Lookshelves

1) Who are you and where are you?
 
My name is Hannahbeth and I live in South Bend, IN.
 
2) What do you do for work?
 
I'm a student at a Liberal Arts College, majoring in all kinds of awesome. Humanistic Studies, interdisciplinary studies in literature, cultural history, philosophy, art history and more. I also have a hybrid major in digital media, dance arts and women's studies. That involves a lot of putting theory into performance. I'm still learning.
 
3) What do you do for fun?
 
I'm definitely a read-fourteen-books-at-once kind of person. You can usually find me dancing around ... anywhere. I'm currently recovering from an obsession with BSG and am drawn to most things scifi. I'm also exploring the crafting and sculpture world right now.
 
4) Tell me something about your bookshelves.
 
These shelves collapse! They are meant to be able to pack easily and have seen at least 7 different rooms. The top shelf is fun reading and the second shelf is Humanistic Studies (school) stuff.
 
5) Tell me something about ONE of the books on your shelf.
 
The book with no title - top left with the praying mantis-looking thing, that is The Principles of Uncertainty by Maira Kalman. It is an illustrated year of her life. Beautiful and poignant.

1) Who are you and where are you?
 
Alex(andra) Donald, Dublin, Ireland.
 
2) What do you do for work?
 
I am a writer, blogger (http://alexdonald.wordpress.com/) and DJ.  Will also type for rent money!
 
3) What do you do for fun?
 
Read, go to gigs, movies and exhibitions, discover new restaurants, drink wine in dimly lit bars with my friends, make fantasy shopping lists of designer clothes when I'm bored.
 
4) Tell me something about your bookshelves.
 
I have moved 18 times in my life and for the last year have been living with my sister.  This shelf represents the books I have bought in that period of time.  The rest of my library (close to 1,000 books) is in storage in my Dad's house.  It is one of my life's ambitions to one day have my own house so I will be able to have all my books in the same place!  Bliss!
 
5) Tell me something about ONE of the books on your shelf.
 
The four volumes of the Paris Review Interviews on the left hand side of the photo always move house with me.  These books are a masterclass for a writer and a constant source of inspiration and motivation for me.

1) Who are you and where are you?

Agnes - country Victoria, Australia
 
2) What do you do for work?

I'm a teacher but I'm half heartedly pursuing a career change.
 
3) What do you do for fun?

Read, listen to music, write a music blog, run, catch up with friends, take photos.
 
4) Tell me something about your bookshelves.

I have three bookshelves. The one in my spare room is all books from my childhood, including three shelves worth of Enid Blyton, rescued from op shops all over Victoria! This bookshelf is in my loungeroom and also has photos and teapots living on its other shelves.
 
5) Tell me something about ONE of the books on your shelf.
 
One of my favourite books is 'A Trip To The Stars' by Nicholas Christopher. It's a story of loss and myth and magic and adventure. I re-read recently and found a note to myself that I wrote over two years ago, telling myself to resign from the job I had at the time. I eventually took my own advice, thank goodness!

1) Who are you and where are you?
 
Jonathan Gibbs, London, UK
 
2) What do you do for work?
 
Journalist, working for the website of the Independent newspaper, also writing on books for that and other publications.
 
3) What do you do for fun?
 
recently, sledging and snowball fighting, but more generally working on the novel and then trying to make it up to the family.
 
4) Tell me something about your bookshelves.
 
This is the bottom end of some alcove bookshelves in the living room. My favourite bit is the littoral zone - the zone of conflict, crossover and negotiation - between grown-up books and small boy books, where Proust sits alongside '50 Soccer Skills'.
 
5) Tell me something about ONE of the books on your shelf.
 
'A Time To Every Purpose Under Heaven' by Karl O Knausgaard is one of the more astounding novels I have read in recent years. It hides brilliant, novella-length retellings of Cain and Abel and the Flood and, 50 pages before the end, it blows itself sky-high.

1) Who are you and where are you?

I'm Jodi Chromey and I live in Minnesota.
 
2) What do you do for work?

I'm a writer.
 
3) What do you do for fun?

Read books, write, argue about pop culture, talk to myself.
 
4) Tell me something about your bookshelves.

This is a picture of my small collection of books signed by the author. Well, except for the partially pictured Complete Calvin and Hobbes (that acts as a bookend) and the Kathleen Turner memoir (she mentions me, in what is the most random event in my life). But everything in between has been signed by the author. I call this my in case of fire shelf.
 
 5) Tell me something about ONE of the books on your shelf.

I got Cat's Cradle as a birthday gift. My friend Shawn worked at the school where Vonnegut was a writer in residence. When I opened the package I thought, 'why did he send me a book I already read?' It wasn't until much later that I realized what it was. My hands actually shook when I opened the cover and saw Vonnegut's inscription. Wow.