# The Bookshelf Game **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 9, 2004, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-bookshelf-game/249509 "2004-06-09T19:02:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Electronic\_Chaos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Electronic\_Chaos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Electronic_Chaos)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2004, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-bookshelf-game/249509/1 "2004-06-09T19:02:16Z")
I’ve just got all my books straightend out and in Alphabetical order (by author) and it’s inspired me to create this game. Here’s how it works: I list the first book on my Bookshelf, and someone who has that same book lists the next book on their shelf. Oddly enough (or not, really) the first book on my shelf is: **Cecil Adams,** The Straight Dope. ---
**Author:** ![N.Sane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f19dbf/32.png) [@N.Sane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/N.Sane)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2004, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-bookshelf-game/249509/2 "2004-06-09T19:05:40Z")
Ron Chernow: _Alexander Hamilton_ ---
**Author:** ![Black\_Train\_Song](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4da419/32.png) [@Black\_Train\_Song](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Black_Train_Song)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2004, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-bookshelf-game/249509/3 "2004-06-10T02:05:11Z")
err…I arrange my books by size rather than by author and although I don’t have either of the books mentioned, I do have one roughly the same size. I believe that makes it my turn…clear the way… Napalm & Silly Putty -George Carlin ---
**Author:** ![SkeptiJess](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea666f/32.png) [@SkeptiJess](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SkeptiJess)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2004, 12:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-bookshelf-game/249509/4 "2004-06-10T12:02:33Z")
My books are organized by catagory – not any Dewey Decimalized deal, just catagories of my own choosing – and George Carlin rests on the Humor shelf next to: Delia Ephron, Do I Have To Say Hello? ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2004, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-bookshelf-game/249509/5 "2004-06-10T13:44:33Z")
This game is never going to fly if y’all keep picking books I don’t have. :dubious: I have the Cecil Adams and the George Carlin book, so can I take a turn? Next to my Adams book, I have the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. Now I _know_ you all have _that_! ---
**Author:** ![catsix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e19b73/32.png) [@catsix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/catsix)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2004, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-bookshelf-game/249509/6 "2004-06-10T13:47:17Z")
Immediately following my HHGTTG series is Isaac Asimov’s _Fantastic Voyage_. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2004, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-bookshelf-game/249509/7 "2004-06-10T13:59:45Z")
By the way, **Jess** , I apologize for stepping on your toes. I guess I could have waited longer to see if anyone had the Ephron book. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![overlyverbose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/9dc877/32.png) [@overlyverbose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/overlyverbose)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2004, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-bookshelf-game/249509/8 "2004-06-10T14:30:34Z")
On the Origin of Species, Charles Darwin. I’ve still got tons of genetic biology and linguistics books on my shelves. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2004, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-bookshelf-game/249509/9 "2004-06-10T15:15:22Z")
My books are grouped by “whatever looks good at the moment.” Next to “Origin of Species” on my shelf is my copy of “Gray’s Anatomy.” ---
**Author:** ![Hal\_Briston](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a9a28c/32.png) [@Hal\_Briston](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hal_Briston)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2004, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-bookshelf-game/249509/10 "2004-06-10T15:36:32Z")
Wow…I have only five non-business-related books on my shelf here at work, and _Gray’s Anatomy_ happens to be one on them(never know when you’ll need to know _exactly_ where the spleen is). On one side is a copy of our insurance company’s provider directory, so I think we’ll go with what’s on the other side – _The Onion: Our Dumb Century_. ---
**Author:** ![Lsura](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7993a0/32.png) [@Lsura](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lsura)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2004, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-bookshelf-game/249509/11 "2004-06-10T15:46:23Z")
Well, as every good librarian should have…there is no order to the books on my shelves. Just next to _The Onion: Our Dumb Century_, I have Philip Pullman’s _His Dark Materials_ (three books in one. Dunno if it’ll count, but it includes _The Golden Compass, The Subtle Knife_ and _The Amber Spyglass_). ---
**Author:** ![dangermom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e274bd/32.png) [@dangermom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dangermom)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2004, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-bookshelf-game/249509/12 "2004-06-10T17:25:13Z")
On my bookshelf, _The amber spyglass_ is between a stack of paperbacks and… _Men of iron_, by Howard Pyle. ---
**Author:** ![dangermom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e274bd/32.png) [@dangermom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dangermom)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2004, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-bookshelf-game/249509/13 "2004-06-11T00:21:31Z")
Oops. I didn’t mean to sink the ship. Let’s try the other side. In the stack of paperbacks next to _The amber spyglass_, we find the rest of Philip Pullman’s books, and… _The snarkout boys and the baconburg horror_, by Daniel Pinkwater. ---
**Author:** ![SkeptiJess](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea666f/32.png) [@SkeptiJess](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SkeptiJess)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2004, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-bookshelf-game/249509/14 "2004-06-11T00:30:41Z")
> [@Dung Beetle](#): > > By the way, **Jess** , I apologize for stepping on your toes. I guess I could have waited longer to see if anyone had the Ephron book. :smack: No problem – probably nobody _does_. I thought of that after I posted – that I should have fudged a little and picked something else off the Humor shelf that somebody else might own. Dave Barry or something. ---
**Author:** ![Helena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c68b51/32.png) [@Helena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Helena)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2004, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-bookshelf-game/249509/15 "2004-06-11T01:16:57Z")
Ooooh, I have _Yobgorgle_, by Daniel Pinkwater. Close enough? It is between Rosemary Sutcliff’s _The Road to Camlann_ and _A Semester in the Life of a Garbage Bag_, by Gordon Korman. ---
**Author:** ![FisherQueen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/58f4c7/32.png) [@FisherQueen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FisherQueen)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2004, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-bookshelf-game/249509/16 "2004-06-14T01:41:11Z")
_A Semester in the Life of a Garbage Bag?_ Way to kill the thread, Helena. I don’t have that one, but I **do** have _This Book Will Change Your Life_, with which I propose to reboot the game. ---
**Author:** ![Shadez](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/90ced4/32.png) [@Shadez](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shadez)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2004, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-bookshelf-game/249509/17 "2004-06-14T02:20:42Z")
Next to that I have _Chicken Soup for the Unsinkable Soul_. Surely we can keep this thread alive by loosening the reins a touch; I love book threads. How about if the book has major things in common (IE, you have the book, you have a book by the same author, you have a book with the same major theme, etc, maybe even similar titles but totally different books!) apologizes to the OP. I love books! So who has a chicken soup book or like: what’s next to it? /Shadez ---
**Author:** ![1010011010](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/1/ea666f/32.png) [@1010011010](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/1010011010)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2004, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-bookshelf-game/249509/18 "2004-06-14T02:37:19Z")
Well… **Dung Beetle** ’s HHGTTG is the only book I have (mentioned in the thread, anyway). It’s between _Roughing It_ by Mark Twain and _The Philip K. Dick Reader_ ---
**Author:** ![Syntropy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/65b543/32.png) [@Syntropy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Syntropy)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2004, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-bookshelf-game/249509/19 "2004-06-14T02:43:28Z")
My copy of _Philip K Dick’s Reader_ is between \*The Lensman \* by Doc Smith and _The Chronicles of Amber_ by Roger Zelazny. ---
**Author:** ![Graycat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Graycat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Graycat)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2004, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-bookshelf-game/249509/20 "2004-06-14T02:59:54Z")
My Zelazny books are flanked by \*The Year’s Best Science Fiction \* (about 8 years worth) edited by Donald A. Wollheim, and the first category in my nonfiction shelves, Agriculture, several books on horse training and horse farming. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-bookshelf-game/249509.md?page=2)