Books Under My Desk

I mentioned in this blog last week that I had bought a few books from a used book store. I needed to put them somewhere out of my way, so I shoved them on the book shelf under my desk.

The shelf is packed full; there might be fifty books under there, on a shelf only 24″ wide—there’s a row of books behind the front row, and two more rows sitting on top of both. It’s holding thick, hardback text books and small paperback novels. I had to pull some out to rearrange how they were packed in, and while I had some scattered about the floor, I noted the wide range of subjects.

Some of the books on the shelf under my desk:

Undaunted Courage, by Stephen E. Ambrose — the story of the Lewis & Clark Expedition

The Elements of Style, by William Strunk, Jr. and E.B. White — the quintessential text on writing style

Guns, Germs, and Steel, by Jared Diamond — theories on how the different peoples of the world evolved and progressed differently

The Art of War, by Sun-tzu — ancient and influential text on tactics and strategies for warfare

Triggernometry, by Eugene Cunningham — short biographies of many well known Wild West gunfighters

Philosophy, by James L. Christian — college textbook on “the art of wondering”

U.S. Army Survival Handbook, by Department of the Army — exactly what the title says

Han Solo and the Lost Legacy, by Brian Daley — a novel about Han Solo and Chewbacca before the first Star Wars movie

Inside Delta Force, by Eric L. Haney — “The story of America’s elite counterterrorist unit”

A Short Victorious War, by David Weber — a “space opera” novel in the Honor Harrington series

Civil War Trivia and Fact Book, by Webb Garrison — just what the title says

The Mighty Eighth, by Gerald Astor — the story of the U.S. Army 8th Air Force in World War II

World of Warcraft Game Manual — player manual for the computer game

Starship Troopers, by Robert A. Heilein — science fiction novel

Phule’s Company, by Robert Asprin — science fiction comedy novel

Saga of Old City, by Gary Gygax — fantasy novel based on Dungeons & Dragons

The Sword of Shannara, by Terry Brooks — fantasy novel

Blackhawk Down, by Mark Bowden — the story of the battle of Mogadishu, Somalia

Soldat, by Siegfried Knappe — “Reflections of a German soldier, 1936-1949”

The Hobbit, by J.R.R. Tolkien — fantasy novel

Weapons, by The Diagram Group — illustrated listing and history of weapons through the ages

Westward the Tide, by Louis L’amour — western novel

The White Rose, by Glen Cook — fantasy novel

Under the Black Flag, by David Cordingly — a history of 18th Century Pirates

The Little Red Caboose, by Marian Potter and Tibor Gergely — a children’s book

My junior and senior year high school year books — a bunch of teenagers thinking they own the world

I put all the books back on the shelf, packed nice and neat. The above titles are only a random sampling; there’s two to six more of each of the above subjects or by each of the above authors. For instance, the whole Honor Harrington science fiction series is on the shelf, six or eight thin Louis L’amour western novels, the whole Black Company fantasy novel series, and a few dozen non-fiction books on various eras, wars, and battles (mostly WWII stuff).

The only unique book on the shelf is The Little Red Caboose. This is one of my childhood books that my mother found several months ago and gave to me; I reread it and then carefully put it on the shelf. I remember it from my young days, and it has all the signs of having been well read many years ago.

The only surprise I found was the two high school year books. I didn’t know they were under my desk; I would have thought they were packed away in a box somewhere. Thinking back on it, I really wish I had chosen to work on the year book in high school. I can’t really put my finger on why, but I think it would be a cool thing to look back on.

Bullgrit
bullgrit@totalbullgrit.com