The Kari AnnAlysis

Archive for the ‘On My Bookshelf’ Category

 We are a week away from Christmas so of course, this week, I did some major holiday reading downloading. But before I get there, let me give props to Kristi at The Story Siren for starting this meme. I just changed the title a little to more match my OCD reading needs.

So, back to the books this week… I think I was a little optimistic. I downloaded not one, not two, but three Christmas themed books to my Nook, courtesy NetGalley. I am now a week away from Christmas and still haven’t finished one of the three books I downloaded. Better quit stalling on the blog and get to reading huh???

So, here’s my list to get me prepped for Christmas:

 
Christmas has never brought out the best in the MacDougal family. Still, year after year, they gather together in the Blue Ridge Mountains to try to make the season merry and bright. But this year is an especially strained one, with Shayne’s impending divorce, Morwenna’s slavish devotion to work and Bobby’s reluctance to face what life has to offer. They’ve never felt less like a family.

On My Bookshelf is my own little deviation of In My Mailbox, started by Kristi at The Story Siren. It’s a weekly meme where you show off the good books you got that week in the mail.

This week, not only am I changing the name, I’m changing what I’m doing on the meme. I’m a rebel, I know.

I havent’ gotten any books lately. I’ve actually been fully focused on knitting and making button lamps that reading has lost some love. I still read about an hour a night before bed and at lunch during work, but the hours on the couch in the evening now are spent doing new loves.

So although I didn’t get any new books, I can honestly say I really don’t need them. This week, I’m going to show you what’s on my bookshelf, and let me warn you, I have more books on my TBR than I am proud to say. But I made a pact, with myself, this week that I am going to stay away from NetGalley (sorry old  friend) and be very picky and choosy if given opportunities from authors/publicists and try to chip away at my bookshelf.

Ok,  here’s my list….exhaustive list:

Rosie Dunne by Cecilia Ahern
Swede Dreams by Eva Apelqvist
Whacked by Jules Asner
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
Face Value by Kathleen Baird-Murray
Baby Needs a New Pair of Shoes by Lauren Baratz-Logsted
A Hamptons Christmas by James Brady
Vanished by Kate Brian
Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte
Angels and Demons by Dan Brown
Uncommon Criminals by Ally Carter
Icing on the Lake by Catherine Clark
Sweet Little Lies by Lauren Conrad
A Match Made on Madison by Dee Davis
Girls’ Poker Night by Jill A. Davis
Holly’s Inbox: Scandal in the City by Holly Denham
Motor Mouth by Janet Evanovich
The Heroines by Eileen Favorite
Eat Pray Love by Elizabeth Gilbert
Splendor by Anna Godbersen
Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden
Babyville by Jane Green
Book Ends by Jane Green
French Kissmas by Cathy Hapka
Pardon my French by Cathy Hapka
Tourist Trap by Emma Harrison
Island Boys and Girls by Rachel Hawthorne
Labor of Love by Rachel Hawthorne
Mini Shopaholic by Sophie Kinsella
Fear Nothing by Dean Koontz
Intensity by Dean Koontz
Little Pink Slips by Sally Koslow
Abby Cooper: Psychic Eye by Victoria Laurie
A Vision of Murder by Victoria Laurie
Killer Insight by Victoria Laurie
This Pen for Hire by Laurie Levine
Apocolipstick by Sue Margolis
Charmed Thirds by Megan McCafferty
Fourth Comings by Megan McCafferty
Fashionistas by Lynn Messina
The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
Westminster Abby by Micol Ostow
High Profile by Robert B Parker
1st to Die by James Patterson
2nd Chance by James Patterson
Morning Glory by Diana Peterfreund
Un-Bridaled by Eileen Rendahl
The Truth About Diamonds by Nicole Richie
Bad Moon by Todd Ritter
A Tisket, A Tasket, A Fancy Stolen Casket by Fran Rizer
Bed of Roses by Nora Roberts
Savor the Moment by Nora Roberts
Vision in White by Nora Roberts
Nine Stories by JD Salinger
Swoon at your Own Risk by Sydney Salter
He’s So Not Worth It by Kieran Scott
She’s So Dead to Us by Kieran Scott
Knit One, Kill Two by Maggie Sefton
Needled to Death by Maggie Sefton
The Rescue by Nicholas Sparks
Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
Violet by Design by Melissa Walker
Girls Night In by Jennifer Weiner, Meg Cabot, Sophie Kinsella & more
Foul Play by Patricia Tichenor Westfall
40 Love by Madeleine Wickham

Ok, so if you’re still with me, I hope you are not hating for having all of these gems on my shelf and continuing to pick up other books to read. And I think you’ll agree with looking at my list, not only by the awesome titles and authors, but also at the sheer volume, that I should probably stick with clearing off my bookshelf, rather than perusing online for new books. Now I’m not going to say this is a hard and fast rule. I am easily persuaded and have had these books on my shelf for months, and some, years. They’ll be there is something extremely, amazingly important ends up on my shelf.

Does anyone else have this many books on their TBR? Am I a book hoarder??

After a major binge at the local book sale, I’ve been on a buying hiatus. I am running out of room for new books, with two book shelves stuffed to the gills, and my shoe shelf now overtaken by books. I am trying to be space conservative, but let’s face it, I need books, even if they are going to sit there for months because I keep buying new ones. One of my New Year’s Resolutions for 2011 was to “Read What I Want to Read”. I have definitely done that this year, but for 2012, I think I’m going to make it “Read What’s On Your Bookshelf”. I have really awesome books on there. I bought them all for a reason, I just need to get around to them.

I also have been out of the book world for the past couple of weeks because I’ve been working on my knitting and opening of my Etsy shop. A post on those are coming soon, don’t you worry.

But this post is about books, nonetheless. Kristi at The Story Siren started In My Mailbox, which I transformed to fit my OCD to On My Bookshelf.

This week I got one book. As I said, I’ve been staying away from all the shiny, pretty covers, but when Cindy at Princess Bookie started a massive Twitter giveaway, I couldn’t contain myself. Earlier this week, she listed a book and said the first, or third, or tenth person to tweet me gets the book. I won one! Woo

I won Swoon at Your Own Risk by Sydney Salter and got the book just a couple of days later in a package from Sydney herself (Thank you very much!)

You’d think Polly Martin would have all the answers when it comes to love—after all, her grandmother is the famous syndicated advice columnist Miss Swoon. But after a junior year full of dating disasters, Polly has sworn off boys. Now she’s just trying to survive her summer job at Wild Waves western-themed water park (under the supervision of ex #3 Sawyer Holmes) and focus on herself for once. So Polly is happy when she finds out Grandma is moving in for the summer –think of all the great advice she’ll get.

But Miss Swoon turns out to be a man-crazy sexagenarian! How can Polly stop herself from falling for Xander Cooper, the suddenly-hot skateboarder who keeps showing up at Wild Waves, when Grandma is picking up guys at the bookstore and flirting with the dishwasher repairman? And why, despite her best intentions, does Polly keep letting boys get in the way of her relationship with her best friend Jane?

No advice column in the world can prepare Polly for what happens when Jane convinces her to go on a group camping trip with three too many ex-boyfriends and the tempting Xander. Polly is forced to face her feelings and figure out if she can be in love—and still be herself. After all, true happiness doesn’t come from a boy. It comes from within. Well, maybe it a little bit comes from a boy . . .

I think this sounds like a super cute book and can’t wait to dive it. And no, it won’t meet the demise of the many others on my bookshelf that have falled into the black hole. It’s going on my TO READ ASAP list (yes, I have one of those, on a post-it note to keep me in line for reviews).

What did you get this week?

On My Bookshelf is my weekly twist on In My Mailbox by Kristi at The Story Siren. And I really the only thing I changed is the title. I am just really OCD and I don’t get books in a mailbox. The ones at home and work are too small for the packages so they are hand delivered at work and go straight to my bookshelf, hence On My Bookshelf.

This week was a quiet week, but my husband and my bookshelf are thankful. I think they’ll both agree and maybe me too, on certain cramped days, that there is no more room in my house for ANOTHER SINGLE BOOK! Good thing I only got one this week then huh?

And I’m really excited about it!

Eek! I am sooooo excited for this book! I read Jamie’s other books, Running from the Devil and Running Dark and absolutely fell in love! I love Emma and I love how fearless she is. I can’t wait to read this book.

Oh and a little secret for you, I may or may not have received two copies of this book so I can hold a giveaway when I’m done. Keep your eye out for my review and sign up

On My Bookshelf is my own little spin on In My Mailbox started by Kristi at The Story Siren. I had to change it up a little because I never have my books mailed to my home mailbox and the packages are too big for my work mailbox, so they are normally just handed to me and I’m too OCD for that title.

Anywho, this was a great week! I got a couple of review books in the mail and one through email and downloaded one through NetGalley. That is a pretty good haul for me, but that is just the cherry on top of my major book week, thanks to a local library sale.

I stopped by, with intentions of just scoping things out and maybe getting an audio  book for my drive to work because we all know I have absolutely NO room for anymore books. But we all know my weakness and today, it brought me to my knees, literally, because I got a huge box of books for just $8 and it was so heavy, the volunteers kept asking to help me carry it. Prepare yourself for my exhaustive list:

Library Sale Audio Books:
The Almost Noon by Alice Sebold
On The Street Where You Live by Mary Higgins Clark
Momzillas by Jill Kargman
The Used World by Haven Kimmel
Lion Eyes by Claire Berlinski
Holidays on Ice by David Sedaris
Lucky by Alice Sebold
What Comes After Crazy by Sandi Kahn Shelton
Trouble by Jesse Kellerman
A Christmas Caroline by Kyle Smith
The Mermaid Chair by Sue Monk Kidd

Ok, I didn’t remember how many of these I actually put into the box until I just unloaded all of them. I am really hoping my husband wasn’t paying attention to all of it. But in my defense, I will leave all of these in my car and will either give them away on my blog when I am done with them, or list them on BookMooch for points. I really didn’t have my eye out for any of these books, but I am very open-minded when it comes to audio books. I am still new at this and so far, have loved every book I’ve listened to. I am not sure if there are any genres that I won’t like.

But oh….that’s not all I got at the book sale, here’s the real books, which I also didn’t realize I got so many. YIKES!

Library Sale Books:
Fear Nothing by Dean Koontz
Abby Cooper, Psychic Eye by Victoria Laurie
A Vision of Murder by Victoria Laurie
Killer Insight by Victoria Laurie
Girls’ Poker Night by Jill A. Davis
Knit One, Kill Two by Maggie Sefton
Needled to Death by Maggie Sefton
Intensity by Dean Koontz
Baby Needs a New Pair of Shoes by Lauren Baratz-Logsted
Face Value by Kathleen Baird-Murray
A Hamptons Christmas by James Brady
Whacked by Jules Asner

Ok, so maybe I went a little overboard! Again, I really wasn’t looking for anything in particular, but all of these sounded soooo good and I’m sure that at some point,  I will need something off my shelf and one of these, or all of them hopefully at some point, will do the trick.

I will have to do a little more searching and buying. The books by Victoria Laurie are part of a series. I got 1,3 and 4. I will have to do some searching for 2. Hopefully I can find it on BookMooch. I am really excited about the knitting series. Yes, my obsessions take over every aspect of my life. I have never read Dean Koontz, but have heard great things, so I thought I’d pick up a couple. And finally, I got a book and audio book with the Christmas theme to add to my collection this year. I may need to take some time off reading review books and focus on the ones on my shelf.

Now, to the ones that really came in my mailbox:

Review Books:
A Lawman’s Christmas by Linda Lael Miller
Bad Moon by Todd Ritter

Downloaded to Nook:
Murder in the 11th House by Mitchell Scott Lewis
Called Home by Gloria Schumann

Now, I just have to find a place to put all of these. And keep your eyes out of giveaways and lots of them! I got some double copies of a review book and will need to clean out some space for all my new reads.

Did you guys have a stellar week too???