My Bookshelf

Credit for this idea goes, I suppose, to my little sister, who posted about her bookshelf on her blog. I have little interest in tracing its antecedents any further, but I understand she got the idea from a different blog. I've added a few questions, and subtracted a few, but many of them are the same.

My bookshelf: (the top two shelves, the books piled on top, and the right half of the bottom shelf.)

Do you have any special or different way of organizing your books?
Yes, I organize them in height order, and the non-fiction books are on the top shelf, while the fiction ones are on the second shelf. Why height order? I got the idea from Hercule Poirot, Belgium's most famous methodical detective. It does give the shelves a neat appearance, does it not? The effect is somewhat spoiled by the stacks of books piled on top of the others, but this was necessary to fit all my books onto the shelf. 

How many books do you own?
103, to the best of my knowledge. And counting.

What's the thickest (most amount of pages) book on your shelf?
That would be one of my Western Literature books from college—2660 pages

What's the thinnest (least amount of pages) book on your shelf? 

Hardly even counts for a book—47 pages.

Is there a book you received as a birthday gift?

One of my cousins gave me this. It's a humourous book, but pretty interesting.

Is there a book from a friend on your shelf?

My brother gave me this book, knowing how much I like WWII history.

Most expensive book?
Probably my leather-bound ESV Bible. You can tell it's expensive because it has two bookmarks.

The last book you read on your shelf?
This book isn't actually mine; I have a stack of my brother's books on my shelf right now because he's leaving all his books in storage for the next couple years, and there were several that I wanted to read.

Of all the books on your shelf, which was the first you read?
Oh, boy, I don't really remember, but most likely this one.

Do you have more than one copy of a book?
I have three copies of Jane Eyre, and five copies of the Bible. Two ESV, and three NKJV.

Do you have the complete series of any book series?
A few, yes. Probably my favorite series that I own is Winston Churchill's The Second World War.

I also have two sets of Edith Nesbit's children's books:

What's the newest addition to your shelf?
These two that I bought a few months ago at a used book store. History books, no surprise. But hey, only one of them is on WWII. I'm branching out.

What book has been on your shelf FOREVER?
None of them. I don't even know which one I've had longest, but since I've started putting dates in, maybe this one that I got in 2008:

What's the most recently published book on your shelf?
The 3rd edition of The Lie, by Ken Ham, published in June 2013.

The oldest book on your shelf (as in, the actual copy is old)?
This book was printed in 1877. I must admit, I got it just because of how old it was; I haven't really read much of it.

A book you won?
I got this little biography on Isaac Watts as a prize for memorizing 1000 verses. 

A book you'd hate to let out of your sight (aka a book you never let someone borrow)?
I have no picture for this one, because I did let someone borrow it. Now it is somewhere in Oregon. Hopefully someone else who loves Captains Courageous found it, and is now enjoying it. Loosing a book is sad; it's even sadder when it's one of your favorite books from your childhood that you've had for several years.

Most beat up book?
Definitely my Bible. I take it everywhere, and it has stood up to a lot of abuse over the last four years. You can see the torn cover, but not the pen scribbles and blood on the pages, courtesy of various younger siblings.

A book from your childhood?
I've always loved Twenty-One Balloons, so when I started collecting my own books it was one of my first purchases.

A book that's not actually your book?
This book of Milton's poems actually belongs to my eight-year-old brother. When I started teaching him how to read, I'd always tell him it was so he could read Shakespeare and Milton. I'm keeping it for him until he gets a little older.

A book with a special/different cover (e.g. leather bound, soft fuzzy cover etc.)?
Again, my ESV Bible. Lambskin leather smells so good, and feels amazing.

A book that is your favorite color?
I have a couple grey books, but the other one has pink on the cover as well, so I'm going with this one:

Book that's been on your shelf the longest that you STILL haven't read?
Most of the books I haven't read are from the last couple years, but Jesus Freaks I got when I went to the National Bible Bee in 2009, and I've only glanced through it. Maybe when I finish all those WWII books I'll get around to reading it...

Any signed books?
I co-authored this book with my brother and a friend, and we all signed it. Does that count?

In His Steps, by Charles Sheldon—Review

What would Jesus do...

...if He lived in 1896?

...if He lived in a city rampant with squalor and drunkenness?

...if He was the editor of a newspaper?

...if He had a million dollars?

What would Jesus do?

When Reverend Henry Maxwell challenges his church to spend a whole year following in Jesus's steps, this is the question he asks them to consider. Those who take the challenge experience drastic changes in their way of life, and these changes soon begin to overflow into their community.

With a premise like that, how could a book go wrong?

Well, for a number of reasons I was not especially keen on this story, unlike most of the books I've reviewed on this blog...read more about In His Steps at A Well Cultivated Mind.