Murder Death Kill

A couple of weeks ago GB blogged about bookcases (actually two separate posts here and here) which generated quite a few comments. Fi from Four Paws and Whiskers got me thinking with this comment:

I guess it pays not to own too many books on poisonings and other murder methods.... or sex guides or even just a collection of bodice ripper novels - all might be embarrassing.

Now I tend to arrange my non-fiction books by topic, and while I don't have a shelf full of sex guides, I do have a shelf all about murder and poisons.

Now I'm not a psychopathic murderer but I do enjoy reading these books. I didn't set out with the intention of reading a whole bunch of books on the same topic. Rather I would read one book, which would make reference to another and I just ended up following the links. Sometimes I'd buy one of the books just because it sounded interesting. The "How to Kill" book is a good example of this -- I needed a book to read on a flight and thought this might get me some funny looks! I doubt I'd have the nerve to do that in todays climate though.

I now actually have more books than will fit on this small shelf. In fact I'm currently reading a very interesting book on germ warfare!

So do any of you have an interesting bookshelf that is maybe just a little out of the ordinary?