17
Jun062010
‘The Blogger’s Bookshelf’ featuring Leontine from Leontine’s Book Realm
by Carolyn • Posted in The Blogger's Bookshelf
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The Blogger’s Bookshelf is a regular fortnightly feature here at Book Chick City. It’s where we get to tour each others bookshelves… and drool a little 
I can’t help but love these kind of posts, being kinda nosy an’ all, however it always ends up with me being completely green with envy! There are some great posts coming up, so I hope you enjoy. You can view the full schedule HERE.
I can’t help but love these kind of posts, being kinda nosy an’ all, however it always ends up with me being completely green with envy! There are some great posts coming up, so I hope you enjoy. You can view the full schedule HERE.Today I welcome the lovely Leontine from Leontine’s Book Realm…
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Hi everybody,
I first wanted to thank Carolyn for inviting me over for this feature which is coincidentally one of my most favorite topics to talk about; My bookshelves. Many of my books have a back-story attached to them; either why I bought them, how I got them or simply because their story is such a keeper. It all started with two simple bookcases as I religiously went to the library and didn’t own all that many books. Or perhaps I was still in control of my inner glommer which of course was only waiting for the right time and the right place to release its force 
Anyhoo, I would like to share my bookcases and a few true-to-the-core Leontine book stories:
Anyhoo, I would like to share my bookcases and a few true-to-the-core Leontine book stories:
The lure of The Witching Hour; It was the summer of 2004, I was 27 years old, I was still in my pre-english reading period and was searching for the perfect bikini to allow my skin to go from milky white to off white during those sunshine filled months. I was completely oblivion to the author Anne Rice when I had my Saturday morning date with my local library. I was lurking on the shelves until I found the table with new arrivals…there was a mammoth size of a book that caught me unaware. I strolled towards it, picked it up, and my arm muscles got quite a work out from its weight. I started to read the cover summary of The Witching Hour and it whispered of long forgotten family secrets to unravel <- a huge trigger for me. Since it was summer vacation I got the book a whole eight weeks to read so I had time to work up a nerve to crack the spine and start reading.
My books always have a luring hum telling me they want to be read, to please me with their stories but it isn’t until I feel that inevitable compulsion to pick it up and read it that I am answering to that humming call. So THE WITCHING HOUR sat on my shelf for a week or two until it was a Sunday afternoon, I finished a romance novel and suddenly I heard the whisper of this mammoth sized book again. I started to read the first pages where I met the Mayfair women and my fate was sealed. It wasn’t often that a book submerged me that deep in to a tale where a family’s chronology, which was cultivated through the centuries by a spirit, gradually revealed all its secrets. A thousand pages; rich in its history, with mesmerizing characters, the family dynamics complex and a magic as old as time that kept my reading every waking moment. I really feel that some books alter a reader, it creates such an impact that reverberates a long time after you close the book and The Witching Hour was such a book for me. Of course after that I had to get my hands on TALTOS and LASHER, book two and three of this trilogy. 2004 was the summer of a serious case of sunburn due to reading The Mayfair trilogy and I know 2010 is going to be the year I’m going to re-read it.
It was in the year 2008 when my book buying habits spun out of control when I ventured on reading books in the English language and my two small bookshelves just weren’t adequate anymore. So my father said to me that if I wanted to, he could make me two floor-to-ceiling bookcases for my birthday. Can I say heaven! In my imagination it was shelves upon shelves of space to fill with my newly acquired treasure of books. So by August 2008 my book sanctuary got placed in my living room and I had a great afternoon handling my precious, placing them all on my new shelves. This was what my bookcases looked like in 2008:
When I got a bit used to my new bookshelves I thought it would take me at least two or three years to fill it to capacity but a year later my bookcases looked like this and I had to move my Dutch books to a bookcase in the hallway.
One of the first series on my shelves was the Dark-Hunter series and I really have a blooper to share with you all…
The Hunt for a Dark-Hunter booklet; When I started the Paranormal genre Sherrilyn Kenyon was quickly discovered and one of the first series I hunted for in hardcover. I don’t know about anyone else but the most treasured authors/series I need in hardcover but with that desire came the hunt for out of print books. In those days I scoured Ebay like it was my dealer for my addiction and suddenly a little booklet within the Dark-Hunter series popped up on Ebay. It was a free gift I believe with the release of SEIZE THE NIGHT or SINS OF THE NIGHT, but for us foreigners we couldn’t get our hands on this free booklet so some Ebay sellers used that and the bidding went to the extreme. I confess to my utter shame that I paid 31 dollars for the booklet, including shipping. Oh yes, I was that crazy about the Dark-Hunters. It is a booklet that contains a letter from Acheron, the short story ‘Second Chances’, Q & A with Sherrilyn Kenyon, a glossary & book descriptions, fifty-seven pages in length. I was ecstatic when I received this little booklet and not soon thereafter I found out Sherrilyn Kenyon was going to attend a German book convention. There I met Sherrilyn Kenyon, talked with her, had breakfast with her and got interviewed for a German TV channel. I had a blast but it also was the moment where Sherrilyn gave me this free booklet three times, THREE! For free and signed by Sherrilyn Kenyon too! I paid 31 dollars for something that I received in spades when I met the author. In hindsight it turned out to be one of my first financial bloopers fueled by my impatience *sigh*When will I learn *headdesk* At least when I got home I got to make some girlfriends of mine very happy LOL
So the months went by, I received many books and my shelves got filled. In 2009 I was talking with my family about how I couldn’t add one more piece of paper to my bookshelves and that I needed to prioritize which ones would stay and go. Still, I hate to let go of any of my books so more months went by and the bookcases got more and more cluttered with double stacks of books. So again, in the early months of 2010 my father said: “You want to redo your guestroom? Do you want me to add a few more bookcases for you?” I had a grin from ear to ear when he said that! So spring came and while I hate construction I knew one wall of my guest bedroom was going to be covered with floor-to-ceiling bookcases again. I was going to be sensible, I was going to be organized and alphabetize my books this time. In the last days of March I came back from a family weekend and was so energized I thought I would rearrange my bookshelves…well, that job took longer than I thought *eek*.
My bookcases before:
My dinner table with books that were going to the guest bedroom:
My brand spanking new bookcases:
In the weeks of organization I had to reach the top shelves with a ladder so I really got a work-out and found books from the mid eighties and I realized, as I simultaneously separated my books in to piles of keepers, will read this someday and second chance pile, that my historical romance period was over. I still have authors in this genre I will always read but the recklessly buying in this genre is over and many books went to the second chance pile. Hopefully someone else will have pleasure reading these books
One of the books that made me remember was when I held my old, read-to-pieces copy of PHANTOMS.
The scare of Phantoms; PHANTOMS is a book I read in the nineties and oh how that book kept me up at night with shivers of fear running across my spine. The scene where the two sisters drove into the town and found it silent, found everyone dead, gave me the jitters. I remember the first time I read it and fell asleep. I woke up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom and as I crawled out of bed the moonlight made the cover shimmer. I’m telling you, I almost pied in my pijays of fright. The purplish thing, looked like some weird alien in the dark *scream*. That should teach me to read Dean Koontz before bedtime!
This was one of those memories that flittered through my mind when I was sorting all my books out but after two weeks I finally got the job done and these are my bookcases – 2010 edition – alphabetized and all:
I hope you all enjoyed my book-tour through my bookcases! Do you all want to guess how long it is going to take me to fill the remaining empty bookshelves? From side to side there are 5 bookshelves left…
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Thanks Leontine! *I am so drooling over your shelves!!*
If you want to know more about Leontine then check out her blog, Leontine’s Book Realm. You can also find her hanging out at Goodreads and on Twitter: @Leontine1976
17 Comments
LOL…31$? Ouch but I totally get why you would do that. I'm crazy like that too.
I think I already told you but I love your shelves. I always call out to BF and tell him I want those later, when we have a house.
Not sure the new space will last long tho. LOL
Great post hon.
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I LOVE your bookshelves, how lucky you are do have such a talented Dad for a carpenter
I'm also a huge fan of the Darkhunter series. Can't believe you paid $31 for the booklet lol! I've never considered book availability outside the UK.
Thank you for sharing.
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Love the bookcases, oh man you should see my, it is pitiful
But then I have to store my books at my parents for now. What a mess.
Wow again, I want all over the wall bookcases one day
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Please tell your Dad I love him!
Now I have a huge case (ha!) of bookcase envy! I totally want wall to ceiling bookshelves and when the time comes that I buy my own apartment I plan to have them. Maybe I'll have my Dad teach me how to make bookcases…or maybe I'll just help him put them in for me… *g*
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Love the bookcases! And love the story of the rapid overflowing of the new cases! I bought 3 bookcases that were suppose to "clean up" all the books in the livingroom, only to find that more books somehow found their way to all that room created by the other books finding homes!
Love The Blogger's Bookshelf too!
Thanks for sharing!
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How awesome that your father made your bookshelves!! That makes them much more special
Thanks for sharing!
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Leontine I never tire of looking at your bookshelves..
You have a dad that knows you so well….
I love the fact that you want to de-clutter but only heap more books onto the shelves..
I am very familiar with that concept..
Beautiful shelves
E.H>
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I love love love pictures of bookshelves! You're so lucky to have a whole new set of bookshelves too!
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@SusiSunshine – Yes, the 31$ hurt like crazy but then it isn't the most I ever spend on a book…*whispers* 65$ on the hardcover of S.Kenyon's FANTASY LOVER. Or what about 35$ on K.Moning's THE HIGHLANDER'S TOUCH. Some series I just had to have in hardcover and in that time i was crazy to put down the green for it *sigh* I'm so much more selective now, did a handful of authors rule my world back then, it is a few dozen times as many now. A bookbudget has been gone in to effect LOL
@Laura Summers – I was such a greenhorn back them
And as I'm not an overly fan of the UK covers I tend to stick with the US covers and usually BCE (book club edition like Rhapsody)hardcover. Oh yes, I've got a few wants on my checklist when it comes to my format books…it's a quirk of mine, like I can't stand spine creases in my paperbacks either *eek* I've tried therapy, but there's just no real cure, meds haven't helped either so everyone around me is stuck with me and my book quirks LOL
@Blodeuedd – You'll get the bookcases you want too someday, I've got total faith in your book lovin' heart that you'll get there!!
@Ms.Bookjunkie – I've helped my dad too!! Taking care of his cafeinne cravings, his stomach demands and ocassionally holding a hammer and nails LOL
@Suzanne – I was stunned how fast those shelves got filled, like I said, i was such a greenhorn
Now I'm really looking careful at what books remain on my shelves after they've been read. I'm kinda going for at least a big 8-0 birthday bash so that means lots of years reading ahead of me 
@The Book Vixen – Yeah, he likes to be busy and he indulges me as I ramble on and on about my book affairs. He's already contemplating about the fact I will at least get hubby so far to put a smaller wall-to-ceiling bookcase in my tiny spare bedroom…*grin*
@Erotic Horizon – It's crazy I know, but paperback/hardcover books still are my first love and I needs room to pet/read them LOL
@Reederreads – Ye I do feel lucky, I don't think I could read books and then just sell them *shivers in horror* I just can't, it's like pulling hairs for me o_0
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OMG! I love your post; and I love you bookshelves!! I made my fam look at them, whipering: "I want some like those *cough- hint- cough*" Cause I just have one bookshelf and the poor thing is asking for mercy cause it has +300 books on it
hehe
LOL- but really, love it- Great post!
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Very nice shelves! I wish I could get some floor to ceiling shelves like that….
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Holy wow!! I'm not even ashamed to say how jealous I am, lol. I want those bookshelves!
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I love that little tidbit you shared about Sherrilyn Kenyon's booklet. Right now, I'm re-reading my collection of her Dark-Hunter series and falling in love with them all over again.
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Wow I'm impressed with your massive book collection.. I have book shelf envy!!
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Wow! I am so jealous that you have all of that space for books. Drooling over here!
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Well I love this feature. Leontine, you have an awesome bunch of shelves!!!
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Gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous!!!
I'm reorganizing my library this summer…1700+ books! Maybe you can show off my bookshelves when I get done. =O)
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