Mike Douton's Stuff and/or Junk

The Shelf of Honor is something I mentioned in passing yesterday and people who know me in meatspace have probably heard me mention this when I talk about books. The physical Shelf itself is something I think came from my parents house when I moved into my first place. I think. I don’t actually remember it in the house I grew up in or how it actually came into my possession. The my-parents-house theory is just a logical assumption. The shelf is slightly battered and old and just happens to fit perfectly on my end table turned bedside nightstand. In my first apartment when the table was just an end table, the shelf was just a shelf in my living room. And by living room I mean the only room. Once me and my better half moved in together, the table became a nightstand and the shelf with it. One of us decided that I should keep my favorites next to my bed. So I do.

The Shelf of Honor has 23 books on it with room for a couple more. The oldest is The Night Life of the Gods by Thorne Smith from 1933. I think (without resorting to twenty minutes with google) Cherie Priest’s Boneshaker is the newest. There’s one non-fiction that earned its place because it reads like a novel… about pirates! A few are series where the first book represents (it is a small shelf and all). So yeah. Let’s list this up. From left to right on myself, which doesn’t represent any actual hierarchy at all…

• A Thousand Words for a Stranger – Julie E. Czerenda
• Neverwhere – Niel Gaiman
• The Scar – China Mieville
• Grunts – Mary Gentile
• WebMage – Kelly McCullough
• Nine Princes in Amber / The Great Book of Amber – Roger Zelazny
• On Basilisk Station – David Weber
• Trapped – James Alan Gardner
• Roadmarks – Roger Zelazny
• In Fury Born – David Weber
• The Nightlife of the Gods – Thorne Smith
• The Lies of Locke Lamora – Scott Lynch
• Old Man’s War – John Scalzi
• Smoke and Mirrors – Tanya Huff
• American Gods – Niel Gaiman
• Conquistador – S.M. Sterling
• Child 44 – Tom Rob Smith
• Anathem – Neal Stephenson
• The Pirate Hunter: The True Story of Captain Kidd – Richard Zacks
• Thirteen – Richard Morgan
• Mortal Coils – Eric Nylund
• Un Lun Dun – China Mieville
• Boneshaker – Cherie Priest