In these modern times, many people like to claim an affinity for the finer things in life because they believe that claiming such an affinity is the easiest way to fit in with a modern and “hip” crowd of people who also claim (whether the claims are warranted or not) that they place a high value on these finer parts of life.
I do not make any such heinous claims.
I merely state a fact of my existence when I say that I simply cannot get enough of Van Gogh, Hokusai and Münch. But it’s not just the iconic ones that steal my breath away. Artists like Franz Marc and Scott Mutter have their own special places in my soul as well.
My room is a fire hazard, a lavender-colored box for books, photographs, magazines, and sheet music. I own nine beautifully bound copies of Jane Eyre and not a single young adult beach read. In the last week and a half, I have purchased seventeen books for under $40, an accomplishment of which I am exceptionally proud.
Here lies the motive of my ramblings: I have heard tell of a practice connecting true bibliophiles, the sharing of “book piles.” A popular tag on the blogging site “Tumblr,” a book pile is just what it sounds like, a pile of books that is assembled under the intention that they will soon be read.
My book pile is rather tall (in height) and wide (in scope). In no particular order:
- The Sirens of Titan by Kurt Vonnegut
- Philosophy in Question by David R. Hiley
- The Jungle by Upton Sinclair
- A History of the Amish by Steven M. Nolt
- Watership Down by Richard Adams
- Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems by Galileo Galilei
- Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray
- Modern Irish Short Stories edited by Ben Forkner
- Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions by Edwin A. Abbott
- An Unquiet Mind: A Memoir of Moods and Madness by Kay Redfield Jamison
Of course though, those are my planned pleasure reads. In the works are three books for school (A Doll’s House by Henrik Ibsen, Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë and War in Kurt Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse-Five edited by Claudia Durst Johnson) and one just for fun (The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton).
If you have your own book pile, I would love to know. Feel free to email me ([email protected]) or leave a comment below.