Day: September 5, 2011

Miscellaneous Ramblings

When to Admit You Have a Problem……

Tara

Okay, let’s face it. Most of us book bloggers are *crazy* about books. Anyone who sees my Mailbox Monday posts can attest that I’m really book crazy. This year I implemented something new on the blog … a “Books Acquired in 2011” page. I’ve kept it up-to-date over the past 8 months and I have to admit that I am ashamed at the state of it. There are wayyyyy too many books on there that have the designation “Traded without reading”. That means that I took in wayyyyyyy too many books that I actually didn’t need or want. Pitiful, if you ask me. Of course it balances out a little bit because as I was trading away those books I didn’t want I was able to bring more in 🙂 See that vicious cycle that I’m stuck in? So I wanted to sit down and take stock of just how many books came into my house the first 8 months of the year, how many I have read and reviewed here, and how many were traded without reading. So here goes:

  • Total amount of books brought in January – August, 2011: 153
  • Number of books that I have read out of the 153 books brought in: 20
  • Number of books that I have traded without reading of the 153 books brought in: 23
  • Number of books that I DNF’ed of the 153 books brought in: 2

Wow. Now tell me that’s not pitiful! 153 books brought into my house in the first 8 months of 2011. If I keep going like that (which I know I will …. I’m not likely to stop!) it’s going to become a problem. Haha. I mean, I have a big house …. but eventually this will catch up with me 🙂

So in case you’re curious, my OCD compelled me to make an even further breakdown of the books that I brought into the house. Here’s that information:

  • January: 9 books brought in; 1 read; 2 traded without reading
  • February: 17 books brought in; 5 read; 0 traded without reading
  • March: 39 books brought in; 1 read; 16 traded without reading; 1 DNF’ed
  • April: 7 books brought in; 1 read; 2 traded without reading
  • May: 8 books brought in; 3 read; 0 traded without reading
  • June: 14 books brought in; 4 read; 0 traded without reading; 1 DNF’ed
  • July: 34 books brought in; 3 read; 3 traded without reading
  • August: 25 books brough in; 2 read; 0 traded without reading

Now, as you can see … March, July and August were bad months in terms of how many books I brought into this house. I’m going to excuse July because that is my birthday month 🙂 … but the other two, well I really don’t have an excuse. Oh what the heck, I really don’t have any excuse … other than obsession.

And you know my OCD wouldn’t let me stop there. I had to find out where I was getting all these books:

  • Purchased new: 5
  • PBS Point: 17
  • Bookmooch Point: 11
  • Grandmother: 17
  • Library Book Sale: 13
  • MysteryBookSwap Yahoo group: 7
  • Big Box trade with Carol: 10
  • Won from a blogger: 1
  • Review Book: 7
  • PBS Box-of-Books: 65

Well, it doesn’t take a genius to find out where the problem is. That terrible little thing called Paperbackswap’s Box-of-Books program. But I’m definitely not going to be cancelling my subscription to that. Hehe. Now I am pleased to see that I have only purchased 5 new books this year. That’s great in my opinion!

I will definitely be posting another post like this at the end of the year to take a final count of how many books came into the house. Now I’m off to read … a book that has been sitting on my shelf for quite some time, I need to move some of those out of here so I can have more space 🙂

Mailbox Monday, Meme

Mailbox Monday, September 5, 2011

Tara

Mailbox Mondays

Mailbox Monday is on tour, with August’s location being at Amused by Books.

Another slim mailbox, but a good one. Here’s what I got:

From Bookmooch:

 Now for the first time in one captivating volume, here are the first three mysteries featuring J.A. Jance’s most popular and enduring character, Seattle homicide detective Jonas Piedmont Beaumont. It’s a trio of tales steeped in the atmosphere of the Pacific Northwest that is sure to remind everyone that Jance is a master of modern suspense fiction. In Until Proven Guilty, Beaumont finds himself investigating the murder of a five-year-old girl. But his own obsession and demons could prove dangerous companions in a murky world of blind faith and religious fanaticism as he discovers that he himself is the target of a twisted passion … and a love that can kill. In Injustice for All Beaumont’s well-earned vacation becomes a waking nightmare as he’s forced to comfort a beautiful blonde after she discovers a dead body on a Washington beach. Suddenly a lethal brew of lust, madness, and politics threatens to drag the dedicated Seattle cop into the path of a killer whose dark hunger is rapidly becoming an obsession. And in Trial by Fury a naked, dead body is  found lying in a Dumpster. What’s most shocking is the manner in which the man died – he was lynched. The victim, a high school coach, has left behind a very pregnant wife with a very dangerous secret. And a sixth sense developed over twenty years on the job tells Beaumont that this investigation is going to the lethal extremes of passion, lies, and hatred.

From Paperbackswap:

 A rash of horrifying crimes rips through the city, throwing it into complete chaos and terrorizing everyone living there. Immediately it becomes clear that they are the work not of an amateur but of a calculating, efficient, and deadly mastermind. The city calls on Detective Michael Bennett, pulling him away from a seaside retreat with his ten adopted children, their beloved nanny, Mary Catherine, and his grandfather. Not only does it tear apart their vacation, it leaves the entire family open to attack. Bennett enlists the help of a former colleague, FBI agent Emily Parker. As his affection for Emily grows into something stronger, his relationship with Mary Catherine takes an unexpected turn. All too soon, another appalling crime leads Bennett to a shocking discovery that exposes the killer’s pattern and the earth-shattering enormity of his plan.