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 When I was a kid, I didn’t have a TBR pile. I’m not very old, but back then there wasn’t anything close to the river of books I’m swimming in these days. We didn’t have the internet and when we did, it was painfully slow dial-up. We didn’t know about buying books online. I hardly ever saw the inside of an actual bookstore; full-price books were too expensive. I dreamed of the day I could walk into Barnes and Noble and buy whatever I wanted. If I did get a book, it usually came from KMart or, best of all, the school book order.
Most of the books I read from school age until middle school were from the book order. I can still remember the excitement of looking through this folded-over paper which contained the books I would be reading for the next couple of months. Even better was the day they arrived and a lovely stack of TBR books was mine. They never lasted long; I bombed through books as a kid and almost everything I owned was read over and over again, even if I didn’t like it very much.
 My first forays into the world of adult books were romance novels, starting with Joining by Johanna Lindsey. This was about when Wal-Mart showed up in my town and they had these types of books for $3.50. This price was acceptable to my parents, and so I began to slowly amass a collection of romances. A TBR pile followed, but it was so tiny I kept it next to my pillow on my bed. I usually had about five books to choose from, and I was still rereading books from my younger days.
Then I hit high school and discovered fantasy novels. I’m not sure what else happened, but my TBR pile actually started to grow. Either my parents started buying me more books or I started asking for them for Christmas and birthdays to the exclusion of everything else. The TBR pile moved from on my bed to the floor next to it and I remember gleefully organizing the books in the order that I planned to read them. I distinctly remembering moving Winter’s Heart by Robert Jordan to the top of the pile because I just couldn’t wait to continue his series. I  stopped rereading books so much because I had more of them and I no longer needed to; they were also of the epic fantasy variety and rereading started taking a long time.
When I went to college, I took some of my TBR pile with me, along with old favorites. The pile slowly grew as I acquired books for various reasons. The biggest catalyst was discovering LibraryThing in late 2006, when I realized there were lots of people who loved books just as much as I did, and my awareness of books exploded. Then, in 2007, I started reviewing books here, and really got into it in 2008 when I graduated. We also discovered a used bookstore near my parents’ house where books cost a maximum of $2 and all the money goes to a hospital nearby. This bookstore is responsible for more than half of my present unread book pile of 440 books.
Now I have a shelf full of TBRs here, an immediate TBR pile, and a TBR mountain range left on the floor of my parents’ house. At this point I’m not sure I could ever go back to having a selection of 5 new books, although I would love to stop and reread some older books. I love having choices and knowing that quite a few of the books I want to read are already mine whenever I want to read them. There are always more books to be bought, though, and I’m not sure my TBR pile will ever shrink too far.
What’s the history of your TBR pile?
Today I had planned to post about my new deliberate reading strategy, which is basically just a return of my TBR – review – library book rotation, but it already isn’t working out so well for me. I like piling the books up in the order that I should read them, but the minute I land on a dud or feel like I’m not really happy with what I’ve chosen, I start to question what I’m doing. For example, right now I’m trying to get through The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet, perfect timing since it just got longlisted for the Booker prize, but I’ll confess, I’m not crazy about it. I don’t really know why, but I just don’t think I’m a fan of David Mitchell’s prose and I’m not really seeing where the story is going – so I’m already impatient with it and worried that a few books are going to slow down my reading. My goal was to slow down my reading, but this isn’t working as well in practice as I had hoped. I’ll have to go back to the drawing board, I think.
Anyway, what I want to talk about now is ebooks. I’ve had a bit of a perfect storm this week leading up to the fact that I am considering getting an ebook reader. First off, the new Kindle 3 is actually in my price range. It’s also going to have a dedicated UK ebook store, the lack of which has put me off other devices in the past. Secondly, we are finally putting our anniversary trip to Paris (I can’t tell you how excited I am) in motion for October and I’m going to be on trains for about four hours each way, but don’t really want the weight of multiple books on my back while wandering around the city. And, to top it off, I ended up reading an ebook on my computer yesterday and today and I really dislike that experience. I also know that I could access at least some of the galleys on netgalley if I had a Kindle (unless a UK Kindle will struggle with this – a question I must ask!) and there are a number of exciting books there I’d love to read on release.
I don’t actually plan on buying too many ebooks full price for the device, but that option would be nice too. My husband is fully in support of the plan because he hates the huge number of unread books I have stacked around. I don’t want to give up paper books, though, and I always feel like I don’t really own the books I have in ebook format, especially knowing about DRM restrictions. Amazon isn’t very good about this, so even though we might end up with access to Kindle for Android on both of our mobiles in a year or two, I’m still hesitating. A couple of years ago I would never even have considered purchasing a Kindle, and I’m not even sure when I changed my mind about that!
So, what do you think? Is an ebook reader a good idea? Do you have one and enjoy using it? Help!
I have been a very bad blogger for the past two weeks. After I wrote all my catch-up reviews last Monday the 12th, I didn’t write a post and hardly even looked at my blog until just this morning. I have been at my parents’ house, and since I hadn’t seen them in nearly six months, I thought it was worth ignoring blogging for a bit. I did go around and leave a few comments, but what I really needed was a break from writing. I know writing is an art that gets better with practice, but after constantly writing every day for four months, I think I was getting enough practice and just needed a rest!
Luckily, I’ve returned with what I think may be an increased zest for blogging, and even if that only shows up with timely reviews, I hope I can stick to it a little more firmly than I have the past few months. So I hope I’m back, with more effort to put in than I had before!
Keith and I had a fantastic trip to the States. Once we got there (I hate flying, so that part was not so great!) we settled in for nearly two weeks of unhealthy food, time spent with parents and relatives, and tourism in my former corner of the world. We went to New York City or close to it three times and had the opportunity to go up the Empire State Building, the Statue of Liberty, and tour Ellis Island. We had walks around Times Square and Central Park and didn’t spend nearly enough time in the American Museum of Natural History. We also paid that all-important visit to The Strand, even though it involved walking almost 70 blocks downtown in 90+ degree heat. It was definitely not a cheap trip, but we wanted to treat it like a proper holiday.
I read, too, mostly making an effort to get through a few of the review copies that had accumulated there for the past few months. I finished off:
   
  
I enjoyed all of them to varying degrees and I plan on reviewing them over this week and next week. I’m also thinking about my reading plan going forward; I brought back a load of books with me and I really need to prioritize! In the meantime, though, I’m reading The Magicians and Mrs Quent, an absolutely charming fantasy book that I can’t wait to tell you about.
How have you all been the past two weeks? Have I missed anything exciting on your blog?
This Sunday finds me in full relaxation mode, with a little bit of World Cup excitement mixed in. Normally, I’m not really a sports fan; in fact, I think it’s almost silly how worked up people get whether their favorite team wins or loses. In this country, it’s to the extent that it reaches violence – and all because someone didn’t kick a ball into a net? Team spirit is fine; violence isn’t so much. I’ve never understood that.
What I do understand, however, is money, and as it happens we’ve had a sweepstakes at work and I drew Spain. Since money is now riding on it, I’ve become a fan, and as such I’m really looking forward to the game later; even if they don’t win, it’s been exciting watching them get so close, and there is no negative feeling about the World Cup because England’s not in it anymore. I think it’s going to be a good evening.
While I’m waiting for this evening, I’ve already been reading. I’m not really an early morning type of person, but my body clock is and has always been extremely persistent, so every weekend I find I’m up and about around my normal work wake-up time, no matter how much I would prefer to stay in bed a little bit longer. I’ve put the time to good use this morning at least by finishing The Boy Who Loved Books by John Sutherland, a memoir about a boy whose father died in war training when he was very young, and who found refuge in books and booze (later becoming an English professor mostly by a stroke of luck). I’m now looking forward to starting Brooklyn by Colm Toibin, which has patiently been waiting on my bookshelf for a few months. I have tomorrow off, so I anticipate finishing it before I leave on Tuesday to visit my parents.
Before I go, though, I also have six reviews to write, packing and cleaning to do, and purchases to make. I’m not sure how much I’ll be reading this time; I’ll have Keith with me, for one thing, so I’ll probably be doing a lot less reading of review copies. Since I also have less of them, that’s probably okay – but I don’t know how much I’ll be blogging either. I’ll just see how it goes. I do hope to read The Passage by Justin Cronin on the plane. I’m hoping it’s exciting enough to take my mind off the fact that I’m in the air!
Do you have any exciting plans for the day? Will you be watching the World Cup final?
First of all, Happy Fourth of July to all Americans reading this blog! I hope you’re outside celebrating and watching fireworks later on.
This year, I resolved to read more deliberately. By that, I mean reading what I want to, when I want to, without worrying too much about books I “should” be reading. It’s about getting to those books I’ve meant to read for years. I’ve radically cut down on the number of review copies I accept – my parents have actually asked me why I’m suddenly not getting many books at home – and I’ve chosen only the ones that I would purchase if I saw them in the store.
I also decided to try and buy fewer books, but that isn’t happening and is a goal I’ve basically given up on. I have been buying at least a few every month and it’s an addiction I’ve more or less decided to allow myself. I don’t really buy anything else and now that I have a second shelf, I have a little room for them.
Now that it’s July, I thought it would be a pretty good idea to see how I’m doing with my goals overall. I have definitely been making more conscious choices. The last book I read, The Bonesetter’s Daughter by Amy Tan, was one I’d had since 2008 and wanted to read pretty much the whole time, so I was happy to clear that off, especially since it didn’t quite live up to expectations. And I’ve just started Under Heaven by Guy Gavriel Kay. He’s one of my favorite authors and I was determined not to let his newest book languish underneath shorter, more convenient books.
Unfortunately, though, I can’t really say that I’ve done so well throughout the first six months of the year. I’m still regularly choosing books that are shorter and easier because I know I’ll get them read faster, especially now that it takes me a day longer to read everything than I was used to. I still get frustrated if I haven’t finished a book fast enough. And even with my vastly reduced intake of review copies, I’ve managed to read more of them than I have of my own books. While it’s good that I’m clearing out some backlog I’ve had for far too long, I would rather the balance tipped the other way in future. Library books are a distant third; I love the library and free books that carry no obligations, but I find I’d rather clear a book off my TBR pile than devote a few days to a library book. I’d also like to change this.
So what’s my plan, going forward? I don’t know yet. I’ve considered resurrecting my schedule of a TBR book, a library book, and a review book. I like having a concrete stack of what’s ahead, but I’m worried I’ll rebel against myself, something I’ve done way too often in the past. I’ve considered trying to challenge myself to read all the books I’ve acquired in 2010 by the end of the year, which should actually be an easy accomplishment if I don’t buy any more, but we all know that isn’t going to happen.
Since I’m going to visit my parents for a couple of weeks this month, I’ve decided to leave it open for now and do as I please. In August, I’ll try to come up with a plan for choosing my reading more carefully, without automatically selecting a short book over a long one. But in the meantime, I’d like to ask you an important question: how do you choose what to read next?
Since I just finished Don’t Tempt Me by Loretta Chase, which was quite disappointing, I thought this was the ideal time for a Sunday Salon post. I haven’t had much time on the weekends; we’ve been busy readying up our old flat for sale or rent (we still haven’t decided yet) and since it’s a six hour round trip, sitting in the car has taken up a lot of my weekends by itself!
All the traveling has given us a good chance to see a few of the sights along the way, though. Last weekend, we finally went to visit Bosworth Field, which is where the Battle of Bosworth happened and the Wars of the Roses ended. I have always wanted to go there and I was particularly excited now that they’ve officially found the battlefield. Unfortunately, the battlefield is actually on a private farm and ordinary visitors aren’t allowed. Instead, there’s a visitor’s centre which talks about the time period, the battle, and its aftermath, with some archaeological artifacts at the end. To make the disappointment worse, half of the artifacts, including ALL of the cannonballs and gunshot, were gone for research. I’m all in support of research, but did they really have to take all of it? There wasn’t even anything to take a picture of.
We also recently went to Hardwick Hall, which was a vastly more interesting place. It’s one of the estates built by Bess of Hardwick and it was truly an amazing place; we had less than an hour there and we definitely plan to go back, especially since I didn’t have my camera. I’ve now acquired Bess of Hardwick from the library; once I’ve read that, we’ll also go to Chatsworth. Having historical background in mind always makes visiting historic places even better, don’t you think?
I plan to spend the rest of the day catching up on reviews; I’m working overtime two days this week so I doubt I will have much energy for blogging the other three! In two weeks, though, we’ll be off visiting my parents in the United States, so I’m looking forward to the break. After that, I’ll probably begin reading The Russian Dreambook of Color and Flight, and I also need to read Skeletons at the Feast this week for next weekend’s book club. That might just be it, though!
What are you planning to read this week?
So, after all my excitement and progress on Friday, my fervor for bloggy improvements more or less died out on Saturday and continued dying today. I just didn’t want to spend the entire weekend on the computer. I’ve written most of my outstanding reviews, but that’s about all I got done, so I’ve only spent about five hours total on my blog. But the big event did give me the impetus I needed to make the important change of moving my blog over to its new domain and fixing all the links, which was what I really needed to achieve anyway. Thanks to Natasha at Maw Books Blog for hosting the event!
I appear to have focused on reading instead of blogging; I did manage to finish The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid by Bill Bryson, Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater, and Magic Bleeds by Ilona Andrews. I’m about to start The Confessions of Catherine de Medici by C.W. Gortner and I’m really looking forward to it. I doubt I’ll read the whole thing today, but I definitely want to have a couple of hours with it this evening. I also got a few things done around the house and we watched the USA vs England game. I’m not really into the World Cup – or soccer – too much, but we figured since one of us was American and the other British that we should put forth effort. Typically, it was a draw, probably disappointing people in both countries, but at least in my house we’re still even.
We’ve also given up the battle against the TBR around here. Last week I purchased my very own TBR bookcase which, unsurprisingly, is already full. Keith likes to think that I won’t buy new books until there’s space for them on there, but I think we all know what’s going to happen. I can finally see all of my books since for the first time they’re not shelved double. I officially have about 150 books here that are unread, which leaves a very scary number still at my parents’ house in the US. I’ll be getting at least a few of those back here in July and it’ll be interesting to see just how many we can squeeze on there. I’ll show off the bookcase in my next library loot post, coming probably on Tuesday! I finally managed to read a few library books so I can head back there again tomorrow.
That’s all for me this week; I have a more contemplative Sunday Salon planned but I think I’ll save that one for next week. I hope some good reads are ahead for you this week!
It’s a lazy Sunday afternoon around here, but before I get into what I’m reading, I’d like to direct you over to Love Romance Passion, one of my favorite romance novel blogs. Keira has an interview with me up!
I have just finished Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry and I’m feeling surprisingly triumphant about it. Heidenkind and I are reading it this month together, and I thought I’d have the whole month to work leisurely through this 950 page book. Unfortunately that wasn’t the case – someone else requested it almost the minute I took it out of the library, so I only had until this Tuesday. I decided to read it last week, but it went incredibly slowly up to the 300 page mark. I definitely despaired of finishing it this weekend, but when I finally had a chance to read it steadily I found it flew by. Expect a joint review towards the end of month – I’m glad my half won’t be negative at all!
I’m discovering that I’m even more of a money hoarder than I am a book hoarder. At present I have an Amazon cart all set up with 10 books in it, but I think I like the money in my bank account more than I like the books in my hands! I’m not sure if it’s just because I’m not used to working, so it hasn’t hit me that I will earn more, if I’m guilty about the books I haven’t read yet, or if I’m just cheap. Only time will tell – but most of the books in there are preorders anyway, so I’m sure I’ll loosen my fist when they’re released and everyone else starts buying and reading them.
For the moment, though, I’ve been enjoying my local library. All four books I read last week were library books. I have one review copy that I should get read this month and my mom has sent me a box of review copies, but otherwise I’m indulging in choosing whatever I feel like reading. Now that Lonesome Dove is out of the way, I’m planning on racing through at least one book later this afternoon, Kitty’s House of Horrors by Carrie Vaughn. I read through the entirety of the series last summer in a couple of days, so I’m anticipating that this one will be just as quick and enjoyable. I have some work to do but I’m hoping that won’t take too long.
I had a genuine bookish question that I wanted to ask this week in my Salon post, but I’ve forgotten it between Friday and today – I’ve been letting the weekend stupor take over my mind! So I’ll just leave you with an ordinary question – what are you reading today?
Another round of library loot this week! I don’t have too much to share, just three books. I’ve been requesting a lot of books, so I’ve been reading my acquisitions surprisingly quickly. I hope to get through the two YA books this weekend.
 The library books are the three at the bottom:
- Empress Orchid, Anchee Min – I have really been eager to read more by Anchee Min ever since I finished Pearl of China. I have her novel Katherine on my TBR pile but this one has always appealed to me, too.
- Just In Case, Meg Rosoff – Continuing my small obsession, I appear to be determined to read all four of Meg Rosoff’s books in a couple of months. Actually, the release date of The Bride’s Farewell may prevent that, but I will definitely be reading it.
- The Forest of Hands and Teeth, Carrie Ryan – I’ve been wanting to read this since release and now I finally have my hands on it.
The top two are books that came to me in the mail. I thought it would be fun to add them in for once, too, so I’m hijacking my own post.
- Under Heaven, Guy Gavriel Kay – I have Nymeth to thank for this. I don’t recall if I ever mentioned that I didn’t get a gift from the Book Bloggers Holiday Swap. My Santa never responded to emails, and when I chose one of the donations to make up for it, that person didn’t respond either. So Ana generously offered to buy me a book herself, and I’m so grateful that as a result I have the newest release of one of my absolute favorite authors. Thank you, Ana!
- Virgin Widow, Anne O’Brien – Got this one for review. It’s about Anne Neville, and I will admit that I hesitated to accept it. But it’s my thing, it’s been too long since I reviewed a medieval historical fiction novel, and it’s had good reviews. It comes out in the UK later this month and will be published in the US later this year – I imagine I’ll be seeing a good number of reviews for it around then!
Thanks as always to Eva and Marg for hosting Library Loot!
 It shouldn’t surprise anyone that I’ve had to start taking out fewer books because I already reached my limit of 12! My new library is pretty small, but they have a lot of good books. I’m also thrilled by the fact that they have a free holds system for all the branches. Both of my last libraries charged for holds of any kind, which I thought was pretty crappy even if I understand they have to make money somehow.
Thanks as always to Eva and Marg for hosting this meme!
Here’s what came home with me last week and this week:
   
- What I Was by Meg Rosoff – Anyone who saw my review of How I Live Now shouldn’t be too surprised that I immediately picked up the next Rosoff I could find! I was hoping for The Bride’s Farewell but figured I would take what I could get. :p Already read this and review is coming soon.
- Vanilla by Tim Ecott – This was an impulse pick-up. I saw a display on vanilla beans last summer in Cornwall at The Eden Project and I was astonished at how much work it takes just to get one little bottle of vanilla. This is a travelogue about it, which I thought sounded pretty cool.
- Talking About Jane Austen in Baghdad by Bee Rowlatt and May Witwit – This is a memoir about a series of emails written between two women starting in 2005. Bee Rowlatt, a BBC reporter, contacted May Witwit, an English professor in Iraq, with a few interview questions and a friendship formed. Looks just like my kind of book.
- Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry – Tasha and I had enough fun together reading Lorna Doone that we decided to try another book! I let her choose and so in May we’ll be reading this doorstopper together. It’s a western historical saga, so let’s see if it can jolt me out of my boredom with the historical genre.
Have you found any good library loot lately?
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