Two Dumb Things About Reading and Buying Books (And Me)

Okay, so I’m procrastinating here with this post when I actually have to work but when I look at the calendar in the sidebar it shows that there’s not one post on a Tuesday this month and for me, that reason is good enough.

So, two dumb things about reading and buying books in relation to moi.

Dumb Thing #1

I have nearly 100 books in my TBR pile, I have a couple of books I’m really interested in reading, all bought either in December or Nobember 2008:

Larissa Ione – Pleasure Unbound
It’s a favorite of some readers and it sounds interesting. I mean “…his quest to find his perfect mate before a horrific transformation claims him forever” (back blurb) – phew. And the next one will be out in March, 2009 so I should read this one already.

Caroline Linden – What a Rogue Desires
I bought this one because I really liked Linden’s What a Gentleman Wants and A Rake’s Guide to Seduction, which I read first and while I didn’t like it as much as What a Gentleman Wants it wasn’t bad either. It’s time I read this because Linden has a new one out in February, A View to a Kiss.

Deanna Raybourn – Silent in the Grave
I actually got it because I couldn’t resist the price. My inner bargain hunter couldn’t be swayed even after I pointed out that not buying the book would be even better money-wise than buying it for the greatly reduced price. Then I read the first two sentences and shut up:
“To say that I met Nicholas Brisbane over my husband’s dead body is not entirely accurate. Edward, it should be noted, was still twitching upon the floor.” – Oh, goody.

Anne Stuart – Black Ice
I read one Anne Stuart: Hidden Honor which was mostly a fail. But the comments I read for this series sounded intriguing, so I finally bought the first one. And Carolyn Jean just wrote a post about Black Ice that really made me “OMG, I have to read this one right now!”

and yet, when it actually comes to sitting down and reading, I look at these books and I can’t decide or work up any interest even though I’m interested and then I end up reading nothing!

Dumb.

Especially because I had no problem reading two category novels and the two books for the blog challenges. Since writing these things down often helps me, let’s see if it works this time.

Dumb Thing #2

Now, with all this going on, I went and bought more books today:

Lara Adrian – Veil of Midnight
I really like Adrian’s Midnight Breed series and especially the world she created there because so far, it seems consistent. I read positive reviews about this one but actually, I would have bought this book even without them.

Kresley Cole – Kiss of a Demon King
This one is also a paranormal series I like. That I like it was actually the biggest reading surprise I had in 2008 because when I read A Hunger Like No Other, I was far from being wowed and I couldn’t imagine I would read another book in that series. But here I am, not reading any reviews for fear of reading a spoiler when I usually don’t have a problem knowing them. This series is just so much fun, I’m even tempted to read the first one again.

Megan Hart – Stranger
When I read my first Megan Hart novel, Dirty, back in 2007, I was a goner. I bought the next two and while Hart’s novels might not be “flawless,” the stories she tells and the way she writes them appeals to me greatly. The stories are honest, blunt, and raw, and I appreciate that a lot, especially because that’s something I miss in many romance novels (not that I think Hart writes romance). With Hart’s novels, I actually don’t mind that the books cost more than I’m normally willing to pay for a book, and I also have to say, I really like the covers.

I bought these with a gift certificate I got for Christmas. I was tempted to hop on the Internet and order them right on December, 24, (I want them!) but I got a hold of myself. And then my whatever slump kicked in big time and I actually don’t think I will read them right away when I get them (see dumb thing #1) but yeah, I had to buy them now.

Why?

I have a gift certificate for books for over a month now and haven’t used it yet.

Really dumb.

I also nearly bought:

• Robin McKinley – Beauty
• Richelle Mead – Vampire Academy

But I could stop me there.

Because buying books that are not auto-buys now would be

really, really dumb.

Books To Read: 2009

I left out non-fiction and a bunch of novels from the literary fiction genre. There are 37 novels on my list, more than half of them from last year. Which means, my TBR pile is a more recent development.

2002
Suzanne Brockmann – The Unsung Hero
(I always thought Brockway’s All through the Night is the one which is longest in my TBR pile)

2004
Connie Brockway – All through the Night

2006
Elizabeth Grayson – Moon in the Water
Shirley Kennedy – The Selfless Sister*
Martha Kirkland – An Uncommon Courtship*

2007
Louisa Allen – Virgin Slave, Barbarian King
Iain M. Banks – Consider Phlebas*
Elizabeth Haydon – Rhapsody
Eloisa James – The Taming of the Duke
Brenda Joyce – After Innocence
Carla Kelly – Beau Crusoe
Juliet Marillier – Blade of Fortriu
Maureen McKade – A Reason to Live
Teresa Medeiros – Thief of Hearts
Candice Proctor – The Bequest
Jed Rubenfeld – The Interpretation of Murder*
Sharon Shinn – The Thirteenth House

2008
Catherine Anderson – Cherish (11/08)
Julie Cohen – His for the Taking (02/08)
Angie Daniels – The Playboys Proposition (02/08)
Kristin Hardy – The Chef’s Choice (08/08)
Kristin Hardy – Under His Spell (12/08)
Susan Johnson – Outlaw (06/08)
Laura Kinsale – Midsummer Moon (05/08)
Laura Kinsale – Seize the Fire (05/08)
Caroline Linden – What a Rogue Desires (11/08)
Susan Mallery – Sweet Trouble (12/08)
Juliet Marillier – The Well of Shades (11/08)
Erin McCarthy – Fallen (10/08)
Kathleen O’Reilly – Nightcap (04/08)
Deanna Raybourn – Silent in the Grave (12/08)
Karen Rose – Count to 10 (04/08)
Karen Rose – Die for Me (04/08)
Karen Rose – Have You Seen Her? (04/08)
Karen Rose – Nothing to Fear (04/08)
Patrick Rothfuss – The Name of the Wind (10/08)
Sharon Shinn – Dark Moon Defender (01/08)

* or sooner

Last weekend, I started a post about my continually growing reading pile which then amounted to 37 books (I know, but that’s huge for me!) not counting a lot of fiction novels purchased during the last few years. The 37 books were mostly the work of the last few weeks. What really got me is the fact that I needed 2 weeks to finish the last novel I read. I wasn’t much of a reader the last few weeks but clearly I had no problem ordering more books. Then on Sunday, I found myself looking yet again at some more novels and thought “wait a minute” and wrote the post about the books I already had to remind me that I didn’t need new books.

It worked. I didn’t order more books.

I didn’t post this but kept it as a draft. Then on Monday, and this gets to the reason why I rehash all that so you know where I’m coming from, I picked up Nora Roberts’s Sea Swept and finished it the same day. On Tuesday, I read Rising Tides and started on Inner Habor which I finished on Wednesday. I read Crystal Green’s One for the Road then, too, and on Thursday, I read Kresley Cole’s Dark Needs at Night’s Edge which arrived on Wednesday.

Five novels in four Days! (And obviously quite a lot of time on my hands.)

I would say I’m over whatever it was that kept me from reading. Now I only have to work out what keeps me from playing. The last time I played was – I think – sometime in March.

Now, let’s look at some new books to order. At the rate I’m going now, the TBR pile won’t last long.

Sorting Books And TBR

Today, I sorted all my romance (and a few fantasy) novels. It took me nearly two hours. I started with five large and heavy boxes of books and ended with five large and heavy boxes of books. The only difference is, they’re all sorted now. There is one box with historicals only, another has medievals and westerns, and so on. I even put labels on the outside of the boxes. What remains to be done is enter the missing ones in my spreadsheet so that I finally know how many romance novels I have.

I found 13 novels I didn’t read yet. Compared to others, this TBR pile is more embarrassing than worth mentioning but I post it anyway to remind me that there are books to read if I feel like complaining about having nothing to read.

These I don’t consider part of the TBR pile yet:

• Lara Adrian – Midnight Awakening (12/07)
• Louise Allen – Virgin Slave, Barbarian King (12/07)
• Eloisa James – Pleasure for Plesasure (12/07)
• Teresa Medeiros – Thief of Hearts (12/07)
• Sharon Shinn – The Thirteenth House (12/07)

These are a little better:

• Elizabeth Grayson – Moon in the Water (09/06)
• Elizabeth Haydon – Rhapsody (summer 2007, I think)
• Brenda Joyce – After Innocence (03/07)
• Carla Kelly – Beau Crusoe (sometime 2007)
• Maureen McKade – A Reason to Live (05/07)
• Candice Procter – The Bequest (05/07)

There’s also Suzanne Brockmann’s The Unsung Hero kicking around. It’s not on the spreadsheet so I don’t know when I got it. I think 2006 or before.

The winner is:

• Connie Brockway – All Through the Night (01/04)