This Romance Bandit gig is a very cool thing. One of the benefits, at least for me, is that when I do an interview with a guest, I get to read a new release about a month ahead of anyone else. (And being the restrained person that I am, I NEVER rub it in to friends that I got to read a favorite author before them...Yeah, RIGHT!) This is very necessary for me in order to pull out interesting questions, so you, our readers get to learn about the books, without giving away any twists.So, in preparation for Lorraine Heath's return to the blog in June, I asked her to send me an ARC or a synopsis of the newest release, SURRENDER TO THE DEVIL, so she and I could get her blog post done ahead of time. Since I have a new grandson due around June 1st, I didn't want to get behind on things. (It's a grandma thing.)
Lorraine happily complied with my needs and sent me the book. Now here's where I made my mistake. I opened it. Sigh. Lorraine is what I call a beginning to end author for me. What you say is a beginning to end author? Well, here's my way of categorizing authors or books:
1. TRY AND SEE: Usually a debut author or someone who has been recommended to me by a friend as someone whose books I should try. I usually start these early in the afternoon or evening, or even during a slow period at work. If life or work interrupts, well that's okay, I don't mind. If it's pretty good I'll come back to the book. If it's not one that holds my interest, then I figure I haven't wasted too much time on it.
2. READ IN SPURTS: Anthologies and fairly good books that don't grab me and hold me deep in the story. Anthologies are good for this, because I can usually read one of the stories in about an hour. And in an anthology, usually two stories are good. (By the way have you ever noticed that in a 3-story anthology, usually one story is really good, one is pretty good and well, the other is meh?) So I can invest time in short bursts, still have time to get the ironing or cooking done and not feel guilty about mid-afternoon reading.
3. CRITIQUES: These are those lovely stories my critique partners, (Sandy Blair and Jo Davis), send me--usually in big chunks and across the computer. I try to read them as quickly as possible so I can get any changes or ideas back to them ASAP. Also, luckily for me I love their writing and characters, so this is not a hardship for me!4. BEGINNING TO ENDERS: These are the auto buys. The favorites. Those authors who
I know will deliver a story that takes me away to a world beyond my four walls, to lives and loves I know I'll be bereft over when they're finished. (Julie Garwood, JAK, SEP, Suzanne Brockmann, Sherrilyn Kenyon, JR Ward, and of course, Lorraine Heath.) These are the books I plan on spending the day or evening/night reading. They are my dirty little passions...and I do not want to be interrupted reading them.So, the moment I opened Lorraine's newest book, I knew I was in trouble. I had to be up early for a chapter board meeting. I needed to sleep. Did I go to bed? Did I act responsibly? Nope, I indulged. AND I LOVED EVERY SECOND OF IT!! (I'd tell you more about SURRENDER TO THE DEVIL...but that's for June's blog...hehehe)
So, how do you categorize your books? Do you have BEGINNING TO ENDERS? Do you set aside a whole day or evening/night to read?
70 comments:
!
Suzanne, I think I categorize books the same way you do. There was one book I read last year - and unfortunately I was very busy; so I actually stayed in my car and read in the parking lot so nobody would interrupt me for at least a [relatively] short period of time.
I've definitely stayed up til 6 AM reading a book.
Unfortunately, right now I'm ... on a book drought? I can't seem to find a book I want to read or am interested in. :( Major funk, and that's sad. Although maybe good, so I'm not distracted during finals.
Suzanne, I think I categorize books the same way you do also. Yes I love those books that keep me up until 3am reading. Right now I just started a new to me author, so I haven't read enough to be sure about her right now. I also have my auto buys of authors that I just have to have their books no matter what. Those are the ones I have to wait until I have plenty of time to read.
I definitely categorize my books! The keeper shelf (why, hello, TEMPT THE DEVIL & AC, SEP, Eloisa James, Julie James, TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE by Kristan Higgins, and Lisa Kleypas). The keeper shelf is synonymous for beginning to end books for me. I read usually whenever, but the late nights are killers (even though I will do it).
Let me add a new author that will be on EVERYONE'S keeper shelf. Tessa Dare. (Total disclaimer: I'm also friends with her, but seriously, her books are awesome.) Her back-to-back trilogy releases this summer. Trust me, she's an author to watch and you all will devour her books.
And squee that Lorraine Heath will be visiting! I'm so looking forward to the new book of hers. And I am slightly jealous and in awe you managed to finagle an ARC out of her. That has never worked for me. :)
Hey Limecello - congratulations!
I have so many books that I'm planning to read - I can't categorize them anymore. They're in every room - on every surface - calling me to hurry up and finish what I'm doing so I can squeeze in a few pages. Didn't help to bring back so many books from RT!
Congrats again, Limecello!
I can't categorize books by how I read them 'cause that often depends on what mood I'm in(though I do come across Beginning To Enders too). If I could be said to categorize them, it'd probably be more along the lines of this(which works with both books I've already read and ones I've not read/I intend to read)...
- Auto-Buys
- Will-Buy-With-Next-Gift-Card/Coupon-Or-At-Next-Sale
- Intend-To-Own-Eventually
- Wouldn't-Mind-Owning
- I-Can-Do-Without
Limecello again have fun with him
Suz
Great blog and yes I would say I am about the same as you and I gotta say Lorraine Heath is one of my favourite authors and a definate autobuy for me and yes once I start a great book by one of my favourite authors I don't want to put it down but I have learn't that I do need to sometimes I never put them down for housework but if the family drop in or I really need to sleep so as I can get up for work the next day I force myself. I have been known though over the years to just keep reading till the book is finished and I have burn't a meal of two over the years doing this I am so engrossed in the book I don't even smell it burning LOL.
But what I life this is why I need to retire.
Have Fun
Helen
Suzanne, I certainly categorize books. The beginners to enders kill me. I know in advance that I have to turn off the phone, shut down the computer and lock the door because I'm certainly not coming up for air.
There are always those surprises by 'new to me authors' where I haven't set aside time to read and I get caught up in their books with no time to read them from beginning to end. Of course I love these surprises.
Suz, I do have beginning to ender books and I try to make sure that when I start reading one of them, I won't be interrupted *g*
I picked up Teresa Medeiros' Some Like It Wild and made the mistake of telling myself I'd 'just read the first chapter'. Ha. I couldn't put the book down!
But it was so worth it (even if it meant writing over the weekend to make up for being behind on my wip *g*)
I always set aside a full day (aka reading vacation) for Suzanne Brockmann. Recently, I discovered Tessa Dare. I read an advance copy of Goddess of the Hunt, her first, on-sale July 7-28 in a single sitting and LOVED it.
I can't wait for Lorraine's next book and her visit!!! I just missed getting the book for review at RNTV. Another reviewer beat me too it!! ERRR!!!!! LOL!
Yes, there are some authors that I know in advance that I will need lots of time to read the book because I won't put it down until I'm done. I have been known to carry those books everywhere and read whenever I can -- even while stopped at a red light!!!
Then there are times when I pick up a new author and I think I can read a chapter here and there but then I am totally shocked at how quickly the author pulls me into the story and I can't put the book down. I love when I find a new-to-me author!!!
I read at the Y (recumbent bikes are very reader friendly) 4 mornings a week, and every night in bed without fail. I have my books I want to read when I need a dose of comfort, which tend to be straight romance--and those I read when I know I don't have time to finish it all at once -- usually straight mystery.
And now I'm home from RT with a HUGE pile of books.
Maybe you can get the GR to help you categorize your books, Lime! Or at least dust them with his tail feathers!
My books fall into pretty much the same categories as yours Suzanne. I like anthologies to take to work because I can read them in spurts on breaks and at lunch. However I have been known to drag a beginning to ender to work and try to cram as much reading as I can into those breaks and lunch so when I get home I can finish the book before I go to work.
I have sat up until 5 in the morning reading a book that I could not put down. Anna's CTC comes to mind. Thank God I started it on a Saturday night and was off on Sunday.
I can't wait to read Lorraine's newest one.
I have to apologize to you early risers for the state of barrenness of the blog today. I'd posted it early and meant to put in pics and colors at work last night, but darn it, we had a cold front come through and geesh patient after patient came through in labor, and poof, there went Suz's computer time! But I got the fun stuff up there now!!
Hey Limecello, congratulations on snagging the GR!! Sorry about the book drought, but with Jo Davis' new firefighter book, UNDER FIRE, Donna MacMeans new book, THE SEDUCTION OF A DUKE, and Lorraine Heath's SURRENDER TO THE DEVIL...I think you might be over it soon!!
Hey Virginia!
Those stay up to 3 AM books are great if I'm at work and it's slow. They really help keep me awake. If we're busy, then I have to save them for when I get home. Alas, sometimes I make the mistake of opening them before I go to bed, and ACK...It will be noon before I fall asleep, (literally with my face IN the book!)
Hey Elyssa...yep, I have a secret in to getting Lorraine on the blog and her ARC's for it!! hehehe. I will give you a hint, it's a return to her Scoundrels of St. James series, which I adore. The last one hit the NYT bestsellers extended list, so I'm thinking this one should fare just as well. It's just as good!
Hey Donna!
Your house sounds like mine. There are books EVERYWHERE!! But I can say that right now on the kitchen table are four books. Two for each of my granddaughters...so at least those aren't mine!
Hey Pissenlit!
I like your categorizing method, too! I'd add one though...Will-buy-when-it's-in-paperback.
Hey Helen!
It's so hard to put a good book down, even when you KNOW you have to get up in a few hours, isn't it?
My mom has learned lately not to open a Beginning-to-Ender in the evenings or she'll be up all night long and suffer the next day!
Hey Marissa!
I try to plan for Beginning-to-Enders, too. I used to tell my husband, "Go play golf today, I'm reading, and that's it!" For some reason, he enjoyed that. :)
Beth said: I picked up Teresa Medeiros' Some Like It Wild and made the mistake of telling myself I'd 'just read the first chapter'. Ha. I couldn't put the book down!Beth, my daughter, Lyndsey once said, "Mom, I hate it when I start reading a book and think, I'll just read one chapter, and at the end of the chapter there's like this cliff hanger, and I just HAVE to read the next one."
Which made me laugh. I said, "Honey, those are called hooks and we work really hard to put those in."
She said, "Teresa Medeiros is very good at it, but it's her fault I'm so sleepy for classes today!"
Hey Sarah!
Suz Brockmann is one of those I love to set aside time for! And with your and Elyssa's recomendation, I think I'll be picking up Tessa Dare's books soon.
Hey Buffie! Love the eye-candy avatar!
you said: Yes, there are some authors that I know in advance that I will need lots of time to read the book because I won't put it down until I'm done. I have been known to carry those books everywhere and read whenever I can -- even while stopped at a red light!!!When I lived in Ohio, I'd walk out to my car in winter, turn on the defrost then sit inside the car reading while the defrosters melted the snow on the windsheilds so I could drive home! hehehe
Congrats on nabbing GR, Lime, though I doubt he's going to be worth much after our week in Orlando!
Suzanne, my TBR pile is too big to sort LOL. It's starting to growl and I think soon it's going to compete with Wal-mart, but for the others--I do it by author and genre. Love the historicals!
Lisa
Hey Terry!
My critique partners, Sandy and Jo, both read before going to sleep at night, as does my daughter, Lyndsey. I absoloutely can't! That's how I stay awake at work.
Hey Louisa!
You said: However I have been known to drag a beginning to ender to work and try to cram as much reading as I can into those breaks and lunch so when I get home I can finish the book before I go to work.See, I don't like to do that too much, because I want to enjoy the Beginning-to-enders and that would make me resentful of the interruptions...
Me to patient, "Oh, you want to push now? Can you wait until I finish this chapter?"
Don't think that works to well, do you?
Hey Lisa!
Glad to see you and Donna both made it home safe from the RT conference in Orlando! By the looks of the GR, a good time was had by all.
My TBR is in chunks all over my office, (just ask Joanie). But I've discovered if I go to the bookstore with Jo Davis, I end up spending way too much money and I have no self control!
Lime, you've indulged the GR enough. Time to put him to work for you now. Get him to read your slush pile and choose the gems that you can then read and review.
Suz, I definitely have the "Trys" and the "Begin-Enders" category. I also have "Love-but-not-BEs" and "Curious-but-maybe-mehs."
*LOL* I love Beginner-to-Enders. I set aside the time to read them. J.K. Rowling was DEFINITELY a BTE writer. I'm glad she sold her books on midnight am Saturday so I had the rest of the weekend to read. The last book took me until 5 pm Sunday to read. (But I slept more than the average fan, I guess.)
I stayed up until 1:30 reading a Lisa Kleypas book, which mind you I'd read BEFORE, but it had been a while and it was just good...so I kept reading. Now I'm tired. *LOL*
P.S. Donna MacMeans has turned into my latest Beginning-to-Ender author. I stayed up until 2 am reading her latest and dragged for two days. But it was worth it.
Suzanne - Will-buy-when-it's-in-paperbackGah! How could I have forgotten that one??? Some of the books in this category are actually Auto-Buys masquerading as this because the series originally released in PBK and then began releasing later books in HC and I'm kind of anal about needing my books to match...but yes, this category definitely exists!
Hey Suzanne, I loved this blog -- I think we've all got those books we save and hoard until the right time. I spent last weekend with "The Hunger Games," a really intense YA book that's sort of like Running Man for kids. A bit violent, but definitely one I couldn't put down!
SEP is always an ender for me. I wait until I"m on a long plane ride, by myself, to crack one of her books!
I'm not sure if anyone said it, but I've also got SAVOR books. Ones that I read a few pages of every night because they're books that make me think, or need time to be digested, and generally I don't want to rush through them. I've been working on one of these books for the past month or so, and I look forward every night to pulling it out and reading just a few more pages.
Great topic, Suzanne! I'm still hung up, however, on the intimation that you DO IRONING!!! What gives about that, girl? I gave up ironing years ago, although I actually enjoy it. My children grew up thinking the way to "iron" was putting a damp towel in the dryer with the item to be ironed.
Sorry for the diversion.
I'm a SAVOR IT reader. I read slowly and enjoy the language and sentence structure the author uses to tell the story. I never mind getting a spoiler alert because for me it's all about the journey and not the ending.
I don't like gobbling books, and in fact, if I ever succumb to that, it's probably because the book sucks and I just want to finish it!
Hey, Ms. Hellion!
It's not surprising that Donna's book kept you up so late. I have a feeling there will be more and more Bandit books that are going to have that affect on people.
Great post, Suz. I agree with you on the reading categories and Pissenlit for the buying categories.
The books I love best are the ones you think will be a 'read in spurts' and turn out to be 'beginning to enders'. I also love what I call 'delay the end' books - the ones that you love so much, you deliberately slow down so you can delay finishing it!
The books I don't like are the ones that you think will be 'B-to-E' and turn out to be an 'OMG will this ever end-er'. This is not the same as an 'I can't stick this and am not reading any more-er' or a 'this sucks-er'*g*. But, one where you have to finish it and you kind of want to, but it's a huge struggle. I'm reading one of those at the moment - by a normally favourite 'B-to-E' author.
I usually save 'B-to-E' books until I'm going to be travelling and get uninterrupted reading time.
Pissenlit said: I'm kind of anal about needing my books to match.LOL, I wish that were my reasoning. Mine is I only have so much money to buy hardbacks, and the other is I only have so much room on the old bookshelf!
Kirsten said: I'm not sure if anyone said it, but I've also got SAVOR books. ACHERON was one of those books for me, Kirsten. I'd devouered everyone of Sherrilyn's books before that, but ACHERON was so deep and so rich that I slowed down and let Sherrilyn take me on a journey, that for me was soooo worth it!
Alas, Jo, I do iron periodically. And when I do, I iron everything in the basket! My mama still irons, but for her it is more a therapy. She irons after dinner almost every day, and that's when she does her worrying about all her family members!
My girls know how to iron, because I worked nights, if they wanted something ironed for school the next morning, they had to do it before I got home. :)
Anna said: The books I don't like are the ones that you think will be 'B-to-E' and turn out to be an 'OMG will this ever end-er'.Oh Anna, I so can commisserate on this one. If this Autobuy Beginning-to-Ender is a hardback, I will NOT buy the next one in a hardback, but I will buy the next one in paperback.
Good breakdown, Suz. Pretty accurate from where I stand, and I for one am chomping at the bit for Tuesday for the new J.R. Ward book. I was hoping to find it this weekend, but a bookseller told me it has a lay-down date. Kudos for J.R., more waiting for me.
I think being a can't-put-down author is what all of us writers aspire to.
Limecello, congrats on getting the rooster!
Suz, your breakdown looks pretty good to me. I seldom set aside time to read, but I'll make the time if I'm absorbed in a book.
The exception to must-buys, for me, are the authors who go into hardback or trade paper. I understand that this is a career milestone and a great thing for them. However, I don't have the funds to buy them or the space to keep them. So I tend to get the hardback from the library and buy the paperback. Not optimum, I know, but my house has only so much book space, and I'm already double-shelving.
We were reading the last Harry Potter all together, and then the dh and the boy left me alone with it on a Sunday afternoon. Like you, I made the mistake of opening the book, and I read until the end.
I don't have a keeper shelf.I read it once and pass it on to the library, a friend, or a local charity. If I loved it enough, I might buy it back again some day from the charity.
I do have auto-buy authors, though. Susan Mallery immediately springs to mind, probably because I just saw her new book, Under Her Skin and bought it without even reading the back cover! I just see her name and buy the book.
Hey Trish!
I'm with you on the JR Ward new book tomorrow. Luckily for me, I'm OFF tuesday and wednesday night, so Wednesday will be a day JUST for reading that. Hubby is going to have to find somewhere else to be all day!
Hey Nancy!
I so understand about the lack of shelving space, but I have to confess that buying a Beginning-to-Ender or an Autobuy in hardback is one of my few indulgences.
Isn't it fun to know by about page 3 that it was a mistake to open that book, but dang it, you're just going to suffer the punishment of being tired a whole day just so you can read that book?
Hey Amanda!
You said: I do have auto-buy authors, though. Susan Mallery immediately springs to mind, probably because I just saw her new book, Under Her Skin and bought it without even reading the back cover! I just see her name and buy the book.I just did that with Amanda Quick's THE PERFECT POISON. I'll also be reading that this week. Yummo!
I set aside my late nights for reading in bed - I rarely miss. If I get to read during the day that's an extra bonus. I truly look forward to my reading time.
Suz
I have just ordered both of Jo Davis's books and look forward to them maybe I should wait till my days off to read them so as I don't have to get up for work the next day LOL.
I really love it when I pick up a book I don't want to put down they are always so memorable that I often pick up something smaller to read after that so as I can take it all in because the not put downable lingers in my memory for a while if that makes sense.
Have Fun
Helen
Hi, Suz--
I love how you think about books! I was just telling somebody today about a book that surprised me. My brother in law recommended it--Gates of Fire by Stephen Pressfield. He (my BIL) is an ex-military guy, & this book was about the Persians trying to conquer Greece so it could go grab Europe, too. I was expecting a dry, military read--lots of names & dates & battles, etc.
This book was anything but. It was romantic, emotional, gripping, suspenseful & gorgeously written. It started out as a 'read it when I have a few minutes' & turned into a 'ignore everything else so I can keep reading' sort of book.
Fate conspired last night to give me the hour I needed to finish it--my husband had tickets to a concert I didn't care to attend & my kids fell asleep early. I plunked my butt in a chair, scooped up a little bowlful of the Easter M & Ms & read straight through to the end.
I'm actually a little alarmed at how happy I was to be alone with my book, to tell you the truth. Shouldn't I miss my beloved family when they're not with me?
Nah. I love them most, but books run a really close second. :-)
Lime, again?
Suz, what a great post. I actually have a pile of really great books on my bedside table right now. Why? Because I know if I pick any of them up, I'm stuck until I get to the last page and I'm trying to write a book. In fact, I'm deliberately looking for BORING books right now which seems silly but makes sense to me. There's a couple of authors who I know I won't put down - Loretta Chase, Laura Lee Guhrke, Madeline Hunter, Liz Carlyle, J.R. Ward, Connie Brockway... Oh, I could go on and on. And I've got barbed wire around all the Bandits books right now!
Ely, it works for Suz because she's SCARIER than you are ;-)
Suz wrote: Isn't it fun to know by about page 3 that it was a mistake to open that book, but dang it, you're just going to suffer the punishment of being tired a whole day just so you can read that book?Yes, in a masochistic sort of way. *g* Dorothy Dunnett had me going for a week when I discovered Lymond. I read before work, read through lunch at my desk, read through dinner, read far into the night, finished, picked up the next one, and started the whole cycle over. Those are honkin' big books, I can assure you, but I just could not stop reading. Despite the lenghthy, almost Victorian descriptions and occasional slower pace.
Since you mention Donna's new book, let me just say I have read that book, Seduction of a Duke, and Tawny's Coming on Strong, and they were both (in different ways appropriate to their genres) hot books with themes that could've been tawdry but were instead handled in a classy way. I have Beth's book up next and then Trish's YA. Bandita books get uninterrupted reading slots.
Suz, Acheron was also a "savor" book for me. I didn't read the first half, having a pretty good idea that it was too intense for me, thanks to references in earlier books and a friend's report, but I read the second half twice running (got it for Christmas in HB). And I bought it in paperback so I'd have a copy that wasn't unwieldy.
There's something about that character I keep coming back to, and I think it's partly because his appearances in so many other books have given him texture and layers it's hard to put in a single appearance. Lymond is like that. Through six books, he acquires a depth he didn't have in any one of them alone.
I don't think romance naturally lends itself to such characters. The hero is the hero, and after that he should be happy with the heroine, which is part of what makes HEA so satisfying. But the hero doesn't suffer and grow through multiple books before becoming the romantic hero, usually. He may have a minor role that can make him intriguing, but I think it's maybe the depths of Acheron's misery that make his triumph so satisfying.
Or maybe I'm just rambling.
Limecello...it's rumored that the betting book at Whites, has you favored to take the GR again tonight!
Hi Suzanne! Love the first pic of the overstuffed book shelves. :) We moved a few months ago and I'm currently transferring my keeper books from the garage to my office and sorting books the so-so books that will eventually go to Goodwill. So-so books...I read the back cover..try to remember the story and ask myself if I'd read it again. If not, it goes to Goodwill. It's not as easy as it sounds! My collection of Linda Howard and SEP books will take up three shelves. B&E authors...SEP, Lina Howard, Guhrke, Rachel Gibson, Karen Rose, Anna C, Lisa Gardner, Jo Beverly, Beverly Barton...the list goes on...
Hey Catslady!
I know if I don't get to read for a few days, I am far grumpier than if I miss sleep. (Which is saying something, coz I'm a grouch when I'm super tired!!)
Keira, somehow I missed you earlier in the day...so sorry about that!!
you said: "Love-but-not-BEs" and "Curious-but-maybe-mehs."I love those, and might have to tweak my categories a little to add them!!
Helen said: I have just ordered both of Jo Davis's books and look forward to them maybe I should wait till my days off to read them so as I don't have to get up for work the next day LOL.Let me warn you that Jo's firefighter books are "hot enough to melt your panties" so be careful reading them!!
Speaking of which...Jo is back with us tomorrow for a very special field trip for you guys...we're going to the firestation!!
Hey Susan! GATES OF FIRE, huh? My son loves the whole Iliad and Trojan war era, I might have to get him this for Christmas! Thanks!! (checking off one present off the list...)
you said: I'm actually a little alarmed at how happy I was to be alone with my book, to tell you the truth. Shouldn't I miss my beloved family when they're not with me? Do not feel guilty about this. As much as I love my kids when they were little, a good book probably saved my sanity!! On more than one occassion. My son once pulled the book out of my face to say, "Mommy I'm talking to you." I told him, "Yes, and I'm ignoring you." To which he crawled in my lap and proceded to talk anyways!!
Hello Anna C!
How are things going with that book? I promise NOT to tell you anything about the new JR Ward book I'm planning on buying tomorrow morning! (hehehe)
Ely, it works for Suz because she's SCARIER than you are ;-)
Why thank you for such a nice complement!!
Ah, Nancy...the beginning of ACHERON was indeed intense, and being the semi masochist I am, I read it very carefully, allowing myself to cry in several places. I also read it slowly over 3 days, just so I got the full impact of the HEA at the end. And let me tell you...I thought the whole thing was a masterpiece!
Hey PinkPeony!
I can so commisserate about the overstuffed shelves. I'm trying to finangle the matching shelves in my husband's office into mine so I can get the old keepers out of storage in my closet. It will take expert planning and making him think it's his idea...but I can manage it, I'm sure!
Suz, you know I say it with love. I just remember how you bullied...uh, PERSUADED people to come to my signing table at the Avon open house in Dallas. Your work on that door was a work of art, my friend!
Suz, the first year we were married, the dh built floor to ceiling bookcases in the living room. We thought they'd last us for years. Hah!
Having learned nothing, we assumed the triple floor to ceiling unit in the back hall would last for years. Double-hah! It's the one that's double shelved, and the ones in the living room have books lying on top of the shelved books (hardbacks). My reference shelves are crammed, and the bookcases in here are also double shelved as well as having books lying on top of shelved books.
If he retires and brings books home from his office, we'll just have to move out and let the books have the house.
You are evol to taunt us with having read an advance Lorraine Heath, Suz! Great post!
I'm a fairly sloppy person so I don't formally categorize books. I do tend to have my TBR at my bedside, which means the bedside tables are laden! I go through every now and then and cull books from my shelves as I don't have nearly enough shelf space, and then I put most of them back, or in cupboards or wherever I can fit them because I can't part with them. I just know I'll want to come back to them some day and they'll be gone.
I must say that I, for one, am also looking forward to Tessa Dare's trilogy, Ely. We have so many exciting new authors in the historical genre at the moment!
Yep, Suz, great post! I do tend to categorize posts, and some are ones that I assume will be beginning-to-enders and a subsection of those are ones that I think will be emotionally wrenching or require my full attention in some way. I tend to save those because otherwise it all gets frustrating when I have to set it aside repeatedly in the course of a normal day. And they aren't "beach reads," but really those "I've got a free day to do nothing but read!" reads! ;)
Congrats on the GR again, Limecello!
Nancy, have you heard the saying, "She who dies with the most books wins?"
I think you're in the lead, girlfriend!
Christine said: You are evol to taunt us with having read an advance Lorraine Heath, Suz! Great post!Ah Christine, what are friends for if not to taunt you with things they've done you haven't? hehehe
Hey Fedora...I'm going on a writer's retreat next month with my Texas girls to a lodge in Arkansas. I intend to take a couple of really good Beginning-to-enders with me since they'll understand if I read for five straight hours!!
Okay, y'all, be sure to check back in the morning to see what's up with the Firefighters of Station Five!
Suz wrote: Nancy, have you heard the saying, "She who dies with the most books wins?Yessum, I have, and I bought a magnet at Moonlight Madness one year that says that! *G*
Great post, Suzanne! When I have a deadline approaching (non-fiction), I have to be careful not to open new books by certain authors, because I KNOW I won't have the willpower to set them down. Anna C. is one of those authors, also Jennifer Crusie, Suzanne Brockmann, Susan Elizabeth Phillips, Lisa Kleypas, Virginia Kantra, Shana Abe and a few others. There are a lot of authors I love to read, but those are some that I HAVE to read.
Post a Comment