Saturday, August 22, 2009

Bookself #2...Opinions Requested

A couple of weeks ago, I posted a photo of one of my bookshelves and asked for opinions. You folks are pretty darned sharp, so I thought I'd post another shelf and see what would happen this time.

Now that you know it's all right to make assumptions about me that are based solely on a shelf of books, I'm hoping that you'll feel fewer constraints and let yourselves go. Like I said, you were very observant last time!

For this second shelf, I am going to do something a bit different. I'm going to post one photo of the entire shelf, then two more photos, each one of which shows half the shelf. All the photos are clickable so you can see them full size.

Take a look at the entire shelf....


Now here is one half of that shelf....


And here is the other half....


This shelf is the top shelf of a bookcase here in my office. Pretend that you've come over for a visit, and while we're sitting in here chatting, you see this shelf and decide to take a closer look at the books.

What would you assume about me just from those books? (Remember...assumptions are good things on a Bookself post!)

Do you own any of these books?

Which books would you pull off the shelf to take a look at?

Do you like any of the titles...do any of them "speak" to you?


Let yourself go in your comments, and next Saturday, I'll do a wrap-up-- including anything that might be a bit special about any of the books!

18 comments:

  1. If we were chit chatting in your office, I seriously doubt I would be so presumptuous as to take one of your books off the shelf. If you said go ahead, look at what you want. O-Kay! I would hone right in on Birds of the Southwest. I've never been to Arizona but I do like birds and I have Birds of the Northeast. It would be fun to compare. Have a good week and happy reading.

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  2. See, if would have to be so presumptuous as to take a book down and look at it. After all..they are BOOKS!

    I would go right for the Latin dictionary. I love me a Latin dictionary...

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  3. I'd like to take a closer look at a couple of books on your shelf. I'm interested in the Arizona Backroads and the Wilderness Areas books. They could take me to some new interesting places that are off the beaten path. I'd also like to look through your three word books. They look like fun.

    Writing and back road travel I already know. But Western Gardening? I hadn't noticed that.

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  4. So you like to travel (and have the well-thumbed guide books to prove it). You also love to play with words and meanings. The human anatomy book also leads me to believe that you either didn't sell back all your college texts or you keep it on hand for research purposes.

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  5. I would think: you live in Arizona, maybe you came from the South, you like reference books, you're into self-improvement, you probably went to a Catholic school at one time, you like genealogy.

    I have many of the same books, especially the Arizona ones and the word books. I would pull down that book A Dazzle of Dragonflies because it looks fascinating. And I love dragonflies!

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  6. I would think that you are rfom Arizona or want to go there, and that you want to learn more about computers and what you can do online.

    Can't say that anything speaks to me. Perhaps that one lost beauties of the English language

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  7. One could make several assumptions based on these books. I´ll comment on genealogy and your interest in vocabulary, because these are interests I share - thus books I would love to have on my own shelves. From what I have seen on your blog, I am not surprised to see these books either. We share quite a lot of interests.

    I have dabbled a bit in genealogy, but not much since I began writing crime manuscripts. There is a limit to how many hobbies a (working) person can pursue.

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  8. Cathy you are a kind person who loves the outdoors, travel, birds and gardening.

    Me - I'd pull down the Arizona back roads book in a heartbeat and saddle up the truck!

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  9. Great questios..I'd say you are an Arizona Newbe (last 5 years). Maybe too that you've given writing a try?

    I'd look at the bird book first.

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  10. I would say that you love nature and that you love to travel. I will probably pick up that New Orleans and The South since I live in the South. I might also look at that Dictionary Mythology since I love reading about myths.

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  11. First and foremost I would always be presumptuous enough to have a look at someone else's bookshelves - if they didn't want me to look at their books they would't have them all neatly on shelves like that would they?

    As for your shelf I'd assume an interest in travel and photography and I would take down some of those books. I've been to a lot of places in the US but not Arizona so I'd probably start with hiking in Arizona or the Arizona wilderness one. I'd also try and sneak a look at the spiral bound books to the left - who knows what excitement might be found in those!

    I'm afraid I'd stay well clear of the genealogy books - I started my working life as a reference archivist in the Australian state where England sent its first convicts - so there was a constant stream (indeed busloads some days) of people researching their family tree hoping to find a convict - I listened to so many people talk about their research in that three year period that I've stayed clear of all things genealogical since then.

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  12. Ahhh -- the "hobby" shelf! travel, photography, gardening, genealogy...

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  13. I would definitely say that you are a somewhat of a linguist with a love for words and language.
    And of course that you are a definite fan of Arizona.

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  14. I may be repeating what others said but here goes. You are a nature lover, an outdoors kind of girl, and a road traveler. But you love reading and words, you enjoy word play and the way language is used. Like me you use reference books to look things up, and you're open-minded about what you read. You're attracted to unusual or off the beaten track sorts of things. You're a "Live and let live" kind of person.
    I want your Latin Dictionary, Saints, and Dictionary of Mythology.
    I look forward to your follow up post, and reading what others have to say.

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  15. I forgot to say you love photography too!

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  16. I always look at someone's bookshelves when I visit their home or office. I might assume that you're not that interesting, based solely on this shelf. Because a lot of them look like left-over college texts to me.

    This goes to show that I'm way too prone to snap judgments! And in this case, I know better since you are interesting.

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  17. I'd say looking at this shelf you like nature and the outdoors, just from the travel guides and the bird, gardening, and hiking guides.

    I would love to check out that book "The Play of Words"

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  18. I would say, "thats a pretty darn nice bookcase Cathy. Whereever did you get it?" ;-)

    --Mike

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Thank you for taking the time to make a comment. I really appreciate it!