Whenever EMBD describes a guest room/ spare room, there's invariably a selection of books, from the few dozen unspecified ones in the Highland Twins' room to a bookcase 'crammed with a catholic selection of books' (obviously more to her taste!).

Would sort of books do you think that selection might have contained? And what are your own ideas about books suitable for guests? Maybe this depends on who your guests are likely to be, too...

Definitely none of your faves, in case the said guests wanted to take them home to finish them, or, worse, accidentally damaged them!

I'd usually assume that they'd bring their own, but guests in books tend to stay quite a while. It'd depend on the person's age and interests. Joey probably included a few of her own books, though .

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We really must stop eating like this ...

Minds are like parachutes - they only function when open.

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OK, I admit it - I borrowed a paperback from a friend's B&B and never got it back to her because she sold up and emigrated to Nova Scotia! - but at least we had given her some books as well.

The subject is a bit on my mind ATM because the Spare Oom is being refurbed and I had to decant the books from it. Now I'm considering what to put back...

I'm sure that many of the titles EMBD mentions in the CS books were personal favourites - surely none of the bookcases she describes would be complete without a copy of Histoire d'une Ame by St Thérèse de Lisieux?

I would definitely not include any of those "dear little books", beloved of EBD, involving religion! Or anything involving politics.

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We really must stop eating like this ...

Minds are like parachutes - they only function when open.

http://setinthepast.wordpress.com/

Madge has quite a few religious books in Tyrol, doesn't she? Suitable for Sunday reading, I think in School at.

As for my books, I tend to put in there things like detective stories, ghost stories and popular series like Brother Cadfael. Definitely nothing that's difficult to replace.

Selfishly, I provide a basket of books that I have read but no wish to re-read so happy for guests to take them away! I also put a guide to the local area so that guests can choose where to visit. Trusted guests (those that I know will return any books borrowed) may get some of my favourites!

I don't think that's selfish at all, lizco - that's a lovely idea. It's not an option here, simply because the large number of books in the house means that every inch of shelf space is wanted, and there's nowhere else I can put the bookcase! I have spotted one or two titles that can go to the book exchange at my GP surgery, though.

I have noticed in recent years when staying in rented holiday home, there is usually a bookcase with a varied selection; often signed to say help yourself, just leave one in its place. I think this is a great idea; often the books I read on holiday are not ones I would read again. I usually take one or two 'heavy' books I have saved on purpose, so the rest tend to be lightweight charity shop purchases. One of the charity shops near work often does '3 for £1', so I tend to stock up then. I would put a range of popular authors in the guest room, easily replaceable as the previous person said.

1) I would have thought the HT's room's selection would have tended to be "children's books" of the GO and classic types. It rather depends on how the Maynards sort their books.

2) In my house, the spare bedroom contains the general non-fiction and a number of humorous books include my Giles books and Steve Bell. This is not a special selection of books aimed at possible visitors, this is just what lives there. I'm assuming that, if a visitor wanted something to read, they are perfectly capable of looking at the shelves in the rest of the house and finding themselves something, or asking if there's a particular author or type of book they'd like to read.

Ones I'd read already and *might* re-read, but wouldn't be in a tearing hurry to do so. Or ones that I intended to read but hadn't got around to yet, meaning they hadn't grabbed me all that much. Nothing I'd be upset to lose or have damaged. I could include religious books, but being me, the religion in question wouldn't be Christianity! I do have a shelf of those in full view in the front room, so nobody's going to be surprised at their existence if they happen to find one more in this theoretical spare room.

That raises a point that I've thought about before - I agree that it's a good idea to have a bit of everything, but that means splitting some out from the main groups. It can be hard enough to find a particular book sometimes anyway, without that...

In the Czech Republic I have a fairly constant flow of guests, English, Czech, German, Dutch and there are books in every room in the house, sorted alphabetically by subject. The spare room itself houses nearly all the paperback fiction.

I always say to visitors they can borrow anything they like, except my Persephones, as long as they check and we enter it in the little book kept for the purpose. Czechs are particularly keen on borrowing English books and they find a very eclectic selection in my house.

And then of course there are all the dollshouse books in the museum....also available to borrow.

I am afraid I tend to cheekily assume that I can borrow in the same way!

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Cestina's dolls houses - Curtain Up!

I assume that "books for the guest room" were intended to be things read while someone was staying with you but a number of people (I'm not picking on Cestina in particular: it was just that she was the latest poster to mention it) have seemed to suggest that that they expect that other people will take away books or that they have done so themselves.


I have stayed in accommodation with a row of books and I have taken away books from such places replacing with something else but I would not dream of taking away a book from a friend's house in the same way and I'd be horrified if someone visiting me thought they were entitled to walk off with my books whether temporarily or permanently. Perhaps I'm odd but I've spent a long time acquiring my books and whilst I am happy for any visitor of any age to read any of them in my house, I do not lend books to be read outside my home. Is it really common practice for visitors to "borrow" without asking?

Oops, I may have given the wrong impression. None of my visitors borrows without asking and I'd be horrified if they did. Nor would I do that to others. I do love my books dearly but, rather like my dollshouses I want others to enjoy them too, within limits. That's why I won't let the Persephones escape elsewhere...

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Cestina's dolls houses - Curtain Up!

I'm sure no-one would dream of taking them without asking, but there are some I'd be loath to part with (I am a very stressy person and would be convinced the books would get lost), and it'd be very awkward to tell someone that I wouldn't be comfortable with them taking them away to finish!

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We really must stop eating like this ...

Minds are like parachutes - they only function when open.

http://setinthepast.wordpress.com/

Though at least in these days of the internet it's easier to track books down than it would have been in EMBD's lifetime - still, yes, it could be awkward if somebody didn't return a much-cherished book.

PS Cestina, I still have your Virginia Pyes safely, and must get them back to you!

Anyone staying in my hypothetical spare room would be sharing it with a large number of books anyway. I probably wouldn't keep anything that was precious to me in there and therefore they'd be welcome to read as they liked. Actually I might keep my travel guides in there as they are the books I do like to lend out and don't mind if they get damaged.

In CS land I suspect it would vary according to the tastes of the owner of said spare room. I think there would be a lot of variety but probably a fair bit of classic literature, books in French and German and, of course, Joey's books.

If I had a guest room and could put bookshelves in it, I'd stock it with local travel guides, classic children's book, some non fiction books of the sort that have self-contained chapters and can be read in pieces, a humorous book or two, some short stories, and maybe a murder mystery or two. Basically stuff that would make good before bed reading, but doesn't take weeks to finish.

In CS-land I picture a mix of children's books, classic literature, whodunits, and religious texts.

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Ring the bells that still can ring; Forget your perfect offering
There is a crack in everything; That's how the light gets in
Anthem: Leonard Cohen

In my infrequently-used guest room, I've included a varied set of works from diverse genres tending towards light reading. Because the bookshelf has relatively small space between shelves, this ends up limiting the works to paperbacks. The books I want to keep are located elsewhere, not that any of my guests would appropriate anything without informing me.

Last summer, I spent a couple of nights at a B&B with a historical theme and enjoyed the books left for our enjoyment. These included biographies of the historical figure, histories of the era, and travel books about the region.

That's a coincidence - your mentioning paperback books, Pado, and the shelf space in your guest room taking only paperbacks. I was sitting in the dining room this morning, keeping the cats company while they breakfasted, and looking at the heap of books decanted from the spare room while it's refurbed. Yes, mainly paperbacks apart from the full run of The Saturday Book and another anthology series. It struck me that EMBD's characters may not have had as many paperbacks as we're used to, and also that they were perhaps more accustomed to (a) using second-hand bookshops and (b) inheriting books that had come down through the family. Then I thought about a question that our decorator/ gardener/ taxi-man asked about the book-lined alcove in the dining room - could we squeeze another shelf in there? No, because it would only take the very smallest of paperbacks, and I don't have enough of those. Many modern pbs are large, both in height and thickness and the books in the alcove are mainly about religions and art (the one shades into the other for an art historian!) and they come in a real mix of sizes.