The Top Shelf of My Bookshelf

The other day I was looking at the top shelf of my bookshelf and realized it contains a number of beautiful hardcover books, but they’re not necessarily my favorite novels (due, in part, to the fact that I keep my Bernard Cornwell novels together, and every book I own of The Warlord Chronicles are all paperbacks, so they reside on the second shelf). That said, what’s on the top shelf of my bookshelf? We’ll, here it is, from left to right, and draw whatever conclusions you may:


One of the greatest fantasy novels ever?
Numero UnoThe Stand, by Stephen King, one of the greatest post-apocalyptic novels ever written. I adore this book, but why it’s number one on my shelf, I have no idea. (Perhaps, because it’s so thick and can hold up all the other books?)

The Stand is followed by the entire Dark Tower series, from Stephen King’s The Gunslinger to The Dark Tower, including The Wind Through The Keyhole. In my view, this is one of the greatest journey tales ever written, and one of the best fantasy series I’ve ever read. Wizard and Glass may be the pinnacle, but all the others are excellent, and The Gunslinger remains one of my all-time favorite novels.

The Arcanum follows Stephen King on my top shelf. I love this book, which most of you may not have read. Though I highly recommend it!

You really should read this!
Next, I have two books from Umberto Eco: Baudolino (which I have yet to read) and The Name of the Rose, which served as part of my inspiration for my own novel, Enoch’s Device.
 
The Name of the Rose  was part of the inspiration for Enoch’s Device!
After that, I have some classics: Homer’s The Odyssey and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare. Hard to argue with either of those.

J.K. Rowling dominates the next seven volumes, all from the Harry Potter series. It’s hard to dispute that these hardbacks are all beautiful books (the covers, I mean), and the stories are now classics in the fantasy genre.

Undeniably, Rowling has created some classics!
From there, I have three Dan Brown novels: Angels & Demons, The Da Vince Code, and The Lost Symbol (please don’t judge, I actually enjoyed reading these, though Angels & Demons was my least favorite).

The bookend on the right consists of two classic works from J.R.R. Tolkien: The Hobbit, and a complete, hardcover volume of The Lord of the Rings with brilliant illustrations from Alan Lee. This is one of my prized possessions, and it serves as a glorious exclamation point to the top shelf of my bookshelf.


This is one beautiful book!
So, now that I’ve confessed about the top shelf of my bookshelf, I’m curious to know: What’s on the top shelf of your bookshelf?

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