For the love of Books.

For collectible Friday, I am doing the collection I LOVE the most. BOOKS!
I have always been a reader, well, maybe not in the womb but pretty close. In high school I worked in the school library (I know, nerd alert but oh how I loved it) and always read the most books of any kid in the school. I worked every summer and after school so my love of reading could be fulfilled.

After high school, I worked in a used book store. With the exception of my kid and the dog, there is nothing I love as much as books.

When we remodeled this home about 11 years ago, we turned the downstairs into a library. It seemed so big at the time. I thought for sure it would last forever before we could fill it up. It made it about a year.
The pictures show just some of the shelves that are located in the library. Underneath each set of open shelves are a set of closed door shelves. The library holds about 3,000 books.
I mostly read mysteries and those are the ones that get to reside on most of the open shelves. I have a section for decorating books and another for non-fiction favorites, like Gerald Durrell, Gladys Taber and Betty MacDonald.
In the closed shelves, are poetry, business, non-fiction, sports, reference, vice, true crime.

I now collect antique books and these are located upstairs in vintage bookcases.

My master bedroom has all the books I am currently going to read, am reading, or just thinking about reading.

Now that the X no longer resides here, I have packed his clothes in paper bags and I get to use his closet for even more books. It was a wonderful trade.

I have a huge love of books and probably always will. They are a hard collectible though. The space issue is huge. I never have enough room and am always on the look-out for new ways to provide shelving.

Now that I have branched out into antique books, sun and moisture have become issues that need to be dealt with. I am currently working on Louisa May Alcott and my favorite of all time, Walt Whitman. They share a bookcase and I hope to have it filled by the years end.

But even with the problems, they are a delight. Bookstores are amazing places and used bookstores are the best ever!

So hopefully, you will start your own collection.