What's on your bookshelf?

I have no idea why I mentioned wine gums. I rarely eat sweets although I do get an occasional craving for chocolate limes.  

There's stuff on the bookcase, in the garage, and the loft. In that order, they are ranked. The stuff on the bookcase either hasn't been read yet, or has a place in my heart. The garage is limbo, either stuff that is useful, stuff that is kind of good or interesting. It's easy to grab there. The loft is the ninth circle of hell. Full of drivel.

Fiction-wise Dune, all of it. I have quite a bit of fiction, but I find that the world built inside Dune is amazing. It's been copied by Star Wars, Terminator, Game of Thrones, and it still is. Speaking of Game of Thrones, I have all the Song of Ice and Fire novels. I like Clive Barker's earlier work immensely. Weaveworld is one of the greatest fantasy novels ever written, quite unique. There's lots of other fiction stuff there, too much to name.

Non-fiction wise. Lots of books about things like marketing, economics, psychology, journalism, and so on and so on. I find that reading about the subtexts behind behaviours and trends really interesting.

Theology, philosophy, and ideology sort of fall into neither of the above. Psychology can sometimes fall into this category. I have The New Testament, The Tanakh, The Bhagavad Gita, The Mahabharata, The Qu'ran, The Tripitaka, and The Tao Te Ching. Some Occult stuff like The Kabbalah, Hermetica, Thrice-greatest Hermes, and so on and so on. Lots of political stuff, also the philosophical basis for most of it. It's amazing how many things are all down to manipulation or people creating a whole train of thought around their neurosis, then calling it a "philosophical", "political", or "religious" concept. I'm not saying everything I've read there is complete nonsense, I enjoy reading the good and bad.

My bookcase has a lot of comics too. Mostly old Marvel runs, Chris Clairmont's run on X-Men is a favourite. A few autobigraphies too.

If I had to pick three books I'd pick:

God Emperor of Dune. You have to have read the three previous books, but it's unique. Set in the far future and in a unique universe. The inner monologuing of a 3500 year old half-man, half-alien sand worm, who can live all his ancestors memories, and make sense of it, preparing humanity for a war that will kill hundreds of billions. I won't put any more spoilers, but it's amazing. Quote filled too. “Small souls who seek power over others first destroy the faith those others might have in themselves.” is one that stands out. It's full of nuggets of wisdom, in my opinion anyway, despite just being a Sci-Fi novel.

The Tao Te Ching. Some call it a religious book, some philosophical. It's neither in my opinion. Whatever it is it's a beautifully written classic text, that encourages freedom and independent thought, in my opinion.

My guilty pleasure is Maradona's autobiography. El Diego. It's barmy, and the addendum at the back is hilarious. I'm not that much of a football fan. It's just the absurdity, cocksure arrogance, and frankness in there. It's got an underdog story, success, a downfall, and lots of weird incidents. It's told hilariously too.

Oh that is lovely! They tend to be very individual and characterful! It is such a lovely way of sharing a love of books. . 

I have now come across three of these little free libraries within walking distance.

This is lovely to know. It a few years since I used the tube and if I do so again I will be sure to take some books with me. In the village where I used to live there was a Little Free Library - I would like to create one myself: https://littlefreelibrary.org except it would mean more people coming close to our house, so perhaps not! One of my former colleagues used to do Book Crossing https://www.bookcrossing.com and another one leaves little works of art and crafted items in random places for people to find. Wine gums! Also a few years since I had any of those. Used to be my Dad's favourite sweet. My brother liked American Hard Gums. I preferred Fruit Pastilles. I digress. There is a lot not to like about travelling on the tube so thank you for highlighting something positive! 

On some london underground stations they have book exchange tables. I think this is a wonderful idea. The only thing I enjoy about traveling on the tube is perusing the books on offer to find something to swap for the last book I've read. Sometimes I will take three or four unwanted books and swap them for a single book just to show a bit of support for this excellent project. Whoever came up with the idea should be given a knighthood and a lifetimes supply of winegums.

Seamus Heaney weather out there tonight: 

Winter-evening cold.
Our backs might never warm up but our faces
Burned from the hearth-blaze and the hot whiskeys. . .
As green sticks hissed and spat into the ashes
And whatever rampaged out there couldn’t reach us,
Firelit, shuttered, slated and stone-walled.

Thank you for the recommendation - Slapstick sounds like a book I would enjoy even though I don't usually read science fiction. I used to go to a book club once which was good as it made me read books outside my comfort zone - it is easy to get into the habit of only reading certain authors and types of books. 

I recommended Slapstick by Kurt Vonnegut to someone recently but he was unimpressed. The book didn't contain what he required from a science fiction book. That book would probably be my Desert Island Discs choice. I laughed, I cried and when I reached the last page I knew it was a book for keeping and rereading. The subtitle is Lonesome No More and the main character becomes president by promising an end to loneliness! ClimbTheStacks on Youtube says that her favourite Vonnegut book is Bluebeard so I may read that one next. It's about the abstract expressionist painters in america which is a subject that interests me. I would like to conclude by saying that Kurt Vonnegut is a top notch writer. Thank you.

I didn't realise that any of Slade had written books. That's made my christmas present list a bit longer.  

I worked in a bookshop once. I like to think this is what happened when we weren't there: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=SKVcQnyEIT8

Maybe he was the Polish Heaney.

I have a confession to make.  I do reorganize my books.  I did a big one a month ago.  And gave around 20% of my books to charity shops.

Yes.  And possibly my favourite lines in all of poetry.  From Milosz's 'On Parting From My Wife, Janina'.  Lines so resonant for me after my divorce...

I loved her, without knowing who she really was.

I inflicted pain on her, chasing my illusion.

I betrayed her with women, though faithful to her only.

We lived through much happiness and unhappiness,

Separations, miraculous rescues.  And now, this ash.

And the sea battering the shore when I walk the empty boulevard.

And the sea battering the shore.  And ordinary sorrow.

I can't resist posting this Robert124 it is one of my favourite stop motion films:

m.youtube.com/watch

I don't know his work but I can see I ought to. I've just read a very interesting obituary by Seamus Heaney. 

"The child who dwells inside us trusts that there are wise men somewhere who know the truth" Just found this line by Milosz Czeslaw - wonderful! 

That's where it comes from, then.  Milosz was Polish.

I'm a born and bred Yorkshireman.

Both my parents were born in pre war Poland.

That's a fine middle name!  Do you have Polish blood?