Belladonna1975's 2010 Mantra is...

"I will not go to the library. I will not go to the library. I WILL NOT GO TO THE LIBRARY.....until June" :)

I just set up my categories for the 1010 Challenge and saw your post about this one and thought it would go along perfectly since I have already told myself that I am not allowed to go to the library until the middle of the year next year. That's right, 6 whole months. That is how many unread books I have languishing on my bookcase.

I am going to set my goal at a cool 50 since I already know I read at least 100 books a year and I will have a whole half of a year to read books on my own shelves.

One caveat is that the Friends of The Library book sale is in February. That does not count as "going to the library" hehehe

Here they are...

1. The Coral Thief - Rebecca Stott
2. Inkheart - Cornelia Funke
3. A Certain Slant of Light - Laura Whitcomb
4. A Pale View of Hills - Kazuo Ishiguro
5. Glass Houses - Rachel Caine
6. The Dead Girls' Dance - Rachel Caine
7. Midnight Alley - Rachel Caine
8. Feast of Fools - Rachel Caine
9. Lord of Misrule - Rachel Caine
10. To Catch a Pirate - Jade Parker
11. Once upon a Dream: At Midnight - Jennifer Baker
12. New Blood - Gail Dayton ~KEPT~
13. The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon ~KEPT~
14. The Thirteen Treasures - Michelle Harrison
15. People of the Book - Geraldine Brooks
16. Gods Behaving Badly - Marie Phillips

Unfortunately,your mantra wouldn't work for me. I have to go to the library -- I work there! :)

Welcome to the group, and good reading!

LOL! I guess it wouldn't work for you, would it?

I would love to work at the library. Books are my favorite thing. :)

Books are my favorite thing

Mine, too!

(Seems to be a lot of people who think that way here on LT . . . ;-)

"That's right, 6 whole months. That is how many unread books I have languishing on my bookcase."

Welcome to the group and good luck. Actually, if you can read all of your unread books in just six months, your shelves are in much better shape than mine! I'm already thinking I'm going to have to renew this challenge yearly for the rest of my life!

No I don't think I will read all of my unread books in 6 months. I'm just saying since I won't be able to go to the library for 6 months, should make a nice dent!

Good luck with not going to the library. I've never been able to resist for more than a month or two...

Same here. Someone will suggest a book, and I'll just check to see if it's at the library, and then, well, I guess I should get it while it's there, and of course, I have to read it right away in case someone else reserves it. The greatest thing that ever happened to me was bad knees. It deters me from "strolling through the stacks" and finding even more books there!

That reminds me! I have 2 books reserved at the library right now! I better go get them. After all, it's not 2010 yet!

If it was only as easy as not going to the library. With the internet, ordering mass quantities of books - with no shipping charges - I am lured to break my resolve at a moment's notice.

I didn't say I wasn't going to BUY any books for 6 months. What a silly notion! ;)

My mantra always was "I'm not going to the bookstore, I'm not going to the bookstore." Now, when I go, it's just to get book ideas and then I reserve at the library or else buy for my Kindle.

readit - I went to Amazon to preorder Harry Potter for my daughter. There's no way I could just order that one DVD! 6 books later....

I easily fall into that trap on used book sales where the shipping and handling are less if you order more from the same seller. Well, that just begs me to search through their virtual inventory to find something else I didn't know I couldn't live without!

How do you like the Kindle? I have thought that it would not be as nice as holding a book, but I am reading Twisted River on my iPhone, and although it is back lit, the screen is so small. I love the thought of buying books over the air waves.

I thought posting a picture of part of my bookcases would give me the motivation I need to thin the herd!

#16, I LOVE my Kindle. I received it as a birthday gift and thought it'd be useful for reading newspapers and magazines but I love it for books as well. I haven't given up on regular books completely as I still seem to own a lifetime supply of them and still borrow often from the library.

I also still go to bookstores to browse the shelves and get ideas. Kindle books are often much cheaper, which is nice.

I'm in my upper 40s and, in particular, love the feature whereby typesize can be increased. I think I typically use one size larger than the default (two sizes larger if it's darker than usual). I also love the fact that I can use this while travelling and will never ever be without a book anywhere again.

About the only thing about it I don't like is that I can't lend my Kindle books to friends.

I am so jealous of your library. It's beautiful. I end up giving all my books to friends or libraries. I call it "catch and release".

thank you! I owe it all to my wonderful husband and Ikea! There is a whole other wall in the same room that is just begging for more bookcases but I haven't quite talked him into it yet. Yet...

:-D

OOOH! Pretty shelves!

Nice, nice shelves. Mine are full, but not quite that full...except for the ones in the garage, built-ins from my husband as a special gift. Lots of books hidden behind the closed doors of the big entertainment center...

Thinking about a Kindle, with font size and the weight of hardcovers becoming something of an issue. Can't make up my mind.

Wow, great library. Just looking at the picture of your shelves makes my fingers start to tingle, I want to browse through your books!

LOL Go ahead, they are all cataloged on LT! (it's just not the same, I know!)

Ha! I count 28 books lying on top of other books. If you run out of shelf space try doing a whole shelf like those ones on top. Voice of experience- more books will fit in that way.

OOO I hadn't thought of that. However if I able to fit more books, I will be less likely to convince my husband I need MORE bookcases.

Did you notice all of my double stacked bookshelves? Also, keep in mind that is only 1/3 of the bookcases. The bottom is cabinets crammed full of mass markets. That is why this challenge is very crucial this year.

I did notice the tails of those books sticking out on the third row second shelf and thought Ha! again. There's more books behind those.

I LOVE your bookcase!!!

Thanks I plan on taking a better picture at the mid year so I can compare it for progress!!!

I'm always in big trouble. Not only do I go to the library but I sort donations for Friends of the Library - we have thousands and thousands of books. We sell most books for 25 or 50 cents. Many are on wish lists for BookMooch and/or PBS and if I only had the money to send them all to everyone it would be tremendous; but, I've already sent twice as many books as I've received. Then, there is the problem of bringing books home from the donations.......

I'll think about getting motivation to attack the hundreds of books I've yet to read here at home tomorrow. Or maybe the day after.

In the meantime, you can do it!!!! All those lovely books:)

Nice bookcases! Are they Billy? They look familiar....

31> I was thinking about volunteering to do sorting at the FOL booksale here but I spend enough money at the friday night early sale as it is.

32> They ARE Billy! I love them. I just want more of them.

Nothing wrong with using a wall of books as a particularly attractive decorating device, one that shows the owner's taste, charm, and wit.

I'm trying to get 25 books read and out of the house this year. I mean, I'll read more than 25; it's just a simple matter of finding ones here in the houe that I'll read and then give away...

*goes offstage, mumbling and clutching hair*

I suspect there will be a lot of "mumbling and clutching hair" in this group this year!

>34 Matke:Nothing wrong with using a wall of books as a particularly attractive decorating device, one that shows the owner's taste, charm, and wit.

Absolutely! My favorite interior decorating style!

As John Buchan described a room in one of his novels: "It was the working collection of a scholar, and the books had that used look which makes them the finest tapestry for a room."

Ok, so I am not doing so well on this challenge so far. I started off by reading Fallen which was a book I borrowed from a friend, then I started reading Storm Front which is an ebook, so it doesn't count either. Then, I tried to read The Dracula Dossier which was an ARC I got from ER and 50 pages into, decided that I hated it and didn't want to finish it (which doesn't happen very often) and now I am reading The Coral Thief which is another ARC which I am thoroughly enjoying and WILL count for this challenge once I finish it. :)

BTW, if anyone is interested in the ARC of The Dracula Dossier and is on bookmooch, I will list it for you so you can mooch it.

Well, I for one think you are very noble for applying the 50-page rule and moving on to another friend. Not all friendships are meant to be...I admire your goal of 50 and your bookshelves!!!

I can't help peering at your bookshelves everytime I see them. I see you like Judith Merkle Riley, too. And what is it about someone else's shelves that draw me in like a fly to honey?

I love Judith Merkle Riley. I wish she were more prolific. The Oracle Glass and The Serpent Garden were my favorites. I have yet to find someone else that writes historical fiction quite the way she does.

Whenever my friends come over, they go over and peer at my bookshelves for a while, as if they haven't already looked hundreds of times...like some secret jewel is there waiting for them to discover it. It is great fun!

some secret jewel is there waiting for them to discover it.

Well, they're right! :-D

I am so happy the cover art for The Oracle Glass caught my eye at the library however many years ago--what a great discovery if one likes historical fiction. I too wish she wrote more, but more important her books are surprisingly hard to buy. I waited years for decent editions of the Margaret of Ashbury trilogy (the last volume The Water Devil not even in English for awhile). The Serpent Garden is probably one of my favorites. Tracy Chevalier may be the closest in feeling to Riley that I have read, especially The Virgin Blue.

That is funny Amarie, that is how I found her too! I haven't read any Tracy Chevalier so I will have to check her out. I know what you mean about her books being hard to find. I finally have pretty hardback copies of her first 2 Margaret of Ashbury books but I am not even sure that The Water Devil came out in hardback. :(

Just a quick drop in to say "thanks" for the Judith Merkle Riley info. Adding her to my wishlist.

1. The Coral Thief - Rebecca Stott

This is the story of Daniel Connor, a young English medical student who goes to Paris in 1815 in order to study anatomy and in the process meets a beautiful ex-aristocratic turned philosopher-thief who "changes his idea of who he is and the world in which he lives"

I was surprised at how much I enjoyed this book. It was engaging and kept my interest almost the entire time. I say almost because I could have done without the small chapters interspersed about Napoleon's trip from France to his final island prison. I guess they were there to help infuse the book with the feel of post-revolutionary Paris but it seemed unnecessary to me.

One thing I absolutely loved were the illustrations. (I am a sucker for a book with pictures) especially when they enhance the story.

All in all it was a fun and quick read. It makes me want to start a coral collection of my own.

OK! One down off of my TBR pile and a ER review completed as well! While I did enjoy it, I do not think I am going to keep it so it has been added to my bookmooch inventory.

Out of curiosity I checked the H.S. library where I work and found The Master of all Desires by Riley. Thanks for the raves on this author. This will be my next book to read.

My shame is great!

I just borrowed The Mistborn Trilogy by Brandon Sanderson and Gardens of the Moon by Steven Erikson. I didn't go to the library though, honest! A friend came over and said "Here, read these, you will like them." How could I refuse?

Now I am going to hang my hang my head and slink off..to read...books that are not mine...

No shame in reading, bella!!!

I am allowing myself to read other books in between the ones I am committed to in this challenge. It's a challenge, not a marriage!

The problem is, once I stray, I stay strayed. I read 129 books last year and I think only like 30 of those (maybe) were books I own and I have HUNDREDS of unread books. It is getting to be sort of ridiculous.

Oh well, I will just had to endeavor to go back to my TBR bookshelves after I finish these.

I have ILL'd five books this week. I set my challenge to be that 2/3 of my reading is books that I own, so I've got a lot to read now.

Heck, don't feel bad! I'm the founder of the challenge and I just got my latest order from Quality Paperback Books and am now the proud owner of three new books. Darn that all books for $9.95 with free shipping end of the year sale!!

I tend to read whatever shows up last. The problem - I go through shopping sprees when I add 50-100 books within a week or two. And then slowing down to 3-4-10 per week. Obviously I cannot read all of them that fast :) Besides - I love series and I love trying new ones. But then I need the later books. And mount TBR reaches the Sun and goes through it without even bothering to wait for me to try to reduce it.

I was just figuring...even if I just get 5 new books a week...that is 260 new books a year and I read anywhere from 125-150 a year. 5 new books a week is actually a low estimate, so I am not actually making any headway at all when I think about it. But books are fun, so I am not going to sweat it too much. :)

Edited to add.... Annie where do you put 50-100 books acquired within a week or 2??? I would love to see your house. I picture it like the house in Inkheart.

In a new box usually :)) In the old apartment I had put books everywhere - wardrobes, on the floor, in the kitchen cupboards (no kidding, I rarely cook so a few of those were renamed to library cupboards) - when I started moving I started to realize what I had done and how many books I have exactly. Thanks God it's just a few times per year when I do this (the 50+ books per week).

You can see my English-language library here in LT - short of ~100 books, everything is bought in the last 3 years or so. Uhm... had I mentioned I love reading? :)

Now almost all books are in boxes, lining the wall that will get my bookcase when I manage to make it (and half of the other wall - and not counting the existing shelves) Once I get all organized, I promise to post pictures :)

Yay! I love library pictures. I am still working on my husband to get my second wall of bookcases.

Don't hold your breath - it will take a while. Technically that's why I joined BM - to get rid of a few books. Except that it seems that I am getting even more. :)

I thought I would get rid of books on BM too but I am acquiring them at a much quicker rate than I am getting rid of them.

Same here - those angels are going above and beyond to get me books which are trapped in "in my country only" account. And I had not stopped buying books :) Oh well - I love books.

And that's all that needs to be said about it.

Jenn,
My sister (tututhefirst) has this game she plays on her blog where she highlights a book that's been sitting on her shelves - maybe, if all your books have been cataloged here, you can use something like that.

2. Inkheart - Cornelia Funke

"The world was a terrible place, cruel, pitiless, dark as a bad dream. Not a good place to live. Only in books could you find pity, comfort, happiness - and love. Books loved anyone who opened them, they gave you security and friendship and didn't ask anything in return; they never went away, never, not even when you treated them badly."

I loved this story. Books about books make me giddy. I (luckily) had not seen the movie before I decided to read this wonderful little book. The book quotes at the beginnings of the chapters made me want to run to the bookcases and grab my copies of The Princess Bride, Watership Down and The Neverending Story.

I definitely plan to read the other two books in the trilogy at some point this year.

3. A Certain Slant of Light - Laura Whitcomb

I am on a YA roll so far this year. I have had this book since it first came out and it is one of those books that I am kicking myself for not having read sooner.

Helen is a ghost and for 150 years she has been haunting her chosen "hosts" until one day, someone actually SEES her. Helen and James' story was touching and a bit sad but finally full of hope.

I have noticed that books labeled as YA have quite a bit more sex then they used to. It doesn't bother me considering I read Flowers in the Attic at 11 and Maia at 13. Both of those, certainly deemed inappropriate for children but my parents never censored my reading in any way. (Which I thank them for) It is just an observation.

I am also a big fan of book quotes and one that caught me from this book was...

"I could smell the familiar mix of wet hay and warm milk, the lavender sachet pillow tucked into the linen cupboard, and the painfully sweet breath of an infant, like vanilla cream."

I love the smell of my baby's breath and have never been able to put it into words before. So, thank you, Laura Whitcomb for putting words to one of my favorite things.

I wishlisted A Certain Slant of Light. You are a bad influence. ;-)

>I have noticed that books labeled as YA have quite a bit more sex then they used to.

You've seen the teenagers these days? :) I am almost sure that most of them look and behave at 11 in the way I did at 15. :) And that was not that long ago.

I've put A Certain Slant of Light on my wishlist. The subject matter intrigued me, but the quote sold it.

63> It's nice to be able to return the favor. ;)

64> Yes, I have noticed and frankly it terrifies me especially since I have 2 little girls. I am thinking of locking them up til they are 20. I will give them plenty to read though, I promise! :)

Bella, the best thing to do is to keep communication open. I had a terrible relationship with my mother and vowed not to let that happen with my daughter. We're great buds now.

67 I agree! My mother and I never talked about any of the "important stuff" and as a result we had a horrible relationship between 13-20 for me. Now we are great friends but I would rather not have to miss out on all of those years with my own daughters. I want them to feel like they can talk to me about anything, even the stuff that as mothers, we would rather not hear.

:) I guess that everyone has their bad years with their Moms. I never had issues with her in my teenage years but then my early 20s were a bit of a mess in this regard. Now - we are back to pretty good relationship.

I was missing my mom just this morning. Our relationship was always fine. But I'll tell you what, now that she is gone, I sure wish I had taken more time to ask her questions and to really pay attention to her answers. Enjoy your moms while you have them!

I do.

My children knew neither of their grandmothers. My mother died of breast cancer when I was in college and I never had the chance to rectify our relationship.

I am sorry Mamzel :( I am gratefully that I finally grew up enough to realize what a gift my mother is and I am thankful that the girls get to spend so much time with her.

I have two boys, and it's important that we talk to our sons, too, about feelings. I talk to them a lot about respecting themselves, and girls. Never putting pressure on a girl, all kinds of stuff. And about trusting their own judgement.

At times I resort to "be good, stay safe, pretend I can see you!". But, I hope I am raising the kind of boys you don't need to lock your daughters away from.

I just know how "bad" I was when I was younger and alot of it was because I didn't fully understand the kinds of potentially dangerous situations that I was putting myself in because my mother didn't talk to me about those things.

Lynn, I hope the fact that we are all better informed and more open to communicating effectively with our children will go far in providing them with the tools they will need to be productive, safe and happy as adults.

Now back to our regularly scheduled programming. :)

I just finished Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson and will post more on it after I chew on it a bit.
I am moving on to Distant Waves by Suzanne Weyn.

Belladonna, love the photo of your bookcase. Makes me think (gulp) of mine. 8 of 'em, extra deep (two layers of books per shelf that way!), 84 inches high, with books on the top as well. (Oh, the dust...) And that's only about half the books. Utterly terrifying. I'm actually afraid to go into the basement. I'm also terrified of moving. I've had movers quit on me because of the books...

76> I have now started putting books in {gasp} boxes!

It makes me sad. I do love to see all of my books.

On a side note, I just counted that I have brought an additional 35 books home in the first 18 days of 2010. That does not bode well.

I'm pretty good at the beginning of the year - it's the spring when all the libraries have their FOL sales that do me in. I go thinking I'll get some books to go out on BM and end up adding a lot of them to my TBR pile

>61 Belladonna1975: I also love books about books and have added your recommendation to my wishlist over on BM. And I didn't know there was a movie - so I'll have to check that out too.

Our FOL sale is end of February. I was going to not go but I know I will not be able to resist!

77> I now I don't feel so bad about the 9 that I've brought home!!! Thanks Belladonna...

4. A Pale View of Hills - Kazuo Ishiguro

The story of Etsuko, a Japanese woman now living alone in England, dwelling on the recent suicide of her daughter. In a story where past and present confuse, she relives scenes of Japan's devastation in the wake of World War II.

OK...I went into this book expecting to love it. I don't know why but the only thing I could think when I was finished was .. What the hell?????

Maybe I am not erudite enough to understand the book but it made no sense to me. It started out well enough and I was enjoying the slight sense of foreboding that I felt for the first 100 pages or so (there are only 180). I kept waiting for the other shoe to drop, to be enlightened and it just never came.

Perhaps it is one of those books where you are supposed to draw your own conclusions about what happened or didn't happen but I personal don't really like that kind of story. I want to be TOLD what happened. If I have to guess, I might as well write my own damn book. **sigh**

I am really irritated and had planned on waiting til tomorrow to write about this but I have been seething since I finished reading it about 8 hrs ago and couldn't contain myself any longer.

I am embarrassed to admit that I even went to the wiki on this book to see if I could get a better explanation of the last chapter (which I did and now I feel even dumber) but, it still doesn't make me like it any more.

Needless to say, I think this one is going to go on bookmooch, not that it takes up very much space on the bookcase.

I still really want to read Never Let Me Go and Remains of the Day but if he pulls this kind of crap on me again, I am out!

January Recap

I read 8 books this month but only 4 counted for this challenge. It doesn't feel like that is very good but it is right on schedule with my goal of 50% of my books being books I already own.

Here is the breakdown:

Books off the Shelf - 4
Coral Thief
Inkheart
A Certain Slant of Light
A Pale View of Hills

Books acquired after Dec 31, 2009 - 1
The Silent Gondoliers

Ebooks - 1
Storm Front

Books borrowed from friends - 2
Fallen
Mistborn

So the good news is I am right on track but the bad news is the number of books I have gotten since January 1st...(drumroll).......

65

Yes that is right. 65 - 4 = 61 additional books on my shelves. I think that is a record even for me.
It doesn't look as if it will get much better. The FoL sale is in February and I have quite a few pending books from bookmooch.
I think once this batch of bookmooch books come in, I am going to have to put myself on vacation for a while. It is getting ridiculous. I have competely run out of places to put books and my husband is getting a bit unnerved by the stacks. I think he is afraid they might topple over and take out the toddler.

Anyway, I have grabbed a bunch of pre 2010 books and put them in a separate pile on a side table and those are the ones I plan on grabbing from in February. We will see how that goes...

I loved Remains of the Day, but Never Let Me Go just didn't work for me, although it's very well written.

I am sooooo relieved that there is someone who buys more books than myself. Of course, FOL sale is in two weeks...uh-oh.

So far, I've 7, yes, 7 books done for my Head 'em Up and Move 'em Out list. But then, I just ordered 5 more today, and then went to the library for four more. Um, do you think we need a support group---other than this one, I mean?

83> our FOL sale is in 3 weeks but I just found out that a neighboring town is going to have theirs this weekend so I might be in for double trouble.

Good job on the 7 books so far! I hope to get a larger number in February (even though right now I am reading the Mistborn Trilogy which doesn't count for this challenge as I am borrowing it from a friend of mine.)

I have been self-banned from the Library for the first half of 2010, otherwise I wouldn't get to any of my own books. It's been tough though. There are alot of good books coming out that I really want to go pick up.

I think a support group would be fun but we would probably just end up talking books all the time anyway and making our wishlists longer instead of shorter. Kind of like this group. :)

www.booksalefinder.com

Proud to be a bookslut!

Yeah That is where I found out about it at! I love that website.

That is funny. My friends and I have called ourselves The BookWhores for years because we would do pretty much anything for books.

I probably would too. But at my age I'm afraid there wouldn't be any takers!

I find FOL sales deadly. I live in RI which is sooo small that you can drive from one end of the state to the other in around 45 min. So I usually manage to go to the 2 in town, the 1 in the next town (about 15 min north), the one in the town where I grew up and where my sister is a librarian (20 min south), the town next door to that has 2 libraries ( also around 20 min) the library just outside the university ( about 20 min southwest) and the Pet refuge in town has a huge sale once a year. I try to restrict myself to those although I'm sure there are more I could find. And it's usually about 2 big shopping bags each. I always tell myself that I'll put them on BM, but then I start reading the back cover/flyleaf and somehow a lot of them migrate to my TBR pile.

I tell my husband that someday I'll be too old to drive and I'll need all these books to keep me happy. :)

Wow, that is an astonishing # of new additions -- I think you even beat me, and I've been doing some freelance coaching for someone who is paying me in Amazon.com gift certificates... *grin*
Somehow, FOL sales just don't work as well in a city of millions of people, including at least a million avid readers. And I don't drive...

5. - 9. Morganville Vampires Series by Rachel Caine

Well, I read the first 7 books in this series but only the first 5 count for this challenge since the last two are e-books.

I was surprised by how much I enjoyed these. I am also a fan of Caine's Weather Warden series so I have been getting these off of bookmooch. I decided now was the time to give them a go and I am glad that I did.

I found the characters to be more complex then in the standard teen vampire book (Twilight, Vampire Kisses) and the premise is interesting.

Claire Danvers is an ultra-smart early entry college student, who; because her parents are concerned about her going to school far away, ends up at a small school in Morganville. After getting terrorized by some local girls, she ends up getting a room at a nearby house with 3 young locals. There, she begins to learn about the vampires and their connection to the entire community.

So, these were great and just what I needed at the moment.

Next, I still plan on reading Peter and Max (which also won't count for this challenge) but after that I may read The Kingdom Of Ohio or Gods Behaving Badly.

February Recap

I read 17 books this month but only 5 counted for this challenge. That is a lot of books in one month but a good portion of those were graphic novels and YA books which are very quick reads. I didn't really want to read any hefty books this month because I was dealing with some family stuff (ah, in-laws) and watching the Olympics.

Here is the breakdown:

Books off the Shelf - 5
Glass Houses - Rachel Caine
The Dead Girls' Dance - Rachel Caine
Midnight Alley - Rachel Caine
Feast of Fools - Rachel Caine
Lord of Misrule - Rachel Caine

Books acquired after Dec 31, 2009 - 1
A Whisper in the Night - Joan Aiken

Ebooks - 2
Carpe Corpus - Rachel Caine
Fade Out - Rachel Caine

Books borrowed from friends - 9
The Well of Ascension - Brandon Sanderson
The Hero of Ages - Brandon Sanderson
Jack of Fables Vol 1: The (Nearly) Great Escape - Bill Willingham
Jack of Fables Vol 2: Jack of Hearts - Bill Willingham
Jack of Fables Vol 3: The Bad Prince - Bill Willingham
Jack of Fables Vol 4: Americana - Bill Willingham
Jack of Fables Vol 5: Turning Pages - Bill Willingham
Jack of Fables Vol 6: The Big Book of War - Bill Willingham
The Great Fables Crossover - Bill Willingham

Number of books Acquired in February - 43

Number of books acquired in 2010 thus far - 108

So that means 108 - 9 = 99 additional books on my shelves. At least I slowed down on getting books in February. That shocks me considering I had the FOL book sale to go to but I only ended up getting 25 books there so that is good for me. In March, I am going to try to get back on track and quit borrowing books from friends. It really doesn't help matters if I give up the library but continue to borrow books from other people.

I have so many good books on my shelves to read, I think maybe I just get overwhelmed by the choices.

Anyway, back to my OWN shelves I go!

Whoa! Houston, I think we have a problem...

I looked back over my records, still laboriously kept in longhand in a journal with a charming cover, and found that my update looks like this:

19 books read to date; 4 from the TBR pile to read and probably keep; actually 7 from the read 'em and lose 'em pile (I've been using Bookmooch for this, as well as giving ot Goodwill). But then there were 7 from the library. Sounds good, or at least not too bad, right? Uh-huh. Then I just peeked at another list: 12 books purchased with 6 or 7 more on the way; what oh what is wrong with me?

I've made a vow to self-ban (love that idea) from the library until September. I can't self-ban from buying as that immediately sends me on a buying binge; it works kind of like eating, ya know?

For some help on narrowing the focus of the, at least for me, endless gazing at the shelves, wondering what I want to read next, I'm using something here on LT called the Take It or Leave It Challenge (part of the 75 group) started by Squeaky Chu. The categories are not at all what one normally encounters; examples are A Book with a Red Spine, a Book with "Green' or "Saint" in the title, an Author's First Novel, etc. This gives the search through one's stacks a kind of fun, treasure-hunt atmosphere that makes it easier to pick up one and just go with it. Not as stodgy or boring as, say, going alpahabetically or using the old categories of travel, bio., medieval fiction, or whatever. You might give it a look and see if it will work for you.

Neat! I really like the idea of the strange categories.

I'm having a similar "self-ban" problem -- I can't stop bookmooching! Of course, I see something on there that I want ("need!"), and I reason that if I don't mooch it RIGHTNOW, I'll lose the opportunity for the book.

I might go check out that Challenge - sounds like fun. I'm doing the 1010 Challenge also to help me focus on what to take off the shelves and read - other wise I stand there debating what I want to read first. I also decided to concentrate on hard covers as I think I can make more room that way. Although I did just go on vacation and take a couple of paperbacks for the plane.

10. To Catch a Pirate - Jade Parker

Blech! I can't believe I let this sit around as long as I did. I will never get those 2 hours back and that is all I have to say about that. Off to the bookmooch pile, it goes!

11. Once upon a Dream: At Midnight - Jennifer Baker

YA modern retelling of Cinderella. It was OK.


12. New Blood - Gail Dayton

After I got past the fact that it wasn't about vampires (I don't know where the hell I got that from. Maybe because it begins in Transylvania) and it wasn't REALLY steampunk (even though it was being touted as such, a few mechanical spider like thingies does not a steampunk make), I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It fits firmly in one of my favorite genres ever (and if it isn't a genre, it should be) of Alterna-History Victorian Fantasy Romance a la Cecelia and Sorcery, Magicians and Mrs. Quent, Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell AKA Mannerpunk. I can't wait to pick up the sequel Heart's Blood though I was disappointed to find out that it wasn't a sequel in the true sense of the word but rather, a story set in the same world revolving around a side character of the first book. According to the author's blog, the 3rd book should be out next year and it again is about secondary characters from the first book. I can only hope that this series sells well so that Ms. Dayton can continue the story of Amanusa and Jax!

Now I am off to continue reading The Shadow of the Wind which 125 pages in, I can already definitively say will be one of my top 5 books of the year even without having finished it yet. The writing is just FABULOUS!

13. The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon

My favorite book of the year and maybe of the last 2 years. Fabulous. Read it.
Verdict: I bought the hardback so the paperback will go on bookmooch at some point.



14. The 13 Treasures - Michelle Harrison

Cute YA fantasy about a girl, an old house and nasty little faeries.
Verdict: Got it from bookmooch and back to bookmooch it will go.

And you still have The Angel's Game to read.

I know!! I am excited. I really wanted to read it right after I finished The Shadow of the Wind. But, I decided to wait until a bit closer to the release of The Prince of Mist.

---->#97: Shadow of the Wind is one of my favorite books of all time. I was mesmerized by it. I'm so glad to see that you liked it as well.

March Recap

I read 8 books this month and 5 counted for this challenge. I am pretty happy about that since it is over 50%!

Here is the breakdown:

Books off the Shelf - 5
To Catch a Pirate - Jade Parker
Once upon a Dream: At Midnight - Jennifer Baker
New Blood - Gail Dayton
The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon
The 13 Treasures - Michelle Harrison

Books acquired after Dec 31, 2009 - 0

Ebooks - 1
The Girl Who Chased The Moon - Sarah Addison Allen

Books borrowed from friends - 2
Peter and Max: A Fables Novel - Bill Willingham
Boneshaker - Cherie Preist

Number of books Acquired in March - 28

Number of books acquired in 2010 thus far - 136

So that means 136 - 14 = 122 additional books on my shelves. I am still getting new books at an alarming rate this year, so far.

While I was catching up on the threads that I follow, I decided to look at a summary of how I was doing so far this year as you and others do. My goal is 50 off my shelves - so far I've mooched 46 as of the end of Mar - and 2 or 3 more this month already. So there is no chance that I will end the year off in "better" shape than I started. Even if I stopped mooching for the year (and what are the chances of that happening? - none), there are still the FOL sales coming up this spring (I usually hit 5 or 6 of them). I'm doomed!

Maybe next year we should call it the Books Off The Shelf Doomed Challenge.

Ah, well, at least we'll have plenty of books for next years challenge...

Dare we start a "Books Added to the Shelf Challenge"???

>103 tloeffler: - I bet we could find a few others to join us in that challenge. And I'm getting an ER book from the March list, which won't really count for this challenge anyway.

>104 LynnB: - I would go broke with that Challenge. I've added way too many books to my wish list...all because of this Challenge!!!

I have just given up on not getting books to add to the pile. I have just started thinking of them as "Books for next year's challenge" :)

Me too - I've always felt that if there was an interesting book available, I ought to snap it up, because by the time I got around to reading it, it probably wouldn't be available any more.

I do the same thing. If a book looks interesting I buy it. I tell my wife that I'm building a library for my retiremenet.

>109 usnmm2: - I tell my husband that someday I'll be too old to drive and might need all these books.

We have a rule. My husband doesn't say anything about my books and I don't say anything about his racing. It has worked for us so far. :)

15. People of the Book - Geraldine Brooks

Not bad. I am a huge fan of the back and forth story line a la The Thirteenth Tale but I think I may have enjoyed this book more if I had not just read Shadow of the Wind. Still, I didn't love it enough to keep it, so off to bookmooch it goes!


16. Gods Behaving Badly - Marie Phillips

Blech! I really disliked this book..alot. I had to force myself to finish it. I had promised a friend that she could have it when I finished. I am almost embarrassed to give it to her.

Now, I am reading Blood of Elves which, unfortunately is not eligible for this challenge. Then I have a bunch of books that I just got that require reviews so it may be a while before I get another book off of my shelves.

Two books out of your house! How many in? Since beginning this challenge, with the added idea that I would only check my BookMooch wishlist once a day, books have come available at an alarming rate, while the time to read has remained steady. There is a point at which rearranging the books on the shelves brings no added space.

Of the 16 books that have counted for this challenge, I have only kept 1. So, that is 15 books off the shelves this year but I have gotten about 150 books already this year and another 30 or so on their way from BM. I have noticed a huge increase of wishlisted books on BM and have been unable to keep myself from snatching them up. I have actually been reading more slowly this year than usual because of the girls taking up alot of my time during the day and then being too exhausted at night to read.

I think at some point, I may run through my bookcases and just start pulling out stuff that I don't think I will ever read and just get rid of them. It is getting seriously ridiculous on my bookcases right now. (I say that, but I don't know if I will actually be able to do it)

I have never been able to do that, despite changing tastes, etc...I have been able, periodically, is to remove one or two books I'd already read and thought I needed to keep forever but now find that I don't think I'll ever reread it. That's about the best I can do. Of course, every so often I put a finished book up on BookMooch, only to discover that it was something that I needed to have and then had to get myself another copy, but that's another story.

--->115 RidgewayGirl:: Oh, how I hate it when I do that. So annoying.

On my goal of clearing shelf space? Well, I've removed 15 from the house by personal giveaway or mooching; I've another 7 listed on Bookmooch for giveaway. Great, eh? Mmmm....another 69 purchased and 2 mooched to me. I'm glad that I've at least been able to let go of a few...and I know I'll let go of a few more as soon as I read them...but there are others...

And yesterday I was at the Old Folks' Center (ahem) filling in for bridge, and picked up two oldie goldies---Creation by Vidal and The Captains and the Kings by Taylor Caldwell--at the informal book exchange. Because, you know, I might find a moment when I can't find something I want to read!