Project Bookshelf: Whitney Cooper

A cherry-wood bookshelf stands with a variety of books sitting on it.

Throughout my childhood, my mother (darling Virgo she is) put a herculean effort to help keep my space organized, including my bookshelf. Now that I’m an adult, my partner has stepped up and taken that responsibility. She has pulled our books from boxes and lovingly shelved them through many moves. “Organized” is nowhere near the top of my list of self-descriptors. If it were up to me (and, thankfully, it is not), our books would be piled up on furniture and desks, if not stuffed in a forsaken box somewhere. We are still in need of an additional bookshelf, but we are very pleased with the little cherry wood shelf that stands in our living room today.

My partner’s shelving is an art, and I notice it especially on the second shelf. Most of these books were purchased or gifted back in my high school and early undergraduate days. As I entered high school, I felt ready to move on from the Harry Potter and Warriors series, but I had no idea where to start. After stumbling through Wuthering Heights and devouring Jane Eyre, I began to believe that classics were the height of literature, leading to this charming row of Barnes & Noble classics.

A row of books sits on a shelf. A decorative glass pelican sits in from of the books.

My preference for literary fiction remains, but I’ve branched out significantly over the years, especially as I’ve also come to fall in love with poetry. Engaging with literature by Black writers has become essential to me. While my personal book collection continues to fall short of where I would like it, my local library has been a help: it was there I discovered Native Son which, like much of Richard’s Wright’s work, is as gorgeous and essential as it is devastating. I was also introduced to Octavia Butler’s Kindred, which taught me that science fiction and literary merit are by no means mutually exclusive.

A hand holds a battered copy of Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights.

We still have a box of books stowed away, and I still get overwhelmed by all the books I have to finish. (I only get one lifetime? Unfair!) I feel I have changed so much over the years, I feel the need to reread books I have read. My battered copy of Wuthering Heights deserves such a reread. Even with all these taxing demands, 2024 gave birth to my New Year’s resolution to read more books. Now that I have this commitment, along with photographic evidence of books I have owned for years but have yet to open, it appears I have no choice but to follow through.

I could read a book every week for the rest of my life and not make a dent in what poets and authors have given us over the centuries. The thought simultaneously exhausts and energizes me. I’ve recently started A Wizard of Earthsea, the first of Ursula K. Le Guin’s Earthsea series. The deeper I get into this magical adventure, the more inspired I get to see how much I can discover within the confines of my one life and our little cherry bookshelf.

A black person sitting in front of a field of tulips, smiling widely. They have an afro and wear mint-colored glasses with a navy sweater and gray jeans.

Whitney Cooper holds an MFA in Creative Writing from Eastern Kentucky University, where they served as editor-in-chief of Jelly Bucket, the graduate literary journal run by the university. They also work as a reader for Atlanta Review. A clerical error was made while earning their bachelor’s degree, and they have been passionate about poetry ever since. Their poetry appears in Glassworks Magazine, Stillpoint Literary Magazine, Calliope, Right Hand Pointing, and SHARK REEF. They live in Metro Atlanta with their partner, cat, and miniature schnauzer mix.