It’s taken me a while, but I finally got my office in the new house in some semblance of order. I say “semblance” because I need to rearrange some of the things on the shelves. I also need to add a shelf to the book case in the center of the second photo. And put up some curtains. And…
But I digress. This is my writing/blogging/reading room. And no, this isn’t all the books. Most of the mass market paperbacks that have been unpacked, many of the hardcovers, and the digest magazines from the 80s and later are housed in the Library Annex, formerly known as The Guest Room. (Please don’t tell my wife I said that; she still thinks it’s The Guest Room.) This room has the collectibles, the graphic novels, the mysteries and crime, autographed books, and trade books by my favorite authors.
The photos go from left to right. This is what would be the formal living room in a normal person’s house.
Some items of interest: In the first picture, the lamp is an antique I’ve had for years and just had repaired this past week.
In the second photo, the bookcase in the center is not flush against the wall. It’s the endcap for two foot long bookcases that come off perpendicular to the wall. I bought them as a set. The blue bookcase to the left facing out is designed to hold paperbacks. It’s one of two I bought when one of my favorite second hand stores (Book Tree in Richardson, TX) closed. I wish I’d bought more even though I had to go into debt to get them. The small bookcase with the R2D2 nightlight (yes, it works) contains the pulps. And, yes, that is a sword hanging on the left side of that bookcase.
You can’t see it in this shot, but behind the bookcases coming off the wall is the second paperback shelf. It contains early copies of F&SF, Astounding, and other digests along with select paperbacks. The shelf facing the pulps has the Ash-Tree Press, Midnight House, and Darkside Press volumes as well as most of the other horror. The top shelf in the right bookcase (not the top of the bookcase) is everything I have by Leigh Brackett. The shelf under that is everything I have by Henry Kuttner and C. L. Moore. The middle shelf and second from the bottom contain the Robert E. Howard collection.
This last photo shows where genius happens. I hope. The items on the wall are for inspiration. The poster on the left is a typewriter with the first page of a chapter with a noir novel; a gun, bottle of whiskey, and a pack of cigarettes are next to the typewriter. The Planet Stories poster shows the cover of every issue except one. One was duplicated in the wrong spot. All I need is to frame my picture of Robert E. Howard and add it to the wall.
Nice, I love the feeling of getting your office set up just right.
Mine is so terribly cluttered I don’t feel comfortable showing the whole thing yet.
Not surprisingly, we have a lot of the same books. I work in my living room so it has become my office. When people come over they have to sit among the clutter. heh!
Cool. I enjoyed this tour. You’ve got a little book nook there, which is very cool. I’ve got a sword or two around here as well. I love your “library annex.” LOL.
What’s this, pictures of his office? Geez. What’s the point? Hey, wait a minute…
Whoa! Lookit all the HARD CASE CRIME books! Izzat all of them? Do I have more than that? Oooh, and there’s some Haffner titles beside them, too, I think. Lots more anthologies than I have. Yow, look at those pulps. Mine are in a separate, sealed case, too. Wonder what’s in there. Some Startling Stories, I think. Heh, he fills the bookcase, then stacks titles vertically on top of them, too. Where’d that Planet Stories poster come from?
Hey, that was pretty damn interesting, even though it made me want to buy more pulps. And books. And art and bookcases. Nice lair, man.
John Hocking
Thanks, everyone. I’m glad you liked the tour. I hope I can keep it this organized. The Annex isn’t anywhere near this well arranged, so don’t look for pictures of it.
John, you’ve got good eyes. I’ve got most of the Hard Case titles. The only ones I’m missing are a couple of the more recent paperbacks, and it’s only a matter of time before I get them. I have all the mmpb titles, as well as the hard covers. Those on one of the shelves coming out from the wall. I’ve got all the Haffner Williamson volumes, which is what is by the Hard Case. Most of the other Haffner volumes are on the Brackett and Kuttner shelves. I’ve got the Edmond Hamilton volumes on the shelf with Brackett, but I’m missing a few. Again, a matter of time.
You’re right about having some Startling Stories. That and Thrilling Wonder are the two titles I have the most of. A few years ago, I made a concentrated effort to collect all of the Henry Kuttner stories that hadn’t been reprinted, and most were in either Thrilling Wonder or Startling. Of the ones I’ve read, I was surprised that some of them hadn’t been reprinted, they were that good. I’ve also got a smattering of other titles, including a few Planet Stories and Weird Tales (not nearly enough of either).
I found the Planet Stories poster online a few years ago. Here’s the link: http://www.pulpmagazines.com/posters.html