Hello and welcome to the latest Other People’s Bookshelves, a series of posts set to feed into the natural filthy book lust we all feel and give you a fix through other people’s books and shelves. This week we are in the hub of London metropolis and are just finishing having a lovely trim with the lovely Nina. You know when you ‘meet’ someone on Twitter and think they are probably really ace in real life, then you meet them at a bookish party say a few words and think you should be best friends for life so stalk them afterwards, sound familiar? Well, that is what happened with me and Nina. I was the stalker to clarify, it happens often, look at the results…
Anyway, now we are back at her house with a good cuppa and some lemon drizzle, it’s over to Nina and her lovely bookshelves which I have been asked to say a big thanks to John the Builder for. Thank you John the Builder!
I’m a born and bred Londoner and a massive book lover. I’m a hairdresser and work in the West End and love my job a lot as it’s so varied. I have very loyal clients, lots of whom are avid readers so am always recommending books for them to read, be it just the one or a whole summer reading list. In between appointments you’ll find me sitting in my chair reading. I am also a huge tweeter of books (and tweet as @matineegirl) which started after being part of a Reader’s Panel for PanMacmillan and Picador. A blog related to books is currently a work in progress………
Do you keep all the books you read on your shelves or only your favourites, does a book have to be REALLY good to end up on your shelves or is there a system like one in one out, etc?
I used to keep all my books but before moving into my flat two and a half years ago I had to do a heavy cull! Also my tastes have changed a lot so it felt right to do it. When I moved I had 40 odd thrillers that I didn’t feel I needed to take with me, I’d overdosed a little on serial killers! They were destined for a charity shop until a work friend said she’d have them. She has since read them all AND kept them! I’m very fortunate to have books sent to me, if I’m sent something that isn’t my cup of tea I always pass on to a friend or client, I keep all the rest.
Do you organise your shelves in a certain way? For example do you have them in alphabetical order of author, or colour coded? Do you have different bookshelves for different books (for example, I have all my read books on one shelf, crime on another and my TBR on even more shelves) or systems of separating them/spreading them out? Do you cull your bookshelves ever?
Mine are arranged a little haphazardly. I do have all my poetry books together, the rest are grouped by authors or ones I just feel belong together. Last year was the first time I kept a list of everything I’d read and they are all grouped together, as are my reads of this year so far! This is where I get a little nervy, as where do those current reads by authors I have grouped together go? I keep my ever growing TBR on their own shelf/shelves/floor.
What was the first book you ever bought with your own money and does it reside on your shelves now?
I’m not sure what my first bought book was? Far too long ago to remember… I’d hedge a bet on it being Enid Blyton or Judy Blume possibly. I adored reading as a child though was often told by my parents to put my book down as I needed to go and get some fresh air occasionally! Many of the first books I read were library books, my sister and I nearly had a residence in Primrose Hill library.
Are there any guilty pleasures on your bookshelves you would be embarrassed people might see, or like me do you have a hidden shelf for those somewhere else in the house?
I don’t have any books that I hide! I have a couple of odd books that maybe don’t seem to fit in with the rest of mine. 95% of my books are fiction and every now and then I’ll buy something spur of the moment. For example I went to Prague last year and found it fascinating so bought a book on communism – which has never been read!!!
Which book on the shelves is your most prized, mine would be a collection of Conan Doyle stories my Great Uncle Derrick memorised and retold me on long walks and then gave me when I was older? Which books would you try and save if (heaven forbid) there was a fire?
I think my most prized books are a recipe book which belonged to my Nan. This was mysteriously in the boxed books that moved in with me though I didn’t put it there?!? It was published by Selfridges & Co in 1936. Bizarrely I’ve just tried to find it to take a pic but I can’t?!? Also my school edition of Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird because it’s a favourite and reiterates my love of reading and books. And I’d probably add How To Be Lost by Amanda Eyre Ward and Shotgun Lovesongs by Nickolas Butler because they are both books I’ve wanted to hug or as Simon would say gave me the ‘book tingle‘.
What is the first ‘grown up’, and I don’t mean in a ‘Fifty Shades of Grey’ way, that you remember on your parent’s shelves or at the library, you really wanted to read? Did you ever get around to it and are they on your shelves now?
Regarding what grown up books I first read. My Dad was and still is an avid reader and I suppose it was him that made me read and love John Wyndham because they were on the shelf at home. We weren’t a ‘classics’ family by any means but I loved William Golding’s Lord of the Flies and George Orwell’s 1984 because of my Dad. I don’t own any Wyndham but particularly enjoyed The Chrysalids.
If you love a book but have borrowed the copy do you find you have to then buy the book and have it on your bookshelves or do you just buy every book you want to read?
If I borrow a book and love it I will definitely buy a copy of my own. As a whole I buy the books I want.
What was the last book that you added to your bookshelves?
My newest editions added to my shelves include The Repercussions by Catherine Hall as I’m a massive fan of her first two. The Red Notebook by Antoine Laurain because Twitter was shouting about it and Daunts had a beautiful window display. And Kung Fu High School by Ryan Gattis because his new book All Involved is phenomenally astounding so wanted to read his first. One kindly sent to me, added to my shelves recently is The Last Act of Love by Cathy Rentzenbrink which is a very special book and really resonated with me, for personal reasons.
Are there any books that you wish you had on your bookshelves that you don’t currently?
I wish I had more of my books from childhood on my shelves. I still have Heidi and Mallory Towers but there are lots I don’t….I shall be having words with my parents later….
What do you think someone perusing your shelves would think of your reading taste, or what would you like them to think?
I’m proud of my bookshelves and the books on it. All my friends know I massively love reading and books so scan my shelves seeing which ones they should read next, as they value my recommendations. I’m rather anal about the condition of my books and have ‘rules’ should somebody wish to borrow one, which include, using a bookmark if you can’t remember the page number! My wonderfully prized possession proof copy of Shotgun Lovesongs was placed in a ziplock bag by a work colleague as she was scared of ruining it!!
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A huge thanks to Nina for taking part in Other People’s Bookshelves, and for my lovely haircut and bookish nattering this week in London, you wait till you see what she is going to do to my hair for the Fiction Uncovered party! If you would like to catch up with the other posts in the series of Other People’s Bookshelves have a gander here. Don’t forget if you would like to participate (and I would love you to – hint, hint, hint as without you volunteering it doesn’t happen) in the series then drop me an email to savidgereads@gmail.com with the subject Other People’s Bookshelves, thanks in advance. In the meantime… what do you think of Nina’s responses and/or any of the books and authors that she mentions?
Filed under: Other People's Bookshelves Tagged: Amanda Eyre Ward, Antoine Laurain, Catherine Hall, Cathy Rentzenbrink, Enid Blyton, George Orwell, Harper Lee, John Wyndham, Judy Blume, Nickolas Butler, Other People's Bookshelves, Ryan Gattis, William Golding