Bookcase Showcase – Ruth Eastham
Thanks so much for inviting me, Kirsty!
I have a problem. It’s a big… small… kind of problem.
A space problem.
No, not that kind of space problem.
A problem of Severe Shelf Shortage.
While a small house saves a fortune on heating bills in winter
(and in theory should stop hoarding habits) it’s not so great if you
keep buying books and have nowhere to put them.
I know, I know - I should get a Kindle. But while I’m not a
technophobe, there’s something so much nicer about a book with flickable paper
pages that you can take in the bath.
I know, I know – I should use the library. But then you
have to give the books back, and if they’ve been in the bath…
I know, I know – I could put up more shelves. But less
house means less wall, and I’m about as handy with a spirit level as Mr Bean is
with a dentist’s drill.
I do have one proper cupboard, where books can be kept behind
glass under lock and key:
And some of the rest (of no less merit) I’ve gathered and placed
along the window ledge:
(it’s luckily quite a LONG window ledge)…
There’s
Patrick Ness (his Chaos Walking books, not actually him, obviously, if
unfortunately) and Philip Pullman’s Dark Materials trilogy and the MG
Harris Joshua Files quintet.
I’ve
super books by writer friends, like Sarah Mussi’s ‘Door of No Return’
and Miriam Halamy’s ‘Hidden’ and Susie Day’s ‘Big Woo!’.
There’s tatty copy of The Memory Cage, with highlighted
bits for book readings and school visits, and The Messenger Bird looking
smugly new – yet old – next to it.
I’ve books that are on the UKLA shortlist with Memory Cage:
‘Sky Hawk’ by Gill Lewis, and Simon Mason’s ‘Moon Pie’. And I’ve
an old, cherished copy of ‘A Christmas Carol’ with its cover dropping
off that my Dad used to read to my brothers and me every December.
There’s excellent books for pure enjoyment and incredible
books for pure inspiration, and (something beginning with t) books for
pure thinking about how other authors do it. Such as McCaughrean’s
‘Stop the Train’ for dialogue, and Reeve’s ‘Mortal Engines’ for
viewpoint; Siobhan Dowd for description, and Frank
Cottrell Boyce for just plain everything that’s good about stories.
Not forgetting: Robert McKee’s ‘Story’ (to help me keep
pondering what makes a story tick); a Roget’s Thesaurus (because it’s so much
better than Shift+F7); and my signed copy of ‘The Illustrated Mum’ by
Dame Jacqueline herself from a BBC writing workshop I won a place on back in
2001.
But my my daughters’ signed copy of ‘The Gruffalo’ fell
down the side of the bunk bed and is impossible to retrieve without dismantling
the bed. So no photo of that one, sorry. I will mention Michael Rosen’s ‘The
Sad Book’ though, just in case I was thinking picture books were only for
little kids.
So, like I said, I have a Severe Space Shortage. But that
doesn’t seem to stop me. Soon there’ll be no more room for anything else in the
house, not kids’ toys, not linen, not cooking utensils. Just books. Think how
many more I could fit into the freezer drawers, for example. Or the fridge. Or
that bunk bed…
Hang on, I feel a story coming on…
And for those of you collecting letters for Ruth’s mystery message
competition: www.rutheastham.com/my-book-launch-blog-tour/
MYSTERY LETTER NUMBER 2 = T
Ruth’s website: www.rutheastham.com
Link to Ruth’s Facebook page:
Follow Ruth on Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/RuthEastham1
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