A Rose Odyssey by J. H. Nicholas, 1937 if I remember correctly. Roses, Jack Harkness, 1977, Dent Publishing. Rose Growing Complete, 1970s, E.B. LeGrice, the paperback one, not the 1965 hardback. The Makers of Heavenly Roses, Jack Harkness. For a REAL romp, not just for the knowledge it imparts, but also because it was written by THE most opinionated curmudgeon ever, Hennessey on Roses, Roy Hennessey. As a condition of selling you his roses, you had to promise NOT to cut the roots! The dedication he wrote to his long-suffering wife says it all! Lots of valuable information, historical information and absolutely hysterical in his "absolutes"! Papa Floribunda, the Gene Boerner Story My Life in Roses, by Herb Swim. 1920s through early 1940s ARS Annuals. Full of lovely articles written by rose luminaries of the day, many of whom you have heard of, some you haven't. Wonderful historical information about people, gardens and varieties you can still find from specialty sources. All of which impart a great deal of good, practical information, tremendous historical information and a lovely level of "the romance of the rose". I loved them all. Kim

Sour Diesel, You need to relax a bit...you practically jumped down Bradfl's throat and accused him of a political post; here's a newsflash: you can state an opinion and it DOES NOT have to be political. Also, you then give a Wikipedia link to support your theory of global consensus? LOL. That is junk-science at its finest. Bradfl has let you off the hook, but I just can't resist... Plus, according to your post...scientific consensus? Give me a break...science attempts to prove hypotheses...nothing more. So, there is a consensus on theories? Wow. To what consensus are you referring to? One doesn't exist (see below). Luckily for you I have a friend who mindlessly beats the drum of Global Warming, so I have all of these links saved in my mail folder so they are readily available for posts like yours. Plus, after the shameful public outing of the bogus data that is being used to push an economic agenda, I'm surprised that anyone would publicly support an obviously fraudulent cause: http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/jamesdelingpole/100017393/climategate-the-final-nail-in-the-coffin-of-anthropogenic-global-warming/ NASA temperature data flawed: http://www.thestar.com/article/246027 Polar ice models incorrect (among other fun "inconvenient" facts: http://www.nationalpost.com/opinion/columnists/story.html?id=332289 Plus, the MAJORITY of temperature sensors in use in the U.S. are incorrectly placed (and thus give false, higher readings): http://www.heartland.org/policybot/results/22203/Meteorologist_Documents_Warming_Bias_in_US_Temperature_Stations.html -FYI, I can link MANY articles that show the majority of temperature sensors in our country are incorrectly placed. And what are the global warming arguments based on? Temperature readings of course. http://www.forbes.com/2009/12/03/climate-science-gore-intelligent-technology-sutton.html http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,517035,00.html -Fox picked this up from an Australian news co. http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/nov/24/hiding-evidence-of-global-cooling/ Plus, approx. 31,000 scientists (incl. over 9,000 PhD's have signed a petition that there is NO CONSENSUS that human activity causes global warming: http://www.petitionproject.org/

Outside, I enjoy those books too--- my late FIL went to school with Ferrol Sams and we love his novels. I hadn't realized he wrote essays as well. "When attending art shows, I swear off coffee table books but I am weak." We share that weakness, lol. Seems I am "always" never going to buy another huge book... Beagles, that room is fantastic, and I do see your pile of books peeking out from under that chair to the left :-) I'm with you on the kindle, but every now and then I like to hold a real book. Even though I find myself pushing the edge of the page instead of turning it (hanging head). No screen can reproduce the heft and color of those prints in large books, there is something about a good quality art print that is somehow more convincing than an image on a screen. Sloe gin, over the past decade or so I've seen many people putting lovely shelving in their dining rooms to combine functions or simply bring books into a room that doesn't often see them. I love that look, of a literary dining room! And your basket sounds eminently practical, we use our shagreen boxes and ceramic bowls for the same purpose--- the "stuff" has got to be corralled somehow. I have seen that Circus book, Robo, and the Atomic Ranch book also, they are both marvelous! It's clear that our collective enjoyment of these tomes is at least partly for the esthetic quality of the books themselves in addition to the content. I suppose that's what makes them "useful" decor :-) In some cases they might function purely as decor, as the leather books you've used, tinam. Have you seen the book purses that are so popular in some circles? Kate Spade has or had a few, and there's quite a cottage industry on Etsy making real old books into small handbags. They aren't a tenth big enough for me, but I love looking at them!

I would like to make it clear that the reason I don't have a coffee table is because of lack of space! I have gone for a nest of tables in my small sitting area. I used to have a lovely glass topped one which was given to me when I lived in the UK but I had to leave it behind when I moved back to Australia. I used it for pot plants and put it where it would catch the sun,,,so still no books on it! Woodnymph, you could be right about the glue. The worst dog damage I had was when one of my deerhounds decided to tear open a couch to make a nest of the filling to give birth!