they're coming in droves...

...all the books i have leant out. it is a tidal wave, and with all the recent purchases, everything was in a state of complete anarchy. well, book-wise. books make quiet anarchists. but either way, i was doing some frustrated housekeeping last night (blogspot, you are on thin ice mister-- all these reapirs. what the crap?) & it wound up with me taking inventory &, consequently, attempting to fit all the books i really love on my Favourites Shelf.

i have three shelves in my bedroom. left over from a former roommate or courtesy of the landlord i do not know. while being fairly hefty, none of them are very large. & none of them are together: there are two rather high on the opposite wall from my bed, & one right over my bed, quite a bit lower, has been dubbed my Favourites Shelf.

unfortunately, having things arranged by preference is spurring a lot of compromises. the Favourites has a usual, library-style line of books, with towers of books at each end. towers have begun to form over top, though, with flimsy piles of slipping books between them. it looks like an urban city skyline full of leaning towers of piza... & i've been mildly worried about going to sleep every night with the overburdened shelf right over my head. my tombstone would read: died by books. but generally, very good books. her favourites. isn't it ironic? don't you think?

so here it is, my inventory:

books i shipped out to lesser shelf:
. advertising books (ogilvy on advertising, pick me, and some sample books by paper companies we always get...etc)
. lisa moore's yuck-o books. [degrees of nakedness &open]
. mark haddon curious incident of the dog in the night-time
[ it was never a favourite, really]
. cookbooks/food related books aside from anthony bourdain's kitchen confidential.

refugees and/or welcome guests to favourites shelf:
. flowers for algernon
. three men in a boat
. sicilian carousel * the dark labyrinth by lawrence durrel
[ to accompany the alexandria quartet ]
. lullabye, fight club, & survivor by chuck palahniuk [ for consistency. choke is actually a favourite...]
. chekhov short stories, the cherry orchard, three plays etc.

on thin ice & in danger of being shipped out at any given moment:
. poe (collection of short stories)
. dan savage's skipping towards gomorrah: the seven deadly sins and the pursuit of happiness in america
. gulag

recently returned to my collection:
. dead kid songs toby litt
. layer cake j. j. connolly
. another bullshit night in suck city nick flynn
. perdido st. station china mieville
. his dark materials [2 first books of the trilogy]
. coraline neil gaiman


books i know i still have, somewhere out there:
. justine lawrence durrell [ i have no idea who i leant it to...]
. pirates! on an adventure with whaling gideon defoe (i may have this around the apartment somewhere. who knows...)
. how we are hungry dave eggers
. and our faces, my heart, brief as photos john berger
. tours of the black clock steve erickson
. eats, shoots & leaves you know the one.
. anais nin's diaries (gone for good, i bet)


books that aren't mine:
. into the wild
. the contortionist's handbook
. girl with curious hair

books i wish weren't mine [but i'm too lazy to take to a secondhand shop]:
. snow falling on cedars
. white oleander
. open & degrees of nakedness
. fallen
. the fire thief
. the catastrophist

books i intend to lend out in the nearby future:
. amber spyglass (recently recovered from page-by-page spilled/dried gesso removal surgery) to rhianna
. it happened in boston? to rhianna and/or kathleen
. here is where we meet by john berger- to kathleen because she loves him too.
. three men in a boat (to say nothing of the dog) jerome k. jerome

books i know i want copies of, but am too sad to handle for sentimental reasons:
. gene wolfe's strange travelers
. rilke (collection)
. gabriel garcia marquez's love in the time of cholera
. voltaire's candide
. henry miller (almost anything)

reminded to order/get:
. the black book lawrence durrell