Lois Gresh | Writers Reading

What's on My Bookshelves?
(with added bonus: What's on My Walls?)

by Lois H. Gresh

Thank you, Adele, for inviting me into your virtual living room today. Nice to be here, and a warm hello to everybody!

While writing this post about what's on my bookshelves, I realized two things: (1) all of these bookshelves were once in a 2-bedroom apartment, and before that, crammed into the living room and hallway of a small ranch house; and (2) I shed approximately 1,500 books before moving to my current residence.

In both the apartment and ranch house, the bookshelves occupied so much space that the places were like labyrinths. The closets stored books rather than clothes. There were books under staircases and tables, books in the dressers. I stopped short at shoving books in the oven or refrigerator -- probably a good thing.

Yes, I have a lot of books.

As you can see from what's on my shelves, I read a wide variety of books and magazines: thrillers, weird fiction, hard science fiction, dark fantasy, horror, literary fiction, mysteries, poetry, sword & sorcery, comics, and nonfiction of all types. I read several books simultaneously, supplemented by news and magazines of all kinds.

My reading habits probably feed my writing habits. I recently figured out that much of what I've been writing for 20 years is now called The New Weird. My stories typically blend thrillers, science fiction, dark fantasy, weird fiction, and/or horror. I try to incorporate action, adventure, and a fast pace. If you click here -- ELDRITCH EVOLUTIONS, you can read my 2011 collection of 26 short stories.

Sometimes, I write straight thrillers, such as my first novel, THE TERMINATION NODE (Ballantine/Del Rey 1999). Sometimes, I write straight horror. Sometimes, it's pure science fiction or fantasy. I've even committed mysteries to paper. I also write a lot of speculative books and companion guides about everything from comic book superheroes to James Bond to Stephen King to The Hunger Games.

I'm more interested in ancient history than modern history, more by foreign history than U.S. history. I devour anything related to the sciences. I have little interest in books about anthropology and sociology. I'm not a business head, so you won't find accounting textbooks on my shelves.

Anyway, without further ado, here are some photos of What's on My Bookshelves.

PHOTO 1 (below) : For the most part, the upper shelves hold double rows of literary books, while the lower four shelves hold stacks of thrillers, horror novels, and old Lovecraftian books.

PHOTO 2 (below): The top shelf contains a double row of modern science fiction, the second shelf has some overflow science fiction with a bunch -- okay, a lot -- of westerns, the third shelf has double rows of thrillers, the fourth shelf contains science fiction, thrillers, and Tom Swift novels.

PHOTO 3 (below): Here's a shot of the Tom Swift shelf. My son and I both loved these books.

PHOTO 4 (below): Various children's books, Donald Duck comics, and a few other comics. A small bookshelf to the right contains westerns.

PHOTO 5 (below): Floor-to-ceiling bookshelf containing copies of some of the books I've written. Additional copies are in storage and scattered elsewhere around the place. Yes, that's a Cthulhu Men in Black puppet behind the candlestick.

PHOTO 6 (below): Floor-to-ceiling bookshelf containing classic science fiction, fantasy, and horror novels. This is where Tarzan lives, along with Conan and Zelazny, Simak, Van Vogt, A Merritt, Taine, Bloch, Hamilton, Kuttner, and many others. It makes me tingle just to look at these books.

With the books are toy robots, pretty gifts from my daughter, a few of my ever-present everywhere candles, a chess set in a black hat, and some clickety-clack eyeballs, teeth, and fish. Yes, I still like toys.

PHOTO 7 (below): Floor-to-ceiling bookshelf containing classic science fiction and fantasy magazines.

HOTO 8 (below): Floor-to-ceiling bookshelf containing modern weird fiction, Lovecraft, Conan and Red Sonya comics, thrillers, assorted other books, and Day of the Dead lovelies. This bookshelf is next to my bed and supplies my late night reading fun.

Not shown here, I keep several books and magazines on my nightstand along with my Kindle. I prefer reading paperbacks in bed so I can fall asleep and not have (a) hardcovers crush my head, or (b) the electronic Kindle short circuit in the middle of the night because I've rolled over on it, or God forbid, slobbered into the circuitry. Next to the nightstand are 4-5 stacks of books, magazines, and manuscripts.

But Wait! There's More!

There's no logic behind what's in the basement where I work. Piles everywhere of poetry, literature, art, science, history, mysteries, thrillers, etc. Bins of comics and research books are everywhere. This is a small sampling, complete with a snapshot of the bookshelf of old science fiction and horror movies.

These photos are dark because, well... it's the basement!

PHOTO 9 (below): Floor-to-ceiling bookshelf containing nonfiction books and magazines.

PHOTO 10 (below): In the shot below is my Dilbert aka The Hulk doll, which I slathered with green glittering GOOP for kids at the Perugia Science Festival. Along with nonfiction books and magazines (mostly science), the bookshelf holds some Donald Duck and Dilbert toys. Oh, and a baby photo of my son!

PHOTO 11 (below): Floor-to-ceiling bookshelf containing more nonfiction books and stacks of science magazines.

PHOTO 12 (below): You probably can't see clearly what's on these shelves: a random assortment of mysteries, thrillers, history, nature, science, art, poetry, books I wrote, magazines, a portrait of Lovecraft, a giant red brain, a demonic creature.

PHOTO 13 (below): And of course, what writer's house is complete without a copy of Principles of Chemical Warfare on the coffee table?

PHOTO 14: (below) Old science fiction and horror movies adorned with Black Ooh-Ooh, White Ooh-Ooh -- they're cousins, Pinky and the Brain, and a non-green-GOOPed Dilbert.

As an aside, this is the first bookshelf I owned. It came in pieces of rough-cut oak, which we sanded, then stained, sealed, and assembled. We later had two huge bookshelves that were totally homemade from wood scraps, but they didn't quite make it through the years.

PHOTOS 15 & 16 (below): What writer's basement is complete without suitable images on the walls? Here's a tiny sample of what surrounds me when I work in the basement.

Lovecraft and one of his Providence homes

PHOTO 17 (below): This Allen Koszowski painting hangs in my bathroom. I love it! Cracks me up! It's the perfect bathroom adornment.

I have more weird things on my walls, which I should probably post on my blog sometime.

Thanks for letting me share my bookshelves with you. It's been fun!

If you're interested, you can get my latest books from Amazon:

If you're not interested, please excuse the obligatory book promotion. If I didn't add this stuff, my publishers would beat me!

Please feel free to stop by and say hello. I like meeting new people, and I welcome your comments.

Lois Gresh Website

Lois Gresh Blog

Lois Gresh Facebook

Lois Gresh on Twitter: @lois_gresh
LOIS H. GRESH is the New York Times Best-Selling Author (6 times), Publishers Weekly Best-Selling Paperback Author, and Publishers Weekly Best-Selling Paperback Children's Author of 27 books and 45 short stories. Her books have been published in approximately 20 languages. Lois has received Bram Stoker Award, Nebula Award, Theodore Sturgeon Award, and International Horror Guild Award nominations for her work.