The Great Book Purging of 2014

I don't think it will come as any great shock to many of you that I'm a book hoarder. I think we've established in this community that many of us suffer from this proclivity. It's a daily struggle, what with Kindle daily deals, review copies, and frequent trips to the bookstore -- even when you're technically on a book-buying ban.

I was once consumed with the fiery need to own all the books. For some ungodly reason, if I read the book, I felt the need to own it. For instance, if I read an eARC and liked it, I went out and bought the physical copy....not in support of the author but in support of my own personal library. I mean, I didn't even have to like the book that much and still I'd find a way to procure it for my shelf. Which means after over three years of this blogging thing, I've amassed quite the collection of books.

So much so, that when we decided to turn my office into Katie's playroom and move my desk and shelves into the master bedroom -- which my awesome husband has obligingly agreed to allow me to decorate with a bookish theme soon -- I had to parse my collection down a bit by favorites and probable re-reads versus unread books and never-to-be-read-again books. And thus, the great READ IT OR GET RID OF IT shelf was created. Basically, a shelf to light a fire under my ass so that I quit stalling and finally read these books because you know I don't really want to get rid of any of them.

Much to my hubby's chagrin, this shelf ended up in the living area for lack of room in my new "office" space. And now he says I have to move it because I stuck it right where he'd planned to put the Christmas tree. Oops. But I did give up my pretty teal shelf (above) to Katie for all of her books, so I had to put them somewhere. :P So, now I have to decide if I want to keep any of the books on this shelf -- and where to put them if I do.

The top shelf is full of all the signed books that I'm iffy on keeping. The Lauren Kate books are all personalized to me, but I've read them and I know I'll never re-read them. But who wants a set of books personalized to me? There are a few more on that shelf in the middle that were signed to me, but the rest were won in giveaways and only have the author's signature. Well, except the two Tracey Garvies Graves books, which April gave to me in hopes that I'd love them as much as she does. (I promise, April, I'm not giving these away...I just thought putting them somewhere I'd see them all the time would make me read them that much quicker, lol.) I should also make a point to read Sekret soon since I have the ARC of the second book waiting on me, as well.

In the beginning, you think you'll never get sent ARCs. And then, all of a sudden, they're coming out of every orifice and you don't know how you'll ever read them all. I've read some of these and some I have not. Some I even really enjoyed, but in reorganizing my shelves, they didn't make the cut when I started running out of room.

Same goes for this shelf of even more ARCs. There are some that I have every intention of reading and others that were unsolicited or that I just lost interest in. And yet...I've kept them all. Book hoarding is a serious problem, y'all.

The books on these bottom two shelves would actually fill this entire shelf without doubling up or stacking them all willy nilly, like you see here. There are books I've read and enjoyed here, as well as books that I haven't read yet. And maybe that I have no intention of reading...ever. There are books that were gifted, books that were won, and books that were purchased at Half Price Books or at one of those Borders liquidations sales way back when. These books leave me feeling guiltiest about the task at hand because for the most part, I spent my hard-earned money on them. My husband would be speechless if he ever tallied up how much of our income went to my book-buying addiction, but luckily, I've always been able to distract him when it comes up. :D

When undertaking this endeavor, I attempted to leave room on my shelves for books that I knew I'd be purchasing in the future, whether they exist yet or not: future installments in series I've already started, new series from favorite authors that I already know are in the works, etc. And yet, my newly reorganized shelves still look much the same to me now in their new space as they did before:

Sorry, it was dark by the time I got done and I hadn't placed any of my knick-knacks where they go yet. Also, there's a bed in my way now, but at least the first thing I see when I wake up every morning is all those lovely books! =) Some of the rows on the bottom are still doubled up and there's a weird stacking situation going on in some of the cubbies. Also, I didn't organize alphabetically for, like, the first time in my life. Seriously. I'm a perfectionist by nature, so these won't stay this way long. I won't rest until I'm completely satisfied. But purging some of the books from my shelves helped...at least a little. I still have hopes of my dream library one day, but not till we have a bigger house. :(

And now, friends, I need your help. Take a good look at the books above that have been removed from my shelves and tell me which ones I absolutely must read. I'm reading for myself and no one else these days, so I should have time to fit in some of your recommendations sooner rather than later and make a decision as to the fate of their place on my shelves in the process. Also, in light of all of this, I imagine a Clear Your Shelf-type giveaway is in order, so stay tuned for that. ;0)

I look forward to your suggestions! Happy reading!

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Labels: book purging, bookshelves, clear your shelves, read it or get rid of it, signed books, so many books

The Bookshelves Behind the Bloggers

Okay, so on Monday, you guys were introduced to the newest blogger here at The Starry-Eyed Revue. And yesterday, you got to read April's first review and saw just how awesome it's going to be having her around here.  And, sure, some of you may have already known who April was and what she was about.

But, I think that the best way to get to know a fellow reader is by taking a peek at what's on their shelves or on their Kindle, as it were.  But I'm not just going to call out April and make her share on her own.  Several people have hinted that they'd like a peek at my shelves, as well, and though I'm not doing a full shelf tour today -- first and foremost, I don't like being on camera or hearing my recorded voice (I sound about twenty years younger than I am) -- I am going to give you a little tour of where I spend a lot of my free time.

First, though, I think that since April is our resident newbie, she should get top (shelf) billing.  =)

Hi Everyone!! I feel so special going first! Jen is spoiling me already. <3 lol Anyway. I have one large book shelf.

Here is the top. As you can see, my Jenny Han books are being protected by a monkey squinky. ( Great series btw) I didn't even realize he was there till I took the pic.

And the bottom. Clearly I need to clean shop! Stuffed to the brim. I do plan on getting another book shelf someday, but right now we are renovating the house, so there isn't any room at the moment. That brings me to my prized possession.... My kindle. I'm for sure an ebook girl. I love physical books, but my kindle goes everywhere with me. Here is a peek of some books I have on there.

There are so many that I haven't read yet! That's sad. Shed some tears for me please. I need more time in the day.

Jen's turn now...

Okay, a little prior warning, guys:  I'm a bit of a perfectionist, a little obsessive when it comes to organizing my books. And the way you see my shelves here is probably -- most likely -- not the way the shelves will look in a month's time. Okay, the shelves will still be the same, but the placement of the books will assuredly not be.  Here goes nothin'...

This is where the "magic" happens.  Lol.  Nah, it's just my desk,
with the family portrait Katie drew for me, my movie souvenirs and
other kitschy stuff, and my unread ARCs...at least the ones I
plan to read soon.

This is my other workspace.  Or, well, there's one other one,
but it's not set up right now.  I had to move it out of the way
in order to take pics of my shelves. :)  But isn't that just a
lovely view from my office window?

This is the other half of my office. I wish I'd bought the
shelves in any color but dark brown because they look
black. Wonder if I could paint them and just how much
work that would be...

Here's a better view of that first shelf on the left.
Hanging above it are the Shadow & Bone and the
Siege & Storm maps/posters.  Don't they look awesome
side-by-side like that?

And here's a better view of that shelf on the right.  The
one that's under that gorgeous signed poster of the cover
for These Broken Stars.  Seriously, that thing is so
freaking gorgeous...I would totes marry it.

And this is my shelf of favorites.  Hard to tell what some
of them are, I'm sure, but I'll bet that top one on the right is pretty
obvious.  =)  There's a shelf here for fantasy -- okay, more than
one -- one for contemporaries, one for dystopians, etc.  It was
pretty difficult deciding which books made the cut -- and which
did not -- but I'm pretty happy overall.  For now, anyway.  Oh,
and then there are my leatherbound classics up top, plus the
mini bookshelf necklace my mom made me.  I think it's
safe to say I love this shelf best.  :D

Sorry for the not-so-great pics, guys.  I should have known better than to use my iPhone, but I didn't want to drag out my good camera.  Plus, I'm not even sure the battery is charged on that thing.  :(  I promise I'll do a for-real shelf tour soon and just suffer my lil girl voice.  :)

But after seeing April's shelves, I'm even more sure that this co-bloggership was destined to happen.  Did you see how many of the same books we own?  Or, well, you could see that if you were able to make them out in my pics...again, sorry.

So, what do you guys think?  What do our shelves -- and the books sitting on them -- say about us?  All good things, we hope.  :)  Jen is sure glad she gave away that hardcover set of the Hush, Hush series.  She doesn't at all like to think about what those books might have said about her.  Or what having owned them in the first place still says about her.  :P

I mean, at least we don't look like this:

Right?!?  =)

Anyway, we'd love to check out your shelves, too, if you've done a similar post!

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Labels: 2014, bookshelves, reading spots

Clear Your Shelves Giveaway Hop - Winter 2014 Edition

If you checked out my 2014 Blogging Resolutions & Goals post, you'll know that one of the things I need to work on this year is my propensity to hoard books.  So, to kick off the new year right, I'm culling a massive amount of books from my library.  Technically, these were already on their way out and were already given space on the great shelf of giveaways (pictured below), but still, they need new homes and I don't like the top of my shelf being cluttered like that.  So, they are gone, baby, gone.  (Oh, and quite a few of those have already left the building, but I didn't take a more recent picture before I packed them all up.  Oops.)

Anyway, I've now got three boxes full of mystery books to give away.  One contains the entire Hush, Hush series by Becca Fitzpatrick in hardcover.  Another is a miscellaneous box including paperbacks and hardcovers.  And the last box is chock full of ARCs -- 13 to be exact.  (I didn't do that on purpose, that's just how many happened to fit in the box.)

Which box is which?  Your guess is as good as mine.  No, seriously...I didn't label them.  D'oh!  But if you win, you get to pick which box you want:  A, B, or C.  There will be three winners because I want to see all of these books leave before I have the opportunity to open the boxes back up and decide I want to keep some of those books.  Trust me, I am weak-willed when it comes to culling my books.  It's like they're a part of me or something.  :*(

Rules:

• This giveaway is US only.  Sorry, international peeps, but it costs a lot to ship boxes this size.  I'll have a giveaway for you guys soon, though...pinky swear.
• One entry per household.
• Entries will be verified.  Any entry found to be falsified will result in disqualification of all entries for that participant.
• Winner will be notified via email.  Winner will then have 48 hours to respond before another winner will be selected.  Please check your SPAM folder!!!
• I am not responsible for lost packages.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Be sure to check out the rest of the stops on the Clear Your Shelves Giveaway Hop:



I'm so excited to make some room on my shelves, and I'm super excited for you guys to win one of the mystery boxes! =)  Anyone care to hazard a guess as to which box holds which books?  :P

Thanks for stopping by & happy reading!

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Labels: bookshelves, clear your shelves, giveaway hops, giveaways, mystery box of books, spring cleaning

The Sunday Symposium: To Be Read - Sometime in the Next Millenia (or TBR-SitNM)

The Sunday Symposium is a weekly feature in which I'll be discussing various bookish topics and asking for your commentary, as well.  This week, we're going to discuss our out-of-control TBR piles, or more accurately, why we can't stop adding books to our shelves when we already have too many to read.

So, this is going to be less of a discussion and more of me, um, whining.  And some will say, "Oh, stop it...at least you aren't wanting for anything to read."  Which is true.  But I have an entirely different problem.  It's become quite the conundrum, lately, trying to decide what to read next and whether or not I can sneak a "just for me" book into the schedule.

Yes, a reading schedule!  I literally have to schedule my reading time.  I know I'm not the only one.  I know several bloggers who keep spreadsheets similar to mine, detailing upcoming releases, what's been read, what needs reviewed, and what's up next.  But when is enough enough???  Here's a look at my current review TBR...this doesn't include the books I've bought but haven't gotten to yet:

These are my expected reads for February thru July.  *flails*

Sometimes, I supplement my reading pile with audio, just to catch up on new releases that I didn't read prior to release.  I enjoy audiobooks.  I really, really do.  But I miss actually reading some of my favorite books and series.  But the only way I can make time for some of my "just for me" reads is to get them on audio.  Even though I already own some in hardcover.  I must have those lovelies for my shelf, you see, especially if I'd previously started the series in hardcover.  *sigh*  I really do have a problem.

But I keep doing this to myself.  All these great new books appear on Edelweiss and Netgalley and in ARC form, and I can't say no.  I. Just. Can't.  It's an addiction.  I gave up drinking for the month of January, just to see if I could.  But there is no way in hell I'd ever voluntarily give up reading.  NEVER.  And then my husband says things like, "Sure, you're not spending as much on books as you used to, but you're spending more time away from us than ever before, and we're paying the price."  OUCH.

I resolved to spend less time blogging this year and more time with my family.  Because blogging/reviewing has taken a serious toll on my free time.  And as much as I love it, I'm tired of getting grief from my family.  I did incorporate my daughter into the blogging experience, thanks to Sara at Forever 17 Books, and that's been a lot of fun each week.  But it's not enough.  And yet, the books keep piling up.

So, for discussion purposes, I have a few questions, and I'm hoping your answers will help my situation, and vice versa:

1. Do you read every single book you request for review, whether via ARC, Netgalley or Edelweiss?  Um, I try to.  But it's hard not to fall behind.  And once you do, there seems to be no catching up.
2. Do you attempt to read every review book by the release date?  Sure.  Well, until I start seeing a ton of negative reviews for a book; then I decide it's not worth my time.
3. Do you post your reviews for requested review books prior to release date?  As long as I've read it, I usually review it at least by the day OF release.  (I am getting way better at this.  No more waiting weeks and weeks to write a review.  Go me!)
4. How do you slip in those books that you had hoped to get for review but didn't and had to wait until release date to receive your own copy?  Like I said, audiobooks.  Or, very carefully, so as not to fall behind schedule.  It may take me a lot longer to read a "for pleasure" book than a review book.
5. Do you strictly adhere to your reading schedule, or is it more of a guideline and you read what you feel like reading as the mood hits?  I was adhering to the schedule, for the most part, but that's becoming harder and harder to do.  I've become quite the mood reader these days.

These are my bookshelves in their latest incarnation, and I'll be honest, only like 60% of the books on them have already been read:

In case you were wondering, they're alphabetized by author, by series.  Also, the wine is special The Princess Bride bottling (As You Wish White and Inconceivable Cab) c/o The Alamo Draft House in Austin, TX.  Also also, these shelves look much less dusty in this pic than they do in real life.  =)

So, yeah, I have quite a bit of catching up to do on my own, and yet, the itch to check Edelweiss and Netgalley nearly daily is impossible to ignore.  How do you manage?  My goal is to one day have a study/office that IS a library in itself, but not one full of books I've never read.

Please, I'm begging you...someone help me!  A TBR Intervention is in order here, I think.  Or, are we all of similar minds and cannot help ourselves?  Either way, I think we might need help.  At least a support group, if nothing else.  And a pact.  Like, for every review book we read, we should also enjoy a strictly for fun read. Maybe a book that we don't even necessarily have to review.  Whadya say?  Any takers?  :P

Any and all commentary, chastising, and public flogging is welcome...

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Labels: bookshelves, reading challenges, reading goals, TBR pile, the sunday symposium

Clear Your Shelf Giveaway Hop

It's that time again!  I just splurged on some new books and to make room for those, I'm giving away a whole slew of books that I either don't have time for now (and probably won't ever get to) or that I just don't intend to finish:

Here's the list of books up for grabs:

• In Darkness by Nick Lake - ARC
• Grimalkin The Witch Assassin (The Last Apprentice/Wardstone Chronicles #9) by Joseph Delaney - ARC
• A Million Little Pieces by James Frey
• Traitor's Son (Raven Duet #2) by Hilari Bell - ARC
• Kill Switch by Chris Lynch - ARC
• The Marked (Delcroix Academy #2) by Inara Scott - ARC
• Witch Eyes by Scott Tracey
• Ruined (How to Ruin #1-3) by Simone Elkeles
• Never Fall Down by Patricia McCormick - ARC

If any or all of those appeal to you, be sure to enter in the Rafflecopter form below. 

All books will go to one winner.  US only.  Winner will have 48 hours to respond to notification email before another winner is selected.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

And now that you've entered here, be sure to stop by the other blogs on this hop:

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Labels: bookshelves, boxes of books, giveaway hops, giveaways, spring cleaning

Spring Cleaning Giveaway Hop

Okay, guys, so this isn't the easiest thing for me to do, but it needs to be done.  I know my husband is tired of adding shelves in my office, and truth be told, there's not really any room to add any more.  I've expanded as much as I can.  So, if I want to add any more books to my collection, I have to weed some out.  Sad, but true.  Otherwise, every book I read from now on has to be an ebook.  And as much as I love my Nook, I still love the smell of a real book, the feel of turning real pages, and the sense of accomplishment when you shut a book at the end and sigh that final sigh of contentment.  Or, as in some cases, throw the book across the room and scream in frustration.  Either one doesn't work well if you're reading an ebook.

So, I'm clearing off some shelves to make way for more books.  And you guys will reap the benefits.  Not a bad deal, huh?  I debated and debated how to separate the books for this giveaway.  There are nineteen books in this giveaway, afterall:

Do I do three boxes of books, approximately six in each one?  Or, since the majority of what I'm clearing out is vampire-related, do I do a vampire box and an other box?  In the end, I succumbed to my practical mind and decided that shipping two boxes was plenty, so here are your choices:

The VAMPIRE box:

And the EVERYTHING-BUT-THE-KITCHEN-SINK box:

With the VAMPIRE box, I got a little over-zealous with my book-buying when I first got back into the whole reading thing, when I was pregnant with my daughter.  So, I caught a few clearance items at Borders and, even though I hadn't read all of the previous books in a series, I imagined I would, so I bought the clearance books, regardless of the fact that they were books 5 or 7 in a series that I hadn't started or had barely begun at the time.  I have since discovered that I either don't have time to start the series or I just can't fathom finishing the series because of the books I have read.  Make of that what you will, but regardless, this bodes well for your bookshelf, should you win.

The EVERYTHING-BUT-THE-KITCHEN-SINK box is more ecclectic in taste.  There are a couple of ARCs in there, though the finished copies are already out in the wild.  There are also some books that were given to me, but that I never had any intention of reading.  But I think that there's a little something for everyone in this box.  And who knows?  I may even add a couple more books to it.  I'm feeling generous this week.   :)

Enter to win one or the other or both.  Makes no difference to me.  But the same person will not win both boxes.  And without further ado:

The VAMPIRE box:

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Labels: bookshelves, boxes of books, giveaway hops, giveaways, spring cleaning

TGIF #24 - Buy or Borrow

TGIF is hosted by Ginger at GReads!  In this weekly feature, Ginger poses a question to her followers and then asks everyone to link up at the end of the post, sharing their responses.

This Friday's Question:

Buy or Borrow: Where do your books that you read come from? The bookstore? The library? Do you prefer to own a book, or have it on loan?

Well, I live in a rural area right outside of Dallas, and the library in my town is very small.  As in, it's housed in the only high school here in town.  Yeah.  But even before that, it wasn't often that I frequented my local library.

I prefer to own the books I read, whether they be real books or Nook books.  I like to have the opportunity to revisit books any time I choose so owning said books makes that a lot easier.  Also, it's been my dream since I was a little girl to have a library in my house, one with a rolling ladder and wall-to-wall books, so buying books as I read them puts me well on my way to that goal.  I've already had to upgrade my bookshelves twice in the last year (YAY!) and already my husband fears I'm going to run out of room again soon:


(And this isn't even including Katie's books or
Jerrod's...those have been relegated to a separate
shelf on the other side of the office.)

That said, I don't have to own brand new books.  Well-loved books are just as nice.  So, now that Borders is gone, I frequent Half-Price Books, as well as Barnes & Noble.  I'm very lucky to work right down the road from the flagship HPB, so a lot of my older books come from there.  They have a great YA section, as compared to other HPB's I've lived near.  Like, it's dangerous for me to walk in there unsupervised.

Also, I've made some great blogger friends over the last several months, and well, we love to share.  I don't think that's any big secret.  So, I know I can count on my friends to share books that I'm iffy about or to share their advance copies, if they're so willing.  And not much makes me happier than shipping off a box of books to someone else who will love them as much as me.  Sharing is caring, right?

So, where do your books come from?  Are you trying to start your own library, too?

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Labels: bookshelves, tgif

In My Mailbox #8

In My Mailbox is hosted by Kristi at The Story Siren.  It's a weekly meme where we all get to brag about the books and swag we got in the mail, for review, won in contests, etc.




In reviewing the pile of books to add to this post, it's become abundantly clear that I should put myself on a self-imposed book-buying ban.  But then I tell myself that this is all Borders' fault for going out of business, and I'll have calmed down by the time they close the doors for good.  That was until I saw the shopping cart I had accumulated on Barnes & Noble's website.  It has 17 books in it, and those are just the books I plan to pre-order.  So, maybe a ban wouldn't be a bad idea, right?  And then maybe I'd catch up on some of the books I've already got in my collection.  Except that we're moving in September and those are all packed away.  At this point, a sensible person would point out that I have audiobooks on my iPhone that have not yet been listened to and several more unread ebooks on my Nook.  But this girl just isn't satisfied unless she's got a stack of real books waiting for her on her desk after a hard day at work.

Moving on.  Since I neglected to do an IMM post for a couple of weeks, I was tempted to split this into two posts to keep us all from getting new book overload.  But I want to brag now, and also, when you see what all I bought at Borders, maybe you'll shame me into that book-buying ban after all.

Won (or otherwise free):

Bloodlines* by Richelle Mead, ARC courtesy of Jess at Gone with the Words
Shattered Souls bookmark (signed), thanks to Jess at Gone with the Words
Faerie Ring bookmarks (signed) & pin, from the author (Kiki Hamilton)
Forever keychain, courtesy of the author (Maggie Stiefvater)
Scorpio Races postcards (signed), thanks to the author (Maggie Stiefvater)
The Girl in the Steel Corset, thanks to the publisher (Harlequin TEEN)





*This is probably the book I am most excited about in this week's post!!!

Bought on my second trip to the Borders liquidation sale:

My Soul to Take by Rachel Vincent
My Soul to Save by Rachel Vincent
My Soul to Keep by Rachel Vincent
Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs
Stolen by Lucy Christopher
Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver
Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins






Bought on my, ahem, third trip to the Borders liquidation sale:

Prophecy of the Sisters by Michelle Zink
Guardian of the Gate by Michelle Zink
Circle of Fire by Michelle Zink
Possession by Elana Johnson
Abandon by Meg Cabot
Ruby Red by Kerstin Gier
Angel Burn by L.A. Weatherly






Audiobooks:

Storm Runners by Roland Smith
Immortal by Gillian Shields
Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte
Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris
Watership Down by Richard Adams
Enclave by Ann Aguirre







So.  Yeah.  Obviously, I need to do my IMMs more frequently if I'm going to keep up this habit of mine.  That, or I just need to exhibit some willpower.  Cause I don't think my bookshelf can handle much more of this.

What did you get in your mailbox this week?  Were you able to control yourself, unlike me?

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Labels: audiobooks, bloodlines, bookshelves, in my mailbox (imm), maggie stiefvater