The Story of My Book Corner - Maryline

Thank you so much for having me, Simona!

I’ve always been a reader. Our local library has a 5 items limit on loans and I remember that wasn’t nearly enough for me. I just learned how to read and I was addicted. I used my mom’s or brother’s library card just so I could take home a few extra books. I did buy a couple of books – mostly from well-known Dutch/Flemish authors, but due to a lack of bookshelf space, those our being kept safely in my parent’s attic. All of them have a little sticker with the author’s initials, because not only did I order them alphabetically, I had my own library. My parents and brother had their library card and I asked (read: forced) them to come into “my library” and take a few books. A born librarian, some would say.

Although I no longer force family members to use my library and I stopped using stickers, I do still order my books alphabetically. And yes, I admit, I do keep a little book where I write down who borrowed which book. Of course now people actually borrow my books and not just keep them for 5 minutes so I could enjoy checking books in and out 16 times a day.

I do have separate shelves for my cookbooks and history books, and my boxsets or absolute favourites (yes, you guessed it: Harry Potter) are on a different shelf as well. So I guess my bookshelf is a mix of being both thematically and alphabetically ordered.

From the age of 15 I started reading in English. It’s hard to find novels in Dutch in my bookshelf! The only books from my childhood/early youth I haven’t been able to part with (read: store in the attic) are my (Dutch) Harry Potter books.

I love my bookshelf, I really do. I’m lucky to have that amount of space. But as you might have guessed, it’s not nearly enough for me ;-) I would love to have a separate room with a comfy sofa and walls and walls of books. Most likely not going to happen, but a girl can dream, right?

As for my “reading spot”… Mmm… I usually read in bed or on the sofa, but I do get a lot of reading done on the train as well. Even if there’s only the slightest possibility of reading-time, I take my book (or eReader) with me. Which means I almost never go out without a book. But I most enjoy reading snuggled up with a blanket in pj’s! Reading is my “me time”, “down time”, or whatever sort of time that’s relaxing. I honestly don’t know what I would do without books.