Wednesday, April 16, 2008

The books make the man

It's been said, and I believe it to be true, that you can tell a lot about a man by the books on his shelves. If I see a copy of "Mein Kempf" placed prominently in the top row of a person's bookshelf...well, you get the idea.

So, with that in mind, here are the contents of the two main bookcases in our house. All of the titles are mine, as my wife doesn't do much reading outside of the textbooks required for her college classes. There are other bookshelves in the house, but these are the ones that are displayed.

Top shelf in bedroom...

~~~ "The American Story"
~~~ "Literature of the Western World (Volume 2)"
~~~ "The Heath Anthology of American Literature (Volume 2)"
~~~ "The Science Fiction Century"
~~~ "The Book of Bebb" by Frederick Buechner
~~~ "The Oxford Book of Short Stories"
~~~ "The Fantasy Hall of Fame"
~~~ "Isis Unveiled (Part One: Science)" by H.P. Blavatsky
~~~ "Isis Unveiled (Part Two: Theology)" by H.P. Blavatsky
~~~ "The Mind's I: Fantasies and Reflections on Self and Soul"
~~~ Webster's New World College Dictionary

Middle shelf in bedroom...

~~~ "Western Civilization" (Volumes 1 & 2)
~~~ "Asimov's Guide to Science and Discovery" by Isaac Asimov
~~~ "Philosophy: The Power of Ideas"
~~~ "The Old Testament Story"
~~~ "A Survey of the New Testament"
~~~ "The Religion Book" by Jim Willis
~~~ "The New 'Evidence That Demands a Verdict'" by Josh MacDowell
~~~ "The Secret Teachings of Jesus: Four Gnostic Gospels"
~~~ New American Bible (Official Catholic Version)
~~~ "Messy Spirituality" by Michael Yaconelli
~~~ "Christianity For Modern Pagans: Pascal's Pensees" by Peter Kreeft
~~~ The Upanishads
~~~ The Urantia Book
~~~ ...a CD case filled with CDs recorded from XM77 "Audio Visions"

Bottom shelf of bedroom...

~~~ Robert Jordan's "Wheel of Time" series, volumes 1-10
~~~ Bullfinch's Mythology

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^


Top shelf in office...

~~~ "Adventures in Appeciation"
~~~ "Adventures in American Literature"
~~~ "Adventures in English Literature' (Heritage and Laureate editions)
~~~ The Iliad of Homer
~~~ "Elements of Literature 5"
~~~ "American Literature: An Introduction to Reading and Writing"
~~~ "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" by Victor Hugo
~~~ "The Prophet" by Kahlil Gibran
~~~ The Complete Novels of Jane Austin
~~~ "Jazz: The Rough Guide"
~~~ "Classical Music: The Rough Guide"
~~~ "The World of Twentieth Century Music" by David Ewen

Second shelf in office...

~~~ "Springsteen: Point Blank" by Christopher Sanford
~~~ "Revolution in the Head: The Beatles Records and the Sixties" by Ian McDonald
~~~ "The DeCapo Book of Rock and Roll Writing"
~~~ "Memories, Dreams, Reflections" by Carl Jung
~~~ "The Book on the Taboo Against Knowing Who You Are" by Alan Watts
~~~ "The Enjoyment of Music" by Joseph Machlis
~~~ Alternative Rock (Third Ear Essential Listening Companion)
~~~ "The Only Dance There Is" by Ram Dass
~~~ "Be Here Now" by Ram Dass
~~~ "Journals" by Kurt Cobain
~~~ "Backstreets (Springsteen: the Man and His Music)" by Charles Cross

3rd shelf in office...

~~~ "Operation Shylock" by Philip Roth
~~~ "The Counterlife" by Philip Roth
~~~ "Zuckerman Unbound" by Philip Roth
~~~ "Bech is Back" by John Updike
~~~ "Licks of Love" by John Updike
~~~ "Couples" by John Updike
~~~ "S" by John Updike
~~~ "Leaves of Grass" by Walt Whitman
~~~ Selected Writings of Ralph Waldo Emerson
~~~ "The Viking Portable Library: James Joyce"
~~~ "The Norton Scores" (volumes 1 & 2)
~~~ "Images of the Human: The Philosophy of the Human Person in a Religious Context"
~~~ "Twenty Questions: An Introduction to Philosophy"
~~~ "Man Ray: the Rigour of Imagination" by Arturo Schwarz

Bottom shelf in office...

a selection of various yearbooks from the schools attended by family, and a couple of scrapbooks that belong to my wife

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