I dunno if this is a guy thing, or an old bachelors habit, but how many folks out there (whether or not you have your own bathroom all to yourself) keep shelves of paperback books in the bathroom? It's funny, I can think of half a dozen people I've ever known who did that...

At any rate - this being my week for garage diving and general organization I recovered a carton of my books from out there (Out in the GARAGE. The small room is indoors). My favorite books! A box full of memories... and in there I found not less than FIVE of my prized Conan collection, and NINE by Edgar Rice Burroughs that I wasn't sure what had happened to! They were safe, all this time. Packed away in boxes between changes of duty stations, the stepkids never found them, lost them, or tore them up...

I even found a paper copy of an old Leigh Bracket, and a copy of the book "COSMOS" by Dr. Carl Sagan. I don't know how to describe what this feels like or means to me - it's a trip back in time but it's also a little bit like Christmas come early. And by now most people here realise that the printed word means a great deal to me.

I've discovered treasure, and I put it there myself!

How is your own personal library doing?

Have you ever found a long lost book that is now out of print that you missed a whole lot?

I know that somewhere out there is my copy of "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance" too... I can hardly wait to see it again.

~Wolf

 

Whats up with that Zen book. I've heard of it but never about it.

 

Strangely enough - the whole story ends up being about a philosophy professors personal attempt to define what "Quality" is, and what happens to him because of it.

But it's the story itself and how it is told that really makes the book a fantastic read.

I think if I wrote any more than that, it would be unfair to anyone who never read it before.

 

Don't know 'bout books, but, when I walk into the 'can'. . . there are all kinds of reading material.

Popular Mechanics (I wonder where that came from.)
Ladies Home Journal (Not mine!)
Guns & Ammo (Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm.)
Shape (Not mine!)
Boy's Life (The nine yr. old's.)
American Rifleman (Starting a pattern here.)
Field & Stream.

 

I tried to take my laptop into the bathroom....but between having to drag an ethernet cable and/or AC adapter, it's sort of a pain. Right now, the "library" has a few Popular Science magazines, one PC World, one of the Douglas Adams books, and some paperback novel I picked up at the flea market.

 

'Hounds of Skath", maybe?

If you can't find it, let me know. You can borrow my copy.

I don't have a bookshelf per se...I keep them piled up on the tank and rotate my stock!

 

Don't keep it in the throne room, but a must read for Ford fanatics is "Wheels For The World" by Douglas Brinkley. Over 800 pages of "Henry Ford , His Company, and a Century of Progress" . Took me weeks to read it, enjoyed every minute of it.....

 

There's some 'puter and business magazines in my bathroom. Haven't thought of having a shelf in there with books, but it's a pretty good idea...

 

No room for a shelf, and too damp for any good books or magazines, so I just have Uncle John Bathroom Reader in there. If you have a mind for useless info, get any of those books, they are full of worthless junk.

 

Lez see
Snow West
Craftsman tool catalog
Summit Racing catalog
several snowmobile catalogs
Guns and Ammo
several of the bosses magazines

 

Various issues of:

EVO - UK car magazine
SAE Australia
International engine magazine
Ride and Handling
Wheels - Aussie Car magazine
Motor - Aussie Car magazine
A book on race car handling by the late (and great) Carrol Smith.
Unique Cars - Aussie historic and classic car magazine
Print outs of Sniff Petrol (amusing car related site)

What do you think I like?

 

Ah, the joys of Conan and Edgar Rice Burroughs. Love 'em both, liked the Frank Frazetta covers the most. I once had about 98% of ERB books - still have the Science Fiction Book Club versions of the Martian series with Frazetta covers and drawings.

Let's see, what's on the countertop (no shelves):
Brew Your Own (beer homebrewing) magazine
Summit catalog
Cabela's catalog
3 different Ski magazines (ski season's getting close)
"War of the Rats" - a really good book about snipers in Stalingrad WWII (I think the Enemy at the Gates movie was based on this).

I love the Uncle John's Bathroom reader series too - perfect reading for the john. I have a desk calendar at work too.

 

In my bachelor days there was always a stack of magazines in the john. These days I usually carry in on an as needed basis. Lately I've been reading through a bunch of 1990s issues of "Cars and Parts" that were in boxes of my dad's old stuff that Mom gave me.

I know how you feel about finding old cherished books that were given up for lost. Right before my mom sold the old place, I found a lot of my books I thought were gone. There are some that I still wish I'd located, but at least after some digging I came up with my battered set of the Hobbit and Lord of The Rings. There are some books that catch you at just the right time in your life, and the first time reading through those was magical. I was also happy to come up with "Raiders From the Rings" by Alan E. Nourse. It seems kind of cheesy now that I've reread it, but at the time it was the book that got me interested in reading science fiction.

 

"The Starmen of Llyrdis"

It's been so long, I don't even remember it...

 

I'm a magazine reader when I'm on the throne, but a regular book reader at lunch, when I'm bored and just before bed. PST, Summit, Jegs, Hot Rod, Popular Hot Rodding, Car Craft, Super Chevy, and Land Development Today (trade magazine). Also have a surf magazine chock full of beach and ocean photos...good for daydreaming in the john.

Book-wise, I haven't picked up anything new in awhile, but I did just find a bunch of the old ones that I had to read throughout my school years. Kind of nice, reminded me of grade and high school, then it reminded me that I have some calculus homework to get done. Thanks Grey .