We are now getting started on some remodeling and redecorating that should keep us busy for the month of May. We are taking on some big projects — like updating the master bathroom and the kitchen — but one of the things I like most is rather small. We are finally getting rid of our old TV-tray nightstands and replacing them with invisible bookshelves. (UPDATE: I added photos in early June illustrating how these invisible bookshelves work.)

Here’s how they work:

1. Mount the bracket on the wall.
2. Place on the bracket a book that can permanently act as the base, leaving the back cover hanging down.
3. Tuck the back cover underneath the bracket; it has an indentation at the back that holds the book cover in place.
4. Stack a few books on top to cover the full height of the bracket.

I chose as my base a hardback copy of The Odyssey. I have multiple copies of this classic, and I’ll never need this particular copy because I prefer a different version — the poetry translation by Richmond Lattimore.

I have just about finished C.S. Lewis’ Till We Have Faces. It is a parallel novel, a retelling of the myth of Cupid and Psyche from the perspective of Psyche’s older sister. Lewis explores many of the ideas from his non-fiction works — man’s proper response to God, the nature of myth and of history, the dynamics within human relationships — in the context of a fictitious barbarian kingdom on the fringes of ancient Greece.

I also just started Joseph Campbell’s book Primitive Mythology that examines the archaeological evidence for the earliest myths and rituals of primitive man. He looks at the two primary mythological perspectives that arose, the shamanism of hunting societies and the fertility rites of planting societies. (I have never looked at mythology from this angle and in this much depth before, and it is incredibly fascinating. This is the first book of a four-volume series, and I’m really looking forward to see how mythology developed through the centuries.) You can always find out what books I have finished and what’s next on the list by visiting the Books I’m Reading page.