Bryan Maxwell has Nothing Better to Discuss
This past week, Franklin the God of Chance has finally seen fit to drop a bookshelf into our laps. This is both a wonderful and terrible event, as my excuse for leaving the front room a mess has been taken away. Until now, this has been The Storage Room, aka the room where we throw all the shit that doesn't really belong anywhere. I'd like to turn this into a gaming room of both the roleplaying and boardgaming persuasions. Not sure how often this would be used, but I'd still like to do it.
Anyhow, the room is still a mess, but I managed to occupy the bookshelf with the majority of our books. Now, lucky reader, is your opportunity for a virtual tour of our bookshelf. We begin at the highest shelf of the tower, also known as the zenith of the bookshelf. Sometimes known as the top shelf. Strap yourself in!
The main attraction here is the Harry Potter books. We have books 1-5 which were already out when I got into the series, and books 6 & 7 which I bought on release day. Mixing hardcovers and paperbacks is emotionally distressing for me. Also here we have Messages from Micheal 1 & 2, books gifted to me from Hellwoman. These are about the soul's journey through past, present and future lives, psychic stuff and other supernatural/spiritual phenomena. We als have the idiot's guide to zen living, a very good read filled with good guidelines for living that I am too lazy to follow. And of course, what library would be complete without the Big Book of Conspiracies? A few remnants of my Magic playing days make me feel all nostalgic and round out shelf A.
Shelf B contains my Stephen King books and Anne Rice books, the vast majority of which were read between 6th and 12th grade. I read Bag of Bones while I was attending SC4. Basically, when placed in a situation where I'm held captive with nothing to do but read, I'll pick up a paperback. Otherwise, not likely. Apart from the Harry Potter series and I am Legend, I've read very few books since high school. There are a lot of classics here: The Stand, Four Past Midnight (my first King book,) and Needful Things are my favorites. For Anne Rice, I loved the Mayfair chronicles and the first 5 books in the vampire chronicles (except Queen of the Damned) and Memnoch the Devil is the best of that bunch. Behind this layer of horror/smut are many magazines, mostly back issues of PC Gamer, Electronic Gaming monthly, The Duelist and a few Gen Con programs. I like magazines, I like my reading to be bite-sized. Like my ravioli.
Codename Deliverance is the shelf where my inherent coolness really begins to show itself. Strategy guides of various usefulness can be seen here. They range from shit I got for a penny at work but have never used (Neverwinter Nights 2 Worldbuilder guide, Final Fantasy I & II,) shit that wasn't nearly as useful as I'd hoped it would be (Civ III, Starcraft) and shit that I've used the hell out of (Final Fantasy Tactics, Dragon Quest VIII.) Behind the layer of strat guides are my Lone Wolf and Grey Star books (22 in all.) Sadly, I lost my big Magnamund Companion book I used to have. Jimbob's collection is a little more extensive than mine. Lurking here as well are a few Magic novels, Star Wars novels and Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. Anyone wanna play "which thing doesn't belong?"
This book is a mix of things that make me feel intellectual for owning, such as Walden, Emily Dickinson's poetry, and the Count of Monte Cristo. These are shuffled up amongst other brain busting books about Metallica, Pearl Jam and Nine Inch Nails. You can also spot Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Hound of the Baskervilles. I fucking love Sherlock Holmes stories, stashed amongst the Lone Wolf books on shelf C are The complete Sherlock Holmes chronicles. I love mysteries, and I adore the setting. As a gaming nerd I'd love to see an adventure/RPG type game set in early 20th century London. Oh yeah, Lord of the Rings is also on this shelf. The movies are among my favorites, but the book was a fucking chore.
This is where all the big'uns go. Most of these came from the bargain area of Barnes & Noble or Waldenbooks. The huge books tend to be too expensive to pay full price for. Again we have a mixed bag: some Calvin & Hobbes and Foxtrot (my favorite comic strips,) a ginormous book about Monty Python, the Book of the Subgenius and Revelation X, the art book that Billy stole and gave to me at Gen Con in '98 alongside the art book I bought from Dan Frazier. Oh, and if you need to know anything about cats or aquarium fish, I'm the guy.
I was going to keep linking things, then got tired of it. The End. Here's a bonus picture from some old Dragon Warrior strategy guides:
The magic keys unlock secrets!
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@ 4:46 PM
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