A Tour of My Bookshelves, Part 4 of 33

Confession: I save these for when I can't think of anything else to write on.

Reading:

• "L. DeBard and Aliette: A Love Story," by Lauren Groff
  
• The House of Mirth, by Edith Wharton
  

Writing:

• "Ferian Fetlock Catches a Cold" - Outline 95%
  

Revising:

• "The Revenant"
• "Cora and the Sea" - Third draft 50%

The previous entries in this series:

• Part 1
• Part 2
• Part 3
  

Immediately below the Wall of Lost Paperbacks is the Irish Collection. It begins, on the far left, with the poetry of Robert Burns (shut up, I know he's Scottish) and continues with one of the adventures of Horatio Hornblower (shut up, I know he's English).

From there, the name of the shelf makes more sense. For many years, whenever St. Patrick's Day rolled around, I would buy (or receive as a present) a book somehow related to Ireland. There's poetry (which I haven't read), folk tales (which I have), short stories, humor, etc. One of these books, the seventh from the left, accompanied me to Costa Rica over ten years ago.

Also featured are the first two volumes of the Fallon trilogy by Robert Jordan. They are historical fiction, which might come as a surprise for those who know him better for his fantasy works. They're also a little racy in places, which came as a surprise. Each book focuses on a generation of the Fallons, and they're a good introduction to colonial South Carolina. Why are they here? Well, the original Fallon was Irish. Does that count?

To the right of the Irish Collection is Anthology Alley. The two volumes standing upright, which you can't read, are The Book of Oxford English Verse and Stories Children Need. The latter is in bad shape, and I mainly keep it around for its wonderful musty smell.

The books lying down are also anthologies, some purchased as a textbook (thanks, Norton), the others gained free. I don't typically buy anthologies of this nature, but there are some good stories in there that I wouldn't get otherwise, particularly Literature of the Eastern World and Russian and Eastern European Literature, which contains stuff you don't often find in English. I've tried, and failed, to read Victorian Love Stories: An Oxford Anthology. I keep it because you never know when pulling a Victorian love story out of your ass might be just the thing.

Publication Status:

• Submitted: 5
  
• Accepted: 1
• Rejected: 1
• Pending: 3