How I Write-- What do your bookshelves look like?

Books... love them, but seriously, where to put them all? It was asked in my accountability group what our bookshelves look like. At one point, my bookshelves were organized. Then my cats got to them and knocked them all down. I seriously don't know what it is with these cats, but they are obsessed about the book shelf and knocking them all out on the floor.

I own way too many books and only one bookshelf. While my parents have boxes and boxes of those I'd packed up during various moves, I have over 500 here in this apartment. During my purge at the beginning of the year, I boxed up a lot of them and set them aside. The ones I kept for the shelves are those that are keepers...those I read more than once. Still, there isn't enough room.

While I did the purge, I sorted my books out in piles: historicals, contemporaries, paranormals/urban fantasies, and then those I had yet to read. As I set them back on the shelves, I started out with the historicals, working my way then to paranormals and then contemporaries. But, I didn't stop there. Not only are they separated by genre, they are separated by alphabetical order of author last names and then by series or standalone. All those books I had yet to read went on top of the shelf in their own little piles.

I still dream to have my own room that is wall to wall filled with books. And a cozy little reading chair. However, I have been buying a lot of ebooks lately. I think my parents would be happy about that, considering they are the ones who help me move. lol. Not only would I want a secret little hide-away that leads to the "library", I love the cubbyhole little reading area in the picture on the right. My only concern would be if an earthquake hit. LOL. Not that we get a lot of those, but I would be a bit paranoid it might all fall on top of me. Death by books?

My bedroom would not be without some as well. Can you imagine having a bed like this? I think I would store all the books I had yet to read under that bed. And for the office (when I get an office), I love the look of this "desk". All my research books would look awesome in there. Everything from anthropology to biology to psychology and history and whatnot. And of course, you can't forget about the livingroom. I really like what they did here, using bookshelves and setting them around the couch. It gives it an interesting look. Of course, you would need an open concept room, to set the couch in the middle like that, but still. It would totally work in my apartment. Well, if I got rid of the kitchen table. Who needs one? lol. These are just a few ideas of what would make my dream home. I love featuring books and showcasing them for others to check out. Maybe one day...

For more on personal libraries, check out the bookcases of my friends!
Danie Ford Emma G. Delaney Kimberly Farris Kristen Koster

Vampires Pt 3-- Why Vampires Can't Exist

Recently, iO9 came out with this very interesting article on why vampires can't exist. If you haven't read it, check it out. The article talks about a new discovery found about mosquitoes. Also check out the original research article, 'Wolbachia Infections are Virulent and Inhibit the human Malaria Parasite Pkasmodium Falciparum in Anopheles Gambiae'. Very interesting read.

In the iO9 article, the writer spins what is found by the researchers who found a type of bacteria that kills of the mosquito that carries malaria by saying that because of this bacteria, it means that there will never be a "plague of vampires".

This bacteria, Wolbachia, although not found to be carried by the type of mosquito that carries malaria, the researchers thought that it could be fatal to them. Mosquitoes were infected with two of the different strains of the bacteria to see if it would kill off the carriers, therefore stopping the spread of the disease. What they found was that the bacteria not only spread quickly and took control of the immune systems of the mosquitoes, but it also inhibited the growth of malaria. The mosquitoes, however, didn't die. What happened was that while the mosquitoes lived on the sugar fed to them, given blood, they died.

Now, just imagine what a writer could do with information like this?

Movies have shown that vampires need a stake to the heart or sunlight... or whatever. But what the researchers have shown is that there are other ways to go about stopping vampires. With a bacteria. (Unless they mutate first, but let's not go there.)

iO9's spin on the research article is brilliant and brings new readers in to the scientific community.