Shelfies #8: Tina Baker

I have a confession – I am a bookshelf ho. 

The chaos on my shelves is indicative of my current state of mind. It was so bad that my husband, mortified by my bedroom bookshelf in my PLEASE BUY MY BOOK Shelfie, briefly stopped driving his pretend car around his pretend racing track, rose from the sofa, & reorganised it. Before (way below) and after (right above) pics included.

In my defence, the paperback of my fourth thriller, What We Did in the Storm, had just come out and I suddenly found myself agentless with an appearance at the Penzance LitFest to organise. I didn’t have time to stage it.

This picture, taken on the publication of my first novel, was similarly strained – Call Me Mummy came out in lockdown when all the bookshops were closed & I was forced to shield. FFS.

Also in my defence, an external leak had ruined many books on my other bookshelves, a tragedy which catalysed much weeping and wailing. Which is odd, as I don’t covet books – I regularly give them away to friends.

Plus, I don’t dust or de-fur my selves regularly due to asthma. The fact that I have four rescue cats does not help, and the little bastards are known to sleep on unattended novels with the same twisted joy as they choose freshly laundered clothes.

The books on these shelves range from fairy tales and the Princess Tina Annual (a thing!) I read as a kid, to the lovely freshly minted ARCs (advance review copies) of my fellow authors. No one told me that would happen when I finally got published! I feel smug, honoured and terrified that I have to assemble a quote and review, knowing how hard writing any book is. Obviously not hard as in cleaning windows in the snow, like my dad, or trying to jolly along punters on a windswept fairground, like my mum, but emotionally and psychologically challenging if you tend to go balls-deep while writing psychological thrillers, as do I.

Anyhoo.

I have friends who colour co-ordinate their shelves. One has arranged hers alphabetically. I can only look on, keening silently to myself. In another, more Instagrammable life, perhaps, although I’d never go full-on Marie Kondo. (Only keep 30 books! Fuck off, Marie!)

I can never choose my favourite books as I’m a mood reader. Every single one I read is important to me – even ones I don’t enjoy, as you can always learn something. I get a particular thrill out of reading my fellow Viper Books authors like Janice Hallett and Cat Ward – a mix of historical, horror, and classic crime – not because it’s in my contract to say so, but because I’ve met them. As a kid who grew up in a caravan, in a town without a bookshop, who first saw an actual author in real life at university, that is HUGE!

But if pushed, books that are super important to me include: 

Douglas Stuart’s Shuggie Bain – like Kes, tales of working-class life speak to my heart.

A rare non-fiction, Chuck Palahnuik’s Consider This – like Stephen King’s On Writing, it keeps me going when I question EVERYTHING. Unless you’re incredibly lucky, how the hell can anyone make a living writing? Then I remember Stephen King had two jobs, supported both a family and an addiction, yet still churned it out.

All of my Carol Shields, Margaret Atwood & Joyce Carol Oates. You can’t make me choose!

Finally, PLEASE BUY MY BOOKS – I have 4 furry mouths to feed. And, if you can, please display them on lovely shelves better than mine.

Tina Baker worked as a journalist and broadcaster for thirty years and is probably best known as a television critic for the BBC and GMTV, and for winning Celebrity Fit Club. 

Her debut novel, Call Me Mummy, was a Number #1 Kindle bestseller. This was followed by Nasty Little Cuts (2022), Make Me Clean (2023), and What We Did in the Storm (2024). 

She lives in London with her husband and too many cats. Find her on social media, @TinaBakerBooks.

Shelfies is edited by Lavie Tidhar and Jared Shurin. If you are interested in sharing a shelfie, please let us know.