The Guest Room Bookshelf

Every home should have a guest room bookshelf. Every hotel, every time-share, every cabin in the woods; all should have a guest room bookshelf. Every one of these places should have a guest room bookshelf not only because reading is important and one should always have a book within arm's reach, but because reading is one of the first things we want to do when we have leisure time. Now, I don't have a guest room. I don't have enough rooms (or enough guests) to devote one whole room specifically to that occasional purpose. Any guests of mine, I'm sorry to say, have to sleep in the kids' room or in the office (I promise I'll tidy up and put out clean sheets and towels!)--but I DO have a guest room bookshelf!

The idea came from Michael Dirda's book entitled Book by Book, Notes on Reading and Life. (Great book, review to come later.) Dirda points out (in chapter 3, "Work and Leisure") that any true reader will take books with her when she goes on vacation, but occasionally a traveler will find herself without a book to read, what then? According to Dirda, "in a properly appointed world you would simply borrow from a well-stocked shelf of guest-room books." Well, far be it for me to deny any of my guests a "properly appointed" travel experience. As soon as I read this I set about creating my own guest room bookshelf.

Dirda's guidelines for a proper guest room library are that it "avoid all the normal requirements of a 'good read.' Nothing too demanding or white-knuckled suspenseful. Ideally, items should be familiar, cozy, browsable, above all soothing..." A guest room library should contain one book from each of the major categories (listed below) and "all guest rooms are presumed to start with the Bible, Shakespeare, and at least one novel by Jane Austen." In his book Dirda then goes on to list his top 3 choices in each reading category, but this is my blog and you're going to have to be satisfied with my choices. If you want to read Dirda's choices (and they're very good, I highly recommend you do) you can buy his book.

Here are the books on my guest room bookshelf (as pictured above) from left to right:

1. The Yale Shakespeare (for the Shakespeare category)
2. The Stories of Hans Christian Anderson (Children's Classics category)
3. The Pre-History of The Far Side (Humor)
4. The DaVinci Code (Mystery category. This is, I admit, the only mystery book in my house)
5. 50 Great Short Stories (My own addition, there was no short story category)
6. Bartlett's Poems for Occasions (Poetry)
7. Plato and a Platypus Walk Into a Bar (for the "deep--but not too deep--thoughts" category)
8. The Hobbit (Fantasy)
9. Treasure Island (Children's Classics)
10. The Book of Great Books (Reference)
11. In Our Own Words, Extraordinary Speeches of the American Century (another Reference choice)
12. Pride and Prejudice (the Jane Austen contribution)
13. Dracula (Horror)
14. Everyman's Library Pocket Collection of Love Letters (Journals and Diaries)
15. Robot Visions (Science Fiction)
16. The Book That Changed My Life (Odds and Ends--and because I love this book)

The only category of Dirda's that is not represented on my bookshelf is the Biography category. Stephen King's On Writing is my choice for that category, which is currently lent out. I also have chosen, for my own reasons, not to include the Bible on my guest room bookshelf. (I can hear the cries of "heathen!")
Whether or not you have the room (or desire) for a guest room bookshelf, this was great fun as an exercise! I thoroughly enjoyed spending an afternoon going through my personal library, considering which would be the perfect book (or books) in each category. In many cases you're not choosing "the best of the best", and you're not even necessarily choosing your own favorites, you're choosing with an eye to what might inspire a visiting reader to settle in and get lost in a new adventure. Perhaps (and I may be reaching here) even inspire that visiting reader to discover a new author or genre. And I must admit, that challenge, that inspiration, is one of the things I love best.
So... if I don't keep my guest room bookshelf in an actual guest room, you may be wondering where I do keep it? In the hallway, of course! Between the two rooms that do serve as guest rooms when friends or family come to visit. And if its presence in the much-traveled hallway inspires my kids, their friends, or any dinner guests to pause and peruse--all the better!
What would your guest room bookshelf contain? Please comment and share your own choices!
Happy Reading!