Sunday, February 13, 2011

Other People's Bookcases

When I visit people's homes, I notice a lot about the way they live; from the souvenirs they bring home from traveling around the place to the newspapers they read.  However, what I find the most revealing about the people I visit is what they read in their lives; yes, their bookshelves tell me a lot about them.
Yesterday, I visited my brother and his girlfriend for the day and both sides of the family were there to have a good time; eat, drink and be merry.  By the time the sun set, the place sounded like a nightclub and home-made pizza was being pulled out of the oven at a great rate!  
Later on in the night, when we were all kicking back and we had settled after dinner, I checked out the bookcase in the lounge room.  Well, it had the usual amount of books I'd expect from my brother.  He loves motorcycles, cooking, music and gardening.  However, I found some great surprises in amongst it all when I stumbled upon a special edition of 'The Alchemist' by Paulo Coelho which was fully illustrated and hardcovered in its own special little folder.  What a find!  I had to borrow it as I hadn't read this book before and Katrina let me take it home.  
Gabe had a paperback edition of The Skateboard Book by Ben Davidson from 1978 where it shows you how to perform the tricks on your board, how to care for it, replace bearings in the wheels and and completely maintain the board; something you can't find nowadays in bookstores.  It's falling apart, but is still a useful tool in the skateboarding world; and one I hope my brother never gets rid of.  I've looked up this book on Bookfound and it's mainly located in the United States and is worth between $13.95 and $119.00; and they are willing to ship anywhere.  So, the book is still around, for any hard core skaters who want to get into caring for their boards in a big way.

I did enjoy looking through my brother's bookcase; as it's been a long time since I did.  It's an education when I look in on somebody's - anybody's - bookcase as I always learn something from it.  Whose bookcase have you looked at recently?  Have you learned something about them you didn't know?  If so, what is it? 

No comments:

Post a Comment