Welcome to Shelf Control — an original feature created and hosted by Bookshelf Fantasies.
Shelf Control is a weekly celebration of the unread books on our shelves. Pick a book you own but haven’t read, write a post about it (suggestions: include what it’s about, why you want to read it, and when you got it), and link up! For more info on what Shelf Control is all about, check out my introductory post, here.
Want to join in? Shelf Control posts go up every Wednesday. See the guidelines at the bottom of the post, and jump on board!

Title: Outside the Dog Museum
Author: Jonathan Carroll
Published: 1991
Length: 267 pages
What it’s about (synopsis via Goodreads):
Harry Radcliffe is a brilliant prize-winning architect—witty and remarkable. He’s also a self-serving opportunist, ready to take advantage of whatever situations, and women, come his way. But now, newly divorced and having had an inexplicable nervous breakdown, Harry is being wooed by the extremely wealthy Sultan of Saru to design a billion-dollar dog museum. In Saru, he finds himself in a world even madder and more unreal than the one he left behind, and as his obsession grows, the powers of magic weave around him, and the implications of his strange undertaking grow more ominous and astounding….
How and when I got it:
I found this at a library sale several years ago, and it’s been sitting in an unshelved stack of books ever since.
Why I want to read it:
Well, I’m not exactly sure that I want to read it, which is probably why it’s still sitting in its lonely stack waiting for some attention. I’ve read one book by this author, Bones of the Moon, which was incredibly weird (and also has one of my favorite covers of all time).
Once again, I was drawn to a Jonathan Carroll book because of the cover. (You have to look closely — but look! Doggos!)
I really can’t tell from the synopsis what this book will be like, how weird it’ll be (likely, very), or whether it will end up holding my attention. But, I do love the title and cover!
What do you think? Would you read this book?
Please share your thoughts!

__________________________________
Want to participate in Shelf Control? Here’s how:
- Write a blog post about a book that you own that you haven’t read yet.
- Add your link in the comments or link back from your own post, so I can add you to the participant list.
- Check out other posts, and…
Have fun!
This does look a bit weird too–do let us know how it turns out. But being a book with dogs, it should be fun so long as they don’t get hurt or anything.
I agree – I’ll only read this if the dogs are okay! (I’m pretty sure they are.)
Hope so too 🙂
Pingback: Shelf Control #109: The Dragonfly Pool by Eva Ibbotson #Childrensfiction – Literary Potpourri
Oh wow, I loved this book. I went through a period where I bought and read all his books. He has (or had) French bull dogs and so there’s a French bull dog in all his stories, I think. Sort of like how Dean Koontz put Golden Retrievers in all his books😁
Oh, awesome! I didn’t expect to hear from anyone who’d read this. 🙂 I’m so glad you loved it — that makes me a whole lot more interested. I have a copy of The Ghost in Love on my shelves too. Have you read that one as well? I was just looking at a list of his books — he has some amazing titles!
https://cnnamongirl.wixsite.com/website/single-post/2020/10/14/Shelf-Control-Stealing-Roses-by-Heather-Cooper
Haha – I have a few of those “not sure I want to read them” books – always acquired with good intentions 🙂
Absolutely, the best of intentions! I generally end up donating the books I change my minds about back to the library for their next sale, so at least I’m supporting a good cause. 🙂
Yes, because I work in a library, I know how important those book sales are in funding programs. 🙂