You’ve been invited to dinner at someone’s home. Your host is busy in the kitchen and you wait in the living room. What do you do to pass the time? Admit it: you snoop around their bookshelves don’t you? We know you love shelf snooping just as much as we do, and now you can check out all sorts of bookshelves via the ABC blog.
David Young is a member of the 
: a regular contributor to Do You Read Me? He shared his beautiful set of bookshelves, and the eclectic mix of books on them, with us – way back in December, but the times, they were ahectic back then. Thanks for your patience, David!
Wow, what a beautiful set of bookshelves! They make my bookseller’s heart swell with pride. I can see quite a few collections: Is that the whole of the Jeeves collection? And what edition are those intriguing silhouette-spined series of? I think I can guess one is of Sherlock Holmes, but the other one?
That’s pretty much all of Jeeves I think – I love PG Wodehouse, classic old-style English writing. Raymond Chandler is the other silhouette-spined series – of course brought up in England too, though his style is a little different !
I can see you’re quite a big hardcover and box set fan. Do you simply like them better than paperbacks? Do you have any editions (first, rare, simply beautiful?) you’re particularly proud of?
I’m very proud of the collection of Folio Society books I’ve acquired over the years – each one unique with its own typeface, binding, and specially commissioned illustrations carefully chosen to reflect the work published. They’re all individual works of art in their own right.
I can see some rigorous shelving order going on, but can you walk us through your bookcase anyway?
Apart from the Folio collection, I have my fiction books arranged alphabetically, then separate sections for humour, sport, poetry, spirituality, travel, history, music and general reference. I used to have a big chess collection, but when I stopped playing actively I gave them to a local chess club. Actually, taking photos for you forced me into rearranging my collection more logically than before, so thanks for that discipline !
Your books on religion and spirituality look decidedly newer than your fiction collection. Is that area a relatively new interest for you? What set you off on reading so many? Has your taste in books changed over the years?
Which is your favorite section in your mini-library?
