There is a book buying ban currently in place at our house. We have a lot of books and only so much space so we thought it best not to buy anymore, for the time being. I faithfully use the library, and while there are still review copies that find their way through the door, for the most part, I have only bought about five books this year. I am proud of myself because, let’s face it, for anyone that loves and adores books of all shapes and sizes, that’s a nearly miraculous feat.
However, I mention this because I’m being tested. Yes, there are always books that I want to buy but if I can get a copy from the library, I do, and if I read and enjoy the book, all the better. All last week and the week before there have been reviews of Mockingjay (If you aren’t familiar with it, it’s the third in The Hunger Games Trilogy by Suzanne Collins.) and I’ve read the reviews, even the ones with spoilers because I love spoilers, and I want to read it — right now. I put it on hold at the library but I’m #48 (now 26 I think) in the queue so the way it stands, I may not get a chance to read it until sometime in 2012. The world could end by then, at least if you believe the Mayans. There is another book that I so much want to read too and I’m thinking of breaking the pact, temporarily of course, and buying both so I can satisfy my need to know. That doesn’t make me a bad person does it?
I thought I’d also do a reading wrap-up from the last two weeks and all of August.
The last two weeks, I’ve read:
The Shipwreck that Saved Jamestown: The Sea Venture Castaways and the Fate of America by Lorri Glover and Daniel Blake Smith
Achilles by Elizabeth Cook
Life in Medieval France by E.R. Chamberlin
The House on the Strand by Daphne Du Maurier
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling
Appointment in Samarra by John O’Hara
In August, I read:
The Queen of Attolia by Megan Whalen Turner
Witch Week by Diana Wynne Jones
The Road by Cormac McCarthy
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling
Howls’ Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones
The Thieves of Manhattan by Adam Langer
The King of Attolia by Megan Whalen Turner
The Shipwreck that Saved Jamestown: The Sea Venture Castaways and the Fate of America by Lorri Glover and Daniel Blake Smith
Achilles by Elizabeth Cook
Life in Medieval France by E.R. Chamberlin
The House on the Strand by Daphne Du Maurier
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling
Kings of the Earth by Jon Clinch was a DNF for me. I couldn’t get into it and I gave up.
August was full of wonderful books and I would be really pressed to pick a favorite, so I won’t.
Now, I must go and re-write several of the reviews that recently got eaten by my computer. I tried recovering them but no such luck. I’m annoyed because they were very good reviews. Plus, I have a backlog of five reviews to write and three to re-do that I’d like to get a start on before going off to the museum.
Happy Sunday, and if you’re in the U.S., enjoy the Labor Day holiday. Don’t ya just love having Mondays off…
Just Book Reading 
You are to be commended. You have shown great restraint.
But I have an idea for you. Perhaps a birthday is coming up for you? Or an early Christmas gift? Hey, how about a Labor Day present?
Hmm…I like this sound of this plan.
Wow! That is some restraint, all right. I have been working to curtail my buying…in fact, at the beginning of the year I created a Works document to keep track of what I bought…and then put a page on one of my blogs to do the same.
I have links in sidebars connecting to that page.
I thought I was doing well, but then there was a burst of buying in August, for some reason, and I’ve now purchased 33 books this year!
How did I let this happen?
And where am I going to put them all? Right now, they’re stacked in my office, because I’ve been posting about them and I’ve been reading and reviewing some of them.
I still have 116 books on my OLD TBR piles in my bedroom, etc.; I have about 35-40 additional TBRs that have come into my house in one form or another….
Alas!
But if there’s any kind of clutter that I enjoy, it’s mounds and piles of books everywhere!
Here’s my salon:
http://accidentalmoments.wordpress.com/2010/09/05/the-sunday-salon-labor-day-weekend/
Books — the kind of clutter I don’t mind either.
I got rid of 1500+ books in early 2008. Time to let go 1000+ more! I sort out my books and donate to old age homes/orphanages/charitable libraries.
Here is my Sunday Salon post!
All is have to say is WOW! I’m not good at parting with my books.
You did great in August! Have a great week!
Be good and let the library system work for you! There’s something so satisfying about having a hold come in. 🙂
I know. It’s like an unexpected present, even if I have been waiting for it.
Wow, you’ve had an excellent August! Re: Mockingjay, give it some time. My library got it in with incredible promptness, and it was lovely to check the website and find it was ready for me to pick up. Plus, reactions have been mixed. Think what a bummer it would be if you bought it and then hated it.
So true. I’m going to wait since it since to be moving fast.
I totally get your Mockingjay dilemma, as I’ve found myself in the same situation. It’s not even a book I really want to own (I don’t own the other books in the series), but I just want to read it right now. I’ve kept away from most reviews because I DO NOT want to see any spoilers, but details have still crept up and caught me by surprise. I need to read it before it’s completely spoiled! I’m on hold lists in two different library systems, #104 in one and #66 in the other. Sadly, the list I’m #104 in may come in sooner than the other one. I’ve had to stop myself from buying it more than once. I won’t even let myself enter a bookstore.
Thankfully, the initial anxiousness has worn off and I’ve realized I have MANY other books to keep me busy that even Mockingjay if did come in for me, I wouldn’t have time for it *sniff!* Who am I kidding, if it came in for me today, I’d drop everything else and read it right away 😉