Arctic Exploration, Japanese Religion, Assorted Adult Fiction and Non-Fiction, and a Few MG Faves [Bookshelf Tour 3/5]

Part 1 (Tolkien) | Part 2 (New bookcases) | Part 3 (Arctic exploration, Japanese religion, assorted adult fiction and non-fiction, and a few MG faves) | Part 4 (remaining adult fiction and non-fiction, fairy tales, favourite YA and adult authors) | Part 5 (middle grade and young adult fiction)

The tour continues at last! In the previous posts, I documented most of my Tolkien collection and showed photos of my two new bookcases. Today I share the next three (bottom) shelves that follow my Tolkien collection. Links to my reviews where available. The shelves featured today contain:

• Remainder of Tolkien collection
  • Some of these titles have already been noted in Part 1, as I rearranged my shelves since then
• Middle grade favourites
• Arctic exploration
• Adult fiction (favourite authors)
• Japanese religion
• Adult fiction
• Non-fiction

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Third Shelf

Tolkien Adjacent, Films, and Older Titles

• The First World War by John Keegan
• The Real Middle Earth: Magic and Mystery in the Dark Ages by Brian Bates
• Faerie, Fantasy and Pseudo-Mediaevalia edited by John Wurtley
• Beowulf translated by Seamus Heaney
• The English Language by Barber, Beal, and Shaw
  • An academic text from my undergrad days
• The Music of The Lord of the Rings Films by Doug Adams
• The Hobbit Motion Picture Trilogy Location Guidebook by Ian Brodie
• The Fellowship: The Literary Lives of the Inklings by Phillip Zaleski and Carol Zaleski
• Tolkien Trivia: A Middle-earth Miscellany by William C. Mackay
• Tolkien & The Silmarillion by Clyde S. Kilby
• Tolkien’s World by Randel Helms
• A Tolkien Compass edited by Jared Lobdell
• Tolkien: A Look Behind The Lord of the Rings by Lin Carter
• The Adventures of Tom Bombadil by J.R.R. Tolkien

Middle Grade Favourites

I did want to keep all my middle grade books together, on my second bookcase. Space constraints led to this configuration. In particular, I wanted to keep room for future Morrigan Crow books. At least these jewel toned fantasies can keep each other company!

• The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making by Catherynne M. Valente
• The Girl Who Fell Beneath Fairyland and Led the Revels There by Catherynne M. Valente
• The Girl Who Soared Over Fairyland and Cut the Moon in Two by Catherynne M. Valente
• The Boy Who Lost Fairyland by Catherynne M. Valente
• The Girl Who Raced Fairyland All the Way Home by Catherynne M. Valente
• Inkheart by Cornelia Funke
• Inkspell by Cornelia Funke
• Inkdeath by Cornelia Funke
• Nevermoor: The Trials of Morrigan Crow by Jessica Townsend
• Wundersmith: The Calling of Morrigan Crow by Jessica Townsend
• Hollopox: The Hunting for Morrigan Crow by Jessica Townsend

The owl mug was a Secret Santa gift from a friend some years ago. I like to drink from it because it is large and has the owl on both sides 🦉

Fourth Shelf

Arctic Exploration

• Trapped in Ice by Eric Walters (one of the first books I ever bought, I think when I was in grade three)
• Bartlett: The Great Explorer by Harold Harwood
• Karluk by William Laird McKinlay
• The Log of “Bob” Bartlett by Robert A. Bartlett
• The Ice Master by Jennifer A. Niven
• Prisoners of the North by Pierre Berton
• Midnight to the North: The Inuit Woman Who Saved the Polaris Expedition by Sheila Nickerson
• Dead Reckoning: The Untold Story of the Northwest Passage by Ken McGoogan
• Travelling Passions: The Hidden Life of Vilhjalmur Stefansson by Gísli Pálsson
• Arctic Obsession: The Lure of the Far North by Alexis S. Troubetzkoy
• The Last Imaginary Place: A Human History of the Arctic World by Robert McGhee
• Ice Ghosts: The Epic Hunt for the Lost Franklin Expedition by Paul Watson
• The White Road: A True Story by George H. Burnham
• The Private Life of Polar Exploration by J.M. Scott
• I May Be Some Time: Ice and the English Imagination by Francis Spufford

Adult Fiction (Some Favourite Authors)

• The Scar by China Miéville
• Death with Interruptions by José Saramago
• Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman
• Fragile Things by Neil Gaiman
• Sputnik Sweetheart by Haruki Murakami
• Hard Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World by Haruki Murakami
• The Double by José Saramago
• The Gospel According to Jesus Christ by José Saramago
• Seeing by José Saramago
• Blindness by José Saramago
• Good Omens by Neil Gaiman & Terry Pratchett
• American Gods by Neil Gaiman
• Burial Rites by Hannah Kent
• The Good People by Hannah Kent
• Devotion by Hannah Kent

Fifth Shelf

Japanese Religion and Other Spiritual Books

It happened long enough ago now that some of you may not know I spent a year teaching English in Japan, during which I completed the Shikoku 88 Temple Pilgrimage. (One day I will to write a post on books about the Shikoku Henro…) This wee collection stems from both a spiritual and intellectual interest in Japanese religious practices, with a few other titles related to my broader interest in religion.

• The Noble Eightfold Path by Bhikku Bodhi
• The Word of the Doctrine (Dhammapada) translated by K.R. Norman
• Samadhi On Zen Gardens: Dynamism and Traquility by Mizuno Katsuhiko and Tom Wright
• Just Enough: Vegan Recipes and Stories from Japan’s Buddhist Temples by Gesshin Claire Greenwood
• Zen Essence: The Science of Freedom translated and edited by Thomas Cleary
• Returning to Silence: Zen Practices in Daily Life by Dainin Katagiri
• Japanese Pilgrimage by Olive Statler
• Koyasan by Kongobuji (head temple at Koyasan)
• Kukai: Words for Our Time by Matsunaga Yuukei
  • The above two titles I picked up while visiting Koyasan, the headquarters of Shingon Buddhism and a starting point for the Shikoku Henro. Kukai is tucked back in the photo so you can’t really see it.
• The River of Heaven: The Haiku of Bashou, Busson, Issa and Shiki by Robert Aiken
• The Book of Five Rings by Miyamoto Musashi (traslated by Thomas Cleary)
• Sources of Japanese Tradition Vol I compiled by de Bary, Keene, Tanabe, and Varley

Adult Fiction (Assorted)

• The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith
• A Guide to the Birds of East Africa by Nicholas Drayson
• The Dodecahedron, or, A Frame for Frames by Paul Glennon
• Pretty Is by Maggie Mitchell
• House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski
• Wolf Winter by Cecilia Eckbäck
• The Enchanted by Rene Denfeld
• The Child Finder by Rene Denfeld
• The Butterfly Girl by Rene Denfeld
• The Bird’s Nest by Shirley Jackson
• Wild by Jay Griffiths

Non-fiction

• Kate: How to Dress Like a Style Icon by Caroline Jones
  • I do want to put a little caveat here so no one thinks I’m trying ‘to dress like a style icon’ lmao I just like looking at the outfits this book catalogues. Picked up from Rizzoli in NYC!
• Doctor Who: The Writer’s Tale – The Final Chapter by Russell T. Davies and Benjamin Cook
• Time Was Soft There by Jeremy Mercer
• Chasing the Light: The Cloud Cult Story by Mark Allister
• Stripped: The True Story of Depeche Mode by Jonathan Miller
• Depeche Mode: Faith and Devotion by Ian Gittins
• A History of Children’s Books in 100 Books by Roderick Cave and Sarah Ayad

The green mug on the fourth shelf I bought in Bantry, Ireland. The brass mouse on the bottom (fifth) shelf came from my grandparents’ home. It sits atop my lil CD collection of Depeche Mode and Cloud Cult (my two favourite bands). The green glass bottle I picked up in a thrift shop last month. 😝

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What’s your favourite non-fiction topic to read about?
Who are some favourite authors you keep on your shelves?
How many of these books do you think I’ve actually read? 😂