Project Read All The Books: September Recap

Goodbye September and good riddance! I had epic plans for the month of September and they all went out the door.

I had a lot of personal stuff going on for September, so I knew I wouldn't have as much time to read as normal. I went out of town twice (Got to see Oprah and then Garth Brooks!) and then I felt pretty icky for the whole month. All these things (mainly me not feeling so hot) led to kind of a dismal month in reading.

I only read 16 books for the whole month and only ONE was from my To Be Read (TBR) bookcase. I knocked out Cora Carmack’s Finding It, which I have had since its release last Fall. I’m a big fan of Cora Carmack and I really enjoyed Kelsey’s story as she tries to find herself, while backpacking through Europe.

Even though I didn’t do as much reading as I would have liked, I did get into some major Fall cleaning. I ended up getting rid of 14 books from the TBR bookcase. In return added 3 to the collection.

Total Count as of Today: 88

Goal for October: 3 books (I’m giving myself a low goal because I’m still feeling icky)

I’ll post my recap of my YA/NA Challenge soon.

Until then....here are some picture from Oprah and Garth!

Project Read All the Books: August Recap

Goodbye August, Hello September!

Typically, August is a month filled with down time in a library. We need it to recoup after Summer Reading. Not this year. I filled my month with lots of booking Fall programs, weeding, collection development (thank you State Aid!), and lots of general housekeeping tasks. I was definitely glad August is gone. I felt that I didn’t get as much reading done as I should have. I went out of town 2 weekends in August and read very little during the week.

That being said, according to Goodreads I read 23 books for August. 2 were picture books, 1 graphic novel, and 2 quick middle grade novels.

Obviously I knew August was going to be hectic (or I was tired of not hitting my TBR goal) because I only set my August goal at 5 books. Remember, these are books that come I actually own but haven’t read.

I barely made August’s goal…seriously, I read the 5^th book at 8:00pm on August 31^st.

What I read…

Magic Slays by Ilona Andrews

The Billionaire’s Obsession by J.S. Scott

Prince Charming by Julie Garwood

Beautiful Ashes by Jeaniene Frost

The Devil She Knows by Kira Sinclair

Time for a recount! It has been a few months since I have done a count of all the books. I’m bad about doing random clean outs and buying books from my Friends bookstore.

Count as of today: 100 books.

Goal for September 5 books.

Also, check out Fun-Sized Reads blog. She just started her own Project Read All the Books. Good Luck to her!

Project Read All The Books: July Recap

It’s that time again!

July was a busy reading month with me knocking out 30 books (3 were pictures books, plus 2 novellas).

From the 30 books I read in July, 7 came from my To-Be-Read (TBR) Bookcase. Remember the whole goal of this project is to cut down on the number of books that I own, but haven’t read. I have an entire bookcase dedicated to these books! And with the number of books I keep acquiring, I really need to free up this bookcase for other books.

As of June 2014, I had 124 books on my TBR bookcase.

My goal for July was 8 books.

Even though I read 30, only 7 were from the TBR bookcase. I started the 8th one last night, Magic Slays, but fell asleep. I would have finished it (and finally hit my monthly goal), but BF found an early showing of The Guardians of the Galaxy, so we rushed to see that.

Here are the 7 books for July:

Castles by Julie Garwood
Seduction of a Highland Lass by Maya Banks
No Good Duke Goes Unpunished by Sarah MacLean
A Knight in Shining Amour by Jude Deveraux
Up from the Grave by Jeaniene Frost
Mistress by Tiffany Reisz
Magic Bleeds by Ilona Andrews

Current Count: 117

Goal for August: 5 Books

What did you read in July?

Project Read All The Books: June Recap

Hello July…goodbye June! Summer Reading is almost over folks! We only do a 6 week program at my library, so we will wrap everything up on July 16^th. Only 2 more weeks…I can make it!

If you went to Vegas for ALA Annual Conference…I hate you. No…well just a little. While everyone was out in Las Vegas living it up, I went to Washington DC for a short visit. It was my first trip to the Library of Congress, which was beautiful. I have always been a huge fan of Thomas Jefferson so I felt extremely privileged to see his collection and the mark he left on America through books.

Library of Congress - Washington DC

Now on to the books for June. According to my Goodreads I read 18 books in June. Only 7 of them were from the TBR bookcase though.

Count as of May: 120 TBR books

Read: 7

Added: 11

Current Total: 124

Here are the 7 books I read from my TBR bookcase: 

The Prince by Tiffany Reisz

Never Love a Highlander by Maya Banks

The Great Escape by Susan Elizabeth Phillips

Delicious by Shayla Black

Rogue Stallion by Diana Palmer

Twin of Ice by Jude Deveraux

Circle of Deception by Carla Swafford

I really need to do better. If you are wondering where the 11 books came from I can explain that. I went to another local Romance Writers of American Chapter Luncheon – where ELOISA JAMES was speaking! She did an amazing job and I had a wonderful time. I ended up with 10 books from there. Also, my sister gave me an autographed copy of Hillary Clinton’s new memoir, Hard Choices.

Goal for July: 8 TBR books

Project Read All The Books - May Recap

I was able to read 19 books this month – some a mix of library book, e-books, and from my TBR pile.

May proved to have some major shake up with the TBR bookcase. I knew I was going to bring a lot back from RT14 and I did. To better prepare myself, I did a quick cleaning of my TBR bookcase and removed about 15 – 20 books. Most were Harlequin Presents that I wasn’t really interested in reading.

And then I brought tons back from RT14 –in my defense I took a bunch I had already read with me.

Here is what I read in May:

I discovered 2 books on my TBR bookcase that I had previously read when I was a teen – so that was a helpful start.

I also knocked out The Duchess Hunt by Jennifer Haymore, One Good Earl Deserves a Lover by Sarah MacLean, and One Night Pregnancy by Lindsay Armstrong.

With RT14 and Summer Reading looming, I really did not get as much read from my TBR pile as I intended. I did read 3 books that I brought with me from RT - yay! Since I didn’t count before I downsized the bookcase or when I came back from RT14, I had to do a recount.

Total number of To Be Read Books as of today:  120

That's not too bad right?

My goal for June: 10 books from the TBR bookshelf. I usually read just romance during the summer (aka Summer of Smut!). Also, since I now have so many autographed books I had to designate a whole bookcase for my autographs! Looky....

Wish me good luck! What are you planning on reading this Summer? 

Project Read All the Books: April Recap

Project Read All The Books: April Recap

My goal was to read 10 books…well I read 6.

The Siren byTiffany Reisz  - Quite an interesting series that I plan to continue. A friend recommended this author to me almost a year ago and I even got a signed copy at RWA. Last week, my friend sent me a link to a thorough review of The Siren. I found myself intrigued and decided that I needed to get on the ball with this book. Since we closed early this week due to inclement weather I thought it would give me the perfect opportunity to try The Siren. I won’t be able to articulate myself as well as the reviewer did, but this author has an amazing talent for layering a story. She slowly built up the characters, but also removed a layer of their story at a time through out the book.

Eternal Kiss ofDarkness by Jeaniene Frost  - My least favorite Frost book, which makes me sad because I love Frost's work more than most authors. She is in one of my top authors, but I thought she didn't do Mencheres justice.  Mencheres has been described as such a phenomenon in the vampire world in the other books. He carried a great presence in the other books. In Eternal Kiss of Darkness he was reduced to a pitiful character and the romantic storyline was extremely lacking. I wish there had been a larger focus on Kira. I liked her character, but I thought she could have been fleshed out better

Lady Sophia's Lover by Lisa Kleypas - Another great story from Kleypas. 

What We Deserve byKerry Freeman – Really enjoyed!

For Duty’s Sake byLucy Monroe – Ok, but nothing to write home about. Needed some work according to my Goodreads review.

A Rogue by Any OtherName by Sarah MacLean – Fabulous!

I started the project with 113 so after reading my 5 that leaves me with 107….plus 1.

I loved A Rogue By Any Other Name and couldn’t wait to get my hands on the next in the series, One Good Earl Deserves a Lover. My library was having their Bi-Annual Friends Book Sale and would you believe that that there was a copy of One Good Earl in there? How could I pass that up? It was fate!

So grand total: 108

Goal for May: 7 books (I have the RT Convention, so I’m trying to be realistic).

Wish me luck! How many books do you have on your TBR shelf?

Project Read All the Books is Back!

Last fall I decided to start a project called Read All The Books. Why? I have a whole bookcase dedicated to books that I own but have not read. My TBR bookcase is getting full. So I decided to document weekly how I was coming along with reading those books. I did ok for about 5 weeks then I lost interested. My friends have been gently teasing me about getting back on the project.

I counted this morning at there are 113 books that I own but have not read. I have decided to pick back up with the project, but make it monthly instead of weekly. My goal for April is to read 10 books from this bookcase.

The main reason I have decided to try again is because I have I’m attending the Romantic Times Convention in New Orleans in May (just for the MAJOR author signing though) and I will be attending a local Romance Writers of America chapter annual luncheon in June. This means probably an additional 20 to 30 books. So I have to make room on the TBR bookcase.

Wish me luck!  

Read All the Books: Week 4 & 5 Recap

So let’s recap:

Last time I blogged about the TBR challenge (2 weeks ago, Week 3) I started out with 92 books on my TBR bookcase (because a shelf just isn’t enough). Week 3 wasn’t that great because even though I read 3 books, I purchased 3 books from the thrift store.

Last count: 92

I’m a reading banshee but I usually (and unintentionally) take one week off a month from reading. Life gets in the way. Week 4 was my week off. I didn’t make too much progress for Week 5, but every little bit helps.

What I read:

Rapture in Death by J.D. Robb (In Death #4)

In Bed with the Highlander by Maya Banks (from the TBR bookcase)

Unfortunately, the Milk by Neil Gaiman

Colters’ Lady by Maya Banks

Colters’ Daughter by Maya Banks

Where Dreams Begin by Lisa Kleypas (from the TBR bookcase)

Why Men Marry Bitches by Sherry Argov (TBR Bookcase – Currently Reading)

The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman (TBR Bookcase – Currently Reading)

Proxy by Alex London – Currently Reading

A few months ago I posted about my chaotic reading. I am constantly reading 4 or 5 books at once. Which is why there are 3 books listed as currently reading. I am also really bad about putting a book down and forgetting to pick it back up again (i.e. Proxy).

If you noticed, I am on a Maya Banks kick. I’m really loving the Colters’ series (fyi these are ménage trios romances) and I am a big fan of her historical romances. Her romances fall into several different genres and she is able to easily go from one genre to another without becoming stale or repetitive.

Current TBR count: 89

Read All The Books: Week 3

As of the last count…

Number of books TBR (that I own): 89

I really need to stay out of the thrift store…but it is less than a mile from my house and I have an addiction to teapots, so I need to go there! And while I’m there I usually look at the books. I’m sorry, but I can find brand new, great quality books for as low as .39 cents. How could I pass them up? How could YOU pass them up?

Anyways, while I was browsing for books I found 3 books that I wanted to purchase. I found 2 reprinted Diana Palmer books, Diamond Girl and Rogue Stallion. I’m a huge Diana Palmer addict, though her work is always hit or miss with me. The 3^rd book I found was Smile by Raina Telgemeier, a middle grade graphic novel. I have seen this floating around and I really enjoyed Drama, so I thought for less than a dollar it would be a good buy.

That brings the total back to 92. This isn’t good.

I did a crazy amount of reading this week though. Over the weekend I finished up 6 books just by Sunday morning. Here is what I read this week:

Smile by Raina Telgemeier

Wishes by Jude Deveraux

The Billionaire’s Captive Bride by Emma Darcy

Silver Borne (Mercy Thompson #5) by Patricia Briggs

Be with Me by Maya Banks

Robot Dreams by Sara Varon

Days of Our Lives Better Living by Greg Meng

Stranger in my Arms by Lisa Kleypas

A Lady of the West by Linda Howard (currently reading)

I’m very happy with what I read this week because I read a lot of great books(and only one terrible one - Days of Our Lives Better Living)!

3 of the books came from my TBR bookcase (Smile, Wishes, and A Lady of the West). That brings the total down to 89, which brings me right to where I was last week. *Sigh*

Current Total: 89

Oh, look at the teapot I found at the thrift store this week! 

3 down, 89 to go

Read All The Books - Week 2

I made some progress...unintentionally.  I was going through the TBR shelf and was excited to find that I could remove 3 of the books from the shelf. 

In the last post, I had to add ten books to the total because I bought a bunch of old Johanna Lindsey books. Well it turns out that I already had a copy of Defy Not the Heart on the shelf. So yay for that! I haven't read it yet, but it counts for something right?

The 2nd book, Before Sunrise by Diana Palmer, I had actually read this week as an ebook. Diana Palmer has soooo many books and they all pretty much have the same plot (older man, younger woman who is usually his ward) so it is impossible for me to tell them apart. So I was quite surprised to see it on the shelf and very happy to be able to make a teeny tiny dent in the collection.

The 3rd book is a Harlequin Presents by Jennie Lucas, A Night of Living Dangerously. HP are brain candy for me and I can devour through one in a short time. 

I think I need a better way of organizing my personal collection. Can anyone recommend a library app that helps you keep track of what books you own? 

Read All The Books: Week One

Project "Read All The Books" isn't going so well. On Day One someone donated 39 Johanna Lindsey books. Now, if you have read this blog in the past, you might know that I am obsessed with Johanna Lindsey. Didn't know that? Check out my post, "My Love Affair With Johanna Lindsey"

Johanna Lindsey is the author that got my hooked on romance novels. She just published her 50th book and I have read them all. I have even owned most of them (I did decided to trade the ones that I didn't love a few years back). I read most of her work when I was 13 or 14 years old. In those 12 years, I have reread and reread my favorites (Gentle Rogue), but have forgotten about some of the lesser novels. My coworkers know how much I love her so they immediately buzzed me to let me know about the donation. I bought 10. This did not help me succeed in my goal of reading all the books I own. 

Here is the updated challenge. Books Read: 0, Books Bought: 10, Total Books: 92

Project Read All The Books

Below you see a bookcase that holds all my TBR books....

The top shelf is filled with books that I currently have checked out from the library. The bottom 3 shelves, plus another shelf in the living room with my autographed books, hold all the books that I own that I still need to read. Currently numbered at 82 books. Yup. That's a lot. 

I picked up most of these books at conferences, yard sales, used bookstores, and my library's Friends. The problem I'm having is that I keep acquiring more books, but I am only reading the ones checked out from the library. 

To be fair, I only buy books after I do a little research. I don't just grab everything I see. I check Goodreads to see how the reviews fair and to see if any of my friends have read it. Still, when I am getting to the point of sneaking books into the house so the BF doesn't see, I know I have to do something. 

I have decided to challenge myself to read one of these books per week and maybe even right a quick review on it. For the most part, they are old school romance. There is a lot of old Diana Palmer, Lisa Kleypas, Jude Deveraux, Julie Garwood, and some Nora Roberts There is some general adult fiction, ya, and nonfiction, but mostly romance.

Wish me luck.