1) Who are you and where are you?

Krys C - currently NL, Canada, but I tend not to be anywhere too long. Should be back overseas this Spring.

2) What do you do for work?

For the last five 1/2 years I've had the good fortune to do something I love for a living, tattooing purdy pictures onto the bodies of people from all walks of life. The last two and 1/2 years I've combined this with travelling, and tend to alternate between work and backpacking.

3) What do you do for fun?

Again, I'm fortunate in that my work IS fun. If I'm not putting art on people, or doing art for the hell of it, I could be at any plethora of things; reading, writing, having a coffee or a martini with a friend, checking out forums, watching youtube or following six degrees of separation on wikipedia articles. Which may all sound a little dull I suppose but I tend to balance it out with hiking, scuba diving and checking out things like the Dome of the Rock and the Giza pyramids so I feel there's a pretty good balance there.

4) Tell me something about your bookshelves.

Well, bookSHELF more accurately. This is the first time in a while I've even actually had one. I find shelves don't tend to fit in backpacks. So my shelf is a little sad, at the moment, I'm afraid, and filled only with a couple books I grabbed from storage at my parent's place before heading back to St. John's for a while.

 5) Tell me something about ONE of the books on your shelf.

To be honest, I haven't read most of them, which I why I bothered to bring them out with me. I'm currently working through the short stories of 'Tesseracts 13', a Canadian anthology of horror-based fiction in which my best mate had her story, 'silence' published. Congrats, Steph.

Also, a very small book you likely can't see the spine of is 'Everything you wanted to know about Anarchism but were afraid to ask' - which sounds insanely corny but is actually a fantastic short read and really does do what it says on the cover.

1) Who are you and where are you?

I am Jovan Vasiljevic, a fantasy nerd and I live in the capital of Serbia, Belgrade.
 
2) What do you do for work?

I am student of Computer Science and Information Technologies and part-time I make websites.
 
3) What do you do for fun?

Play D&D and spend unhealthy amounts of time on Internet.
 
4) Tell me something about your bookshelves.

They are my pride and joy. I've loved books since I was a kid and for 15 years I've been collecting them, and now my collection numbers 156 books, with planned additional 51 to be purchased this year. They are mostly fantasy novels, but here and there are scattered timeless classics which every literature fan must have read at some point.
 
5) Tell me something about ONE of the books on your shelf.

Reading Song of Ice and Fire was one of the best experiences I've had in my life.

1) Who are you and where are you?

I am 'Lin Lawhn, I am currently a Religions major living in Northern California.
 
2) What do you do for work?

I am a freelance seamstress, and I am working on establishing my own line of reconstructed clothing and accessories.
 
3) What do you do for fun?

I read, ride my bike in the park, and do local theater productions.
 
4) Tell me something about your bookshelves.

About a year ago, I inherited roughly 200 books, mostly on the subjects of religions, spirituality, and occult practices. I ended up donating the majority of my sci-fi/fantasy collection to the local library to make room for the newcomers. I still have many books under my bed, because I don't have enough room for them!
 
5) Tell me something about ONE of the books on your shelf.

I read the Illuminatus! Trilogy by Robert A. Wilson and Robert Shea before any of the other books on this shelf. It is a hilarious mindbender that you can reread many times, because you notice new jokes every time!

 

1) Who are you and where are you? 

I'm Scott Underwood, and I'm in El Cerrito, California.
 
2) What do you do for work?

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

Read books, play and listen to music, watch old movies.
 
4) Tell me something about your bookshelves.

These shelves are in our living room, away from the bulk of the books in the library downstairs. They're mostly visual books -- comic collections, pop-up books, art books -- that I want visitors to pull off the shelf.
 
5) Tell me something about ONE of the books on your shelf.

"The Contract With God Trilogy" by Will Eisner (dead center, top shelf) is a collection of seminal graphic novels about immigrant life in the Bronx, much of it over several generations in a single tenement building on Dropsie Avenue.
 

1) Who are you and where are you?

Heidi Galore in Brooklyn, NY
 
2) What do you do for work?

Attempted Abduction Analyst for the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children. Love my job!
 
3) What do you do for fun?

Dabble in cartooning once in a while, but mostly read, watch bad 80s action flicks and chauffeur my wife around to burlesque gigs/shows (she recently broke her leg).
 
4) Tell me something about your bookshelves.

Ha! Well they are color coordinated. Something I've been slightly obsessed about since my youth. My wife was kind enough to hobble around and organize them this way with the mountain of the spare time she suddenly has.
 
5) Tell me something about ONE of the books on your shelf.

This is about one but it affects 4 books...but the Bruce Catton Civil War series are not mine. My uncle (a Civil War reenactor and speed musket shooting competitor) loaned them to me almost 10 years ago with explicit instructions to return them. I'm only half way through them so I just can't bring myself to return them. I'm hoping he doesn't see this. :)

1) Who are you and where are you?

Angelina Fong, Bay Area, California
 
2) What do you do for work?

I work for an online marketing agency and am also a small business owner.
 
3) What do you do for fun?

I'm a crafter-- I love to sew and knit. I also enjoy fine wines, cooking and watching romantic comedies.
 
 4) Tell me something about your bookshelves.

These are the top 2 shelves of just one of my bookcases. Many of these books are ones I've most recently read-- a few are new and waiting to be read.
 
5) Tell me something about ONE of the books on your shelf.

I was reading "The Autobiography of Malcolm X" by the pool one hot day this past summer. I didn't realize just HOW hot it was outside until the glue in the spine of my book started to melt. There is now an entire section of the book that has come undone from the rest of the book because of this.

1) Who and where are you?

Max, from Bursledon in Hampshire

2) What do you do for work (and fun?)

Information Technology

4)Tell me something about your shelves.

My wife calls me a "Boat-Arak (instead of an anorak), as I am interested in boats, sailing them, rowing them, desiging them, building them ...

5) Tell me something about ONE of the books on your shelves.

Storm Tactics by Lin and Larry Pardy is about surviving storms aboard a small yacht. My wife and I spent 48 hours "hove to" on a small yacht 1000 miles from land - it was uncomfortable, but everything the Pardy's said worked for us.
 
Also collection of Ellmore Leonard - how does he tell so much story with so few words?!

1) Who are you and where are you?

My name is Yael and I'm from Tel Aviv, Israel.
 
2) What do you do for work?

I'm an English Literature student so I keep various embarrassing student jobs :)  
 
3) What do you do for fun?

Read, watch movies, surf online, go out on the town with my friends or just chill out at home.
 
4) Tell me something about your bookshelves.

I'm quite proud of them actually. Though only one shelf is shown, I have a big "beehive" shelf unit and the books are separated by language [Hebrew and English]. There's also a separate shelf for cookbooks and poetry.  
 
5) Tell me something about ONE of the books on your shelf.

Eggers' "You Should Know Our Velocity!" [along with others on the shelf] was bought on my trip to NYC at Borders [some at B&N]. It was a dream come true for me to visit those stores, I felt like I was on 9th cloud! On that trip I bought about 20 books to bring home with me.
 
 

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.