Patricia Stoltey

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B is for Built-In Bookcases: My A to Z Wish List

April 2, 2012 By: Patricia

Since I first began collecting books as a teenager, I have turned over my complete library four times during household moves and given away scores of books along the way to make room for new purchases.

I wish I had a room with built-in bookcases on all four walls…leaving just enough space for a door and a window. Besides the bookcases, I’d have a comfortable reading chair, a footstool, and a side table big enough for a lamp, a stack of books, and a coffee cup. The table should have a drawer where I could keep my stash of dark chocolate.

I would spend a lot of time in a room like that.

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Comments

  1. Lynn McMonigal says

    April 3, 2012 at 3:58 pm

    Oh!! Sounds nearly perfect. Substitute pretzel M&Ms for the dark chocolate and you’ll never get me to leave!

  2. Stacy S. Jensen says

    April 3, 2012 at 11:17 am

    I saw a cool rolling bookcase that covers an entire wall & hides a door to another room. Ah, a finished basement dream.

  3. Kayla says

    April 3, 2012 at 7:46 am

    That would be awesome! When you get that room, can I come visit?! I would so love a big, comfy chair, a lamp, some books, and coffee. All I need for a perfect day!

  4. irishoma says

    April 3, 2012 at 6:30 am

    Wonderful idea. The first home my husband and I owned was an older two-story in Western Massachusettes. The home had a built-in bookcase in the living room. At the time I thought it was a terrible waste of space–I was only 25–but now I appreciate the beauty and functionality of it.
    Donna V.

  5. Laura Eno says

    April 3, 2012 at 5:39 am

    I would LOVE to have a room like that. Alas, like you, I’ve turned over so many books through moves and space requirements. Now I’m happy with my Kindle. I don’t have that beautiful room but I can keep all my books with ease. πŸ˜‰

  6. Stephanie V says

    April 2, 2012 at 10:46 pm

    Love the room with all those books. Best of all the drawer for your chocolate stash. Like you, I could be so happy there.

  7. Ann Best says

    April 2, 2012 at 7:58 pm

    Like you, Pat, I’ve given away/sold so many books over the past several decades, in all my moves. Your bookcase dream is awesome. Great B post. And as I haven’t been over for a while to see you, I see your updated photograph. You look GREAT! I love it when people use their real and current picture. It makes me feel like I’m right there talking to them!
    Ann Best, Author of In the Mirror & Other Memoirs

  8. Nancy Lauzon says

    April 2, 2012 at 7:39 pm

    Wow, you read my mind, that’s my ‘dream room’ too, right down to the chocolate!

  9. Jeremy Bates says

    April 2, 2012 at 7:26 pm

    Do I ever hear you, Patricia! Check out the libraries on my blog if you get a chance.

    I have given away soooo many books in my lifetime because of moves that I swear I could have stocked a small city library.

    Yes, I am crying still.

  10. DL Hammons says

    April 2, 2012 at 7:22 pm

    Me too! πŸ™‚

  11. Jan Morrison says

    April 2, 2012 at 4:36 pm

    Okay! That’s two for two – I want an agent and built-in bookcases. Will this continue????

  12. Jemi Fraser says

    April 2, 2012 at 4:28 pm

    Maybe 2 chairs! I’ll come and join you!! πŸ™‚

  13. Karen Walker says

    April 2, 2012 at 2:58 pm

    so would I, patricia
    karen

  14. Alyssa says

    April 2, 2012 at 2:40 pm

    That sounds like my kind of room. Even down to the chocolate!

  15. Eric W. Trant says

    April 2, 2012 at 12:54 pm

    Add a keg-o-rater and you’d have heaven!

    I built a full-wall library in my first house. It was hand-cut, since all I had was a jigsaw, drill, and circular hand-saw. And it looked hand-cut. It was sort of rustic, in a my-first-bookcase sort of way.

    I moved out in 2003. A couple of years ago, my ex-wife, who still lives there, remodeled.

    She ripped out the library and put in a big-screen tv!

    Ah. It was such a peaceful escape, too, at least while it lasted. My new house has no room for a library, seeing as it is almost 1/2 the size with twice the occupants.

    But all the more happy for it. I now have a Kindle!

    – Eric

  16. Susan Spann says

    April 2, 2012 at 12:08 pm

    I would love a room like that too Pat!! My home office has floor-to-ceiling oak bookcases on one wall and one additional floor-to-ceiling bookcase against the wall by my desk. They’re not built in, but I like them even better because my father made them. He loved books and woodworking, and made 10 lovely floor-to-ceiling (8′) bookcases for his own office. When he passed away, my brother and I divided them between us, and since I’d never had so much shelf space before, I have to say they’re an amazing luxury. (They’re also full to bursting, but we won’t go there…)

  17. Susan Roebuck says

    April 2, 2012 at 11:26 am

    I could live in a room that has built-in bookcases on all four walls. I went into a house like that the other day and it took all my willpower to be polite and listen to the host and hostess rather than dreamily browse all their lovely books, and drool over them…

  18. Lynn Proctor says

    April 2, 2012 at 11:06 am

    i love books, but i have to admit i do not like them lying around or stacked up on tables—so your room sounds lovely πŸ™‚

  19. Elspeth Antonelli says

    April 2, 2012 at 10:37 am

    I’ve hungered after Professor Higgin’s library from My Fair Lady for decades. DECADES. Sigh.

  20. Stephanie says

    April 2, 2012 at 9:25 am

    Sounds amazing! I see pictures all the time of amazing libraries with walls of bookshelves….looks so relaxing! πŸ™‚

  21. Elizabeth Spann Craig/Riley Adams says

    April 2, 2012 at 9:13 am

    Yes! Built-in bookcases…and secret doors. Always wanted those…

  22. Patricia Stoltey says

    April 2, 2012 at 8:57 am

    This is what makes the A to Z Challenge so much fun. We can connect with so many bloggers on so many levels. Yesterday I got a kick out of the aardvaark posts and so many others.

    Today I’m working on my novel’s synopsis, so I won’t be blog-hopping much until this evening. I’ll see you all later.

  23. Rob-bear says

    April 2, 2012 at 8:51 am

    When we had houses, I used to fill the walls with shelves for books. Then we moved to an apartment. So little space, and not a good place for putting lots of holes in walls. I’ve been reduced to three book cases. And even the contents of those are going to shrink, some more.

    Sitting in a personal library to write and read is awesome. And a luxury.

  24. Tracy says

    April 2, 2012 at 8:43 am

    hah, sounds like an alliteration-built in bookcase!
    I too wish I had one, since I have all my free standing ones filld. Oh well, I’ll continue to dream!

  25. Clarissa Draper says

    April 2, 2012 at 8:27 am

    Oh, me too. And a nice window seat as well.

  26. Marian Allen says

    April 2, 2012 at 7:45 am

    Sounds great! We do have built-in bookcases all over the house, but it would be lovely to have one room just devoted to my TBR and favorites, with the chair and the lamp and the table. ~sigh~

    While we’re wishing, may our coffee cup always be full of fresh, hot coffee in whatever flavor we want, and may our drawer never run out of chocolate!

    Marian Allen
    Fantasies, mysteries, comedies, recipes

  27. Charmaine Clancy says

    April 2, 2012 at 7:36 am

    Would love a library!
    Wagging Tales

  28. L. Diane Wolfe says

    April 2, 2012 at 7:16 am

    We have bookshelves all over the house. I would love to have all of the books in one room.

  29. Alex J. Cavanaugh says

    April 2, 2012 at 6:18 am

    I’ve always wanted a library like that.

  30. Jenny says

    April 2, 2012 at 6:03 am

    Pat, I also wish for built-ins! Maybe not on all four walls, though πŸ™‚

  31. Margot Kinberg says

    April 2, 2012 at 6:03 am

    Pat – Oh, I want a built-in-bookcase, too!!!! I would love a writing room with all four walls like that!!

    Oh, and in case I’ve not mentioned it, you’ve chosen such a terrific theme for the A-Z blog challenge!

Meet Patricia

I read, I write, I blog, and sometimes I do the laundry and cook. My 2014 novel, Dead Wrong, was a finalist in the thriller category of the 2015 Colorado Book Awards. Wishing Caswell Dead (Five Star/Cengage, December 20, 2017) is a historical mystery set in 1830s Illinois in the fictitious Village of Sangamon. The novel was a finalist for the 2018 Colorado Book Awards for General Fiction. Read More…

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