A wildly incomplete map of the books that made me laugh, think, wander off, argue internally, or decide that dragons were probably a reasonable career influence. Little labels appear throughout — they're how the shelves remember why things are here.
This is not a complete list. That would imply discipline, and we are not pretending.
These are books that left fingerprints — funny books, strange books, clever books, enormous books, books with dragons, books with footnotes, books with questionable life advice, and books that wandered in decades ago and refused to leave.
Shelf 1
Cosmic Nonsense & Excellent Footnotes
For when the universe is absurd, bureaucracy is worse, and the only reasonable response is to become funnier. Death usually makes an appearance, and is frequently the most sensible character in the room.
Douglas Adams — The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, The Restaurant at the End of the UniverseExcellent nonsenseChanged how I think
Terry Pratchett — Good Omens, The Color of MagicMade me laughExcellent nonsense
Jenny Lawson — Let's Pretend This Never HappenedMade me laughShelf goblin favorite
Shelf 2
Dragons, Wizards & Other Sensible People
Books that understand children, dragons, gods, wizards, and talking animals are often more reasonable than adults in meetings. Contains extensive world-building and an unusual number of characters who are secretly divine.
Tolkien — All of itContains dragonsPortal book
Ursula Le Guin — A Wizard of EarthseaPortal bookChanged how I think
Anne McCaffrey
Contains dragons
Rick Riordan — All of the aboveRead too young, kept foreverContains dragons
Christopher Paolini — InheritanceContains dragons
C.S. Lewis
Read too young, kept forever
Roald Dahl — All of itRead too young, kept foreverExcellent nonsense
Shelf 3
Clever Kids in Strange Places
Secret rooms, brave mice, prairie grit, nonsense logic, and poems that still know exactly where the sidewalk ends. These books installed themselves permanently in the attic and have been charging rent ever since.
E.L. Konigsburg — From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. FrankenweilerShelf goblin favoriteRead too young, kept forever
Robert C. O'Brien — Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMHShelf goblin favorite
Lewis Carroll — Alice in WonderlandExcellent nonsenseRead too young, kept forever
Shel Silverstein — Where the Sidewalk EndsRead too young, kept foreverMade me laugh
Laura Ingalls Wilder — Little House on the PrairieRead too young, kept forever
Shelf 4
Mysteries, Schemes & Social Engineering
Murders, sword fights, charm offensives, revenge plots, and tactical advice. A perfectly normal shelf, frankly. Sun Tzu has been surprisingly applicable to deciding where to sit at a potluck.
Agatha Christie — All of itPortal book
Janet Evanovich
Made me laugh
Alexandre Dumas — The Three MusketeersPortal book
William Goldman — The Princess BridePortal bookExcellent nonsense
Dale Carnegie — How to Win Friends and Influence PeopleDeeply suspicious advice
Sun Tzu — The Art of WarDeeply suspicious adviceBrain snack
Shelf 5
Science, Systems & "Wait, That's Weird"
For the part of the brain that likes experiments, improbable survival plans, robots, alien civilizations, collapse scenarios, and humans being spectacularly peculiar. The spider book will change you. You've been warned.
Steven Levitt & Stephen Dubner — FreakonomicsChanged how I thinkBrain snack
Andy Weir — The MartianBrain snackMade me laugh
Oliver Sacks — The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a HatChanged how I thinkBrain snack
Isaac Asimov — I, RobotChanged how I think
Larry Niven
Brain snack
John Scalzi — Old Man's WarMade me laughBrain snack
Adrian Tchaikovsky — Children of TimeBrain snackChanged how I think
Alastair Reynolds — EversionBrain snack
Jared Diamond — Collapse, Guns, Germs, and SteelChanged how I think
Shelf 6
Big Serious Books That Still Stuck
Some books are here because they were beautiful. Some because they were difficult. Some because they argued with me and won shelf space anyway. One of them would hate sharing a shelf with everyone else. That's her problem now.
Maya Angelou — I Know Why the Caged Bird SingsChanged how I think
Chinua Achebe — Things Fall ApartChanged how I think
Ernest Hemingway — The Sun Also RisesRead too young, kept forever
William Faulkner — The Sound and the FuryChanged how I think
Ayn Rand — Atlas ShruggedDeeply suspicious advice
Mark Twain — Tom Sawyer, Huckleberry FinnRead too young, kept foreverMade me laughChanged how I think
Jane Austen
Changed how I thinkShelf goblin favorite
Shelf 7
Vampires, Rebellions & Fully Committed Escapism
Not every book needs to improve civilization. Some are here because they opened a portal and had the decency to be dramatic about it. This shelf has no apologies and several feuding factions.
Cassandra Clare — City of Fallen AngelsPortal bookRead too young, kept forever
Anne Rice — The Queen of the DamnedPortal book
P.C. Cast & Kristin Cast — BetrayedPortal book
Orson Scott Card — XenocideBrain snack
Pierce Brown — Golden SonPortal book
Shannon Mayer — RobertPortal book
B.V. Larson — Hell WorldExcellent nonsense
Larry Correia — The Adventures of Tom Stranger, Interstellar Insurance AgentExcellent nonsenseMade me laugh
⚠ not a manifesto
Liking a book does not mean endorsing every idea in it, every sentence in it, or every life choice made by its author. Sometimes a book is beloved because it delighted me. Sometimes because it made me think. Sometimes because I read it at exactly the right age and it installed itself permanently in the attic. Especially not the Sun Tzu. That was a phase. Possibly still a phase.
Field classification system
Made me laughChanged how I thinkRead too young, kept foreverContains dragonsDeeply suspicious adviceExcellent nonsenseBrain snackPortal bookShelf goblin favorite
The annotations are illegible. This is a feature. · The Quirky Library closes at an undetermined time.
