Sunday, January 25, 2009

Sunday Salon: The Too Many Books Post


Good morning! The sun is just starting to come up here in Southern California. While the rest of the country was expecting Arctic weather, in SoCal the weather was in the late 80s. Then last week the rain came and it felt so good! Now it's the right atmosphere for winter reading.

My week has been really hectic. My oldest son's asthma has been acting up so his father, my mother, and I have been going back and forth, staying at home to take care of him this week. I got very little studying done, but I got some great reading in.

I read:
1. The Shiniest Jewel -Marian Henley. In their shoes & Graphic Novel challenges
2. Tuesday - David Weisner. Young readers challenge
3. How to be an explorer of the world - Keri Smith
4. Don't let the pigeon stay up late - Mo Willems. Young readers
5. A River of words - Jen Bryant. Young readers
6. The Man in the Picture - Susan Hill. NaJuReMoNoMo
7. The Book That Changed my Life. Dewey and Essay Reading Challenge
8. The Dresden Files: Welcome to the Jungle - Jim Butcher. Graphic Novels Challenge

My favorite reads were The Shiniest Jewel, the suspenseful The Man in the Picture, and Welcome to the Jungle. If you're participating in my memoir challenge, In Their Shoes, I'm giving away The Shiniest Jewel. So enter to win it.

This post is entitled "Too many books" because I received some great books this week and bought too many. One of my book-related resolutions this year was to only buy a certain amount of books. I already went way over that, so to compromise I gave a lot of my unread books to my local library and giving more away by hosting a mini-challenge all of February for everyone participating in the Dewey's Books challenge.

With school and a lot of homework to catch up on this week, I plan to read only short stories and poetry for the next two weeks.

What are you reading this week?

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

Great list! I am working on STEP ON A CRACK so that I can get ready for the second book in this series. I just started a new book, SIGHT UNSEEN by Samantha Graves.

I need to get started on the graphic novel challenge, but haven't had the time.

Literary Feline said...

I read the first line of your post today and had to look out the window to see if the sun really has come out. I think it was out earlier this morning, but the clouds are hiding it from view now (at least where I am). I love the rain. You're right, the rain makes for great reading weather. :-)

I hope your son's asthma clears up.

My plan to cut down on my book buying went out the window this month too. I'd blame it on all those holiday gift cards, but that would be stretching it. :-) Your idea to donate some of your unread books to your local library is a great idea. I did that with some of mine when I weeded out my TBR stacks late last year. I still have quite a few, but I really want to read them and can't bring myself to part with anymore just yet.

As for what I'm reading this week . . . I will continue to read The Woman in White and should be finishing off Walking Through Walls by Philip Smith soon. I want to read Watchmen if I can fit it in as well.

Have a great week!

Vasilly said...

J. Kaye: You are always adding books to my TBR list! lol

Literary Feline: The sun was out, went back in, and is now out again over here. But with the cool air, it feels so good!

Oliver's asthma is clearing up, thank goodness.

I know how you feel about parting with your books. I'm trying to read as many as I can and get them out of the way.

I can't wait to read your review on The Woman in White. I'm putting it on my TBR list. I hope you get a chance to read Watchman. Have a good week.

Kailana said...

I also had to look out the window. lol It is snowing here... So, I don't imagine I will see the sun anytime soon! Almost every storm we have had this year has fallen on a Sunday, so I really should go see if that is what we are preparing for or it is supposed to stop!

Have a good week and I hope you manage to find time for a little bit of reading!

Ana S. said...

I hope your son gets better soon!

I'm trying to cut back on book buying soon...not all that much luck so far :P

I'm looking forward to your mini-challenge! I hope you have a great week.

serendipity_viv said...

I am reading an autobiography called Dear Fatty and Island of The Blue Dolphins too.

J.C. Montgomery said...

Don't feel bad about the book buying thing. I have finally become resolved to the fact that I simply cannot pass up a book that intrigues me so much I just have to get it. Luckily, I buy from our library's used book store so the financial impact is not so great.

I admire you for even trying!

I don't think I've heard of any of those books you listed, so I will have to do a little research.

Why am I thinking my TBR list is about to grow exponentially? LOL

Have a great rest of the weekend. I hope your son is doing better.

Anonymous said...

What a lot of reading! I feel like I've been stalled while finishing up Wuthering Heights. I finally finished and am ready to dive into something else.

80s sounds wonderful. It's about 12 here today.

I hope your son feels better soon.

Andi said...

I LOOOOOVE TUESDAY!!! It's one of my very favorite picture books ever ever.

Iliana said...

Oh dear, you've already gone over your allotted amount and it's not even the end of January! :)

I am supposed to be on a book budget too but it's so hard to stick with it.

I'm planning to read a book for book group and I'll probably have to throw in a mystery or so too.

Hope your son is feeling much better!

Marie Cloutier said...

Wow, good for you for giving away so many books. It's not easy to do! I'm reading Cutting for Stone this week- it's amazing!

Vasilly said...

Kailana: Have a good week!

Nymeth, Carrie, and J.C.: Thanks!

Andi: Isn't Tuesday the best?

Marie: I'm adding it to my TBR list.

Iliana: Thanks! He's feeling much better. I can't believe I went over my limit. At least most of them only cost a dollar each!