Wednesday, September 08, 2010

Scene of the Blog Featuring Joanne of Booklover Book Reviews!


My rememberer isn't working very well today because, for the life of me, I can't think of where I ran into today's featured blogger. It probably had something to do with our mutual interest in crime fiction.

Be that as it may, I'm certainly glad I'm aware of Joanne's excellent blog, Booklover Book Reviews, which is home to the Aussie Author Challenge. I didn't take part in this challenge, even though I've been known to enjoy an Aussie author here and there, and I do have a couple of Garry Disher titles staring at me from one of my TBR shelves.

I enjoy Joanne's blog, not only for its insightful reviews, but for the other information you can find there. A recent victim of her Google account being hijacked, Joanne got everything straightened out and showed everyone how to back up their blog templates, posts and comments. You got it-- just another caring member of the worldwide book blogging community.

If you've never visited Joanne's blog before, I certainly hope you take the time to stop by and say hello!

I'll shut up now and let you take a look at where Joanne does her blogging. Don't forget that you can click on each photo to view it full size.




My study is the Scene of Booklover Book Reviews. This room is all about peace and tranquillity for me. Clean lines and relaxing colours – blue and white is the colour scheme for this room is my home. I like to keep my study desk as free of clutter as possible, as compared to the madness of my desk at work. You’ll notice I like to bring the outside in with a plant on my desk – I have at least one plant in most rooms of my home. That small dark picture on the wall near my window is actually an old painting of an elderly man on a stepladder searching for a title amongst a wall of bookshelves . The picture is not particularly valuable or even impressive – it is just something that I came upon a few years back that really struck a chord with me, symbolic I suppose.




So, back to the tranquillity – this photo shows the view from my study window, the remnants of a late winter sunset. I have seen many a beautiful sunset gazing out this window - was a little too slow with the camera today though, sorry! I consider myself very fortunate to live both within easy reach of the capital city where I work and next to the peacefulness of reserved Australian bushland and the wildlife that comes with that.





But where are all the books you ask? To the left of my desk is my favourite bookshelf. This is where I keep those books that moved me or particularly influenced me in some way. The bottom shelf contains my mathematical texts from university (from a decade ago), the second shelf contains my foreign language texts and dictionaries and the top two shelves are devoted to fiction titles. Titles featured on these shelves include A Beautiful Mind, Wild Swans, Angela’s Ashes and Suite Francaise just to name but a few. Interspersed between these are mementos of my international travels and life experiences. This is a bookshelf of both memories and creativity. The double doors on the right of the photo hide away many cluttered shelves of books (including my TBR pile) – I love those doors , they maintain that all important calm. I have bookshelves in my living area too, but I do not own a laptop so The Scene of My Blog is my study.


People here in the United States are hoping that summer will soon be over, and Joanne can show us photos of late winter in Australia. Did you notice the blooming flowers? I certainly did because something is blooming in Phoenix every month of the year.

Blue and white is one of my favorite color schemes for a room. I have a guest room and adjoining bath done in that scheme, and I always find those rooms very peaceful and relaxing.

Speaking of peaceful and relaxing, I look at Joanne's photos of her space and feel an almost Zen-like calm. This is a space in which I feel I could get a lot of work done. Thank you so very much for sharing your creative space with us, Joanne. We certainly appreciate it!

Which book blogger will be featured next week on Scene of the Blog? Stop by to find out!

9 comments:

  1. I did notice the blooming flowers and wished we had some that bloom in late winter. Her space looks so neat and tidy - I'm off to check out her blog.

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  2. I'm checking out her blog, too! I also enjoy the sense of calm that Joanne's space conveys.

    I like the idea of having an unique book case like that to showcase favorite and influential books!

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  3. I love those bookshelves!

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  4. Nice, Jo! I have a favorite books shelf too!

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  5. Thanks guys! Yes, that bookshelf is something I came across tucked away in a little back corner of a furniture store and just had to have it. I'm sure it's not a one off - but was assured it was carved by hand. It is really, really heavy - according to the poor guys who had to deliver it. I just loved it's rustic feel and the character of it.

    We are very lucky to have flowers blooming all year round here in our garden in Brisbane. While down south they do get snow, our winters up here in Brisbane are really very mild and we rarely even get frost.

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  6. way too neat. you must have tidied up first..lol
    I love that bookcase too. lovely.

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  7. Ah, it's all about keeping the clutter hidden - that really is how it always looks - my clutter is just restricted to behind the cupboard doors, that's my secret ;)

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  8. Joanne-- Your climate in Brisbane and mine in Phoenix sound very similar.

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  9. That bookcase is a work of art the way it is adorned with books and keepsakes. I love it. I work best in organized spaces too. More productive that way. Sadly my little spot is always getting cluttered. So I bumble along ;0)

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