My Holiday TBR Pile #2

Even as you read this I will be taking to the air (barring any delays!) and heading across the pond to Toronto for 10 days! I'm visiting family mostly but I am looking forward to a nice long break away from work. I haven't had two weeks away from work for over 5 years so I figure I deserve it now especially after the stressful recent year!

However, even though most of my holiday will be spent with family and sightseeing, I am hoping to squeeze in a few books. As ever I will be taking my kindle so I'll have a choice of books to read...but these are the ones that are top of my mental TBR pile for Canada...

Stone Maiden - Ann Aguirre
I love Ann's UF series staring Corine Solomon so I'm hoping this early fantasy story will be as intriguing and interesting. I certainly haven't heard much about it from elsewhere but I trust Ann's writing!

666 Park Avenue - Gabriella Pierce
I know a TV series was made based on the books but was cancelled quickly. I've never seen it, but the books look like quite short reads with a bit of paranormal thrown in so I'm up for trying it!

Boneshaker – Cherie Priest

I meant to read this in Portugal earlier in the year but never quite got around to it. Still Steampunk has been missing from the blog for a while so I think it's time to re-introduce it!

Devil's Consort - Anne O'Brien

I like historical fiction and the recent BBC drama series The White Queen has ignited a need for some historical reading! Okay, this is a different time period from the White Queen but I think it will be a intriguing read!

Life of Pi - Yann Martel

Another modern classic I seem to avoided so far - but to be honest until I saw clips for the film it never appealed to me!

So that's what I'm planning on reading - however, who knows what my mood will mean I'll end up reading - if in fact I do much reading at all! What books would you guys recommend for a city break adventure..?

My Holiday Reading TBR Pile

Later on today both I and my regular guest reviewer, Sarah will be taking to the skies and heading to Portugal for a week for sun and rest! It’s been a tough few months so I really feel I deserve some time out to get away from it all and push the old reset button.  Don’t worry though, I’ve set up a couple of cool reviews for the week so you won’t go lonely while we’re sunbathing and catching up on our reading. Plus there's still Sarah's Birthday Giveaway Open!

I’m taking my kindle with me so I’ll have plenty of choice of what to read, but I thought I’d share now what books I hope to get through this week:

A Discovery of Witches – Deborah Harkness

Sarah really didn’t like this book but I’ve read some really positive reviews so I’m curious to see which side of the fence I will come down on! I’ve been avoiding it so far as it’s such a long book it would take me at least a week on the train to read so I hope having full days to read will make it much easier to get through.

City of Bones – Cassandra Clare

I know, I know – I think I may be one of the few people who hasn’t read The Mortal Instruments series so far! But with the film coming soon I should probably catch up with the rest of the world!

The Rook – Daniel O’Mallory

This was added to my list after a rave review from Kara-Karina, but I didn’t  start reading it straight away and now it’s getting dusty on my kindle!

Uprising – Scott G Mariani

I love the sound of this one – vampires taking over..? Yep, sign me up!

The Wizard of Oz – Frank L Baum

I always like to add a classic to my holiday reading and after watching The Wizard of Oz recently I decided I wanted to see what the original story is really like. Added bonus is that it’s not a particularly long book – although there are plenty of follow up stories that Baum also wrote that are less well known.

Boneshaker – Cherie Priest

What holiday is complete without a little steampunk adventure...? This looks like a lot of fun and I’ve heard good things.

So these are the books I’m currently planning on reading – it may change entirely while I’m away. The joys of having 80+ books to be read on my kindle means I can just pick ones that follow my mood...

What book would take on holiday to read...? Maybe you can give me some choices for my next holiday!

Oh, and don’t forget to help me choose a book for Sarah for her birthday...and win a book foryourself!

Book Confessions: Too Many Books!!

Like most book bloggers, I read a lot (kind of a prerequisite!). But there are some things related to reading that I’ve kept secret – until now. This feature is my chance to confess what I’ve done or what I’ve not done related to reading.

I noticed recently that a lot of my comments on other peoples blogs & posts go along the lines of “Great review – I have this book already and you’ve really made me want to pick up soon!” or “This book has moved straight to the top of TBR pile – I’d forgotten I even owned it!”.  I suppose this isn’t at all uncommon – after all how many book bloggers don’t have a To Be Read pile? And sometimes that can get pretty big. However, I’ve also run out of room on my shelves to store these books. I have a three shelf bookcase that I use to keep all my books that I want to read on. Recently the three shelves haven’t been enough and I’ve started piling books on top…so now it looks like this:

My TBR Pile - and yes that top pile is double shelved!

Crazy, huh? And this isn’t all the books I have waiting to be read! I have a pile of YA books from the 80s and 90s I keep separate for one of my reading challenges for this year as well as a pile of books which are my must read soon pile. (Although I will be the first admit there are a couple of tomes that have sat in this pile for a very long time!). Plus all the books on my kindle. This got me thinking about the sheer number of books in my complete TBR pile, so this weekend I decided to count them all. Do you know what the grand total is?

TBR Book Shelf: 195 Books

YA of 80s & 90s Pile: 7 Books

Must Read Soon Pile: 17 Books

Unread Kindle Books: 40 ebooks

GRAND TOTAL: 259 Books

That’s a lot of books. A LOT of books.

In 2010 I managed to read over 150 throughout the year, so assuming a similar rate I have enough books to keep me going for the next 18 months – even if I didn’t buy any more in the meantime! And this is really where my confession is going…I still keep buying more books!! I’m addicted! I tried stopping myself from buying any books in August, but somehow I only managed it for two weeks before the lure of the books stores and amazon dragged my back in. I have 259 books waiting to be read at home – books for the most part I really wanted, that I handed money over for or begged friends and family to purchase for Christmas/Birthday. And I do want to read each and everyone of them – especially when I keep coming across reviews for books that I already own saying how great they are! But I still keep buying new books to add to the pile. Help!!

Is anyone else in a similar situation? Are books coming into your home at a faster rate than you read? Are you afraid of being buried alive in your unread books? Or are you the opposite? Do you only buy books when you need something to read? Does anyone have any idea how to shrink this massive TBR pile? (And don’t say, stop buying more books – can you stop breathing?!). Lets get our collective heads together and figure something out… J

The TBR Pile #5

So, no IMM this week as my book buying ban remains intact! I feel quite proud of myself even though the number of books I wanted to buy have increased - but I've read 3 books this week so my TBR has decreased! Yay me! :-)

Which books to read next?

So in lieu of a book haul this week, I'm asking you lot to help me choose which books to read next. I've narrowed my next few books to the above 5 books:

Iron Crowned (Dark Swan 3) - Richelle Mead (Urban Fantasy)

The Burning Wire - Jeffery Deaver (Crime Thriller)

The Red Queen - Philippa Gregory (Historical)

Black Swan Rising - Lee Carroll (Urban Fantasy)

The Spirit Eater - Rachel Aaron (Fantasy) 

Usually I get thought 2-3 books a week, so which ones should I read this week? Anyone curious about any of these? I've tried to select a variety of genres that I haven't read for a while (oh, ok - I always had to add a couple of Urban Fantasy - it's my favourite type of book!). So when I finished Spirit Bound, which book do I crack open next? :)

The TBR Pile #4

I've been struggling to figure out what to read next. I've got plenty to choose from! Having gone through a number of books I had promised to review, I now have the luxury of trying to whittle down my TBR bookshelf. So, I've narrowed it down to a few that I want to read soon - but can't decide what I feel like trying. Any suggestions?

This is the short list of books I want to read soon...but any other suggestions of books that should be read without delay is welcome! :-)

So what should I be reading next?

The TBR Pile #3

Having come to the end of my move (more or less) and I am nowable to see my books again, I now have the difficult decision of what book to read next! I've narrowed it down to four choices - 2 hardcopies and 2 kindle books:

My physical books are two fantasy book (I feel like a change from UF for the time being) -

The Magician Apprentice by Trudi Caravan, a prequel to her Black Magician trilogy which I enjoyed a couple of year ago. This is also one book borrowed from a friend so I have to start it soon!

Lord of Silence - Mark Chadbourn - this book I've had on my shelves for a while (I can't even remember where I got it from!). I keep meaning to pick it up, but then something else catches my eye (I'm a bit like a magpie drawn to shiny new books!)

The Kindle Books are Fallen - Lauren  Kate and Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead both of which have good reviews and come highly recommended.

So what should I read first?

The To-Be-Read Pile #2

The To-Be-Read Pile

I've finally made my way through my latest TBR small pile (the big pile fills a whole bookcase!) and now I'm trying to decide what next to read. I've narrowed it down to these six books - one fantasy: Patricia Briggs Raven's Shadow. I love Briggs Mercy Thompson series so I'm curious to see what her more traditional fantasy books are like. Feed is a zombie Apocalypse novel that I won from Graham at Graham's Fantasy Book Review and I've read a lot of positive reviews. Two more Urban Fantasy books - I have a big back-log on Urban Fantasy books and series to catch up on, but I like to mix up my genres and not read too many from one genre at once. Final two are a comic fantasy by Tom Holt and a modern classic. I wouldn't usually pick up something like The Barracks but I try to expand my reading occasionally - besides it was another freebie from a friend! So what should I read first? Any suggestions?

The To-Be-Read Pile #1

My TBR bookcase

I love books. I always have a book on the go and have a huge To-Be-Read pile. Seriously. I have a full bookcase dedicated to my TBR pile - I've even had to start double shelving them. It's recently been brought to my attention that I have been increasing the frequency with which I purchase books but my reading speed hasn't kept apace. Not that I'm a slow reader - two/three books a week isn't slow, but when Waterstone's has a constant 3 for 2, new releases are price promoted in the supermarkets and the wide choice at Amazon, I can't resist reaching for my purse. Part of the trouble is that I tend to read across genres - I can't read too many of the same type of book in one go without feeling the need to try something completely different. So following Amanda from Floor to Ceiling Books example, I decided to stop buying books at least for a bit as I try to make my way through my backlog of TBR books. But where do I start?

Here, I've narrowed my soon to be read pile down to a handful that I want to get through in the next couple of weeks. I started reading Shutter Island this afternoon purely on the basis that I loved the film. (It was one of the few films that got me thinking this year and I heartily recommend if you get the chance!) But what should I read next? Some cool London UF with Matthew Swift in The Midnight Mayor? Finish Karen Miller's different Godspeaker trilogy with the Hammer of God? Give into the best seller pressure and try Dan Brown's Da Vinci follow up? Or start a new UF series with Blue Diablo? Decisions, decisions. And like deciding which dish to try at a restaurant I can only hope for a delicious suprise.

The To-Be-Read Soon Pile