Filling the shelves

It is a great irony that I should have moved, here, into a house finally large enough to house a proper library, just when I have had to leave all of my books behind in Sydney.

By some quirk of fate, we landed a crazy real estate (rental) deal in Toronto. We scored a gorgeous, enormous apartment in one of Toronto's old mansions for more or less the same rent we were paying in Australia for a small two bedroom place. Admittedly our flat there was near the beach, and art deco, and I loved it to bits, but still. The amount of space we have here is so extraordinary that I initially found it daunting. We have ten foot ceilings, more rooms than we can furnish, and a fully finished basement with a spa bath. The bones of the building are truly beautiful and I am in love with many of the spaces in it. But one room in particular has won my heart. I still don't know what to call it: the sunroom, the reading room, the girls' room, the nursery (this is where we sleep Lulu, for now), the library, the annex. It was an addition to the original house, I believe, likely having formerly been a covered patio. It is filled with light and has a gracious feel to it. When we first moved in, this room like most of the others on the ground floor had lovely wooden floorboards, but it was a bit cold. Our landlord has recently had it carpeted, and installed a heater, and now it is the place I like best for hanging out with the kids. Lulu can roll happily on the floor and I can lie on the daybed I put right by the bay windows. I have always dreamed of having a daybed like this and now I have one in the most perfect spot I could imagine - I have the reading spot of my dreams. Check it out:

Bibliofilly reads here

This room is where I have chosen to put the only bookshelves we bought when furnishing the house. There are built-in bookshelves in my son's room and in the kitchen, but this is where my own books will live.

I started with empty shelves.

But as the months wear on, I find that I am filling those shelves rather quickly. When we first arrived there were just two books on the shelf: Filth by Irvine Welsh (as yet unread, purchased on our travels) and a book called The Happiness Project which I am borrowing from my mother. Now there are a fair few. Bibliohubby thoughtfully bought me some special books for my birthday (the details of which I will save for another post); I got some books for Christmas; and of course, I have purchased the odd volume here or there myself.

This gorgeous box set of newly designed children's classics brings me such joy. I bought it 'for the kids' for Christmas. Of course neither of them will be old enough to enjoy it for some time, but I can enjoy it right away! And the prettiness of it reflects the prettiness of the room.

Next to one of my green elephant bookends I have the original books described above, and some recent Christmas additions: the new Donna Tart and Ann Patchett, and The Twelve Tribes of Hattie by Ayana Mathis, about which I have heard good things.

A small selection of baby books for Lulu, as this is, after all, her room too.

Ah, my precious ones. First editions. Leviathon and The Invention of Solitude signed by Paul Auster. Timbuktu - first ed, but not signed. Salman Rushdie's essays, signed. And my dear brother's Christmas gift to me, a signed first ed of Margaret Atwood's The Blind Assassin.

MaddAddam, the final book in Margaret Atwood's speculative fiction trilogy which started with The Year of the Flood - signed by her, in person, when I met her recently (about that - more later). A signed first ed by Alice Munro, courtesy of Bibliohubby, and another Munro collection, and Swimming Home by Deborah Levy, one of my holiday reads.

My sweet sister-in-law has given me some books she was ridding her shelves of. I never feel at home until I have an edition of Shakespeare's plays in the house. For some, the Bible. For me - Shakespeare. And Pride and Prejudice. Which, incidentally, I need to acquire.

A few more goodies I have collected here and there. Still to read: The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry (Rachel Joyce), The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared (Jonas Jonasson), The Reason I Jump (Naoki Higashida - thanks John Stewart, for alerting me to this), Beautiful Ruins (Jess Walter) and The Pure Gold Baby (Margaret Drabble).

My mum, clearing her shelves (what would we do without family, eh?) (see how Canadian I now am) has given me some of her duplicates. And what great ones they are!

And finally, three Vogue Australia magazines from when I worked there briefly in the early '90s.

There are other bits and pieces scattered about the house - Bibliohubby's wine books, a few cookbooks, design magazines and a growing collection of great children's books in Iggy's room. But this is the core from which my Canadian library will grow (and I can almost hear Bibliohubby's heart falter as I write this - don't worry, honey, not too many books! Not TOO many...).


Bibliofilly x