories to be fascinating as I’m reading them even when they don’t end up being all that I could want them to be.
After Dark set a pretty high standard for me as far as his novels go, it will be interesting to read another of them this fall.
Yes, the photo submissions will HOPEFULLY be fun!!! 🙂
James: I would let go of all that fear just yet! 😉
Chris: I like things being neat as well…I just have a bigger tolerance than I should for getting things done once it gets really messy!
Mom: You know me too well! Although I’m not sure if you are my mom and not an imposter. You usually type your comments in all caps!!! Okay you, what did you do with my mom?!?!?
Actually I’d love to get the garage done asap just to get the car back inside. Between every other day thunderstorms and 100+ heat index days I just don’t know when my ‘want to’s’ will overcome my abhorrence of the heat.
Holey Moley Batman! Good grief Carl! That was some job! I have to admit that probably because I am female a job like that isn’t as bad as it seems. At least once a year (or every other year?) Every shelf and closet and drawer and box should be gone thru so you remember what you have! (and to clean out what you no longer want lol)
Now.. that you are so organized I hope you have complete lists of everything and possibly photo’s too for insurance purposes!??? I think we tend to forget that our “fantasy goodies” are worth more than our admiration .
I honestly don’t mind doing this kind of thing once I get started. It is actually quite fun and always takes much longer than it should because I like shifting through all my stuff and playing with it. That is part of the reason I didn’t get it all finished yesterday!
And yes, I need to be better about photographing all of my stuff, furniture, etc. and filing it for insurance. The Road to Hell…
Yes -it was your real Mom-I just felt like mixing it up a little !!!
Your basement library looks great! Thanks for the wonderful book porn 😀
Also, great choices for the Japanese Literature challenge. I loved both Norwegian Wood and The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle (but especially Norwegian Wood).
Remember Carl, I know where you live! 😉
Thanks for the shout out. I’m wondering, are you getting my emails? I’ve sent you a couple of things and not heard from you. Let me know.
Stuart
Wow! You did an amazing job with those shelves!! Seriously, I’m jealous…though now I have a little inspiration to actually do something to all of my “mess”. My books are starting to look more like the first set of pictures as I’m now out of bookshelf room :/ I’d really like to try my hand at building some, but it’s all a matter of finding the time to do it…and of course pretending that I actually know how to build my own bookshelves 😉 That would be cool though. Nice job though man!
I’m really frightened of the entries for this Colleen Gleason giveaway as well…I can only imagine…
very cool! it looks SO INVITING! thats when you know a bookshelf or book area is working well, when it sucks you in like a siren!
What I want to know is do you ever leave your basement library now that you have it set up so nicely, or have you been calling in sick to work just so you can stay surrounded by all you wonderful goodies?
Debi: Oh no, my secret’s out! Hope the folks at work haven’t figured it out! 😉
JP: Thanks JP. I’m really happy with the results thus far.
Chris: Glad I am not alone in my fears! If you do try your hand at building some shelves make sure you take plenty of pics!
Stuart: That’s right! I’ll check and see about the emails, I remember getting a link you sent me last week plus the email about your book giveaway which is what prompted me to include you in this post.
Nymeth: I’m really looking forward to reading Norwegian Wood this fall when the weather starts to turn. I’ve heard many good things about it.
Wow, you did that all in one day? You want to come over to my house – I’m in need of some reorganization!
Lookin’ awesome, Carl! 🙂 I like the new book digs. (Yes, I do keep up with everyone in RSS even when I’m not posting! :))
May I also recommend one or more of the Japanese noir writers? I read Natsuo Kirino’s Out for my reader’s advisory course and felt that it was very good. The flavor of another nation’s underworld is quite different from ours. 🙂
Love the new book-digs, Carl! (Still keepin’ up with my reading even in scant posting times. ;))
May I also recommend one or more of the Japanese noir writers? I read Natsuo Kirino’s Out for my reader’s advisory course and it was both very good and quite fascinating, offering both a glimpse into the Japanese underworld and into the less-than-perfect side of family life and womanhood. Definitely worth your time, IMO. 😉
Oh, and I love Fruits Basket! (The animated version anyway…haven’t had a chance to read the manga yet.) So completely adorable.
whoops! Sorry for the multipost…I thought that first one hadn’t made it through. (How embarrassing. ;))
I am so in love with your collection!! That is a great set of pictures. And I’m dying of jealousy over (of all things) the Audrey poster!!
Poor Jeff. Will that picture never die??
Wow, I just love your little space that you created. The black sheets are very dramatic!
Heather: Thanks. I’d rather have actual walls someday, but the black sheets certainly look better than the multicolored, paint-chipped concrete walls.
Stephanie: Thanks! I have some really great Audrey postcards and some cool Audrey Hepburn coasters that I made long ago. She was quite the person.
And NO, if I have anything to do with it that picture of Jeff will live on in infamy!!! 🙂
RB: no worries about the multiple comments. Thanks for the recommendation, it sounds interesting and I do enjoy noir fiction. Haven’t seen Fruits Basket, the anime version, but if I like the manga I’ll have to see if I can netflix it. I’m watching episodes of Magical Shopping Arcade Abenobashi right now and am enjoying that.
Stephanie: Yes, that was a one day affair…my back was feeling it the next day!!
Wow, Carl! That’s a nice looking space down there! Is it next to the “bathroom”? Hehe!
I look forward to seeing your creative center in person.
Oh yes, Jules, definitely right next to the ‘bathroom’…just a thin sheet separating the two.
For the uninitiated, our ‘second bathroom’ is essentially a toilet right out in the open of the entire basement. It takes a bit of a psychological shift to have a seat down there.
Wow! And I thought I had a lot of stuff!!
Brian: So….I guess I should be a bit sheepish when I say that this is only some of what I have… 😉
Holy crap.
THAT’s the library I wanna have in my house someday. (1st picture) New life goal!
And I’m glad that I’m not the only one with book mess everywhere. hahah
=]
Great choice on the black sheets. With the tidy steel shelving it makes for a great nook!
Hey,
have you seen this?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rbx3qnKKC0Q
You really did an incredible job of sorting, organizing, and displaying – and all over the course of a single weekend? WOW!
As you sorted through the various piles, what was your favorite “Oh man, I forgot I had this” moment?
and just so you know, I’m very jealous of the Phil Noto girl/robot print…
Ken: Thanks…it was actually all over the course of a single day! 🙂
As far as finding stuff, I think seeing my autographed Larry Niven book, story here, was one of my favorites. Rediscovering the first issue of Richard Sala’s Delphine graphic novel was great…and it reminded me to see if the final two volumes were finally out, they were and now they are on my desk waiting to be read. More than anything it was re-discovering all the great paperbacks that I have and want to read…they had been boxed for a long time.
I saw Phil Noto at Wizard World many years ago and got 3 or 4 autographed prints and had him autograph a few Birds of Prey comics that I purchased. That girl/robot image is one of my favorites and had hung in my work office for years before I finally brought it home.
Jolyn: No, I hadn’t seen that but thanks for pointing it out. As I watched the book trailer I kept thinking about how funny it would be in your average joe with a metal detector stumbled across the box and knew nothing at all about the book.
Stefanie: Thanks. That ‘moment of inspiration’ with the sheets really motivated me to get the project done, as I wasn’t in the mood to paint.
Kamisha: Yes, I’m good at having messes in my ‘storage’ areas.
I have been looking for my copy of The Art of John Berkey for weeks. Now I know where it went.
Nice work, Carl. Your approach to storage is different than mine, but I have to deal with Wife input. Once Upon A Time (pre-marriage) I had a large collection of comic character busts, tons of character and other items, a lot of it. Most of it’s is gone now, she didn’t like my “toys”, thought they were childish, was embarrassed to have her friends visit her. We made some compromises, one of which was all the long boxes went. Yep, you read that right. I didn’t have a large collection, but there were twenty or thirty long boxes and a dozen short boxes. I still have the Uncle Scrooge, Conan, some others but most went.
ANYWAY…
My shelves and storage are straightforward shelves with items closely packed. I don’t have the luxury of display, only storage matters. I’ll be taking pictures.
I sure enjoy what I’m seeing at your digs, very nice indeed. Thanks or sharing
Richard: Yep, I swiped it!!! 🙂
It probably helps that this is in our unfinished basement. She could care less what is down there as long as it is neat and clean, something I need to get back to and finish. I’ll have to remember to take ‘before’ and ‘after’ pictures when I get back to it.
I’m also fortunate in that my wife doesn’t mind my eccentricities. I like a wide variety of stuff and am the decorator in the home, so we have what we both consider to be a tasteful home that reflects our interests without being too plain or copycat. Works out well. We are both avid readers and have a lot of the same loves, so we have things in our home that reflect our interest in period films, P.G. Wodehouse, good wine, all manner of books, and the geeky stuff as well (Brian Despain robot prints in the bathroom and all).
I look forward to the pictures. I could easily pack all my bookshelves full but I just have to have a mix of having some things out where I can enjoy them.