In libraries, bookshops and private homes, bookshelves wave to get my attention and call out quietly for a quick snapshot. And I cheerfully comply.
Now, years later, scrolling through row after row of postage stamp-sized images on my computer, these bookcases are practically a logbook of my travels - Mexico, Cuba, Regina, Paris, Perdue, Pincher Creek, England, my sister's house in Fernie.
Why in the world do I take photos of bookshelves? I have no idea but you may agree, books in groups are appealing and for me the settings are souvenirs of a specific place and time in my life.
Here's a selection, a bakers dozen that I hope you bibliophiles enjoy.
1. Casa Colonial, a small hotel in Oaxaca where we've attended jazz concerts in a garden courtyard. I didn't know the owners but these cluttered corners were so inviting I almost chose a book and curled up in an armchair.
2. La Calera, also in Oaxaca, a former limestone processing factory turned art centre/event venue. The heavy black door opens like a secret entrance to the biblioteca with wonky crate shelving. We were on a mission to find this place and it was a delightful discovery a few years ago, after a long walk in a neighbourhood of the city we normally never visit.
3. Here's a wonderful trompe l'oeil framed picture, a treasure that my sister scored at a garage sale that I'm still hoping she might give me some day. Life size and realistic. Fernie, BC.
I'll find a place for it if she can ever part with it.
4. Spafford Books is a surprise I found just a few years ago. Who would have thought a place like this exists in downtown Regina, SK. It's a treasure of Canadiana, rare books, art books, lovely furniture and old world atmosphere.
The entrance is an inconspicuous back door adjoining a parking lot near the former Greyhound Bus Depot, a secret portal that may be known only to serious book lovers and people looking for book appraisals. The shop doesn't have regular hours and the website says it's open by chance or appointment.
It reminds me of the Cemetery of Forgotten Books, a mysterious place set in Barcelona in a series of novels by Carlos Ruiz Zafón.
I asked if they had any books about Bloomsbury and I hit the jackpot. A corner of the basement is practically a shrine to that group of famous British writers and artists.
5. Speaking of Bloomsbury, here is the author Virginia Woolf's bedside bookcase in her home in England. I took the photo during a dream-fulfilling visit to Sussex in 2017 when my goal was to see her sister's home called Charleston. (That blog post is still in progress, a bit of an obsessive interest that will take awhile to describe. Coming sometime in the future.)
6. Her sister is the artist Vanessa Bell, whose bookcase and very personal sitting room is below in her home near Lewes, England. I love these old artistic interiors packed with original art and richly decorated with lovely muted colours, and was very excited to finally see this house after reading about the fascinating lives of the residents.
7. The stacks below are the most dangerous bookshelves I've ever seen. And they're in Saskatchewan. Even removing a book with great care could cause a landslide and injury. The owner of this crammed example of passion-run-amok collecting, claims he has 300,000 books stuffed into the former bank and nearby buildings.
We visited this strange dusty place on a recent camping trip, but we didn't stay long. I bought a small book as a gesture of goodwill and we were out of there. Just too much of a good thing.
It's called Crawford's Used Books in Perdue, Saskatchewan if you want to make your way through these aisles. It was incredible.
8. This sweet little piece of Cuba is beside a single bed that belonged to my friend Adriana in her teenage years. She's lived in Canada for many years now, but her mom hasn't changed a thing in her bedroom in Havana during all that time - the textbooks and trinkets and nail polish are exactly as she left them.
We visited her mother and aunts here in their home in 2012.
Adriana was really happy to see the photo of her little shelf.
9. The inviting Instituto de Artes Graficas de Oaxaca is an oasis of calm, a wonderful library dedicated to art books from around the world. I love the decorative plants and the open courtyard reading room.
What better spot to settle in to do my Spanish homework when I was taking classes at a nearby language school.
10. The biggest bookshelf is one I've never seen. This photo came my way via Facebook. I think it's in Holland and I'd love to ride a bike past this mural someday.
11. Some people like organizing books by colour. Here is my niece Sahra's rainbow bookshelf that matches her Christmas tree beautifully.
12. Shakespeare & Co is a famous old English bookstore in the heart of Paris that I first visited in 1976. It was a meeting place for anglophone readers where young writers and artists could sleep on small beds that doubled as benches during the day. The owner called these people "Tumbleweeds" and they were expected to read, write and help at the shop a few hours a day, in his "socialist utopia masquerading as a bookstore."
I remember a sign inside saying: "Be not inhospitable to strangers lest they be angels in disguise."
My friend Cathi was there just a few weeks ago and said the lineup to get into the shop was a block long, thanks to its reputation as a gathering spot for Hemingway, Gertrude Stein and other great expat writers. Tourism for all tastes.
13. Lastly is the built-in bookcase in my living room that sits in my Caboose corner and is full of old friends.
I ended up with a mild case of tennis-elbow after carving a picture of it to make a series of woodcut prints in 1999. It was a labour-intensive process and I never did another woodcut print. Mexican fish, a kiwi bird and a Peruvian doll shared the space at the time.
I don't do too well rendering a likeness. Expressive patterns and flights of fancy are more my style.
That's it for my bookshelf photos. Thanks for having a look!
