Welcome to MY Bookshelves... the Unread Edition

So a reader pointed it out to me today that I am to be held responsible for the almost nuclear proliferation of unread books accumulating in her house.  I'd say that I'm sorry for that but I'm actually kind of proud!

And I thought that in a show of solidarity, I would do a post about all the books in MY room that I haven't read yet...

So here goes:

Lately I've been getting into literary magazines... I've been trying to get a short story or two published and the best way to do that is to get familiar with the market, as well as supporting the magazines so they can stay open.  That one on top is a new one which I was introduced to at work, and if you look closely you might see the latest issue of Island Magazine, which was my birthday gift to myself.  It's the first issue in which Geordie Williamson was fiction editor.  When I grow up, I want to be Geordie, right down to that beautiful voice....

Can you tell I really love African literatures at the moment?  (I say literatures because Africa is a continent and all three of those books are based in different countries within it.  For more, see Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's brilliant TED talk.)

I fear I am incapable of passing a bookstore without taking a look...

That little fella hanging out on the corner there is Patch... I've had him since I was a baby!

And up on top there is me as a baby... cute, hey? :P

A lot of these are proof copies that I get through my work as a bookseller.  I try to read the first fifty or so pages and then I pass them on to friends who will love them.  A lot of my friends are students and artists, so books are always appreciated.  Hey, even when you have to pay full price for them, books are appreciated in my world!!

I've been accumulating this collection (as well as the ones I've read) since I could buy books myself... I got my first job when I was 14 and the rest, as they say, is history.

So, never ever ever feel bad about having more books than time to read them.  No matter how many books in that To Be Read pile, it's probably not as big as mine.

Elimy