Sunday, January 31, 2010

What's on Your Bookshelf?


I say it all the time: I have a stack of books waiting to be read that's at least as tall as I am. Now I have the proof. I can't help it, I'm a bookaholic. I buy books faster than I can read them (much, much faster, actually.) I try to read them all, I really do, but there just aren't enough hours in the day.


Right now I'm reading three books at once: 1984 by George Orwell, The Shack by Wm. Paul Young, and Writing the Breakout Novel by Donald Maass. When I finish with those, I'm anxious to get to Ink Exchange by Melissa Marr, Twisted by Laurie Halse Anderson, The Bone Garden by Tess Gerritsen, and The Mysterious Benedict Society series by Trenton Lee Stewart. And that's just the tip of the iceberg. All of these books are on my bookshelves, waiting to be read, along with many, many more.


Of course it's important for a writer to be well read and keep up with what's currently being published. That's one great thing about being a writer. I get to read all these fantastic novels and call it "research." Sure beats reading electrical instrumentation catalogs or computer programming manuals.


So, how about you? What's on your bookshelf, waiting to be read? What have you read lately? What's your favorite book at this moment?


Until next Sunday, happy writing (and reading), and may your coffee pot never run dry.

14 comments:

Tess said...

Holy Mother of Zorg! Thats-a-lot-a-books. And I thought my TBR pile was high.

nope, nothing like that.

will you give us reviews????

Sharon K. Mayhew said...

I also have a HUGE pile of TBRs...Yet, I contintue to purchase more books....I actually bought two grown up books this week. STILL ALICE about a woman with Altheimers Disease and KAYLA'S DADDY (Laura Bradford's first romance). I can't remember the names of the three YA I bought as well, I put them in our going to the Bahamas pile...

Susan Fields said...

Tess - Mother of Zorg? That makes me laugh, I haven't heard that one before. Yes, I will certainly give reviews!

Sharon - You can give us reviews, too! You plan to do a lot of reading on the beach? I probably won't get much reading done on the slopes, but maybe on the drive to Colorado.

Sharon K. Mayhew said...

Susan--I'll be totally unplugged for 7 days! I don't know how I'm going to manage...I'll be taking pen and paper with me.

Katherine is on about 15,000 words so far on her novel. I am so amazed!

paulakiger said...

THAT is an amazing stack of books, Sue!! Since I listen to so many audiobooks, and they go SO fast, I have started requesting audio primarily from my usual source (paperbackswap.com) and only doing paper books if that is all that is available or it's not on audio. I am not sure how to keep this g-rated, but a fellow parishioner asked me this morning to do a super-brief "book talk" Wednesday night about what I'm currently reading. The "paper" book I'm reading is AWESOME, "Bee Season," but it is not for the church crowd - I'll have to explain off line! So I'm going to do "Three Weeks with My Brother" by Nicholas and Micah Sparks. It was a good read, doesn't have the issues keeping "Bee Season" from getting a spotlight at Holy Comforter, and gives major insight into a highly successful author (and his brother).

Susan Fields said...

Paula - hmm...I haven't thought about audio books. Do you mostly listen in the car? I'll have to try that out. I haven't heard of either of those books you mentioned, but they sound good. Uh oh - I think my pile of books just got taller!

Susan Fields said...

Sharon - I always dread going anywhere without my laptop, but good old pen and paper works, too! And then when I get there, I find it's easier to put everything aside and enjoy the time off than I thought it would be. Have fun!

Amy Allgeyer Cook said...

I can't believe you're coming all the way to Colorado and not making time to flit over and see Tess and I. No wonder Robin's not your friend.

Susan Fields said...

Amy - come on over to Winter Park and visit us on the slopes - we've got hotel rooms right off the lift...it'll be a lot of fun! And I told you before, Robin is my friend - the Facebook friends list doesn't lie!

Unknown said...

suds, you're absolutely right, keeping up with your reading has got to be so important in forming a basis for your own writing, i know as i read i always get suggestions (from the work i am reading) as to what to read next. for instance, just finished a collection of woody allen short stories,(the insanity defense) much of which were moderately funny, with 1 shining jewel of a story entitled 'viva vargas', (check it out if you get a chance), which actually made me laugh out loud-and that don't happen too often...anyhoo, he referenced 'portnoy's complaint' by philip roth, written back in the 60's, so i'm reading that now, about some whiny jewish guy complaining about his overbearing parents to his psychoanalyst, mildly amusing so far...i'm reading that because the OTHER book i'm reading is quite long and a bit too dry ('the corner' by simon and burns about life on the mean streets of a drug-dealing run baltimore neighborhood). i only read 2 books at a time when 1 has become too tedious to read. case in point, i started james joyce's 'ulysses' more than 2 years ago,(so technically i guess i am reading 3 books at a time now) and cannot seem to finish it, talk about a convoluted,difficult read...but, it is a life's goal to do so, so eventually i will complete it. i have managed to read the bible from cover to cover, because i've always wanted to say i had done it...not bad hey?

Susan Fields said...

Ed - that's exactly why I'm reading three books at once right now. I started Writing the Breakout Novel with high hopes, but I'd just read a non-fiction book on writing right before that, and I can only handle so much non-fiction at once. So I switched to The Shack, which is awesome, but doesn't have a whole lot of plot, and I really need plot to keep me going. So I didn't want to give up on it, and I will finish it, but in the meantime my current WIP (work-in-progress - do artists use that term, too?) is about a future time, and I realized (with some help from my critiquers) that it needed a more vividly detailed current world situation (even though most of the book takes place in the past, which is 2012). So I started 1984 and am really enjoying that. It's interesting to see how Orwell describes his future world. So I'm right there with you. Usually if I can't get through a book, I just give it up, but I really do want to finish The Shack and my non-fiction book - they're just going to take some more time.

I love a book that makes me laugh out loud - that's a great find. Thanks for the recommendation.

I've probably read pretty close to the entire bible through nine years of study with Bible Study Fellowship, but not the whole thing, I'm sure. That is an awesome accomplishment!

Unknown said...

sure i read it, but do i recall most of it? not.

Susan Fields said...

Uh oh...better read it again! :)

Theresa Milstein said...

I, too, have a smattering of books to be read, all on my TV stand. I just counted seventeen, and I have one to be read and one that's half read in my teaching bag. My son has been begging me to read, The Lightning Thief series.

For my last move, I had to let some books go and it was only slightly more difficult than if I have to give up my own children. Slightly.