I’ve been so MIA these days. For essentially the last three weeks, my house has been invaded by painters, tile guys, and carpenters. Of course there were delays, and things took far longer than expected, and for a while it looked as though the carpenters would be having Thanksgiving dinner with us. But finish they did, at 4pm the day before Thanksgiving. Phew. Not like we were cutting it close or anything, ending a fairly major remodeling project a mere 20 hours before we had 21 guests over for dinner.
That being said, the carpenters did a beautiful job. One of the things we added to our living room was a bookcase–my new favorite spot in the house.
What’s great is that I was finally able clear off some of my other shelves (which were two and three rows deep with books). So now I have not just a TBR pile, but an entire TBR bookcase.
That’s got to be at least fifty books there. . . I love how one of the TBR books is 1-2-3 Magic, Effective Discipline for Children 2-12. Given the state of my two year-old these days, I’m thinking I might want to break that out sooner rather than later. And yes, that is Twilight over there in the upper right corner. I keep picking it up but never seem to be in the right frame of mind to start it. And a couple of these books I received for free at the RWA conference, and sometimes those end up being the best surprises. No expectations, I can just dive in without any idea of what they’re about.
How about you? What’s the state of your TBR pile these days? Got anything good in there I should know about?
I’m hoping to clear out my two-shelf TBR pile by taking one shelf with me on holiday this month. So I can return to fill it up with 2010 books.
Ooooh! Pretty! I have an entire bookcase that is TBR. I just pared it down. I’ve got about 40 books in there. Mostly historicals, because I was off them for a while but I kept buying them.
True story: After one particularly trying day with my four year old niece (she’s now 23), my sister went to the bookstore and bought a book called “My Child Is Not My Enemy.” She claims it saved Lauren’s life.
I’m just saying.
I have some of those same books in my TBR pile. I a currently addicted to a YA series called The 39 Clues. I bought the first and the next day bought two through six.
Hi Julie
Glad your new contruction is finished. It looks great. We missed you. I just finished a Susan Elizabeth Phillips binge with her 7 Chicago Stars books. I don’t know what took me so long to notice her.The good thing is I did not have to wait for the books. Just got Beth’s new one today, Holiday Bound.
You do not need hints from us though. In one corner alone you have Laid Bare, Tie Me Down, Flat Out Sexy & Chains.
All faves of mine. One Reckless Summer – you will fall in love with Mick. And lets not forget Paradise Rules. Nuff said.
LOL about the Child book. As my friend with 3 kids told me once. The problem with those books is that the kids haven’t read them.
Julie,
I noticed three must reads (at least) on your shelf. Christy Reece’s Rescue Me, Lauren Dane’s Laid Bare, and Erin McCarthy’s Flat Out Sexy. Read and loved them all.
I wish my TBR shelf was as nice as yours. All of my books are shoved in my closet as there is no place in our house for them. Like you, I have some new books as well as some older ones waiting for me to get to them.
At the top of my TBR closet right now is the new Laura Griffin book Untraceable and Shiloh Walker’s Chains. Hope to get to them very soon!
BTW, the new bookcase is fabulous!
Ooh, I’m really jealous about that pretty bookcase! 🙂
OMG I didn’t notice the Christy Reece. Her books are amazing. You write smart funny, she writes smart suspense. You get to read her 3 without waiting too.
I was a snob about TWILIGHT for the longest time, it was just way TOO mass media for me and a young adult romance involving a vampire? Seriously? – – I just kept scoffing at it until my coworker literally shoved a copy in my hands and told me to just give it a try. So, I finally started to read it because the guilt was getting to me and to my surprise I quite enjoyed it! I went in with zero expectations and was well entertained. Meyer writes really well. New Moon is on the way…LOL at myself 🙂
My TBR, I have a pile that could last years but on top are:
The Madness of Lord Ian MacKenzie – Jennifer Ashley
Never Love a Lawman – Jo Goodman
Hard to Hold – Stephanie Tyler
Beautiful bookcase, btw.
Hi everyone! Thanks for all the compliments on the bookcase! I love all the opinions on what I should read–keep them coming! The decision of what book to pick up next is always such a tough one. 🙂 Interestingly, the Christy Reece book has been catching my eye lately… I might be between that and The Madness of Lord Ian MacKenzie.
The bookshelf unit is very beautiful, and I especially love the crown molding. And I’m totally jealous that you got to read the Joss Ware book. I’ve heard really great things about that one.
Go with The Madness of Lord Ian MacKenzie. So great, and just so well done with Asperger’s Syndrome.
Read Twilight! And go ahead and buy the rest of the books in the series because if you’re anything like most people, you will fly right through them and won’t want to have to wait to begin the next book.
Love the new bookshelves!
I love your new bookcase, Julie! It’s so pretty. My TBR pile now takes over one entire bookcase. I can pretty much pick from any genre at any time I have so many books to read, not that that keeps me from buying more books.
Elyssa: The Joss Ware book is really amazing. Honestly, very different from anything I’ve read. I absolutely recommend it.
Dr. Blondie: that’s one of the things I worry about with the Twilight books– that I’ll get sucked in and won’t want to read anything else. 😉
Liza: I hear you– as many books as I already have in the TBR pile, I just keep buying more. . .
What a beautiful bookcase! I wish we had space in our house for something like that.
I see Rachel Gibson’s Not Another Bad Date on your TBR shelves. GREAT book. All her books are a must buy for me, but that one in particular is one of my favorites of hers.
Since it’s Christmas time, I have mostly Christmas books on my TBR pile. I’ve been tearing through them. In the process of reading Christie Craig’s last book in the Divorced, Desperate series. Almost done!
I like that you, too, purchase a couple of books in a series before you’ve read through. (I’m looking at the bottom middle corner there with 4 books from the same series.)
Your new bookcase is beautiful.
I have TBR piles all over the place! I don’t want my husband to know how many books I have, so some of the piles are hidden. 😉
OMG Julie, You MUST read Heart of Fire by Linda Howard. You must, you must! I wasn’t too wild about the setting but after finishing that book, I wanted to go on a safari just so that I can see what Ben Lewis’ life was like. haha.
Another must read historical is Suddenly You by Lisa Kleypas. LOVE IT! You must read that one as well, she’s great! And TWILIGHT, I adored that book and wish now that I would have stopped at New Moon. HATED Eclipse but the first two were pretty good, Twilight especially. I’m Team Edward.
Seriously, your new bookcase is gorgeous, I’m super jealous right now! Totally green with envy!
Don’t you feel like there’s just too many books to read and so little time to read them all in?
Lovely bookcase. I’m in dire need of one too.
I spy Caressed By Ice by Nalini Singh. Fantastic book! It’s one of my favorites of the series. I hope you enjoy it when you get a chance to read it.