Friday Five: What's on your shelf?

Deb has proposed a very timely FF for me.

from http://vi.sualize.us

You probably have, like me, a study full of books. Maybe they spill into another room. They go with you in the car to appointments when you might have some dead space in your schedule. In my study, the books are double-stacked and in somewhat precarious piles. I've always dreamed of a study that looked like this:

Recently I decided to re-organize my study and put books of like topic and purpose together. (Of course, they don't stay that way -- but that's another matter!) I also culled out some books which I hesitated to even donate to the library book sale because they were either extremely outdated or had content that I didn't want the unexamined mind to read. (Not quite as bad as "The Total Woman" but... you get my drift!)

SOooo... with that in mind, let's talk about the books in your life!  

We moved last month so I am still in boxes up to my ears.  The problem with having 2 clerics in the same house is that we have books ad nauseum.  This house does not have much book space so we are making more space with foldable bookshelves.  But we really don't have that much wall space either.  And now that we are retired we are beginning to divest of all that stuff we have accumulated over the past 40 years of study.  Add to the professional library, then there are whole collections of various mystery writers.  This FF is quite timely because I am trying to choose what I am going to be using from here on out and what to give to various locals (library, parish, friends, second hand book, etc.)

1. STUDYING: What is your favorite book or series for sermon prep or study? Or have you moved from books to on-line tools for your personal study?

For the most part, I have gone to online materials for sermon prep.  Jenee keeps me well prepared.  But when I am trying to teach, I really like a book to work from.  I have found Sagrada Pagina (which I do not have but borrow from a colleague) is a great series on NT.  OT series come from either Fox's Torah and the Anchor Bible.  We have the New Interpreters Bible but so far it hasn't gotten unpacked.  I don't use it often but J. does.

2. IN THE QUEUE: Do you have a queue of books you are longing to read or do you read in bits and pieces over several books at a time? What's in the queue?

I am presently reading Diarmaid McCullougha's Christianity: the last 3,000 years.  I have been corresponding with him for a couple of years on an Anglican Communion issue so I thought I should read his stuff.  I have been rather awed by it.  I have it on Kindle but need the book because my Kindle doesn't allow sticking my finger in and looking back at what I read.

3. FAVORITE OF ALL TIME: What's one book that you have to have in your study? Is it professional, personal, fun or artistic? (For instance, I have a copy of Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day. It just helps sometimes.)

The IDB, The International Dictionary of the Bible.  I refer to that all the time.  But Wikipedia is beginning to replace it.  But I have often found that Dag Hammarskjold's Markings is still my go-to when I just need to think on things.  Also Writing the Natural Way is helpful when I am blocked in my writing.  Just for fun, are mysteries.  I also have a couple of picture books I use for meditation:  One is a photo book of artist renderings of Christ and another is a book of Icons.

4. KINDLE OR PRINT? or both? Is there a trend in your recent purchases?

For novels, I have moved to a Kindle.  Mine is a first generation so I find it hard to study from.  It is cheaper to get new novels for and I can use a larger print which was really great when I was getting cataracts removed.  I still buy books but my trips to Barnes and Noble have diminished over the past few years.  For study I really still like books.  I have only recently started to read things on my phone.  I kind of like that but the print is soooo tiny!

5. DISCARDS: I regularly cruise the "FREE BOOKS" rack at our local library. (I know, I know. It's a bad habit!) When's the last time you went through your books and gave some away (or threw some away?) Do you remember what made the discard pile?

As I post I have 4 boxes of books to go to half price books.  I must have at least 20 boxes of books still in the garage to sift through and figure out how to either get rid of them or find a place on the wall for them.  This morning's chore is to open at least one more box and deal with it.

BONUS: Post a picture of the present state of your study! Just in the interests of full disclosure, here's mine! :)

Full disclosure, my hat!  You just want to out the messiest of us, Deb!  But I just can't work when there isn't clutter--too neat is sterile! 


I'm looking forward to reading your responses!

Deb