Colin Jacobs Posted September 3, 2008 Share Posted September 3, 2008 My book buying does not always revolve around fiction, my main weakness is old books normally biological books and old engineering type books. I love the old "Housekeeping" books cook books and Illustrated pre and post war Encyclopedias. Yes my main collection is fiction but I can include sheet music, and magazines too. my nieces and nephews spend ages looking through my library to see what "Uncle Colin has bought this week" My Niece loves the old illustrated encylopedias and prefers learning from these than the internet. Go girl go! Do you have a particular weakness for a subject? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KW Posted September 4, 2008 Share Posted September 4, 2008 I love travel books and we have TONS of them...so we can sit and drool, look and drool some more over places we hope to go someday. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wordsgood Posted September 4, 2008 Share Posted September 4, 2008 I do have a large variety in my library, much more so now than when I was in my teens and twenties. It's true then I guess that we change as we age! I'm into fantasy, history, biographies and so much more... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scottishbookworm Posted September 4, 2008 Share Posted September 4, 2008 my tastes in novels vary from romantic novels to crime writers and horrors and autobiographies. I have various favourite writers of the subjects mentioned for the romantic novels I choose Jackie collins for crime writer ian rankin for horror Stephen King for autobiographies the writer I just don't mind as long as the book keeps me amused. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kylie Posted September 4, 2008 Share Posted September 4, 2008 My regular fiction consists largely of classics, sci-fi/fantasy, Australian novels, humour and young adults. I have about half a bookcase full of books on the paranormal, new age, and the occult and a little over half that again with my autobiographies and biographies about The Beatles. I also have a decent collection of books on gardening, cooking, travel, Australian and UK history, and mosaics. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kehs Posted September 4, 2008 Share Posted September 4, 2008 I have shelves saved especially for faery books, fantasy, books in books and anything about beading and jewellery. I also collect proofs and old books. I am a fan of secondhand bookstores and charity shops so often pick up bargain books, and as a result I now have a huge TBR pile which is housed in my book shed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SaraPepparkaka Posted September 4, 2008 Share Posted September 4, 2008 Fiction (classics, criminal and romance mostly), some poetry, quite a lot of non-fiction books about history, a few books on gardening (my mom still entertains some hope for my garden so she gives me those), a neat collection of books about economics and finance (work-related) and many cook books. All but the cook books share room. The cook books are in the kitchen of course. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shelbel Posted September 4, 2008 Share Posted September 4, 2008 (edited) I would have to say my home library is fairly eclectic. Fiction: Classics Contemporary - mainly comprising of - shortlisted books for the Booker, Pulitzer prize winners and some Nobel Prize authors Australian American Children and young adults Non-Fiction: Chinese, English 16th Century and Australian History Autobiographies and Biographies Music and Film Cooking, home renovating and gardening Edited September 4, 2008 by shelbel Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kell Posted September 4, 2008 Share Posted September 4, 2008 Hmmm. I have a lot of Paganism-related books that make up the majority of my non-fiction tomes. I also have some biogs/autobiogs, but only of people who really interest me such as Michael J Fox, Adam Ant, Anthony Kedis and Eddie Izzard. Sci-fi/fantasy is taken up by the likes of Terry Pratchett, JK Rowling, jasper Fforde and The Edge Chronicles by Paul Stewart and Chris Riddell. Supernatural-based stories are represented by authors such as Kelley Armstrong and Charlaine Harris. Horror by Stephen King, Dean Koonts and James Herbert. Crime fiction is represented by Stuart Macbride and Christopher Brookmyre (who also flies the flag for humour along with Ben Elton). I alsohave Mount TBR which is filled with many different authors, both classic and contemporary, and represent both home-grown talent and that of those further afield. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ruth Posted September 4, 2008 Share Posted September 4, 2008 I'm not a huge fan of non-fiction, but I have almost 900 books, and there are a few non-fiction in there. But, it's a pretty eclectic collection - I love all kinds of genres, and there's a bit of everything in there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simonsays Posted September 4, 2008 Share Posted September 4, 2008 A few years ago I had a notion to improve the ecelectic nature of my book collection. I had a sister living in Brighton and so trawled the second hand bookshops there and 'bought' myself a new collection for Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Talisman Posted September 4, 2008 Share Posted September 4, 2008 As a non fiction writer (mind, body and spirit/religion) I have a large collection of books in both of these genres. I love the Conversations with God series and the works of Eckhart Tolle in particular, but have books on all different aspects of spirituality - books on meditation, on crystals (I am a qualified crystal therapist), Reiki (also do this), spirit guides and all sorts of things. I also have a large collection of religious books - the complete works of Josephus, a Greek Hebrew Study Bible, the Nag Hammadi and other Gnostic texts etc. Then there is the 'aternative' history books - Andrew Collins, Henry Lincoln, Lynn Picknett and Clive Prince, Lawrence Gardner, David Rohl and so on. My favourite author in this genre is Graham Phillips - who has written some fabulous stuff over the years - The Moses Legacy, Act of God and so on. I have met Graham several times and he is a really funny man and fascinating to talk to, since he is so knowledgeable on so many things. I also have a large collection of Icelandic Sagas - translated from the original Icelandic/Old Norse of course. These are tales written in the 12th and 13th Centuries about the settlement period of the country, which took place towards the end of the 10th Century. Fascinating stuff with tangled relationships and blood feuds. I will be adding to the collection next year I expect, since I hope to go back for a holiday - I have been five times and my last visit was in 2001. I do have some fiction books as well though - which I have recently begun to read again, after writing and reading non fiction for so many years, and I find that I really enjoy having something lighter to read. Mind you, a lot of the stuff I like could not be considered all that light, since I prefer the books about life in different countries, with a dark element, women in Islamic countries for example and what it is like for them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KW Posted September 4, 2008 Share Posted September 4, 2008 I have to add ( to my above post ) that DH has his own library, which competes with mine for space! His is made up of self-educational NF books on every business known to man!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sedge Posted September 4, 2008 Share Posted September 4, 2008 My library is almost entirely fantasy/science fiction/horror with a small area set aside for Mrs Sedge's Penguin Classics. I must branch out! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kate Posted September 4, 2008 Share Posted September 4, 2008 Mine is Christian books, history books, historical fiction, chick lit, a bit of humour like Terry Pratchett, classics and a few murder mysteries Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kylie Posted September 4, 2008 Share Posted September 4, 2008 I also have some biogs/autobiogs, but only of people who really interest me such as Michael J Fox What's this one like? I really admire Michael J Fox. I think he's a terrific guy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jenmck Posted September 5, 2008 Share Posted September 5, 2008 My library is hugely diverse. I have a lot of history books and non fiction. I have a ton of romance, mystery, science fiction and fantasy. I have classics like Jack London, Jane Austen, and Melville. Not a big fan of women's fiction and my favorite books have happy endings. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Angel Posted September 5, 2008 Share Posted September 5, 2008 I have a fairly wide collection Historical fiction, (loads) Classics (loads) Murder / mystery Chicklit Contemporary (lots) (most of Jodi Picoult's) Cookbooks (loads of different influences - Rick Stein, Gordon Ramsay, Delia, Gary Rhodes, Hugh Fearnley- Whittinstall) Italian, Chinese, Indian, Mrs Beeton (my basic Bible), ) to name but a few. Sewing, embroidery, Xstitch , knitting (all my passion) Various non-fiction on nature, dinosaurs, steam trains etc Several years worth of Good Food, Sewing World......... Not to mention all of Tiger's collections............ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin Jacobs Posted September 5, 2008 Author Share Posted September 5, 2008 Eek I have just counted by audio books 186! I re listen to these more than re reading the books. Most of my AB;s are fiction I have lots of radio shows and plays too, including old Archers episodes (Remember these?) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ceinwenn Posted September 5, 2008 Share Posted September 5, 2008 Mine, admittedly is mostly thriller/mystery books, but there are a lot of Jodi Picult & Torey Haden (Colin - have you ever read any of her books? I highly recommend!) & we have a lot of historical fiction & a French/English & a Welsh/English dictionary, a lot of books about Canada & Wales, some cycling & hockey, lots of books about Rome & Roman history, lots of Penguin classics (the OH), some Dylan Thomas & Edgar Allan Poe, a lot of travel industry books, lots & lots of cookbooks (my other passion) & a few other assorted odds & ends Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin Jacobs Posted September 5, 2008 Author Share Posted September 5, 2008 I will have too look out for her, do you have any reccomendations? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ceinwenn Posted September 5, 2008 Share Posted September 5, 2008 nah, I've read probably 15 of her books (oops, spelled her last name wrong!)http://www.torey-hayden.com/ My personal favourite is Murphy's boy. They're not exactly about the kind of thing you went through but I think you'll see some parallels & that you'll enjoy them. Amazon.co.uk synopsis of Murphy's Boy: When special education teacher Torey Hayden first met fifteen year old Kevin, he was barricaded under a table. Desperately afraid of the world around him, he hadn't spoken a word in eight years. He was considered hopeless, incurable, but Hayden refused to believe it, though she realised it might well take a miracle to break through the walls he had built around himself. With unwavering devotion and gentle, patient love, she set out to free him, - and slowly uncovered a shocking violent history and a terrible secret that an unfeeling bureaucracy had simply filed away and forgotten. But she never gave up on this tragic "lost case". For a trapped and frightened boy desperately needed her help - and she knew in her heart she could not rest easy until she had rescued him from the darkness. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin Jacobs Posted September 5, 2008 Author Share Posted September 5, 2008 (edited) I have hidden in school cupboards! I may get this book as my introduction to Hayden Edited September 5, 2008 by Colin Jacobs Wrong Author Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stephanie2008 Posted September 6, 2008 Share Posted September 6, 2008 My library tends to be Chicklit type books. I like lighthearted books and can't bear anything too heavy (probably because I read so late at night). I do have a few thrillers though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bellatrix Posted September 6, 2008 Share Posted September 6, 2008 Fairly eclectic - the usual mix of fiction (detective / historical/ thrillers / contemporary / classics) I find if I read too much of one thing (3 thrillers in a row) I feel like I've eaten too much junk food & need to eat more healthily for a bit ( a classic a biography)! I also have a fair amont of non-fiction lots of auto/biographies, history,ecology/politics, football & lots of reference books - I can sit for hours browsing through a Brewers Reference book. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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