It's quite a spacious room, really.

It's like a large estate drawing room. It accommodates many people very nicely. The walls are painted a light lemon yellow. The room has a rather contemporary Great Hall look to it, with exposed wooden beams and a gleaming maple floor covered with many oriental carpets in jewel-tones of ruby, sapphire, topaz, emerald and pearl. The room's furnishings and decorations are an eclectic blend of Victorian, Arts and Crafts and Art Deco. The bookshelves are of the warmest cherry, extend to the ceiling, and wear the weight of their treasures like branches laden with fruit.

To your left, and right, the same arrangement of sentinel bookcases and wise windows waits. Before each window is a seat, deep and wide, plush and inviting, with mounds of pillows.

There are wing chairs, club chairs, and straight-backed chairs. Wherever one is needed, a small table has been placed. Upon each is a small lamp to cast a little golden light upon the page, and there are small dishes of candy kisses, mints, caramels, toffees and popcorn everywhere, as well as silver dishes of chocolate-dipped cherries.

There is an air of warm lightness and brightness, from the room itself, and from the chatter that is going on. There are many people in the room, but it is not crowded, and you can hear individual conversations.

Over the entrance to the book room is a small gilt plaque that says "A Good Book is the Precious Life-Blood of a Master Spirit." -- John Milton. clarion is at the front door, to welcome everyone. Come in!

A small group of people -- mickeykitty, codebooks, and imaginationbooks -- stand at a big harvest table. On the table, beside mmichele's arrangement of dried autumn seed pods and grasses in an antique clay jar, is the original Book of Kells, which is to be installed directly into the Scriptorium alongside the Acme code book and the Dead Sea Scrolls (very good in very good dust jacket -- just a slight water stain.)

Another group -- casinokat, ((oo)), carg3 and kelsey -- are seated in comfortable, overstuffed chairs in bright fabrics with kilim cushions. They sit around a low table with a slate top. They are leafing through a portfolio of Gauguin, a big glossy Australian Aboriginal Art book, and two small volumes about the old restaurants and cafe society of New York. The nutty aroma of coffee with chicory wafts from their ceramic mugs. jones is having biscotti. How can kobco concentrate on her Free Cell game with that grinning Cheshire cat on her shoulder?

Every Saturday, satnrose takes the lectern for a book quiz. Right now, hollowayd and holly are debating quiz answers with him, while Bosco the dog hangs around hoping for a cookie. Venerable Greybeard hallg is there too, preparing tutorials in haiku for the Book board newbies including the impressionable young muffyboo.

Over in the Psychology/Self Help section, exptmircle leafs through Reich's Character Analysis. Please recline on the couch for a little dream analysis, or perhaps visit the Keirsey Room. curious7, cured, is off now to look at some books on collectibles. exptmircle runs a little therapy group most evenings in the The Bindery. That's where shadowmoon is headed right now.

dzale6 curls up in a cushy oversized chair with a good Ken Follett. Her black lab, Sophie, snoozes at her feet. Maybe after awhile, dzale6 will take a little walk over to the Psychology section to chat with exptmircle and browse through some Carl Rogers or Jung.

arian is in with the cookbooks, searching for a recipe for scones just like the ones Gran used to make. She will whip up a batch for the Book Room.

byzantium has a poker game going. The stakes have gone up from Boys' Life magazines to Senior Scholastic books to Ace sci-fi paperbacks! byzantium says, "When I have the money, I get books and food. When I have no money, I get books."

abacaxi is standing with blueprints by the wall near the Aviary, examining a medieval engraving of the Savonarola technique for dealing with contractors who cut corners. She is explaining to sparrowsnest and the Don Juans that the ceiling needs to be raised to accommodate the two-galleried floor-to-ceiling bookcases that are needed in the Book Room. She waves her magic wand with its and makes it so! The Don Juans are a strikingly handsome set of Siamese twins! They are in charge of all of the dogs, cats and terrorists.

sunfire is whipping off cartoon caricatures of all the pets in a sketchpad using a Pilot V5 Precise pen, giving each pet a toy or treat afterward. In the background, sunfire's friends have brought fiddles, guitars and mandolins and are entertaining sunfire's audience with bluegrass music. There might be jazz or swingtime later.

sylthom has joined the group watching sunfire and, as soon as the next drawing is finished, they will head out the back door for a smoke with tanmad. In the meantime, though, she relaxes with a legal thriller in a big Naugahyde La-Z-Boy with a Diet Pepsi, with just a teensy bit of cherry Pepsi and lime. toto, andyama and southernresearcher sit across from her on a floral chintz sofa, enjoying the music, and telliot is sitting on the floor, having raspberry hot chocolate with whipped cream. southernresearcher's hell-hound, George, is chatting up the cats, who believe that they will wander off to The Cattery in a moment, when it suits them. George may then join his doggie friends in the BowWowery.

Surrounded by children and assorted pets, bluehen and double can read anywhere and they are not distracted by the bluegrass or the conversation. Both are ensconced in a comfortable "shabby chic" couch with lots of cushions. bluehen is nursing a nice cold Pepsi, and double has cocoa.

zbooklady slouches sideways in an arm chair with Mickey the cat on her lap, reading a pile of 10 paperbacks, all new Mary Higgins Clark, Sue Grafton, Tom Clancy, and my other suspense favorites. She'll be done with them soon, promise!

ms-snapp-e is just back from a day at the race-track! Decked out in her lucky race-track dress and an elegant, floppy straw hat, she put a few dollars down on Secretariat. She regales us with excerpts from the studbook as well as pics she took at the photo-finish! Of course, she can recommend books about horse-racing and breeding, and advises that Lipizzaners are always a winner on eBay. She's off to New York this weekend to stay with some old, dear friends who own a restaurant in Soho.

erickbay has kicked back beside her on a couch, hogging it all! It doesn't matter that he has butter all over his fingers from the popcorn that he's eating, because the Hardy Boys book that he is reading has had the inside cut out of it to make a secret compartment!

abacaxi just finished supervising the construction of the Children's Annex -- soundproof of course -- with French doors so that everyone can keep an eye on the little ones. It's fully carpeted, with a built-in reading pit, and low shelves under all the windows. Several animals are resident there, including a large orange tiger tom that is usually asleep in the sun on the top of a high display cabinet. This kids room has lots of sturdy seating cubes that double for fort and playhouse walls, and bean-bag chairs. abacaxi's next design project is a utilitarian B-flute room, with florida as creative director.

larrak will help aba with the designs, but for now, she is cozy in a bay window seat with cats Tristan and Isolde, reading a large colorful children's book about a Rainbow Fish! coyotegal, seated beside her, gazes longingly out at the full moon, now in perigree, thinking of long, warm desert nights.

In the children's book section, gimmebooks, lumeir and shibadiva are sitting on the floor. gimmebooks can't decide between The Secret Garden or Where The Red Fern Grows. lumeir is there with his wocket in his pocket, thumbing through Dr. Seuss. shibadiva, dressed in beatnik black, is reading billyokane's haiku. babkararabians is engrossed in Marguerite Henry's "Album of Horses". As with potato chips and books, she cannot stop at just one Arabian! elvisone is sitting on a small, brightly painted chair, with a stack of Judy Bolton and Nancy Drew mysteries. kayne has just joined them, having just picked up a cool beer from kstavish. erickbay is telling all the little boys and girls about the juvenile series books.

In the Finance section, trailerparkfleawoman is honing her day trading skills so that she can make money with savvy NASDAQ investments.

mjmjmj sits in a floral wing chair, surrounded by books and children. They all have chocolates, and mjmjmj is reading an Uncle Wiggily story aloud.

logogram, in one of the window seats, is looking after a playpen full of eBabies. She has brought them Graham crackers, Ovaltine, and Jr. Classic comics!

In another window seat, sits ossiff. She has brought her family, and is reading Half Magic to sons, Michael and Jimmy, while husband John reclines in a nearby chair reading the Sunday comics with the help of their cats Punch and Judy.

bookleaves is in curled up in one of the bay windows overlooking the parterred garden full of ever-blooming rhodendrons. She is poring over old botanical books with a leather-bound Latin dictionary close at hand. She wears white gloves to turn the fragile pages of Albertus Maximus' or Crispin de Passe's botanical wood cuts. But she can just as soon party with efs and her other Bookie buddies!

Across from her, danedottir snuggles into a huge wing-chair, a cozy woollen shawl across her lap. She is sipping camomile tea and reading a slim volume of romantic poetry, perhaps penned for her by a manly Viking!

mousecatcher has found a little corner to curl up in, with a big mug of cocoa, a pile of Bronte's, and plans for a small addition to the library.

silkpurse and barbaragene lounge on one of the Persian rugs with a bowl of buttered popcorn beside them. They promise to wipe their fingers before turning the pages of the books they are reading.

abacaxi was commissioned to design the much-needed party room. The decor is a melange of 50's rec room (with fake-pine panelling, a kidney shaped bar, orange plastic lamps and a shag rug), 60's hippie (with lava lamps, bean bags, and hookahs), disco, with a hanging mirrored ball, and modern. florida was kind enough to donate his 9-watt 8-track stereo system along with his library of Lawrence Welk and Hollywood Strings tapes. Oil paintings on velvet line the walls. The artist who did the Elvis painting really outdid himself, and you should see the great clowns! Really breathtaking and so avant-garde to use red velvet instead of that tired old black! The lightswitches are of rather questionable design (donated by sparrowsnest and kayne), but fortunately the eBay Vulgarity Police never check this area. There is a large heated spa in a huge bay overlooking the pond - - the windows can be rolled up into the ceiling (they are based on garage door hardware) for parties in mild weather. There are multiple skylights, and part of the roof retracts. bjmcmanus is thinking ahead to summer, and working with abacaxi on the design for the patio.

The party room is deceptively plush looking, but the velvet chairs are washable polyester and the leather sofas are naugahyde. The veneered chipwood bookcases are filled with RDCBs, BCEs, 17th editions, and garage sale rejects.

Next to the drawn Burgundy Velvet draperies, Madame Valley (valleyforgebooks)and Jeeves, the Butler, are counting the silver after the 1st Annual Bookboard Virtual Dinner Party. It was a splendid formal affair that was attended by many of the Bookboarders, along with their author and character guests.

"ACK, Jeeves, we're missing 3 forks, 2 knives and a spoon!

"Madame Valley, perhaps the thief will try to sell them on ebay...," replied Jeeves.

gristmill has driven his '48 Willys into the Book Room. In the '60's, it was covered with flowers and peace signs!

roses24 and cch2 are still in the party room dancing, as toto and bookguy fix themselves another pitcher of martinis.

Back in the Book Room, jackie curls up on one of the window seats. Nearby, bl4z3r sits at a small writing table with a brass lamp. She is studying, and her basset hound, Zubov is helping.

dec26, seated in the Mystery section, is trying to decide whether To Live and Die in L.A. is better in book or movie form. procrastinator is there too, reading a stack of James Lee Burke. procrastinator should, instead, be reading technical manuals, but, of course, is procrastinating! The Mystery section is also home to bflutemurders who is seated at a small desk with a green lamp on it writing chapter after chapter of The B-Flute Murders. BuffBod is proofreading the manuscript, anxious to know what happens next! odettebs is here too, reading true crime, protected by her big, beautiful black mastiff, Barkley, while gazing enviously at those thin enough to eat chocolate!

dejavubooks guards the religion books: Eastern, Western, World, and tribal. Conveniently, Women's Lit. is right around the corner, and she's generally found in one place or the other.

In the Condensed Masterpieces section, lludwig and florida are seated across from each other in great matching turquoise bean-bag chairs, having a heated discussion about the virtues of their newly founded Reader's Digest Condensed Books Great Literary Contributions to North America Preservationist Society. Later, florida will entertain everyone with his b-flute, and lludwig will go off to get more cream for the Book Room, from the eBay cows out in the barn.

An old fashioned country kitchen was recently annexed to the Book Room. That's where we cool the milk, cook the eggs, and store the cereal boxes. There's an old plank floor, a big harvest table, lots of chairs and non-stop coffee and chatter. In the middle of the room, there's a big old stove (the kind with the tile and a warming area and water heater. briatha is preparing a festive silver tray of hors d'oeuvres, and has made a huge cake dripping with white chocolate shavings and strawberries! There's a pine bookshelf in the kitchen, filled with cookbooks and well-thumbed paperbacks, including a set of Heinlein juveniles donated by atcat. finns cooks good ol' country fare for everyone: roast beef, mashed potatoes, corn, green beans, fresh tossed lettuce salad (get your favorite dressing from the fridge -- what do you think this is, room service?), burnt sugar gravy, home-brewed iced tea, milk or any other family-suitable beverage. We eat in shifts, and we sit at the table and visit. No book reading allowed til after dessert! lele, who has spent the afternoon lolling on cushions in the Children's Annex, is keeping finns company in the kitchen and helping to taste everything. The game's afoot as blankbooks has provided Death by Chocolate! Hard for the Book Room's Lo-Carb Club to resist!

An inglenook was recently added, to serve as the Nostalgia Room. The Book Room greybeards congregate there to sip sherry and take a trip down Memory Lane to reminisce about days-gone-by, and the youngsters peek in, eyes as round as saucers, to hear stories about ice-boxes and horse-drawn milk wagons. There is a small Arts and Crafts bookcase filled with Steinbecks.

Over in the Ancient History section, psclarke is blowing dust off a weighty tome by Grote.

finns has joined sparrowsnest, bronagh and blankbooks at the BookMark Bar for cakes, cookies and other goodies baked by sunfire. kaybelline has stocked the bar this evening with a cask of Amontillado and cigars.

finns is celebrating, for she has just sold a RDCB version of the Book of Kells! walcutt is celebrating too, for he has just finished grading papers and is now ready to party! blankbooks, who has just finished reading to the children, can't decide between a Mudslide and a Strawberry Daiquiri, so believes she will have both.

bronagh is regaling the bar crowd with a true story about Texas Big Hair!

kstavish has six kinds of beer on tap tonight, but sparrowsnest would like a margarita and finns is having Coke. Now, both of them have gone off with walcutt to find the Calvin-and-Hobbes Rare Book collection.

There will be a Book Haiku poetry reading later this evening.

What is compasskeeper doing on the floor over by the sci-fi books? Sorting them into two piles! One pile is 6 inches high; the other is 8 feet tall! One for selling, one for reading. Guess which is which? atcat and maxie put down their mugs of coffee, and say that they will help. With the big pile, that is!

mr.goodwraith is busy at work in an alcove that glows a not unpleasant atomic-electric green.. It is the Mad Scientists' Club itself, packed tight with titers, replete with retorts, burgeoning with Bunsen burners, and filled everywhere with the arcing and sparking of Jacob's ladders.

hosanna is hosting a Mad Hatter's Tea Party under the massive gothic stained glass window. There, laid out on a pretty antique table with a lacy tablecloth, is a huge floral teapot with teacups and saucers for all the Agatha Christie fans. matreshka is passing around the chocolates, as she and bronagh (who has just joined them) decide whether to have Earl Grey, Irish Breakfast or spicy chai latte tea next. Later, bronagh may take her silky terrorist over to have sunfire do a portrait. But right now, they are reading poetry! Who is that peeking out of the teapot? Could it be gopher? From their expressions, one might guess that there is some brandy in the tea!

book-shoppe and tedfred are sitting at the bay window opposite hosanna, in lush plum velvet wingchairs with footstools. They have made off with hosanna's brandy bottle, it seems, and are more and more languidly reading historical fiction. tedfred claims she's only having cappuccino. book-shoppe is reading a story to her new third edition, the Dolly, who is seated on her lap.

The burgundy velvet drapes have been opened, and tonight you can see the venerable oaks wearing cloaks of liquid silver, given to them by the moon.

rockmaple sits in the big overstuffed forest green and burgundy print chair next to the piano, thumbing through a book on stained glass windows. There is a small pile of books at her feet, which she offers to share.

dramlin is curled up in a window seat near the music and within reach of someone else's popcorn. She hasn't brought her cats this evening, because they went a little crazy last time. She's reading Heinlein, but has a pile of books hidden behind the curtain of the window box: Eddings, McCaffrey and some Dion Fortune for a change....She reads quietly, listens to the music, and watches everyone else so that she doesn't miss ANYTHING!!!!

caspers-bookshelf looks after all the lush green tropical and sub-tropical plants that rest in the large bay window on sparkling clean, thick glass shelves, basking in the soft filtered light. After taking care of their daily misting and checking for any mites or other problems, she settles into a comfy chair, in a quiet corner of the room and continue sre-reading Montague Free's book on plant propagation. Or perhaps she reads the latest Peter Straub or Clive Barker or ...the list goes on and on.

cugina toasty warm and fragrant after a nice hot bone-soaking bubble-bath in the Book Room's lavish Victorian ensuite, has found a nice old mystery and is curled up in a big, soft chair with a floral afghan and a latte.

At the door of the Baptistry, which houses the Nancy Drew books (all under lock and key!), and beside the world globe (twin to the globe in the Mother Church of Christian Science which you can actually walk into), usedbooks is reading a massive book with a decorative leather cover, and jotting phrases into her notepad.

A small and intimate art gallery sits next to the Baptistry. This week, the gallery features an exhibition of book illustrators, curated by blueprints and jeannietex, and it includes works by Kate Greenaway, Tasha Tudor, Joan Walsh Anglund , and Eloise Wilkin. Next week, there are plans to exhibit the works of the Hoopes sisters.

There is also a Reference Room, where you can read books about bibliophiles and books that help you to identify first editions. But be very quiet, because the reference librarian is a dragon who watches over the books that are chained to the tables!

The Book Room has a secret side door with entry keypad. It leads to the stacks of any library or repository in the world of your choice.

Upstairs in the balcony, there is a quiet lounge for reading and watching the goings-on below. stainedglassartist, look98, roses24, pateg and bconfare are there now. So is drewchar -- that's her sitting in the wing chair beside the large potted palm, watching the goings-on. neecy has a birthday and is passing cake around. They are playing the Fahrenheit 451 game, in which each of them agrees to memorize a book for posterity! sandtyger likes to sit up in the rafters reading his first edition of Twain's "Jumping Frog" and swinging his feet over the edge, just missing the heads of those below!

bookbyer sits on the balcony that runs all across the back (garden) side of the bookroom. She's in the section that has the "Ladies novels" from the turn of the century -- those novels with Gibson girl illustrations and lovely decorations around each page. There isn't room for a lot of words in those books, and they give her plenty of time to look out of the narrow Arts and Craft style window to the garden below. There is a birdbath at the end of the brick walkway that goes through the middle of the garden. From her perch up above, she can watch the songbirds and sparrows jumping in and around the water. This morning the migrant birds are coming through and she saw a young flicker (Thurber would call it a fletcher) sipping from the birdbath, and several white throated sparrows as they held a meeting. She had to check some of the birds in her Petersons guide, which, with a nice pair of binoculars, is always on the little table next to the overstuffed chair, next to the window. Come up and visit!

stu999 has come down from the rafters, and is wandering around meeting everyone. He picks up a cold brew from kstavish and proceeds out to the pond with its little dock and rowboat. mmcnally is relaxing on the dock, feet dangling in the warm water, contemplating the moon.

Speaking of secret passages, there is a hidden door and tunnel which leads to the B&N tarpits, but abacaxi has had it bricked up.

At the far end of the room, sitting in front of the massive floor-to-ceiling stone fireplace (with gargoyles) in huge leather wing chairs are grano8, njoconsult, trotta333 and okattics. grano8's two cats, Wiggles and Squeeker, are enjoying the warmth, while their Mom enjoys her second childhood, reading Eloise Wilkin, Richard Scarry, Cyndy Szekeres and Gyo Fujikawa illustrated books. njoconsult's Schnauzer is sleeping peacefully at her feet, and okattics' tiny Yorkie is dozing on her lap. trotta333 is comfortable in a big comfortable wing chair with her little tortoise-shell cat, Zsa,Zsa her orange tabby, Pumpkin, and the memoirs of J. Paul Getty. doctormom is curled up next to the roaring fire with her cat Dax on her lap, re-reading, for the 27th time, a tattered copy of Robert Jordan's The Eye of the World. jeannietex and mim (dressed head-to-toe in teal this evening, are there too, seated in rocking chairs on the braided rag rug, having tea and reminiscing about South Texas. mim's old English bulldog, Rosebud, is curled at her feet and will not move until she says so. Rosebud is soft and white and gentle as a kitten. They are joined by bjmcmanus, just in from the Lady Rain and now shaking out her yellow sou'wester which is decorated with a Seller's Pin. She has brought a Gutenberg Bible, a stack of good histories, mysteries and the latest Dick Francis. When it's midnight in the Book Room, she'll settle on the comfy couch with plans to stay the night.

In this place, we can speak our minds, express our doubts, confess our failings, and share our memories. We might find ourselves humbled, but not (intentionally) humiliated. We are patted on the back and told "Well done!" by people we may never meet in person. We give and receive encouragement, lessons, comfort and humor. We inspire each other. People who may never have considered themselves funny are coming up with some of the best bon mots, one-liners and comebacks you'll find anywhere: and it's all topical. When you realize that sometimes it's only minutes between a posting and a smart retort, it's obvious: you can't plan all of this stuff. It just happens.

Every nook and cranny of this room is different, and there is something here for everyone.