135. Who Hates Whom and Why: Well-Armed Fanatics, Intractable Conflicts, and Various Things Blowing Up: A Woefully Incomplete Guide by Bob Harris (2007)

Length: 218 pages

Genre: Non-Fiction

Started: 04 November 2009
Finished: 07 November 2009

Where did it come from? The library.
Why do I have it? I read Harris’s first book, Prisoner of Trebekistan, several years ago and thought it was wonderful, hilarious, and surprisingly moving, so he’s got carte blanche now.

Well, I know for sure
where I’m not going on my
next big vacation.

Happy Sunday, all!

A lot of people seem to be instituting book buying bans, or book acquiring bans, or (horrors!) even no-books-from-the-library bans. While I am not planning to do the same – I’d never be able to keep to it, and I think it would just make me cranky – I am trying to limit my acquisitions; that is, trying to pick up only wishlisted books, and letting something sit on my wishlist for a while before acquiring to be sure that I really want it. Nevertheless, my TBR pile has gotten somewhat out of control… 250 books at the moment.

So, I’m doing another purge. Not as big as the pre-move purge back in August, but I went through my shelves last night and pulled anything that I wasn’t still excited about reading and/or anything that I couldn’t remember my reasons for acquiring. Most of these were impulse buys at the Friends of the Library booksale or at the thrift store – never on any wishlist, but something I picked up, went “Oh, this looks interesting, and for a dollar, why not,” and brought home with me. Three of them (Seeing Redd, The Way of Light, and I Know This Much is True) are cases where I didn’t care for the previous book in the series/by the author, the rest are just books that no longer make me go “oh, I want to read that right now!”

- I Know This Much is True by Wally Lamb - The First Man in Rome by Colleen McCullough - Tales of the City by Armistead Maupin - Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe - Seeing Redd by Frank Beddor - The Way of Light by Storm Constantine

- Jacob’s Ladder: A Novel of Virginia During the Civil War by Donald McCaig - White Oleander by Janet Fitch - Songs in Ordinary Time by Mary McGarry Morris - Little Children by Tom Perrotta - Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray - Empire Falls by Richard Russo

I was going to ask if anyone thought that I’m making a huge mistake by getting rid of any of these books, but then I realized that I don’t want to be talked out of purging them. If I do decide in some nebulous future that I absolutely must read one of them, well, that’s what libraries are for. And in the meantime, they’re taking up room on my shelves that could be used to house more books that I’m actually excited about.

So what I will ask is: does anybody want any of these books? If so, let me know which one(s), and your bookmooch ID, and I’ll reserve it for you.

What about you, readers? Are you one of the strong and intestinally fortitudinous that have implemented a personal book ban? Or are you one of the lucky few with enough shelf space to acquire whatever the heck you want?

133. Those Left Behind by Joss Whedon, Brett Matthews, Will Conrad, Laura Martin, Michael Heisler, and Adam Hughes (2007)
Serenity Graphic Novels, Vol. 1

Length: 96 pages
Genre: Graphic Novel, Sci-Fi

Started: 30 October 2009
Finished: 30 October 2009

Where did it come from? The library.
Why do I have it? I’m a huge Firefly fan, and after recently rewatching the series I thought I’d give the comics a try.

Serenity flies
again, off your TVs and
into the movie.

132. Where the Hell is Matt?: Dancing Badly Around the World by Matt Harding (2009)

Length: 228 pages

Genre: Non-fiction

Started: 24 October 2009
Finished: 29 October 2009

Where did it come from? Amazon.
Why do I have it? Well, it was on my wishlist because Matt’s videos make me happy every time I watch them (and every time I listen to Praan, the song from the third video)… but to be honest, the book was a total impulse buy when I was ordering something else.
How long has it been on my TBR pile? Since 19 October 2009.
Verdict? Keeper.

Dance like nobody’s
watching… except for all the
people on YouTube.

131. Definitely Dead by Charlaine Harris (2006)
Southern Vampire Mysteries, Book 6

Length: 324 pages
Genre: Fantasy; Mystery; Romance

Started: 24 October 2009
Finished: 25 October 2009

Where did it come from? Amazon.
Why do I have it? I bought the box set.
How long has it been on my TBR pile? Since 10 September 2009.

The Big Easy waits…
and so does a whole bunch of
trouble. Big surprise!

Happy Sunday, all!

It happens after every read-a-thon: I get buried in reviews to write, I procrastinate, and then I wind up having to remember what I wanted to say about a book that I finished weeks ago. At the moment, I’ve got four reviews to write; I’m going to try to bang out at least two of them if not three today – that should provide a nice excuse to procrastinate my big ol’ stack of grading, since I’ve already used the “I really need to clean the house!” trick.

But, at the same time, It’s kind of nice to be putting up two-week-old reviews, since that gives me a little bit of leeway to re-read an 800-page book (Knife of Dreams, which I may or may not wind up reviewing) without worrying about total blog silence. I’ve also got a stack of non-renewable books out from the library, glaring at me, and distracting me from said re-read. I figure I might get my reviews caught up to the present somewhere around Thanksgiving.

What about you, readers? Do you review books as soon as you’ve read them? Do you post reviews as soon as you’ve written them? And, if you answered “yes” to that first part, do you have some of your magical non-procrastinatory pixie dust to share?

130. Ship Fever: Stories by Andrea Barrett (1996)

Length: 256 pages
Genre: Short stories; a mix of historical and modern fiction.

Started: 24 October 2009
Finished: 24 October 2009

Where did it come from? The library booksale.
Why do I have it? It was mentioned in the “Further Reading” section of The Rough Guide to Evolution as being short fiction about science during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. How could I resist?
How long has it been on my TBR pile? Since 12 September 2009.
Verdict? Keeper.

Science, history
are the backdrop; what matters
here are the people.

129. The Gospel of the Flying Spaghetti Monster by Bobby Henderson (2006)

Length: 178 pages
Genre: Non-fiction; Humor

Started: 24 October 2009
Finished: 24 October 2009

Where did it come from? The library.
Why do I have it? All hail His Noodliness!

FSM: it’s the
only faith that’s supported
by science! RAmen!

Commenters

Many thanks to this month’s commenters, particularly everyone who stopped by to cheer me on during the readathon!

- 3m from 1 More Chapter - A Bookshelf Monstrosity - Aimee from My Fluttering Heart - Alita from Alita.Reads - Alyce from At Home With Books - Amanda from The Zen Leaf - Amy from My Friend Amy - Ana from The Book Smugglers - Anna from Diary of an Eccentric - Ashley from Ashley’s Library - Bart from Bart’s Bookshelf - Belle from Ms. Bookish - Beth F from Beth Fish Reads - Cara from Oooh…Books! - Care from Care’s Online Book Club - Carrie K from My Middle Name is Patience - Carrie K. from Books and Movies - Cathy from Kittling: Books - Charley from Bending Bookshelf - Christina from Reading Through the Night - Claire from Paperback Reader - Colin Matthew from The Book Pirate - Debbie Nance from ReaderBuzz - Diane from Bibliophile by the Sea - Dominique from Coffee Stained Pages - Eva from A Striped Armchair - Fyrebyrdbooks from Fyrebyrd’s Book Blog - Gavin from Page247 - hagelrat from Un:Bound - Heather from Book Addiction - Jen from Devourer of Books - Jennifer from Reading with Tequila - Jenny from Jenny’s Books - Jessica from Overflowing Bookshelf - Joanna from It’s All About Me (Time - Joanne from Book Zombie

- Kailana from The Written World - Kathy from Bermudaonion’s Weblog - Kay from The Infinite Shelf - Kim from Sophisticated Dorkiness - KT from What KT Reads - Ladytink_534 from The Movieholic & Bibliophile’s Blog - Laura - Laza from Gimmie More Books! - Lenore from Presenting Lenore - Lightheaded from Everyday Reads - Literary Feline from Musings of a Bookish Kitty - Louise from Lou’s Pages - Meghan from Medieval Bookworm - Melissa from Shhh I’m Reading - Memory from Stella Matutina - Michelle from Fluttering Butterflies - Michelle from Michelle’s Masterful Musings - Ms. Ulat Buku from Ulat Buku in the City - Nicole from Linus’s Blanket - Nymeth from Things Mean a Lot - Peta from The Bookling - rhapsodyinbooks from RhapsodyinBooks’s Weblog - Serena from Savvy Verse & Wit - Shana from Literarily - Sharry from Always Dream - Shellie from Layers of Thought - Shonda from Me, My Book, and the Couch - Simcha from 42 Sci-Fi Fantasy - softdrink from Fizzy Thoughts - Somer from SomeReads - tanabata from In Spring it is the Dawn - Tracie Yule from Yule Time Reading - Trish from Hey Lady! Whatcha Readin’? - Trisha from Eclectic / Eccentric - Valerie from Life is a Patchwork Quilt - Vasilly from 1330V - Vivienne from Serendipity

Also: alexandra, Dave, Emily, Gwen, Johanne, John, Jose Luis, Kimberly, Les, liz, opicana

Search Terms

leave dead in the dallas book
I get the feeling that the Dallas libraries and bookstores probably wouldn’t appreciate that.

tbr ii where find lion
Clearly, that’s why I have so many TBR books – I have to have something to keep the lions boxed in.

where does jamie wrap claire in his kilt
Scotland.

what is that movie about a thief made from
Film, I would guess.

amber foot smother smell
Oh, man, that’s rough. While I’m not sure what amber has to do with it, if your feet are bad enough to smother, maybe baking soda? Or see a doctor, if you can breathe long enough to make an appointment.

does the book dead until dark talk
No, but if it did, I’d imagine it would probably say something like “Suckie, I am Vampyre!” Or something.

{searchterms}
Oh, crap, you’re searching my search terms for the search terms “searchterms.” We’re so meta, I think the internet might explode.

Ye Grande Olde TBR(e) Challenge Update

Happy Sunday all!

Some of you may have noticed that I haven’t been around a lot recently – either here or at other people’s blogs. The truth of the matter is, real life events and responsibilities have been a little overwhelming recently, and sadly “visit other people’s book blogs” had to be dropped off my to-do list for a while. But November’s looking like it’ll be a little bit easier (fingers crossed!), and I hope to be back up to full blogging strength soon enough – I appreciate everyone bearing with me!

I started October with 246 unread books sitting around my house. And I ended with … *drumroll* … 249! Not too terribly shabby, I think. Those extra three books were bought at the library booksale as a pick-me-up at the end of a really rough day, so they don’t even count, right? Right?

…anyways, let’s take a look at the breakdown:

Neutral books – Read, but don’t affect the TBR pile

Audiobooks - The Magicians by Lev Grossman (review coming soon)
Read but not owned - An Echo in the Bone by Diana Gabaldon – The Cave and the Cathedral by Amir D. Aczel – Wicked Lovely: Desert Tales, Volume 1: Sanctuary by Melissa Marr – And Another Thing… by Eoin Colfer – The Gospel of the Flying Spaghetti Monster by Bobby Henderson (review coming soon) – Serenity: Those Left Behind by Joss Whedon (review coming soon)
Re-reads - The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury

Changes to the TBR pile

Cleared from my TBR pile (huzzah!) – Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick – In the Woods by Tana French – Dead to the World by Charlaine Harris – Dead as a Doornail by Charlaine Harris – Definitely Dead by Charlaine Harris (review coming soon) – Ship Fever: Stories by Andrea Barrett (review coming soon)
Added to, then promptly cleared from my TBR pile (um… huzzah?) -Where the Hell is Matt?: Dancing Badly Around the World by Matt Harding (review coming soon)
Added to my TBR pile (shame!) – From Dead to Worse by Charlaine Harris - People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks - Unaccustomed Earth by Jhumpa Lahiri - Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress by Dai Sijie - Mathematicians in Love by Rudy Rucker - The Naming by Alison Croggon (Darla’s fault!) - The Likeness by Tana French – Monster of God: The Man-Eating Predator in the Jungles of History and the Mind by David Quammen – The Gathering Storm by Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson
Other Non-TBR Book Acquisitions
- Moosewood Restaurant Celebrates: Festive Meals for Holidays and Special Occasions