Roni 'ncats Relishes 2012: Books and Arts and Crafts

My final 2011 thread may be found here

Books read in 2012

January
1. The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern (387 pp.)
2. Cannery Row by John Steinbeck (196 pp.)
3. Darkship Thieves by Sarah A. Hoyt (479 pp.)
4. Gabriel's Ghost by Linnea Sinclair (447 pp.)
5. The Family Trade by Charles Stross
6. Maxwell's Closet by
7. The Goose Girl by Shannon Hale (400 pp.)

Hi Roni, as luck would have it, I'm here first. Absolutely gorgeous picture! I'll start packing my suitcase. ;-)

Happy New Year. It will be fun tracking your reading...and your creative outlets.

Happy New Year, Roni! Can't wait to see what you'll be reading and pottering this year.

Love the picture up top, Roni! Happy New Year!

Happy New Years Roni!

Hi Roni! Hoping you have a great New Year!!

starred

HAPPY NEW YEAR, dear Roni!
I"m bringing a star and a hope that 2012 bests 2011 in wonderful books and conversation!

Really lovely picture to start the year with. Looking forward to spending time on your thread.

Hi Ronni! Happy New Year!

Roni look forward to keeping up in 2012. Happy new year!

Happy New Year, Roni. I too am looking forward to hanging out on your 2012 threads.

Happy New Year Roni. As it is now 2012 I think it's time to start dropping off some



Here's to another good year of reading:)

found and starred

Happy New Year!!!

1: Refreshingly not gray.

Happy New Year!

found you !

Such a serene image to start the New Year!

*** and Happy New Year, Roni!

Roni, if that picture is the view from where you are, then you have no need of New Year wishes from me! I lurk more than not on your threads, but I love seeing you pictures and reading your posts. Happy New Year (after all).

Oh wow, Roni -- beautiful photo! Happy New Year to you!

Happy New Year, Roni! I hope I can keep up with you this year!!!

Another Happy New Year, Roni! That picture looks like a beautiful way to start the year. Looking forward to seeing all your reads and recommendations. :)

Sandy, that picture is actually of the Gulf of Mexico from a restaurant where our friends in Bradenton FL took us on our recent vacation. Here is one I took at Seaport Village on Christmas Day, though, and we are heading out into the backyard shortly for some gardening, so I'm not hurting.



Welcome, thrice welcome to Donna, Caro, Stasia, Marie, Chelle, Brenda, Peggy, Kerry, Ivana, Paul, Judy, calm, Anita, Katherine, Kath, Richard, Laura, and Sandy, Anne, Rachel and Sarah! It is so nice to have you here. Tea, wine, cookies, cheese and olives are here for all, as usual. Please help yourselves!

I'll have a nice cup of tea and a good book review, please!

I'm bringing a huge beanbag to flop in and get cozy. Great pic of the sailboat, Roni. So do you have any pottery themes for the year? Anything in particular you haven't made yet that you'd like to try your hand at?

Welcome back!

Hey Roni! Happy New Year

Happ New Year, Roni!

Hi Roni, got you starred and Happy New Year!

*waves* Happy New Year!

*tosses star in your general direction* :D

starring, fellow space opera/P&P lover :)

Hi Roni,

Dropping in.
I also wanted to mention that I finally got around to reading the trilogy of the Riddlemaster of Hed. I quite enjoyed it and thank you for recommending it eons ago.

Happy New Year, Roni--beautiful photo!

Lovely photos bringing back good memories of our year in SD...daughter born at the old Balboa. I remember many wonderful afternoons in the park with hubbie at sea, kid in the stroller, dog tied to stroller and mom on a blanket reading. Those were the days. Looking forward to your reading this year.

Thanks for the welcome, Roni! We have one more thing in common, besides our taste in books - I think I used to own the same kind of sofa as the one in the pic with your cats :-) Mine was a little more faded, but I loved how soft the fabric was... I still miss it, a little bit, because it was so great for curling up on with a hot beverage and a good book!

Thanks for dropping by, Luxx, Caro, Jim, Susan, Ren, Leonie, Faith, Colleen, Laura, Anne, Tina, and CC. That's my office couch, CC--well-clawed on the ends by the cats but, as you say, very comfortable! Caro, I'm just trying to get better at raising my clay, so taller pieces and also work with decor, both carving and medallions.

I've spent most of the day on the threads, have a page and a half of the 2012 threads starred, and don't know how I'll ever find anybody! But I did get to spend a little time reading and got 85 pages into The Night Circus. I'm going to sign off now and go read some more.

Hey, Roni ~ Found you! Happy New Year! Night Circus is on my list for early this year. I'll have to keep checking back to see how you are liking it.

Found you. Starred and soon to book stalked :)

Found and starred.

*waving* as I pass through the threads, Roni - can I catch a lift on the boat? I love to sail.

Hi Roni, starring and waving.
I'll have some cheese, and possibly a small glass of wine, though goodness knows I've had enough of that over the holiday period.
Here's to a happy, healthy and book-filled new year!

Happy New Year Roni - hope you enjoy The Night Circus.

Just dropping by to star you! Happy reading!

Happy New Year, Roni! Just stopping by to drop off a star.

Hello Roni! I am also starring your post and look forward to seeing what you'll read and create this year! Good luck!

I've got you starred :)

>Laura -- so glad you enjoyed Hed! Go Roni!

Gorgeous sunset. Got you starred.

WOW! What lovely photos.

Happy New Year Dear One

Is everyone reading The Night Circus right now? Holy cow. It must be good. (Aaaaaand... wishlist!)

It is on my wishlist, too! I have so many books that I have to plow through right now, but I hope to get to it later this year. So many books to read... the possibilities are beautiful.

Got you starred for 2012.

I'm slowly crawling up the library reserve list for The Night Circus. I'm glad to hear that you are liking it. In hindsight, I wish I'd bought the dern thing when I first saw it and fell in love with that most intriguing cover. Patience is a virtue that I am sorely lacking. ;-)

>53 beserene:: It sure seems that way, doesn't it?!?!

I keep getting The Night Circus confused with Nights at the Circus by Angela Carter. The latter is my of my most favourite books ever, so intially I was excited to see so many people suddenly taking an interest in it. Now I realise my mistake, I too am becoming intrigued by the buzz surrounding this book. Some books just seem to reach critical mass here on LT, and before you know it everyone has been pulled into the giant reading snowball!

*smooch*

I just checked my library holds, after making 2 new ones. I'm 4th out of 6 holds for Tuesdays at the Castle, 37th of 37 for Ready Player One (you all forced me to this one!), and 44th of 44 for Daughter of Smoke and Bone.

Happy New Year, Roni! Found and got you starred. :) I will be interested to see what you think of The Night Circus, too, as it seems to have been floating around my wishlist since it first came out. I'm also planning on reading Daughter of Smoke and Bone this year, too, as I read Laini Taylor's Lips Touch: Three Times a few years ago and loved it.

#60 - Daughter of Smoke and Bone is amazing! It's one of the last books I read last year (last week lol). Good enough to draw me from the lurker's corner :)

Thanks for de-lurking, PrincessT. That's a strong recommendation, and I hope the line moves fairly quickly. This is a big system and there are about 9 copies of the book out there, so hopefully...

Good luck! Let's hope everyone brings the book back on time, and also races through it and returns it early (kind of a long shot in my local library system, but maybe in yours?)

I just got a call from the library today that Ready Player One is there waiting for me to pick it up. I hope your hold comes through for you soon too, Roni - as well as the holds for all the rest of the books :)

Happy New Year, Roni! I'm a bit late getting to the party, it seems.

I have added Daughter of Smoke and Bone to my wishlist. Before this thread I hadn't heard of it, but it sounds very good, you all seem to want it, and then on the Amazon page I saw the following blurb by Patrick Rothfuss: 'WOW. I wish I had written this book.'... How can I resist?

Stopping by at last to say Happy New Year!

Now you did it. Your thread made me add one to my WL . Daughter of Smoke and Bone sounds really good....

eta

the LT oracle says I will hate it.. I love that thing :)

I loved both DoSaB and Lips Touch. Hope the book comes soon Roni.

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern (387 pp.)

Oh, my! I don't know who I feel sorrier for--myself or Ms. Morgenstern. In both cases, because it will be hard for either of us to top this. This book is exactly the sort of lyrical, interweaving, looping, atmospheric, entrancing story that I love. It joins The Dark is Rising, The Forgotten Beasts of Eld, and Something Wicked This Way Comes, along with a few others, in my very special little archive. Morgenstern says nothing of it, but surely she owes a little to that last book, another eerie, atmospheric, lyrical tale involving a strange circus.

The writing IS simply beautiful, the pacing sublime, the characters riveting, the sensations intense--I just loved turning the page. And the ending is perfect. Loops upon loops upon loops...

Wow! That's a heckuva first review! And now I really must read that book.

Got to get my hands on that one, apparently...

wowza, glad to see you liked The Night Circus! My copy is now making it's way around my work, everyone wants to read it!

Gah! Another to my to-read list? Great review, Roni!

Now I am 100% obligated to check this book out. Thank you for reminding me, Roni!

>71 ronincats: Oh yeah. That's what I'm talkin' about!

I finished The Night Circus this morning and loved it too, Roni!

Yea! More fans of The Night Circus! You are right, Roni. It is going to be hard to top that one!

~71 Joining The Dark is Rising is one hell of a compliment, Roni, quite apart from the other compliments.

The Night Circus has to go on the Wanted List.

Glad you enjoyed The Night Circus Roni, definitely the most atmospheric reads of last year for me. I can still smell the carmel popcorn!

And here is today's project, although we weren't expecting the 85 degree temperatures today. Some of you might remember the pictures in last year's thread of these raised beds I put in in October, with the weedcloth between them--we finally hauled in the gravel to cover the weedcloth, and you can see how big the peas are growing.

> 82: looking good Roni!

That looks fantastic, roni!

Wow, Roni! That looks amazing.

What a terrific looking garden!

Found you and starred! I'm about 80 messages behind so I'll just say Hi and start from here. :)

That's starting the year with a bang with that first read of yours Roni. You're making me want to read it all over again... but you're right, I don't know how she'll top that, will be interesting to see what she does next.

Oh, and Roni... just want to say my name is actually ILANA with an "L". I was mercilessly teased as Ivana Trump as a teen and I've bristled at the name ever since... just thought I'd mention it. ;-)

Great going on the gardening. I'm so jealous. Not much gardening to do in the ice over here. Never mind that I live in the city!

Your garden plots and path look great . . .

Sarah, Natalie, Chelle, Nathan, Eris, Richard, Stasia, Amy, Jen, and Judy, thanks for visiting and appreciating my review of The Night Circus. And thanks to Anita, Blue, Marcia, Stasia, Valerie, Ilana (sorry), and Brenda for appreciating my garden. It's one of the benefits of San Diego climate, to have a garden year-round!

Nice review of The Night Circus! I'm about 50 pages in so I better get crackin!

I really need to read The Night Circus, there are way too many good reviews to ignore. Loving the garden Roni, are those herbs I can see growing at the base? Looking good.

Your garden looks really nice *jealous sigh*

Hope you enjoy it as much as I did, Marie.

Leonie, that's lettuce, spinach and chard at the base on the right, but herbs in the left-hand bed.

Thank you, humouress. Don't be jealous--that's what produce aisles are for in the winter. ;-)

Picked up Cannery Row at the library today, and pulled The Lies of Locke Lamora out of the tbr pile, but haven't read anything but the paper today (out on the deck while the ribs were cooking on the BBQ grill).

*stars*

That review has made be bump The Night Circus up on my wishlist/potential reads list.

What a pretty vegetable garden, Roni .... er.... which green things are the peas?

Glad you enjoyed NC .... what a joy that was to read. Are you finding it difficult to find another book to read without images of the NC still flitting through your mind? That's how it was with me.

Hi Roni! Beautiful pictures. I want a garden so badly...maybe this year I will get off my butt and borrow the neighbor's rototiller. *stars thread*

Your garden looks lovely, Roni. The white gravel really sets the beds up, and makes all that green pop!

archerygirl, Night Circus is certainly more than worth the investment!

Caro, the green things growing vertically on the netting are the peas. Yes, NC is still flashing images through my mind. Fortunately my next book was completely different--I don't think I could have read another fantasy immediately thereafter.

elfchild, again I recommend Mel Bartholomew's All New Square Foot Garden for everything you need to set up a home garden without rototiller and with a minimum of maintenance effort.

Thanks, Judy. My husband is gobsmacked by it, and now is looking at where else he could use the gravel. It's actually light gray and is the cheap construction gravel, 3/4", which looks plenty decorative to me but is less than half the price of the decorative gravel at Home Depot. My initial goal was to avoid having grass grow up between the beds where he would indiscriminately weed whack and damage my plants, but I love how it looks too.

Enjoyed your review of The Night Circus and now am looking forward even more to getting my reserved copy from the library.

Love your garden and am SO envious of it! I'm looking out at my postage stamp sized garden ~ leaf and twig strewn (from the strong windstorm we had last month), weedy, with all except one plant drooping and/or brown ~ and seriously thinking of shutting down the computer and getting my gardening jeans on. See what you've done!!!!

Book #2 Cannery Row by John Steinbeck (196 pp.)

It is truly amazing what one can pick up about a classic story without ever having read the book. I knew a lot about Doc and his business of collecting wildlife. And I knew how the upstanding citizens of Monterey were scandalized when the book came out--they would have ridden Steinbeck out of town on a rail could they have caught him for depicting their town as such scummy low-life! But I had never actually read the book, and now, thanks to the Steinbeckathon, I have! I loved the meandering anecdotes, building a sense of a place and time without ever really having a plot, simply a depiction to savor and enjoy. And what language, really! Describing early morning at the beginning of Chapter 14 (and the whole paragraph is filled with images),

"Cats drip over the fences and slither like syrup over the ground to look for fish heads."

A great place to visit!

#99> Some insane librarian had The Night Circus out where everyone could see it on the rapid reads shelf. I couldn't believe my luck and grabbed it before anyone noticed that it should probably be in transit to someone's hold list :-) So I have it! And if it's as good as everyone says, I'll probably end up buying a copy as well.

The Night Circus is wishlisted Roni! Who can resist after a review like that!

...*grumble grumble* ... need to buy Night Circus... *grumble grumble*

;D

Great luck, archerygirl! Hannah and Faith, I think you'll like it. I got it through the library myself, but may need to buy a copy eventually.

I'm planning on getting a copy through the library, too, as I have a limited money supply. There's about fifty holds on all the copies for my area, so it'll be a while. *sighs*

Lovely garden, Roni! I love a garden, loathe to garden - a big difference there. (Father's annual advice to Mother: "Don't plant a bit more garden than you and Peggy can work.")
I'm also pumped from your review of Night Circus and gloating that I'm now #10 on the list for a copy from PBS. SOON!

101: I usually steer clear of Steinbeck, but perhaps I've been too hasty in my judgement...

Hi Roni! I read Cannery Row last year and loved it. In fact, I read 3 of his novels for the first time last year and really liked all of them. I've been meaning to get to the 'big' ones (East of Eden and Grapes of Wrath) but just haven't managed it yet. Maybe this year... :)

Hey, Eris, I hope you can find a copy soon at your library. And I hope no one holds on to your library copy, Peggy, so that the count down goes really fast. I spend surprisingly little time in my garden--love these raised beds and the square foot gardening method--but enjoy puttering the amount that I do.

Marie, I haven't read any other Steinbeck so don't know how this compares. Welcome, Stephen! I don't usually expect to see you here because I have so many pictures, but good to see you and to know that you are a big Steinbeck fan.

Hi Roni - love the garden, we're planning a similar approach but if it will ever get done....I've requested the gardening book, might get some ideas.
Read The Night Circus and agree it's well worth bumping up anyone's tbr pile.

Add me to the lovers of Cannery Row. I was lucky enough to stumble across an anthology of Steinbeck's shorter novels and that one was included. I spent a lot of time with that anthology and did not regret a minute of it - with the possible exception of The Pearl. I do not think I ever understood that one.

Hi Roni - glad you enjoyed your first couple of reads so much this year!

What's your next Steinbeck, Roni?

110: Thanks, I'll use that as an excuse when I fall behind. :P

Actually, there are at least 2 threads I'd like to read but can't because of pictures, but so far you're is loadable. You'll have to try harder to keep me out, I guess. :)

Roni - surprised that Cannery Row is your first Steinbeck but you picked a pretty ok place to start. Of Mice and Men is one of the few books I like to re-read from time to time and is an all time favourite. Doing Grapes of Wrath this year but my other favourite would be In Dubious Battle.

#112> Maybe I should give Steinbeck another chance. The Pearl was what they made us read in middle school.

#99> I remember now that you recommended that book and have requested it from the library. I actually need to dig up lawn to set up a garden (the budget does not extend to constructing raised beds at the moment and digging is simpler to start). Thank you for reminding me again, Roni!!

I liked Cannery Row a lot, too, Roni. Good review - I agree with all of it.

Another good review, Roni. Maybe 2011 will be the year of my first Steinbeck, too!

Hi Roni. It's great to see a green garden this time of year.

Those were also some great reviews of The Night Circus and Cannery Row. I started CR tonight but haven't reached that cat quote yet. I adore Steinbeck's writing. I can't believe I haven't read this one by him yet.

I wanted to read Cannery Row last year, hopefully this year I will be able to read this one.

Hi Roni, I enjoyed your comments about The Night Circus and Cannery Row. Hope to get to Cannery Row this month myself. Also very jealous of your garden -- nice work!

yay!!! So glad you are a fan of Night Circus too!

obviously not catching up .. just popping in..
nice garden btw :)

Book #3 Darkship Thieves by Sarah A. Hoyt (479 pp.)

Billed as good space opera, this book was an easy, undemanding read that left me slightly flat. Add this to a growing list of female writers who have entered science fiction to write stories, often with very interesting world-building, that read like romances (Ann Aguirre, Linnea Sinclair, Catherine Asaro). Although I love a good character-driven relationship like those in Bujold, Moon, and Lee as part of the story, these others don't have the character development, or something, that lets me forget the relationship is central. Does that make sense?

Thena is the daughter of a Good Man, one of those who are rulers of areas of Earth. Escaping from an attack in her father's spaceship, she runs her lifeboat into a legendary darkship. The first part of the book deals with her adjustment (or not) to the world of these darkship thieves, while the second deals with her return to Earth and readjustment while finally (I beat her to it by at least 100 pages) figuring out what had been going on in the initial attack. Interesting concepts but given a fairly cursory treatment, other than what I thought was going to be a political treatise when she first was in the darkship. Overall, entertaining, a good genre novel, but doesn't rise above it.

Bummer about that book, Roni, but I am glad to know that Hoyt is one I don't have to rush out for. I like to read female genre writers, now that we have them, but don't like wasting time with those who are merely settling for what sells. Thanks for taking that one for the team! :)

Good review of Darkship Thieves -- I think you hit it on the nose. I enjoyed the book and am willing to read others by the author, but as you noted, like Linnea Sinclair's works it's better romance than science fiction. Hoyt is certainly no Lois McMaster Bujold!

Sorry Darkship Thieves didn't do it for you more, Roni! I won't rush to get it, but I might still pick it up at some point since I think I'm more of a romance reader than you are so I might like it better.

Roni, Darkship Thieves doesn't look like my cup of tea but good review of it anyway.

125: This is a silly question I'm sure, but what constitutes a space opera?

Not a silly question, Marie--it gets asked a lot. From Wikipedia:

"Space opera is a subgenre of science fiction that emphasizes romantic, often melodramatic adventure, set mainly or entirely in outer space, generally involving conflict between opponents possessing advanced technologies and abilities. The term has no relation to music and it is analogous to "soap opera" (see below). Perhaps the most significant trait of space opera is that settings, characters, battles, powers, and themes tend to be very large-scale."

Romantic more in the sense of the original term of romance for adventure novel than connoting what we think of as the romance genre these days, although DT was both.

Thanks for stopping in and commenting, Sarah, Dejah, Marcia, Marie, and Paul. Always glad to see all of you. Serving tea, wine, cheese and olives.

131: Many thanks! I've always wondered. Would you recommend any good space opera books?

In the mean time... *helps herself to some tea, wine, cheese and an olive*

But of course!

Agent of Change by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller
Cordelia's Honor by Lois McMaster Bujold
Hunting Party by Elizabeth Moon
On Basilisk Station by David Weber
A Thousand Words for Stranger by Julie Czernada
Rimrunners by C. J. Cherryh
The Android's Dream by John Scalzi
The Gate of Ivory by Doris Egan
Startide Rising by David Brin
Psion by Joan D. Vinge

I'm sure I'm missing some for which I would kick myself, but here's a start.

I love space operas. Dune by Frank Herbert and Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card are some other good ones.

133/134: Thanks guys! Of all those listed, I've only read Ender's Game.

I've been lurking on your thread but am posting to thank you for the "space opera" definition. Stasia recommended your thread for fantasy titles, and I'm learning a lot! I have Shards of Honor on its way to the library and from what I've read on various threads recently, I'm really looking forward to it. (I know sci fi and fantasy are different, and was trying to read some fantasy this year, but I'm going to give sci-fi a go too!)

Enjoyed your review of Cannery Row Roni. Glad you joined in for that. We're getting great participation in the Steinbeckathon so far, and hope you'll join us for more!

What is this Steinbeckathon you all speak of? And more importantly, where can I find it?

The Cannery Row thread is here, Nathan:

http://www.librarything.com/topic/130108

and the main thread for the steinbeckathon is in the first message there. Alternatively, you can always go to our group page, where Jim has all these group read things listed with their links.

A little late to the Steinbeck party....but glad you enjoyed Cannery Row so much. Visiting the area after reading the book was a favorite trip for me, as was lunch at Steinbeck's childhood home in Watsonville and the Steinbeck museum.

My clear favorite is East of Eden, the same kind of writing you describe above but on a grand and epic scale. And second, The Winter of Our Discontent.

Okay, I've started the big project. The smallest bookcase in the front bedroom/office has been cleared, the shelves taken out on the deck where the 1x2 covering the front of the shelf will be ripped down to 1" and stained, as will the casing itself here in the bedroom. That means 24 linear feet of books are off the shelves, 9 feet of mmpb and 15 ft. of mostly hardbacks and a few trade paperbacks. So far I have culled a masterful 12" of hardbacks, ordering 4 paperback replacements so far (out of 9 books). In my paperbacks, I am looking at my Xanth books and my Terry Brooks books--I don't think I will ever reread the Brooks, but I have the original 3 publications of the Shannara books that I might keep, and the same with the Xanth books. I stopped buying them after 15, but they got pretty tedious way before that. I may keep the first 5 of those---again, I have the original publications. And I think I'll cull some of my Orson Scott Card--keeping the original 4 of the Ender series along with Ender's Shadow, but probably getting rid of the rest--if I ever want to read any of them again, I can find them in the library.

Ouch, getting rid of books is always so hard to do. Good luck with that one, you are braver than me.

My goal is getting rid of 8 linear feet in my office, the back bedroom, so I can keep my craft materials on the bottom shelf of this:



Unfortunately, I've already replace the 12" of hardbacks I culled with books that were stacked under the computer desk that lacked shelf space before! And I have nice hb trilogies of the Hunger Games and the Warrior Heir series by Chima that I'd like to sell as units rather than trade off--not sure what to do with those. (Btw, there are two more shelves above the 4 shown, and the books on the back of the couch are part of my tbr stash.) I expect to make more headway with my older paperbacks than with the hardbacks, though, when I get to my biggest bookcase, Leonie.

Speaking of Steinbeck, I just started Travels with Charley and so far it is an utter delight.

Oh, how I wish I had book cases like yours! I have books stored throughout the house. I've resorted to buying large plastic under the bed containers. Then, there are the books on the shelf in the downstairs bedroom, the books on the shelves in the upstairs loft, the books in the case at the top of the steps, the books in the closets that are stored in cloth bins and the books on the floor in the bedroom.

I fear I cannot count them because it would be overwhelming to actually know I'll never ever read them all.

Much love Roni!
Good luck with your projects. Where do you get all this energy? Can you send some my way?

Dear Linda, remember--I am retired. I don't have to go to work. I can play--and books and bookcases are play, even when they involve work!

Morphy, that's the other Steinbeck I am really looking forward to. Ilana, I don't know that I will join you all for all the books, but you can count on me for Travels with Charley as well. Thanks for stopping by and giving me your favorites, Mac!

Nora, you are so right about those two books falling into space opera! Marie, I know you will enjoy any of the ones we've mentioned, and Susan, I look forward to hearing your reaction to the Bujolds. They are like potato chips--you can't read just one!

Thanks for the link, Roni! Although I'm not part of the 75 Books Challenge, I may join in for either The Grapes of Wrath or Of Mice and Men, or maybe both.

oh Roni, it is such a hard job to cull books... I have done twice but in no time (well some years) we are back at the numbers of books we owned before!

I love those bookshelves - all the books, and all the other bits and pieces. So hard to cull though... I'm going to need to do some re-organising and possibly culling myself, or expand into yet another spare room with more bookshelves and put off the downsizing till I retire!

Just catching up with your thread. Night Circus sounds really good.

I don't think I could ever have enough bookshelves. The new ones I got for Christmas are already full and now I am having to pile books on top of other books in order to fit them in. Good luck to you, Roni, with your organizing and culling.

I got The Night Circus for Christmas and your review makes me want to get to it sooner rather than later. Good luck with the book culling.

Good luck with your bookshelves project Roni - mine are badly in need of a sort out too but it's never something I feel like getting into on my days off work.

I am on a similar quest of book removals..
deciding what to keep and what to cull gets easier as I go...

Love your bookshelves, Roni! I'm on the same mission this year, and I'm hoping to read them before I let go of them, so I've got a big task ahead too. In fact, there's nothing I'd love more today than to go through all of my shelves and re-sort and remove. But alas, work is calling. :(

Hope you're having a good weekend!

Roni - you can never have enough bookcases for sure and I certainly don't have enough.

I cannot imagine culling so many books. I admire your bravery.

Hello and welcome to all my visitors! Nathan, I know the Steinbeck readers would love to have you join us for whichever books you like--you have the link now, so hope you can.

Ren and Anne--I really did love The Night Circus. I hope you can read it soon and let me know what you think.

All the shelves (yesterday) and the frame (today) have now been stained. Tomorrow I will put the polyurethane on the shelves--will probably have to wait another day to make sure the frame is dry enough to do. We are having a cold front with damp air moving through; I know because I woke up with a mild migraine. Luckily it responded to meds. Once it is put back together, I will take a picture.

I have had major culls twice before. Once I provided about a third of the SF/F in an opening used book store when I last cleared out that section of my library on those shelves in the front bedroom--nearly 400 books. Only a few of which I have bought back over the years. That must have been 16-20 years ago. And then last year when I retired, I made major inroads into my professional books and also my children's books. Those account for the majority of the 837 traded away books in my LT account. And another 130 professional books are out the door in the next few weeks--the last boxes donated to the local school psychology students association. But they are in boxes, not on shelves, so don't really count. But you are so right, Paul, there are never enough. I now have bookshelves in every room of my house, all of which I have expanded to overfill. So it must be culling.

And in truth, Anita, Genny, Judy, Kath, Sarah, Heather, and Laura, I don't think it will be as difficult as it could be. I am at that stage of my life where I can look at these books, many of which have been on the shelves for 20 or more years, and think which ones I am truly never likely to reread, and of the rest, which ones are readily available from the library. I'd love to reread each first to back up my judgment, Laura, but can't if I want to complete this in real life. And while I will undoubtedly err on the side of keeping too many, I am hopeful that I can meet my goal of clearing the bottom shelf shown above (right over the unshelved tbr books on the back of the couch) for my crafts.

On the other hand, as stiff as I am after clearing, cleaning, sanding and staining my smallest bookshelf, I think clearing the two big bookcases and getting them finished will be a lot more work than I expected!! But I will be so happy when it is done. I'll just hold on to that thought.

Almost forgot--finished another book.



Book #4 Gabriel's Ghost by Linnea Sinclair (447 pp.)

This book is in the same vein as the last, a romantic science fiction adventure. Sinclair actually writes some decent adventure stories, with a heavy dose of romance. In this one, ex-Captain Chasidah Bergren is broken out of a prison planet, where she was sent on trumped-up charges, by a man she thought had died two years before, to use her skills against a deadly conspiracy. You can take it from there. But it was something light and undemanding while I work on book culling and bookshelf finishing.

I love that photo you posted, Roni. It looks like some of my bookcases .. just a little cuter with your stuffed animals. Do I spy a shelf of teddy bears at the top?

No, they are all kitties, Caro! I hope you are avoiding swimming pools.

Roni - we have a few things in common and one of them is bookcases or bookshelves in every room in the house. Your wistful realisation that a majority of the books on your shelves are not going to get a second go struck a chord with me as I often think the same thing. I kid myself that I am keeping all these great books so that my kids can get pleasure from them but I think they will be off to college and with homes of their own soon enough and I'll have to retain the books for grandchildren!

Roni, your bookshelf project sounds like a lot of work! I know it will be worth it in the end - even the major book overhaul in which you release some of your books. I feel good about my decision to keep my home library limited to the status quo. It was actually kind of a relief to let go of some of the books I knew I would never read. Now I wish I had them all in one place instead of scattered around the house. Maybe I need a bookshelf project!

Regarding space opera, you should not forget Iain M. Banks (with the M)

No one told me there was food going. Word of warning - if you serve chocolate, you won't be able to budge me from here.

Ah; I had a vague notion space opera meant something like that, but now I know for certain.

susan67 - I read mainly fantasy, but I do like the Vorkosigan saga.

re: culling ... no, no, no ....
I have a couple of books that I wonder "Why did I waste money on that?", but I can't bring myself to get rid of them (I'm a hoarder), even though I will never read them again. Plus, if I didn't like them, I can't justify inflicting them on any one else.

But good luck with your project. I admire you, even if I can't emulate you.

Glad that there is somebody else who just cannot cul. I use the excuse that I am still building up a base-collection of must-have works, but truthfully, the only books that ever permanently leave my home are doubles... I cannot give up a book, I'd rather store it in my mom's attic or double stack than cull....

*sigh* I can't even get rid of my doubles - though I have managed to get as far as putting them on a separate shelf, in preparation (where they have sat for several years)

I have a friend (BF of my friend) who likes SF and Fantasy as much as I do and hardly has any books himself. He is always a grateful recipient :D

Also, at work we have a "White Bookcase". Here you can leave books you don't want anymore, and pick up new/old ones for free. Very addicting :D

I take the books I'm not going to reread to a nearby used bookstore and exchange them for store credit. So I can get more books...I have a harder time getting rid of the books that they won't take.

One of the used bookstores near me is really choosy, but they pay well so I always take my books there first. I did so a couple of weeks ago and they took about half of my box of books; I received $14, I think. The other day I was near a Half Price Books and planned to sell them the rest (they're not choosy at all), but there was a 45 minute wait.

I don't do any major culling but I do keep that box always around in case I vehemently dislike I book that I've read, or simply spot something on my shelves that I realize I'll never read. Once it fills up I start trying to sell.

PaperBackSwap and BookMooch have made it so much easier for me to let go of books, knowing they are going directly to people who will appreciate them. The used bookstores around here are very choosy about what they will accept, and few will take hardbacks, whereas I have orders for 5 of the 9 hardbacks I just culled (replacing 4 of them with paperbacks--I know, I know, but so much less space!). And it works out more economically than the USB as well.

I think the ability to cull is developmental. When I was you all's age, I kept just about everything as well, unless I simply hated a book. Now, I really am looking to declutter a full house and, truthfully, with not as many years ahead of me, not as much time to read the books of the world, it's easier to look at a book and say "I'm never going to reread this" or to not insist on being a completist. Not that it is ever easy!

Will dark chocolate do?

Oh dear. I'm old enough to know better, but my preoccupation for most of my adult life has been BUILDING UP A LIBRARY. And now I'm supposed to tear it apart? Can't do it. Not yet. PBS is helping though, but only because I'm finding so many things that I want more than what I have sitting on my shelves. Maybe one day I'll mature, but I'm not betting on it. We can also add the fact that I'm lazy. And that I don't want to let go of my books.
As to Steinbeck, I'm not a great fan. I'm not sure why. When I look at his writing objectively, I see that it's really quite wonderful. I can even be sucked into the emotional appeal....but when I think of what I want to read next, his name never springs to mind; and when it does, I never pay much attention.

I did a cull last year, and sent a lot of books to the library to raise money in their book sale. I'm curious where you mention you can find books in the library though--I think our local library culled out all the sf written before 1990 a few years ago. The used bookstores around here have mostly folded too (as well as most of the new bookstores :(

I get my pre-1990 (pre-1980 mostly) SF at the charity shops :D Lots of bad-good covers.

Dark? AbsoLUTEly! - the darker the better.

Maybe I'll be brave one day, and donate to my library, or try BookMooch (you say they go to good homes?). But I rarely jump into cold water; it takes me about half an hour of toe dipping and shivering on the side-lines.

Okay, the first bookcase is done! This is what it looked like prior to starting.



And here it is now:



And for those of you who love to try and read titles:



And finally, these are the other two bookcases that I need to do.

It looks really good, Roni. Good job.

Looks good! I wish I had such sturdy and large looking bookshelves. Mine all look like they are about to topple over...

Wow. :)

Well done on phase one! Not sure I can read any of those titles though, even in the largest photo...

Good job!

Oh my, Roni ... job well done .. so far! haha... seriously.. it looks fantastic! Want to come and do mine? ;-)

Having zoomed in on my screen, my fingers are itching to pull books out and read the back covers ;)

I'm glad I'm not the only one who tries to read the titles in bookcase pics!

That looks good!

Nicely done . . .

I am such an enabler...Also, I changed the picture of the two bookcases to go above to one you can actually see!

Thanks for the encouragement, Judy, Marie, Melis, Genny, Hannah, Caro (NO!), Jenny, Jim, Laura and Brenda. This was the easy one. At the time it was built, it was all paperbacks, with the hardbacks under the TV (where the mini stereo is now in the last picture in message 175). Then, as I owned more hardbacks, they started going on the bottom shelves here. Now it has become THE hardback bookcase for my fiction, with the shelves under the stereo, still to be done, the site for my mostly hardback children's books. I couldn't do without adjustable shelves!

Today besides putting the shelves back in and shelving books and sorting out the children's books to see what will fit on the other bookcase, I pulled out the sofa so I could take a stepladder and clean out my back office shelves and rearrange the paperback fiction I want to keep back here. I now have over a shelf to store my craft stuff on--the bottom shelf which you can't see, so one of my goals has been met. Of course, although I've sorted out another 26 linear inches to get rid of, I still have 7' of paperbacks on the dining room table that came out of this bookcase.

I am seriously jealous!

Looks great!

My favourite hobby is arranging rearranging and sorting my books - you obviously derive just as much pleasure as I do Roni...good job!

Ooh - nice!

I just spray painted my bookends, mainly because I'm procrastinating instead of packing - it's been on my list for months.

This is making me want to finally buckle down and organize my shelves... I've started the project several times over the past few years, and then given up because the task was too big. Of course, I do need new shelves, too. Hmm. Well, yours look fantastic at any rate! :D

Oooh. Pretty. And the shelves look very nice too. :)

A day of rest for me today. I put more of my craft stuff, filling up the emptied shelf, and took culled books and looked through PaperbackSwap and BookMooch to see which I would post what on. It's so funny--there are books on PBS that have multiple copies available--some of my old fantasy series--but there is a waiting list for them on BookMooch. So you know where I posted those!

I sent off 5 books on Tuesday, 3 via PBS and 2 on BM, and from those I just posted, I have requests for 5 from PSB and had a dozen on BM that were on people's wishlists. It does make it easier to get rid of them.

Tomorrow I will unload the shelves on the smaller bookscase to the right in the picture above, and start staining shelves. Thank you for visiting, Piyush, Sara, Paul, Nina, Faith and Sarah. Your support keeps me working at this! And Paul, I do love arranging my books--we are kindred spirits. And Sarah, very nice too. ;-) See any you recognize?

As a matter of fact, I do! Lovely little bits of McKillip, McKinley, Fforde, McCaffrey, and I believe that's a rather nice Pratchett section down there at the bottom... so many lovelies!

PS: How come Shades of Grey is not on the same shelf as the rest of your Fforde books? Out of place or are we distinguishing genre here? I'm fascinated by other people's organizational choices.

Oh, you have A Fistful of Sky -- I love Nina Hoffman! She's done some other great stuff too.

Okay, I'll stop perusing your shelves now. :)

Sharp eyes, Sarah! The first four books on that shelf--Omnitopia Dawn, Belgarath the Sorcerer, The Wizard of Karres, and Shades of Grey--are too tall to fit on the shelf above. I actually did end up with an extra half inch of space 3 shelves below--if I feel ambitious, I'll lower that shelf and the ones above to put those four with the other books by these authors. Did you see the Bujolds on the top right shelf?

I have everything Nina Kiriki Hoffman has written in book form--not all of her short stories, although The Skeleton Key first brought her to my attention in F&SF. The Thread that Binds the Bones is still my favorite, though.

Oh, I do see those Bujolds up there. Love her too! I have some random installments of The Sharing Knife series -- like, #1 and #4 or somthing -- but never read that series. Is it good? I loved Chalion. But you knew that already. :)

Too-short shelf space is a classic problem. I've been there myself. Frustrating, sometimes.

And yay that you are also a Hoffman fan. I met her back when I worked at Clarion and she is so nice and her books are just lovely. I always like it when those two things coincide. Of her stuff, the whole Red Heart of Memories sequence just satisfies my soul. I recently obtained one of her YA books, which I did not previously know about, but I haven't read it yet. Spirits that Walk in Shadow, I believe -- any thoughts?

Aaaaand this is me not sleeping. I should probably, you know, sleep. So that I stop drooling over other people's bookshelves and rambling about authors and stuff.

K bye!

Lookin' good! Steph built me some fab bookshelves using DVD towers. I love them!

I'll keep my eye out for Night Circus -- thx for the heads up.

I used to have organized bookcases, and then my kids started reading. I expect that when the kids are gone, I will have organized bookcases once again. :) Yours are looking great.

I was planning on cleaning up my bookshelves this week, but now that plan has to be shelved (ha ha) for a couple of years.

just keeping up......more or less....

Great job on the shelves, Roni! I am so jealous!

Project update:

I unloaded the other narrow bookcase--here are all the books from that bookcase sitting in the living room.



AND I have stained all the shelves and the inside, top, and front of the frame. Tomorrow I start with the polyurethane coats, which I will probably finish up on Sunday. The left outside frame can't be done until I dismantle the last bookcase, and when that bookcase is done, we will move my husband's big rolltop desk so I can do the right outside frame. That last one, with those big, long shelves nearly 3 times the width of the others, will be a bear, I fear.

Your organisational skills are being put to the test in full here Roni. If you are ever in Kuala Lumpur Roni I think my Project Management company could do with your services!

I keep looking for the "like" button! LOL

Oh Roni, those are killer window seats! Storage underneath?

I need to organize my books, but the task is so daunting that I keep doing other things instead.

Thus said I for over 20 years, foggi. Retirement is good.

Susan, I love my window seats as well, but no storage. They actually jut out outside like bay windows do.

Paul, I was a school psychologist for over 30 years--now there is a job where you are keeping about 10 different objectives in the air at the same time, most of them with legal time lines. This is mild in comparison--nice and mostly linear!

Another day of rest here. It is raining and the air is too moist, the humidity too high for sealing wood. So I finished a book, and am sitting back with a tall cup of Earl Grey and watching Kansas University Jayhawk basketball--can't beat it! Then pottery class after the game.

Book #5 The Family Trade by Charles Stross (308 pp.)

Review to follow later today. Go, Jayhawks!

Sounds like a lovely day, Roni. I often enjoy the quiet days the best - time for reading, some TV maybe even a nap. I find as I get older I appreciate the art of napping!

Thanks for including us in your big book project, Roni. I'm also appreciative of the larger picture where I can read the titles. It makes snooping so much easier! I hope your back holds out. What a fun and absorbing project you have added to pottery and jewelry making. Busy hands are happy hands!

There's nothing I like better (besides reading, eating, and chatting on LT) than peeking at other people's bookshelves, so thanks for letting me indulge in a little voyeurism today, Roni.

#211 Wow, that sounds like a good day!

I have only read The Atrocity Archives by Charles Stross which was a very decent read, will await your review of The Family Trade

Oooh, Roni, those shelves look great! And, thanks for all of the other pictures of the titles (yay!) and your other soon-to-be-renovated shelves. Much like Paul, organizing my books is one of my favorite things to do. Thanks for the added inspiration! I've got a case in the guest room that's double-stacked and needs an overhaul. It just might be one of my un-necessary necessary jobs at home today! :)

I just found out about a website - bookshelfporn.com - and I spend FAR too much time there than I should!

bookshelfporn.com is great!

Congratulations on the book culling/organization. That's what I can say, "I'll get organized when I retire!" :)

Impressive project, roni!

You're getting so organized, Roni! I'm jealous!

Your new shelving looks great, Roni! I also love to play in my books although I have to say that most of my best shelves look like your "before" pictures. Hardcover Bujold - nice!!!
Now I'm off to look at bookshelfporn.com. Thanks, Laura!

Decloaking. Bujold, Bartholomew... very good B selections : )

Well, I put polyurethane on the frame and shelves yesterday, and today put the second coat on the top side of the shelves. It was raining again today so I left the shelves to dry overnight to be sure the finish is good and hard before I load the books onto it. Tomorrow I'll put the shelves in and load the books, and then start unloading the big paperback bookcase, seen on the left in the last picture in message 176. That will be fun because the shelves are, like, 8 feet long each--more difficult to maneuver! I'll post a picture of the second finished bookshelf after I load it up tomorrow.

Thanks, everyone, for the support and comments. Judy and Ren, it was a nice day on Saturday. Yesterday was all football and crocheting during the games, in between the various coats of poly. I smartened up and did all the actual work on the table on the porch and THEN put the pieces on the floor to dry, so my back did much better, Donna--and these were more small shelves. Laura and Kath, I love playing around with books, but it took my husband's prodding to get going on the shelves. Not that he's helping except in trimming my shelves. Laura and trandism, I do enjoy voyeurism at bookshelfporn.com! Peggy and Pam and Caro, glad to have you scanning my shelves. I love to do that with other people's shelves as well.

I misplaced my book yesterday, and finally found it today so I could work on my review. Piyush, I have read Stross' The Jennifer Morgue and The Atrocity Archives some years ago. I thought from the descriptions that I would love them, and then ended up being vaguely disappointed. It was like an action film, with clever allusions--very clever but without heart or depth.



The Family Trade by Charles Stross

Miriam is an investigative reporter whose latest findings have cost her her job and the attention of the mob. Visiting her adoptive mother after this, she is handed a shoebox full of the paraphernalia that was on her when she was found next to her murdered mother as an infant. One of these items is a locket with a strange pattern that dumps her in the middle of a forest with a raging headache. As a reporter, she starts coolly collecting data, realizing that the geography is the same as her home town area of Boston but that the forest has never been disturbed there. After several visits, she is kidnapped from her home and taken through to the other reality, where she finds a medieval society in which one family has the abilty to travel between the two worlds and uses their ability to transport items quickly in our world to maintain power in their own world. And Miriam is a lost heir of this family. And she doesn't have the option to disappear back into our world. So she has to figure out what was going on and establish some clout in a world where women are only marriage fodder and breeders. Being a financial specialist (thinking of Suzanne here) she has some tools if she can apply them. And then the book ends.

Again the writing style of Stross did not suck me in. It seemed distancing, matter-of-fact even when Miriam is dodging assassins. The most interesting part is where she is getting to know the other females around her, who may or may not fit the mold of that society. Her relationship with Roland seems too much, too fast, even though convenient for the plot. It's a book I would have been glad to put down and be done with--an adequate story that is imaginative with lots of action--but that it ends in the middle of the story. It so happens that I do have the second book also sitting here, courtesy of the Borders closing sales, and I am interested enough to go ahead and find out what happens, but also a little irritated about it all.

Also, I forgot to post that we started picking our first peas last week.



And this is the cowl I finished yesterday--the yarn is twisted red and blue.

LOL .. .this is what comes of reading too quickly ... i thought you said that you had finished the owl yesterday ... and I looked at the photo and thought 'gee.... that owl looks like a cat .... i wonder if Roni's skills are slippling a little' ...then read what you wrote again and had to laugh at myself.

I'm jealous of your green thumbs.. how cool is it to grow your own food? *sigh*

cameling - hehehe I did the same thing, only I read it as "cow".

>224 ronincats:

I appears I like Charles Stross' work more than you do, Roni - I've read a fair bit of it and have enjoyed most of it. As for the Family Trade series, I have very mixed feelings. There were elements of the first several books that fascinated me but, unfortunately, the things that interested me weren't what he kept writing about. Eventually, he lost me. I'll be interested to hear what you think about the next book.

BTW, the cat is darling -- and the cowl's pretty, too!

>227 bluesalamanders: . . . I also read it as "cow" and had to take a close look at the photo!?

Yup, I read it as cow. Very confused. Then again, confusion is a normal state of affairs......

Are you sure you didn't knit a cow?

That sounds so funny: "Knit a cow."

Nice kitty, Roni. And I'm jealous of your garden. My part of California is still covered with snow.

and for those inveterate shelf skimmers, these are the lower shelves which are my juvenile books:

I love to see all your books Roni, athough I have a hard time skimming your shelves ;-)

Want want want your YA shelves. And a knitted cow. So there.

Ok, so here is an actual knitted cow :D

And the cowl is lovely, roni, as are the bookshelves!

>235 bluesalamanders:. Thanks for the knitted cow, blue . . .

Caro, I grew up on a small farm and we always had a large garden, in the middle of Kansas. Somehow I have managed to have a garden wherever I have lived. I enjoy it and it keeps me close to my father's spirit.

No owl and no cow, Caro and blue and Brenda and Jenny! You can slide it down and wear it as a thick collar or pull it up as a hood. Having no mannequin heads to model it upon, I used my pottery cat bank, as he's near the right size! And it is crochet--the only knitting I can do is a garter stitch muffler, and I enjoy crocheting much more. The knitted cow IS cute, but I think my cowl is more useful.

I may have to send it to you, Ren. From what I hear, aren't you all finally getting snow after being dry all winter so far?

Anita, I know many of the titles aren't clear--it goes Alexander, Barker, Wilanne Schneider Belden, Duane, Gaiman, George, Goudge, Nicholas Grey, Ibbotson, Diana Wynne Jones, L'Engle, C. S. Lewis, Mieville, Sheila Moon, Murdock, Nesbit, Nix, Elizabeth Marie Pope, Rowling, Stevermer, Sage, Wilce, Wrede, Wrightson, and then some fairy tale collections. Some of my series that are all small paperbacks stay on the paperback shelves--that's where my Susan Cooper books are, for example.

The next two books are Kindle books.



Book #6 Maxwell's Closet by Steven Belskie

This was a free book. Maxwell is kidnapped from his bedroom by orcs coming through his closet after two paragraphs of introduction to him. The last sentence in the second paragraph: "Yet still the gray adult world plodded on with no change from one day to the next, just the slow ticking of life's clock."

The orcs talk like gangsters. They take him to the orc king who send him to be executed. Max has just finished bonding with the orc executioner when he is rescued and taken to the human king where he meets two of the princes and is sent off with one of them, the oldest, on a quest. They encounter a cyclops, who Max treats with compassion, and who then later helps them. Humor is carelessly tossed in with violence, simplistic language mixed with high-falutin' vocabulary. "They were like one giant black wave ready to crash upon their quarry and take them into the undertow."

The author throws together elements from many different types of fantasy into a quest story. Scarcely a page goes by without another new factor being thrown in. It makes the story seem choppy, and the too formal language structures with the overuse of metaphors and similes ("The council members leaned out of their seats and watched with a vicious look, like hungry buzzards waiting for an injured animal to take its last breath.") contribute to the lack of cohesion. There is too much telling instead of showing.

If the author worked with this manuscript, worked hard to prune the language to show the core shape of the tale, gave us a context to identify with Max at the outset, either expanded the tale so that events don't pile up on each other so abruptly or take out some of the less essential elements, this could work up into a decent story.

At the end, Maxwell ruminates, "Yet, like the branding of a cattle iron it had in seconds seared into him a lasting mark he would bear forever."

I must confess I have spent much more time on this than I would have otherwise because, when I went back to Amazon to see if this existed in paper form so I could get a page count, I saw to my amazement that the book had a 5 star rating and three glowing reviews. Therefore, although I don't usually put reviews on Amazon, I feel impelled to post this review there as I am positive the author and maybe a friend or two of his have placed those reviews there resulting in totally false advertising. For me $0.00 was too much to pay for it.

Book #7 The Goose Girl by Shannon Hale (400 pp.)

Fortunately, for an antidote, Shannon Hale's The Goose Girl was on special for 99¢ yesterday for the Kindle. I had been meaning to order it from the library since seeing many recommendations for it here, and I just finished it for book #7. It was delightful. You got to know the character and understand her before she was thrown into the crisis situation, we got to see her grow mentally and emotionally, not just physically as Max above did, and the characters were well-developed, fit logically into the tale, and the language flowed. It cleared the taste of Maxwell from my mouth.

Roni....I am so glad to see your honest review, although I must say I'm sorry you had to waste the time spent reading this. I've noticed that so many of the Amazon freebies are self-published, self-reviewed, and can be found nowhere but on Amazon and in the minds of the authors. Oh well, at their next class reunion, they can proudly say they've published a book.

And most of us can proudly say we passed on it. Not worth the time or space to download it.

I love The Goose Girl and most of Shannon Hale's other books too. Good antidote to that other rubbish. :)

The Goose Girl sounds wonderful! I may have to save it for when I need a pick-me-up. Thanks!

I loved The Goose Girl when I read it...last year? Two years ago? The language was like sliding into clean satin sheets........so soft and tactile.

Hale certainly has a wonderful prose voice. I loved The Goose Girl. Can't say I was as entranced by Enna Burning. The ending was ... odd?

I haven't read anything by Shannon Hale. But this will soon be corrected, I went to Amazon and downloaded it for my Kindle. It wasn't 99 cents, but at $2.99, it didn't exactly break the bank either.

I read and loved Princess Academy by Hale so much that I bought a hard cover version for my niece for Christmas.

delurking to say hi!

love the cat in 225!

Ooooh, more bookshelf photos! Thanks, Roni. And I'm glad to see more Goose Girl love - I've yet to be disappointed by a Hale book. :)

Hi Roni! My daughter recently read and enjoyed The Goose Girl -- I'd like to get to it myself. Thanks for the warning about Maxwell's Closet!

Hello Roni! I haven't checked into your thread for a while, so I've just been going through the 99 posts I've missed. Your bookshelves are beautiful, and everything is so neat and orderly! Mine are a mess. I have stuffed animals and CD's balancing precariously on top of my books - looking at your books has inspired me to tidy them up.

I'll keep The Goose Girl in mind - I have so many books that I want to read right now, but if I run into that book at the library, I will definitely pick it up. Thank you!

Welcome to all. Tina, thanks for the consideration--it was BAD! But I wouldn't have reviewed it on Amazon if there hadn't been the 3 5-star ratings there.

Nathan, Sarah, and Jenny, it looks like we all loved The Goose Girl. I have also read The Princess Academy, which (like Morphidae) I then bought as a gift for my greatniece, and Austenland, which was delightful chicklit, but not Enna Burning as yet. I hope Dejah, Anne, Laura, and Eris follow Judy's examply and buy TGG.

Hey, Kath, good to see you drop by with all the tumult, both happy and sad, going on in your RL.

Eris, you must have missed the picture in message 142 of my shelves in the back bedroom that is MY office, so here is a more comprehensive picture of the situation there. Note that I do now have my craft boxes on the bottom shelf. And Eris, notice my stuffed cat collection sharing the shelves with the books. The books on the back of the couch are part of the tbr pile, all unread.

So today was pottery class and for the first time since before Christmas I had stuff to bring home.





and a replacement for my husband in his favorite colors, since he gave his last one like this away to a friend who admired it.

And finally, I have moved on to the big bookcase, the paperback bookcase. Here is the recently finished case and you can see the frame of the big one on the left, stained and with the first coat of polyurethane. I have 5 of the 8 8-ft. long shelves stained on one side, and hope to have all the shelves back in on Monday. In the meantime, we are completely cleaning and rearranging the room. My husband took the rug to the cleaners this morning, and we are emptying an armoire we are taking out of there tomorrow, in between sawings and stainings and polyurethanings.



You can see the entire bookcase in original condition in the last picture of message 176 for comparison.

Oops, and I just noticed that my messages went over the 250-mark, so onward to a new thread!

Beautiful job on the bookcases, Roni! May I just say that I am quite envious of all your lovely newly stained bookcases, even though as of today I'm the owner of two nice big bookcases myownself.