/lit/ - Literature

>>15186096
Bump. I will take a picture tomorrow. It is night in bongland and my old dog is asleep in the room so I will post in the day to show you guys the progress on my parents reading room.

>>15186096

>>15186273
Thanks anon, excited to see it!

>>15186385
In the meantime, here is the dog. My sister filtered him so he looks younger but he is fuckin old.

Books should be read for their contents, not placed on shelves so the owner can show off their aesthetics.

>>15186453
hurr durr dont put book on shelf

>>15186385

>>15186418
Cute dog, how old is he?

>>15186517

>>15186517
He is 13, nealry 14. Old af for a dalmatian. His back legs are starting to sink and he can't get up to easy now. Hos sight is only good for about 3 feet in front of him. Next gew weeks and I'll take him to the vet. Is that your reading room anon or another stock photo? I like it, my ideal one is cabin and warm light style like this.

>>15186096

books: circa 15,000
organization: by subject. i store them between 3 locations: my main/familial home back in my birth city, my apartment and a storage facility in my current city. i rotate out stacks based on my current research--it operates mainly as a reference library.
dedicated reading space: yes, a couple places in my apartment. i virtually always underline while reading so it's mainly dedicated desk-space. also have a reading "nook" with comfy recliners but i just end up napping in those.
favorite set up? probably this corner of my apartment (pic related). i really like the lighting situation, and am just generally in love with the apartment space itself. makes quarantine a fucking breeeeeeze.

>>15186702
whats your net worth, and how many women have you laid with?

>>15186702
this is holy based. show more.

>>15186547

>>15186559
13 is ancient for a Dalmatian, very long and fruitful life! What kind of secrets do those old bones harbor? Good to hear you're getting him regular vet visit even through all this.

It's a stock photo unfortunately. My room looks very close to pic related. I want to change it into something more classical but having a hard time balancing that with the chic stuff everywhere else.

>>15186702
This looks so cozy. Those light fixtures are great and add a lot of warm ambiance, I'm a little jealous. May I ask for a better shot of the desk? I'm interested in the mini shelf that's partially obscured.

>storage facility in my current city
This is what I'm doing as well, but it's a huge pain when you need something obscure offhand.

>>15186800
Unfortunately the vet visit I mentioned is the final one. He is going to start to decline soon. He is my parents dog and has spent the last three years of his life on a farm chasing wild hare and sniffing after pheasant and grouse. He is already in doggy heaven.

I tried to go old school too. Sometimes its an impediment. My desk was something from the 20s and it is so small I cant get my knees under it without clamping them shut hard. It is made for tiny people of the past. For me the main thing is quiet and cosiness. If it is near a tv I cannot do it. If it is too draughty or echoing it is no good either.

>>15186728

silly questions, though out of respect: i'm happily married. quality over quantity, brother.

>>15186800

hey, thanks man--is that a pic of your place? looks cozy as hell, my wife would love the color scheme. what kinda books you invest in?

the light is lovely here--i use a combo of philips hue and stand alone lights during the evening, but my apartment faces west, so the light from the day streams in otherwise. love it.

when you say a better shot of the desk: a shot of the desk itself, or of the shelves of books next to it?

>>15186787
i used to post a lot of pics over the years and have tried to offer a scan-in system whereby the library is slowly converted to a digital, shareable basis. usually i get accused of posting from a bookstore, and people end up just being extremely rude and mean, so it collapses. in general, though, i would ultimately love to share/open up the entire library. alas, a dream deferred...

for some reason I really like reading on the toilet. I will sit on the toilet and read long after I've pooped. then you can just let piss leak out of you catheter style. otherwise I have a cheap desk chair with no arms that I sit on

I own over a hundred books. Try to organize by type of literature, poetry gets its own section, philosophy a section, non-fiction a section, music books a section, theater a section, etc. I usually just read on my bed.
>>15186976
I do this as well.

>>15186976
>>15186990
enjoy the haemorrhoids fools

>>15186517
do Americans not live in brick house third world tier

>>15187017
enjoy holding your pee

>>15186096
>How many books do you own?
somewhere between 45-65 books, mostly on war, battles and generals/aces. i come from a military family. its interested me since childhood, my WWII veteran grandfathers bought me WWII video games and it was a snowball of interest since. also, general history (which angers some people here, curiously)
select fiction books, typically the books some of my favourite movies are based on.
>How do you organize and store your books?
the big shelving unit to the left, although some books are in my other room, in other, smaller shelving units. i organize by subject and book size, larger->smaller
>Do you have a dedicated reading space?
the living room, shown here. i open up all the curtains and read in the natural light. turn off all electronics so no distractions.
>If yes, what's it like?
like so
>Favorite reading setup?
huh? just my comfortable couch, and the coffee table in front of it.

>>15187227
started from the bottom

>>15187236
now we 'ere

>How many books do you own?
Around 500
>How do you organize and store your books?
The fiction is mostly sorted by author's surname unless I have enough by a single author to give them their own shelf. Non fiction is just kind of organized by putting similar books sort of close to each other. I also have a shelf of plays and letters and a few shelves of short story collections
>Do you have a dedicated reading space?
Not really. I like to read on any sittable surface I can find in my house
>Favorite reading setup?
Honestly just sitting in a chair. As long as the position isn't distracting it doesn't matter.

>>15187017
This, reading on the toilet WILL give you roids. You're young and think your anus is invincible but you just wait a few years sonny and your asshole will be turning inside out.

Every year without roids is a blessing from God. Don't squander that blessing by accelerating your roid accumulation, reading on the toilet every day like a damn fool. I love reading on the toilet too. You now what happened to me? Inside out asshole. Now I live the rest of my life mildly irritated by an inside out asshole. You've been warned.

>>15187257
listen to this man because he tells the truth

>T. someone who brought their gameboy with them during 45 minute long shits
regret, regret, regret

>>15187244
Do you only read things from /r/books? Pls ask your high schools AP English teacher for better recs

>>15188194
what books are you referring to?
yes ive read brave new world and of mice and men in english class. i really liked them both.
80% of my books are war books....

>>15186096
I did what I could in my small japanese apartment (first world my balls).

>>15188211

>>15188211
surprisingly comfy
but how easy is it to pull the chair away to access the bottom books? thats all that would matter to me

>>15188237
Very easy, it's quite light.

>>15186453
so you buy a book and read it. Whats next, give it away and never read it again or just pile them up on the floor?

>>15187244
no nazis >:(

>>15186096
Wholesome thread

>>15186418
With a good dog

>>15186961
And good people

>>15187257
And good advice

As I can’t post my library right now due to being at my parents place, please accept my easter eggies setup instead.


Have a nice day guys

>>15188324
they’re not defying gravity irl

>>15188320
dont b rude

>>15188330
I forgot to say the details

These are pretty much all my books

they are organized chronologically mostly, with certain spots being dedicated to genre.

I sit on my couch or in a chair next to the bookshelf

>>15188371
Decent well rounded start, anon.

>>15188420
Thanks!

>>15188211
>>15188221
1DK? It's a cozy setup anon, I like it. I gave up on having a personal library while abroad so this is pretty commendable. How long have you lived there? Must have been a pain to transport those books.

>>15186702
pretty similar to mine

>>15188867
These are the same image

>>15186453
Why not both? And why do you assume displays in someone's own home are meant to "show off" and not done because the owner finds them appealing?

Here's a question for you anons with large personal book collections... does it ever give you anxiety of a sort to be surrounded by so much reading material? I was walking through a large library one day and suddenly felt overwhelmed by the sheer number of books around me. The amount of knowledge and worthy effort that went into all these; the fact that it'd be a gargantuan effort to read through even one shelf, and how many hundreds of shelves there are... since then I've felt strange about the idea of a home library. Can anyone relate or am I just crazy?

>>15186453
Shelves are for storage. The owner likes their books and can reference them or loan them out to friends and family if they show interest.
Stop being so obsessed with seeming pretentious.

>>15186517
Oh that looks awful
>>15188867
>not even rotating it
Who’re you tryna kid?

>>15188908
i thought i did rotate it wtf

>>15188913
Here. I donno why I bothered.

Are these good fans? Are they air conditioning units?

>>15188847

>>15188908
>>15188879
>>15188301
It's better not to respond to low quality posts. Share some good reading setups friends?

>>15188901
YOU'RE RUNNING OUT OF TIME START READING NOW

do you guys read at a desk?

>>15188929

>>15188937
This one is a custom DIY. It's not my taste but I like the creativity.

>>15188950

>>15188973

>>15188847
>1DK
I think so: 32,22m2.
>How long have you lived there?
I've been living in Japan since December of 2018, but I moved in last June. It was very easy because I was living in my wife's apartment and it's a few meters away from this one. We had to move out because men were not allowed, I was hiding in there while I was waiting for my visa.
I bought almost all of them in Japan, they were all over her apartment.

>>15186961

Hey! i remember you i gave me a copy of something or other (i think it was Revel's Last Exit to Utopia, but im not sure.)
Thanks again.

Keep up the quality threads. Sadly im not at home so cant contribute .

>>15188979
post your books

>>15188989

>>15188997
That's pretty nice! I only brought 5 english books with me while I lived there, amassed a huge collection of Japanese books instead. Now I have twice the problem to deal with when I inevitably move back. How are you liking your new place? Do you plan to upgrade your setup while you're there?

>>15189048

>>15189070

>>15189082

>>15189097
One more for the road. "Good friends, good books, and a sleepy conscience: this is the ideal life."

>>15186961
Aren't you that political adviser guy from the states? Those shelves and book selections look familiar

Please get yourself a daybed if you have the room. Mine is a full size, but if your space is smaller, twin size is an option. it is endless comfort, and with it having a mattress and everything, you can customize it. This one has a nice foam cushioning so you kind of sink into it. I like a good chair but I like to spread out too

Shit not sure how that ended up upside down.

Never mind I guess. Turn your head around for it I suppose. Sorry about the double post.

>>15189810
>Apology not accepted; and
>I shall not turn my head around

>>15186418
that is a good dog

>>15189788
Lovely, I like it.

PS here is my sweetie

I bought a small apartment and if the corona thing passes soon I'll be able to move in there in the summer. I have around ~250 books so that's just 9 shelves, I'm thinking of buying two of pic related for the living room to have some free shelves for the near future and then see what can be done. The other idea is to just have one wall in the bedroom dedicated for that, I still have time to think about it.

>>15189878
tragic hipster
crap dog

>>15189801
The Dead Father is one of my favorite books, how are you liking it?

>>15189995
>crap dog
Crap opinion, rude person

>>15189878
>PS here is my sweetie
Certainly is a sweetie anon, good dog.

>>15186961
don't listen to the faggots on here. open it up, would be willing to help ya out in any way I can

>>15189920
you look well adjusted

>>15186096
>>15186273
>>15186418
As promised, my pictures. This is actually my parents house. They are gonna put a wall up between the rooms in the last pic as it currently is an L shape with the living room. You cant read if someone is watching tv. Then we are gonna put in fitted book cases along this new wall.

>>15190096
I'm really liking it a lot so far, just about a third of the way through. The omniscient narration here is really powerful, and his dialogue in this one is especially pleasantly idiosyncratic. I love his short stories and felt a recent need to return to his work. Glad I did.

I've tried to bring up Barthelme in other threads before, but I haven't been able to have good conversations. Thank you for noticing and asking

>>15190099
Your dog is a good dog too, what a blessing to this board

Thank you for the kind and wholesome thread

>>15190386
That's going to make for a perfect book nook, endless potential there and already looks like excellent lighting. Excited for you

>>15190386

>>15188950
christ that chair looks uncomfortable

>>15190413

>>15190421

>>15190435

>>15190399
Fhanks anon. Blessed indeed. All dogs are good dogs. We are both very lucky :)

>>15190403
Thanks anon. The last pic has the most poential though. It is gonna be great once it is walled off. It is the shadiest place i the house and the two lights there make it illuminated like a cave with a stone age fire in it or something. Wish I took a pic last night come to think as it really is cosy. Just gotta throw up a wall and refit those windows that are draughty and falling out and it'll be kino.

>>15190442
A daybed would be so perfect in there, especially in front of those windows. It's like a couch but with a mattress instead of cushions. It was the best decisions I made for my reading/writing room. I could spend days on there

>>15190459
The last pic will be the living room, that is where the wall is going up so there may not be the room on this side but I might move that solitary purple couch out from the small window in pic 2. We were thinking of putting a chaise lounge under there, but a big one with lying down potential. I will consider it though anon, thank you.

>none of the shelves have glass doors
You utter, utter plebs. It's like you all want your books to get dirty and disgusting, much like yourselves, instead of having fresh and clean books to enjoy. For shame.

>>15188330
very cosy anon

>>15188330
i don't like the wacky font on that edition of jude the obscure. that book should have serious typography

>>15188867
that's just the pic i took...

>>15188901
i cannot tell you how much i identify with this. i live on a daily rollercoaster of utter, overwhelming inspiration (such immortal longings amidst such immortal knowledge!) and utter, overwhelming dread (life upon life would never be enough...). somewhere in between i find the will to grind, and i have come to love it. but yes, yes--a thousand times yes.

>>15188928
the fans are great. manufacturer is dyson. expensive but extremely well-made and dependable. highly recommend.

>>15188929
>>15188989
>>15189048
>>15189070
>>15189082
these are lovely. are you all the owners?

>>15189014
thanks, brother. let me know if you are searching for anything else as of late.

>>15189685
love this. looks like my place back home. gotta go with them matching eames.

>>15190170
hey man, i would LOVE to open it in any way possible. at this point i have one of the deepest libraries re: western politics in the world--not to brag, but to share. i am simply too busy to scan the amount i would like to--but if there are anons in the boston or DC areas who are willing to scan and want access to a library of obscure and rare and expert-level material, then it is absolutely yours. it is truly my hope to one day share it all.

>>15189552
i am! i used to consult/teach. now at the ripe age of 30 i've retreated into my library and do nothing but read and write all day. i have nothing to currently show for it but, you know, hold your breath, etc.


>>15186096
pic is another dedicated reading nook. i need a desk to read so this is far more my wife's gig. very comfy chairs, though, and the light in the afternoon plunges through the windows.

>>15190753
>thanks, brother. let me know if you are searching for anything else as of late.

There is.
Since that Revel book i've actually taught myself a good amount of Italian. I can read fine — and am taking a break from Croce's Teoria e storia della storiografia right now — but have real trouble with pronunciation. The Italian girl i've been unsuccessfully hitting on has gone back to Italy to take care of her grandparents and wont be back any time soon. =(
Now Im in desperate need of audiobooks. Something i can read on paper and then follow by ear.

I've ordered a CD of Goffredo Parise's Sillabari but that was 2 month's ago so i don't think it's coming . Anywho, if you have any Italian audiobooks to share i'd be absolutely delighted.

Svevo, Pirandello, Calvino, Malaparte, Leopardi, D'Annunzio, Goffredo Parise, Moravia ... or really anyone

Big ask, but i figured i'd try.

Thanks.

>>15186096
>>How many books do you own?
Somewhere around 800-1,000. I'm out of shelf space and need more shelving though.
>>How do you organize and store your books?
Three main areas in our house with books - my office with my books, my wife's office with her books, and our living room with old/antiquarian books. Mine are organized by subject (history [organized chronologically], biography [alphabetical by subject], fiction, poetry, philosophy, politics, general [all alphabetized by author]). Old books are organized by genre (literature, childrens, mystery, humor, poetry, non-fiction), all alphabetical by author. Don't really know how my wife's books are organized; her system works for her but I think it's largely just her own aesthetic preferences as opposed to anything systematic.
>>Do you have a dedicated reading space?
Have a few - main ones are in my office, and in our living room by the fireplace. Do a good amount of reading outside on the patio or up in the gardens too though.
>>If yes, what's it like?
Pic related for office reading space.
>>Favorite reading setup?
Any setup is fine if it is comfy enough I suppose.

>>15191553

i actually don't have diddly-squat in terms of audiobooks. like not a single one. do you use audible or something? sorry, friend; i do have all those authors (save for parise) in some physical version, though. you want audiobooks strictly?

>>15188934
Please answer this guys

>>15191730
yes. bravo. absolutely lovely.

professor/academic?

>>15191761
>professor/academic?
Maybe some day. For now though I'm pretty well ensconced in a municipal bureaucracy.

>>15191837
what are your interests/current projects? your books seem ancient-warfare-history-philosophy related? wtf is someone seemingly so well-read doing in a bureaucracy?

really diggin your setup.

>>15191742

Heck at the moment i'm reading just about anything in Italian i can get my teeth into.

Svevo short stories .
Malaparte (anything except Coup d'Etat, The Skin or kaputt). .
D'Annunzio's poetry (it's online but very incomplete)
Anything by Alberto Arbasino

Or, just recommend me something. If the Italian is not ludicrously hard i'll definitely read.


Also, a long-shot but i'd hate not to ask. Diligenza e voluttà it's a book length interview with Gianfranco Contini the famous Dante scholar. I've only seen it one's, at library in Italy, and never since.

Oh, also, also, Eugenio Montale's criticism. I have Auto da fé but the rest of it is impossible to find. I think after the scandal, the editions simply went out of print. which is a terrible shame.

>>15191961
>Heck at the moment i'll read just about anything in Italian i can get my teeth into.

>>15191730
Goddamn this looks absolutely comfy.

>>15191882
It's largely happenstance that the chair in my office is by that section of books. History gets more contemporary the farther right you go, and then other office bookcases have different books/subjects.

Interests are pretty diverse but there is not a good way of saying that without sounding too full of myself unfortunately. Like reading history (particularly of ancient greece), 20th century literature and poetry, and contemporary politics. Also enjoy traveling, drinking (wine, spirits), fermenting/distilling, and gardening. Mess around with various other DIY stuff too.

>wtf is someone seemingly so well-read doing in a bureaucracy?
Just kind of happened; first job out of university was with a large city doing general policy work because it paid well for an entry-level job. Did well enough in it to move up to higher levels there and in different cities, and the pay and benefits have been good. I don't come from wealth (my parents were middle/lower middle class and worked their way up to upper-middle class, so I was comfortable growing up but no trust fund or large inheritance or family estate to go back to), so I still need to work for a living. Being somewhat well read (which I wouldn't even say I am compared to many other anons here) has been helpful in general.

>>15186418
How are dalmatians as pets? everywhere I look makes them seem like needy pit bulls

>>15186702
What chess set is that? looks great

>>15192284
Amazing temperment. Very hard on your time though for the sake of exercise. Ideally 5 miles a day, at least 1 or 2. They don't bark at all though unless there is danger so quiet and peaceful. They also grin and sometimes make talking noises.

>>15192453
They ok with kids? I plan on starting a family within the next 4 years.

Also he looks like a wonderful boy

>>15191730
Living room. Giving serious thought to taking out the small bookcases on either side of the piano and replacing them with built-ins to accommodate books we lack shelf space for right now.

Bonus pooch pic given the other dogs in this thread.

>>15192699
mad comfy
>>15191730
whats the last book on the right in the bottom middle shelf? war something

>>15192781
Niall Ferguson's "The War of the World: Twentieth-Century Conflict and the Descent of the West." Actually is kind of crazy to think that it's been nearly 15 years since it was published; I remember Ferguson doing the circuit as a full-throated supporter of imperialism back when it was first published.

>>15192699
>no tv
nice

>>15186096

>>15192284
When I was growing up I had a friend with dalmatians and they were horrible.

>>15192897
I wanted to /diy/ a standing desk, but the idea of wheels never crossed my mind. That's actually pretty neat.

Me and my pal hanging out in my lovely attic library

>>15193254
Kek

>>15192284
Health problems and inbreeding

>>15190386
>>15190413
>>15190421
>>15190435
>>15190442
This looks great anon, excited to see the finished product!

>>15190459
>>15189788
I love daybeds too, just got a new one for my place to upgrade my reading nook. I'm moving everything away from my window and putting it by my fireplace instead. Peak comfy.

>>15192537
Sorry i am late to reply anon. Yes, marvellous with kids. You must work them though and the discipline that comes with that. Get their eneegy out or they will rough house with the kids. He is a great dog and the fact he will be gone in a few weeks is really looming on me.

>>15194810
Thanks anon. It will be a while yet thanks to corona chan fucking up all sorts like cash flow but hopefully it won't be too long.

these are all ripped off of reddit or google images...

I have around 200 books. The rest are in my bed

>>15195034
you trigger my ocd with tidiness

>>15192299

thanks, anon. it's a custom-made chess set by a craftsman in NJ. my favorite wood is purple heart, which is hard to find, so i decided to build it from the ground up. highly recommend.

>>15195041
Reddit moment.

>>15192713
Cute

>>15186418
looks like my old dog

>>15195034
clean your room
ew

>>15187244
mega cringe

How do you guys organize your collection? I'm trying to divide it into Poetry, Philosophy and Self-Help (yeah, yeah), Theater, Music, Fiction and Non-Fiction with each of those sections being alphabetized by author and/or subject matter in the case of biographies.

>>15189107

>>15197151

>>15196213

Do you guys with the huge bookshelves actually read all your books?

>>15197596
>>>/pol/

>>15197639
It is where we pit our backlog and store our old favourites. The ratio of read/to-read shifts over time depending.
I got about one third of it read.

>>15197639
It is where we put our backlog and store our old favourites. The ratio of read/to-read shifts over time depending.
I have about one third of it read.

>>15197646
has that ever worked?

>>15197359

>>15197892
Damn that's comfy anon. Very nice. Are those electric candles?

>Homer
>Hardy Boys
>Thackeray
>Clancy
>Emerson
>Grischam

Pretty eclectic tastes.

>>15195693
He looks like a noble fellow :)

>>15197892

>>15198903
>>15197892

yeah i'm sold. whereabouts you at? i got 15,000 books. lets be friends, lets hang.

epub/mobi library. only 25% is literature

>>15199838
What's the rest anon?

>>15199818
>15,000 books
Holy smokes! Show library pls.

>>15199894
40% christian/catholic books (theology, apologetics)
10% philosophy
8% classicism
rest is history, art and other humanities

im a poorfag. cant afford a physical library rn

>>15199931
Worry not anon, so long as you are working on yourself with that stuff, you are all good :) best of luck to you.

>>15197665
>one third of it read
pseud
I understand having to-read books but that many?