My "Odd Shelf', inspired by Anne Fadiman

A book that I've re-read many times over the years is Ex Libris: Confessions of a Common Reader by Anne Fadiman. I love it! The book is a wonderful collection of essays about books and reading. I first encountered it through Bookcrossing, which I took part in longer ago than I care to remember, and many thoughts from the essays have remained with me through the years.

One chapter that I particularly enjoy is My Odd Shelf. From the essay:

"It has long been my belief that everyone's library contains an Odd Shelf. On this shelf rests a small, mysterious corpus of volumes whose subject matter is completely unrelated to the rest of the library, yet which, open closer inspection, reveals a good deal about its owner."

Anne Fadiman's Odd Shelf holds sixty-four books about polar exploration, including narratives, journals and photo collections. I wonder if reading about her frozen odd shelf is what inspired me to create my own, similar in theme, collection of books relating to Mount Everest.

My odd shelf is very much a work in progress, and I only began its curation a few months ago. I have many random books on my shelves, but no more than a couple on a particular topic. However my Everest collection is building up nicely. Some of these books I have bought new or received as gifts, but most of them I have bought second hand. This is mainly because many of them are a bit niche and difficult to find new! 

I'm not sure what my odd shelf reveals about me. I'm not a particularly adventurous person, and although I enjoyed some light climbing in the Lake District as a teenager, and I once climbed Snowdon, climbing up Everest is not something that is appealing in the slightest.

I wonder if it reveals a desire to do something unexpected and challenging, something that I couldn't possibly attempt because it involves dropping everything and departing for the other side of the world for months at a time. Or maybe I just enjoy reading about frozen hardships while I'm nice and safe under a warm blanket with a cup of tea and a biscuit!

Do you have an odd shelf?