Hello Hivers and Book Clubbers,
I'm mixing up the format somewhat, and upholding a promise I made in one of my recent reviews. I'd said that I would give a peek into my personal stash of book. And that day is today.
So the picture above is one of the two book-walls. I've also made some pictures with more detail, where I will pick out specific titles. Of note here are the dark-red hardbacks on top, which are encyclopedias from the 1980s that once belonged to my grandfather. The age of the internet has somewhat killed the need for encyclopedias, and you can't really 'read' them in the usual sense, but I'm not going to throw them away.
I promise that the next photos have better detail, my phone-camera can't keep up with the angles and light on the past two ones. This is the other book-wall. My collection amounts to slightly over 350 books in total. Don't mind the fake plants on top of the shelf.
Pictured above are the books in my collection I haven't read yet. I have the tendency to buy books even though I haven't fully read my current ones. About half of these are newly-bought, the other half are second-hand books. Some titles I'm looking forward to reading to are:
-Bart van Loo's 'Napoleon'. He wrote an excellent book on the Burgundians, which I read, so I'm interested in what he does with this one.
-Rene Stipriaan's 'The Silent', about William of Orange, which I bought with a gift-card that I got for Christmas from work. It was about 45 Euros, so it better be worth it.
-Ursula le Guin's 'Left hand of darkness', a work of science-fiction by a well-known writer, whose works I've not touched yet. I saw this copy during my last visit to the book store in the nearest city, and had to get it.
I've ordered the books on topics and regions, so the grouping should make some sense. In the top-left are books on English/British history. The stand-out probably is A.J.P. Taylor's 'English History 1914-1945'.
In the top-right are books on business/economics, a topic I don't consider myself an expert on at all. There's a reason I don' talk about them in the reviews, and why I own not too many titles. All of these are also second-hand ones.
Bottom shelf is mostly on central and eastern Europe. Several titles on the Habsburgs (also the Spanish Habsburgs and Spain), several on Russia, Poland, Hungary and the Balkans. Standouts are Cohen's 'Bukharin and the Bolshevik Revolution', which I reviewed, and Robert Kaplan's 'Balkan Ghosts', which is an excellent introduction on the Balkans.
Shown above are several categories. The top shelf is filled with books on the Americas and Africa. This means mostly South Africa, which is a subject I talk about often in my reviews. Best one has to be 'D.F. Malan' by Lindie Koorts.
Bottom shelf is filled with books on the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany. I don't even own too many books on Dutch history, even though I'm from there. A recommendation would be Peter Wilson's book on the Holy Roman Empire and Christopher Clark's 'Iron Kingdom' on Prussia.
You get a free fly-swatter in this picture. Top shelf is filled with books on history which are Europe-wide, or about no region in particular, and a small part of my fictional works. Best one here would probably be A.J.P. Taylor's 'Struggle for the Mastery of Europe 1848-1918'.
On the middle shelf are books on several regions: the Middle East and Israel, France, Italy (including the Romans), Ancient Greece, etc. John Julius Norwich 2 books on the Normans in Sicily and Southern Italy are very strong.
Lower shelf is filled with books on Asia on the left side, and some miscellaneous stuff like books on soccer and music. Charles Cross' biography of Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain is a classic.
We've arrived at the last picture. Top shelf is fictional works, a significant portion of which are science-fiction. Dan Simmons' 'Ilium' and 'Olympos' are worth checking out.
Middle shelf is filled with books about religion, mostly Christianity. This contains some of my oldest books: one is titled 'Thy Kingdom Come', and is about Dutch missionary-work in Indonesia. My copy is from 1899, which makes it the oldest book in my collection.
The bottom shelf is filled with books mostly on politics/ideology, philosophy, etc. I really enjoyed Neema Parvini's 'The Populist Delusion'.
So there you have it, a look at my ever-expanding collection, some recommendations on great titles, and a sneak preview at what might be the subject of upcoming reviews. I'll be back with reviews in the foreseeable future. Until then,
-Pieter Nijmeijer