Which books are on your shelves?

Kirstie
Community Manager
Community Manager
London, United Kingdom

Which books are on your shelves?

World book day.png

 

Hi all,

 

Today is World Book Day in the UK, which involves children dressing up as their favourite characters from books for a literary-themed day at school. I must have passed about 5 princesses and 3 pirates on my walk to work this morning!

 

As this day is to celebrate books, this is a great opportunity for us to discuss our favourites! 

 

Which books do you have on your bookshelves? Do you tend to read more paperbacks or e-books? Which are your favourites books/genres/authors?

 

I am really enjoying historical fiction at the moment - I love that you can learn more about a period in time whilst enjoying an interesting story! I read The Secret Wife by Gill Paul recently, which is about the Romanov family and set during the Russian Revolution - it's not an era that I knew much about and I found it really gripping and powerful! I would definitely recommend it. 

 

I look forward to hearing which books you enjoy! Maybe we could even start a book club 😉

 

Kirstie

 

22 Replies 22
Wendy-and-Frank0
Level 10
Stonington, CT

Oh my gosh, I just love EVERYTHING the Brits do!  BBC, Harry Potter, crazy kings, the best political history EVER, and now this!  I had a Kindle and now use it only when I travel as there is something fabulous about holding a book, turning the pages, using bookmarks.  I like hardcover books, preferably used, and I'll read just about anything except romantic novels.  I have a basket in each guest room filled with paperbacks that guests are more than welcome to take with them if they haven't finished the book in time.  I pick those up at yard sales or used book stores for next-to-nothing.

 

I would say that my favorite book is Steinbeck's East of Eden.  I am no plowing through Don Quijote de la Mancha, in Spanish, and find I need a dictionary as it was written some 500 years ago and reads similar to what Shakespeare is to English.  It was my father's favorite book; I owe it to him to fall in love with it as he did.

 

This is a great subject.  Interested in reading everyone else's responses.

 

 

@Wendy-and-Frank0, like minds, with books to take. 

I got a lot second hand in foreign languages when travelling, usually had to buy an additional suitcase too. 

I like Don Quijote, but read it timidly in German. I even like the musical.

 Litterary Spanish is hard to read. English litterature is easier. I read a lot of James Joyce and Finnegan's Wake was the only English book, where I gave up after 80 pages. 

 Not because of the book, but for the language. 

Helga0
Level 10
Quimper, France

I relegated most of the books to the garage, when I decided to keep hosting on the shared room listing. Needed to change the oppresive library impression to something lighter. I read mostly ebooks since I discovered them on tmy first ipod 9 years ago. 

Easier to read for my eyes, And the phone switches itself off, when I fall asleep. And you can carry hundreds of them around 😉

I like to learn about history in novels, or about foreign cultures. 

I left a few books beside the guest bed (and still a lot elsewhere). Books about Paris or the metro, a book about tiny houses (to compare with mine) , crime, science fiction and erotics. When someone is in the middle of a book at the end of the stay, I offer to take it. So far, only crime and adventure part d that way, the eroticachange place in the shelf, but nobody claimed to be in the middle of one of those 😉

 

@Helga0, Excellent idea to have books in foreign languages.  I'll have to go through my parents' stash and grab a few in Spanish.

Lizzie
Former Community Manager
Former Community Manager
London, United Kingdom

Hello @Helga0@Wendy-and-Frank0 and @Kirstie,

 

It is great to hear you like this topic Wendy, I agree I love books. I too saw two children dressed as Harry Potter yesterday, and a Hermione Granger on my way back last night, for World Book Day. I remember when I was little I dressed up as a spider from Roald Dahl's 'James and the Giant Peach'! 🙂 

 

When it comes to reading, I tend to get a little carried away though and always have a few books on the go! At the moment, I am enjoying the Harry Hole series, which is like a crime fiction genre by Norwegian writer Jo Nesbo (famous for 'The Snowman'). I have finished reading 'The Bat' which is the first in the series and I received another for Christmas which I am going to tackle next! I am also, trying to read 'Bridget Jones's Diary' in French at the moment and as my French isn't great, it is more a work in progress book...which may take me years! hehe

 

I like your idea Helga of offering your guests books of local interests.

 

Lizzie 

 

 


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James and the Giant Peach!!!  Reading this makes me wish I could have my children all over again just so I would be able to raise them in the UK.

 

I don't know how anyone can have many books going at the same time.  I have a friend like that and it blows me away.  I'm not that bright to compartmentalize.  Ha!

 

I just started the trilogy "Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children".  It's FABULOUS!

CarlandDiane0
Level 10
San Marcos, TX

I honestly thought this was about what books we all have available for guests to read, which would have been an interesting question to pose. (Not that your question isn't interesting, but...well, you know what I mean.)

 

Lately, we like to time travel when we read, so we're big on historial fiction in this house. Virtually anything by David Liss, especially his novels that feature Ben Weaver, the charming yet flawed hero he introduced in "A Conspiracy of Paper," which by the way describes the birth of the stock market in the coffee houses of 18th century London. Michel Faber's wonderful "Crimson Petal and the White" is another favorite. I'm currently reading Michael Shaara's "The Killer Angels," which hews closely to U.S. Civil War history but it's a novel -- and a terrific one -- nonetheless. We became hooked on Erik Larson, whose tremendous non-fiction works read like novels, when he impressed us mightily with "Devil in the White City," which traces the separate but related stories of the Chicago World's Fair of 1893 and Dr. H.H. Holmes, often thought to be America's first serial killer. Speaking of serial killers, next up is "The Midnight Assassin," a history of a grotesquely violent series of still-unsolved murders in Austin, Texas back in 1884-85. The papers called the perpetrator "The Servant Girl Annihilator" for his habit of dispatching maids and housekeepers. One theory is that after the killer fled Austin, he eventually landed in London and continued his grisly pursuits there, on the streets of Whitechapel.

 

Our reading material for guests trends toward lighter fare, as you might imagine. In addition to some local guide books and a selection of magazines, we've got a book of short stories, a book of fun ghost stories, some lit classics that people can start while staying with us and find easily (and cheaply) when they return home, an interesting compendium called "Obsolete" (it's an encyclopedia of things that once were common but now are rare, like mix tapes, getting lost, looking old, camera film, etc.), a photo book of amazing animal portraits, and a couple of old pulp fiction paperbacks from the '50s which are enormous fun.

 

We don't have a TV in the casita, so we make sure there's plenty to read.

 

Fun thread!

 

 

Kirstie
Community Manager
Community Manager
London, United Kingdom

Hi @CarlandDiane0,

 

That's a good point but don't let my questions restrict you! They are merely to get us started - it's also interesting to hear which books you share with your guests!

 

Thanks for all of the recommendations - 'The Killer Angels' sounds interesting, I'd like to learn more about the American Civil War so I think I'll add that to my list! Do you read everything on paperback?

 

The compendium 'Obsolete' sounds like a good coffee table book - I bet it's like looking into the past and remembering all those things that we no longer use. It sounds like you have a great selection for guests to flick through! I imagine that many of them appreciate the chance to read without the temptation of a TV!

 

Kirstie

Hi ! 

One of my favourite books of all time must be 'A Time of Gifts' by Patrick Leigh Fermor. He walked across Europe around 1933 starting in Holland & with great humour describes all the hospitable people he met, food & drink he tried, the weather,landscapes, museums, paintings etc & ominously, the changing mood in certain countries. I'm happy to say I met him briefly at a party in Crete in, I think, 1991, singing "Do you ken John Peel" in Italian. What a laugh! 

 

Another wonderful one is 'Full Tilt' by Dervla Murphy. She cycled all the way to Katmandu from France through wild & amazing places with about 5 pounds in her pocket & one change of clothing, in 1964. No mean feat for a girl of about 18, eh ! She went on to write many more travel adventures from all over the world.

 

A book club sounds like a brilliant idea, Kirstie. My life on a Greek Isle is fairly idyllic except for the fact that good books can be hard to come by (browsing in a bookshop only a fading memory ) How would we go about forming a bookclub?    Sign me up please!

 

Ann

Kirstie
Community Manager
Community Manager
London, United Kingdom

Hi @Βασίλης-and-Ann0,

 

Wow that's incredible that he walked the whole way across Europe - do you know how long it took him? I bet the book about his travels is full of great stories, and I'm sure that he was fun to talk to when you met him! Devla Murphy's long cycle journey is also an amazing feat!

 

Sounds like you particularly enjoy books about travelling - are you keen travellers yourselves?

 

That's great you're interested in a book club! We'll have a think about how we can try and get one started. I imagine it is quite hard for you to find books out on a Greek Island - do you have a kindle that you can read e-books on?

 

Kirstie

Hi Kirstie,

 

Thanks for the reply, glad to hear you enjoy reading good books, too. I'll read any genre but travel books make me feel like I'm actually traveling with the author, especially now  our holiday time is taken up hosting our villa. Patrick LF certainly loved life, he also worked with the greek resistance during WW2 so he wrote books about that time, too.

 

We have a huge motorbike (a 'Paneuropean' called Biloulou meaning 'big flying insect' in Swahili) which gave us the chance to explore smaller places off the beaten track especially ones with strange names such as Nutters, in Austria- we just had to go there & ended up joining in a village "beerfest" food,drink, great company & local music. What fun! Every morning we'd set off early, feeling like a couple of cowboys with no idea where the road or day would take us or who we'd meet..

 

Yes, I've got a kindle, love it ! I'm very interested in a book club, Kirstie, are other Airbnbers also keen, I wonder?

 

Will take a look at your selection, they sound fascinating.

 

Ann

 

 

Kirstie
Community Manager
Community Manager
London, United Kingdom

Hi @Βασίλης-and-Ann0,

 

I can see how travel books can make you feel like you're travelling too - it's amazing how books can transport you to different times and places! I love how historical novels transport me to a different age. Patrick LF definitely seems to be an interesting man!

 

Wow your motorbike sounds great - it must be exciting to set off on adventures without knowing where they might lead!

 

I'm currently reading the 'Century Trilogy' by Ken Follet which follows different generations of the same families from the UK, Germany, Russia and America throughout the 21st century - I'm now on Book 2, Winter of the World, which covers the period of WW2. They are big books so you really get lost in all of the intertwining stories and you get to know the characters well, as well as learning more about the history. I would recommend them! The first one, Fall of Giants, about WW1 is my favourite I think so far.

I think I'll try and read Ken Follet's most famous novel The Pillars of the Earth next!

 

I'm glad you're interested in a book club - hopefully others will also be interested and we can get it going! 

 

Kirstie

J-Renato0
Level 10
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Hi @Kirstie

Short and the point! Most of the books on my shelves are second hand books about the iconography and history of Rio de Janeiro City. Anyway I like reading different genres and I tend to read more paperbacks.

Kirstie
Community Manager
Community Manager
London, United Kingdom

Hi @J-Renato0,

 

Do your guests have access to your books? I imagine they enjoy learning more about Rio while they're there visiting!

 

Do you tend to buy books new and keep them or are you more likely to borrow from friends or a library?

 

Kirstie