While the number of books I own is small, quite smaller than it used to be, every book has a special place on my shelves. This is not a blog about how to curate a home library, nor is it a recommendation of what you should read, rather it’s an exploration of the books I keep on my shelves and why. 

If I had my choice, my home library would be a true library in a house that has one of those traditional offices with a million built-ins… now that is the dream. 

(Voilà)

Now, back to reality…

(My sad bookshelf)

I’m choosing to insert an image of my library for visual purposes only (if you can call it that). Frankly, I find my bookshelf to be a bit uninspiring. And so our journey begins.

#1: The Bottom Shelf

For a while I wasn’t sure what to do with her… I’m still not sure. If I’m being honest, I call this my miscellaneous shelf. 

The first book on the far left is none other than a collection of Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë and Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë. I read Wuthering Heights when I was 11 and Jane Eyre for the first time last year and absolutely loved it. I have a soft spot for classics. 

The next 5 books just so happen to be my favourites and include the Mara Dyer Trilogy by Michelle Hodkin and the Noah Shaw Trilogy, well sequel because the 3rd book has yet to be published and Michelle Hodkin has seemingly disappeared… does anyone know what happened? : (

Usually, The Fault in Our Stars comes next, but alas, I lended it to my mother and it has since vanished from my shelves. Not to mention, this is my all-time favourite. Read it!

The orange book in the middle lying down because it’s too tall, that’s The Tell by Amy Griffin. I have to admit I have yet to read it and I badly need to do so. It’s next up on my TBR 

*Not pictured is Untamed by Glennon Doyle. This book was soooo good. I can’t applaud it enough. If anyone needs a good self-discovery memoir, this is the one.

On the far right, oh that’s not books, that’s my collection of Taylor Swift magazines. You could never call me obsessed if you saw my CD and vinyl collection… next blog post?

#2: The Middle Child

Moving on up, we’ve reached my religion and philosophy shelf. This isn’t even all of them. I own more of this genre than others because these books have been most difficult to find in libraries. 

The first 6 books on the left are my Hebrew learning books. In March 2024, I began teaching myself how to read Hebrew. I was learning for two reasons 1. I was in the process of converting to Judaism. 2. I have a love for linguistics, and own books in multiple languages. 

The next book on the shelf is a Tanakh, or the Hebrew Bible. Again, more studying to become Jewish.

The next book is a memoir by Sara Glass. It’s a memoir about growing up lgbt in an ultra-religious movement of Judaism. It was insightful to see how different movements of Judaism have differing levels of acceptance. Anyone that is lgbt and becoming Jewish or is lgbt and grew up in an ultra-orthodox household should read this. It was such a powerful read.

I’m going to skip over a few books on this shelf because they’re mostly all books I used to study before converting, to familiarize myself with certain topics in Judaism. I will call out a few however that could be applied to anyone regardless of religion. When Bad Things Happen to Good People by Harold Kushner is a good read about struggling with grief and questioning why. The Sunflower by Simon Wiesenthal questions who is worthy of forgiveness. It’s a story from a holocaust survivor of his time in a concentration camp where he faces the complexities of whether or not to forgive a dying Nazi soldier that confessed his crimes and asked for forgiveness. The Diary of Anne Frank was heartbreaking and difficult, but it was also intriguing to read her written story. I believe it’s one of the most true, notable books from WWII.

Next on my shelf are Poetics by Aristotle and The Symposium by Plato. I love Greek Philosophy and Mythology, I can’t get enough of it. Poetics was such an interesting read and it gave perspective to tragedies and comedy. Anyone that wants to understand the basis of drama and poetry should read this. The Symposium by Plato was also an interesting read. Familiarizing myself with philosophy in different cultures has helped me realize how similar our beliefs systems are. 

Another book on my shelf is The Kabbalistic Tradition: An Anthology of Jewish Mysticism. This was one of the first books I read before deciding to become Jewish. Kabbalistic Mysticism is a complex and esoteric interpretation of Judaism and something that greatly piques my interest. 

Next up we have the Dead Sea Scrolls. This didn’t interest me that much, but I find it amazing we were able to find preserved manuscripts from the 3rd century BCE. 

The fourth book from the right is The Talmud: A Selection by Penguin Classics. This happens to be the first Jewish text I read while researching various religions. The Talmud is basically a book of laws interpreted from the Torah (the first 5 books of the bible). It explains the beliefs of ancient Judaism and the current Orthodox movement.

On my shelf you will find Ovid’s Metamorphoses. This is a poem that contains 250 Greek myths and 11,995 lines of poetry. I enjoyed reading this very much, it was so interesting. My favourite myths to read were the story of Narcissus, Orpheus and Eurydice, and Pyramus and Thisbe (the inspiration for Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet).

The second book from the right is an English translation of the Qur’an. I enjoy exploring and studying other religious beliefs. It’s interesting to see how Abrahamic religions evolved from Judaism to Christianity and then to Islam.

The last book on my middle shelf is The Complete Kama Sutra. Contrary to popular belief, the Kama Sutra focuses mainly on the Hindu philosophy of love, relationships, social customs of marriage, and maintaining a fulfilling life, not sex. Although I have yet to read it, I imagine it is very insightful and interesting.

#3: The Last Stop

This shelf has become my LGBT literature and poetry shelf.

On the far left is The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid. I own 3 copies of this book. The first I bought at Barnes and Noble during a trip to New York, but a tropical depression was happening and it got ruined by the rain on the walk back to my hotel. The next copy is a hardback deluxe edition. The third edition I own of this book is a French translation collectors edition I purchased at a bookstore in Montreal. It’s one of my most prized possessions and my favourite in my collection. In all honesty, I can read French but I can not speak it. Impossible.

Typically next on my shelf  is Furious Love by Sam Kashner and Nancy Schoenberger. Furious Love tells the story of Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor’s tumultuous love affair. I’m currently reading it for the first time. I put it on this shelf because Evelyn Hugo was partially inspired by Elizabeth Taylor. 

Next on my shelf usually sits The Girls: Sappho Goes to Hollywood by Diana McLellan. This book is an exploration of secret sapphic relationships in the Golden Age of Hollywood. Another TBR!

I also have a few bookmarks on this shelf. Although I never use them, I do collect them. I have 3 book marks I got from the Rizzoli bookstore in Manhattan and a few others from Barnes and Noble that have some pretty sayings. “Live by the sun. Love by the moon.” and “Trees are poems that the earth writes upon the sky.” How could I not have bought these?

The purple book in the middle is a collection of letters between Virginia Woolf and Vita Sackville-West. I have yet to read all of the collection, but I enjoy reading letters or untold sapphic stories throughout history.

The next book is The Stonewall Reader by penguin classics. I also have yet to read this, but I completed a history project in 8th grade about the Stonewall Riots and have been learning LGBT history ever since. 

Next up is a collection of poems by Sappho. I couldn’t decide whether to put this with my other Greek books or with my poetry, but here it’s stayed.

Following that are 3 books I purchased at the Henry Miller Memorial Library in Big Sur, CA. I probably didn’t need to buy more books, as I already had an extensive TBR list, but it was the most unique place. I added Hamlet and Romeo and Juliet by Shakespeare to my collection, as well as a collection of poems by Robert Frost.

The next two books in my collection are The Diaries of Anne Lister which have been transcribed and decoded from their original entries in ‘crypthand.’ These journal entries from the 1800s England are some of the most well documented narratives of a ‘modern lesbian.’

Five books from the right is a collection of poetry by Pablo Nuruda. The collection I own was printed in both Spanish and English, reflecting the original language of publication. I learned of this poet from a Taylor Swift music video in which she uses a line of poetry by him, “love is so short, forgetting is so long.”

The following space on my shelf is taken up by The Complete Poems of Emily Dickinson. The collection I have includes all 1700 poems in their original, unedited format. This was the first book I ever annotated. The orange book to the right is Open Me Carefully, which is a collection of poems and letters Emily wrote to Sue. 

And finally the last two books are by Patti Smith. M Train and Just Kids. M Train I have yet to read, however I have read Just Kids and it was a beautiful story of self-discovery, friendship, and artistic ambition, written as a dedication to Robert Mapplethorpe. 

As our tour concludes, if I had to name a book my favourite, in content it would be The Fault In Our Stars, in purchasing story, it would be The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo (French collectors edition). What’s your favourite book you own and why?