When we lived in our tiny Manhattan apartment and bookshelf space was severely limited, they stood in a precarious stack on my nightstand, .
When we moved to our new house and everything was under construction, they were stacked haphazardly in a box, the only one I opened in the weeks before the construction was done and we finally unpacked everything for good.
And now, they have their very own dedicated shelf at the bottom of my bookcase.
They are my books that are waiting to be read.
At any given time I have at least five. If my "to-read" stack dwindles below that I start jonesing and have to make an emergency trip to the Amazon website for more.
Once the books are read they get placed on my bookshelf in their proper place (which is another story for another time), but until then, they all live together on that bottom shelf.
Right now my total is at thirteen. It's an eclectic mix of mystery (because I loved A Time To Kill and am prepping to love the sequel and how can I not read a book written by J.K. Rowling using a pen name), a lot of romance (because I love me some Nora Roberts, even when she's using a pen name), some J. Courtney Sullivan I don't really know how to classify (because someone told me I would probably like it), some YA dystopian futuristic fiction (because I have to prep for the movie), and an anthology of the incomparable Nora Ephron's most popular works (because I desperately need any book that has the complete screenplay from When Harry Met Sally).
But even though it seems like I have enough books to last me awhile, there's no reason to get lazy. Even as I type this with one hand, my other hand is busy scrolling through my phone's Amazon app checking for anything else I might want to read.
Some of you might be thinking, "girl, get a library card." I know. But the thing is, it's not enough for me to just read books. I have to own them. I have to have them on my shelves, be able to look at them, and have anything I want to re-read right at my fingertips. It's been like this ever since I started collecting Baby-Sitters club books when I was seven, and making sure that they were always on my shelves, in the proper order of course.
So, as the weather turns cold in New York, and weekend afternoons outside are numbered, I know what I'll be doing.
What's on your "bottom shelf"?
People say the same thing to me, "Get a library card." I must own, too!!! We should send books back and forth! I see Commencement and Maine (is it?) by Sullivan. The Engagements was good. I WILL read Cuckoo's Calling at some point (have it).
ReplyDeleteHave you read Eleanor and Park? Technically a YA but it's sweet and romantic, which I know you love.
Gotta love the cold weather for reading purposes! Can't wait to hear about that bottom shelf. I'm getting ready to do a whole book porn thing with the shelves in my study. I will post photos when I'm finished with it!
Right now I'm taking a break from reading to write more. It seems I can only get lost in one fantasy world at a time. I love my Kindle but I do miss having books on a book shelf. Right now my bottom shelf has children's books and cook books.
ReplyDeleteAww, you are so cute. Five? Damn, girl. Talk to me when you have an ENTIRE bookcase full of pending reads. Ok, fine, I might have a problem. Don't strive to be like me. But seriously, I get itchy when I just make a DENT in it. I need to have a large queue. I don't know why.
ReplyDeleteYou have a good system going here! And I highly recommend Divergent! Loved it! My bottom shelf is an odd mix of books that I can't remember whether or not I've read, and parenting books that I'd rather ignore :)
ReplyDeleteI'm just like you. And I never have fewer than a dozen on my to read shelf. Sometimes, it's twice that. I have a bad habit of picking up books every time I'm in Costco.
ReplyDeleteYou'll appreciate this-no "real" books in the "to read" pile. Everything's packed in anticipation of our big move! I'm working on my free Kindle downloads.
ReplyDeleteoh me too!! i have a never ending stream of must reads... and btw, divergent was great, the second good, and the third, sadly, not good. i have taken a lot of books to kindle now for convenience, but if i fall in love with one, i go and purchase it, because i need to have it close. reading is such a gift.
ReplyDeleteI am dipping into the library world, but it's hard. It's not the same as having the book be my own. There is nothing as glorious as reading. I want you to do a recap post every year of what you've read. Could you get on that please?
ReplyDeleteThe fact that all of my unread books are mixed in with the read books drives me bonkers. I wish I had the space to separate them, or the time to read them, actually. But since I'm trying to pare down my belongings, I'll be getting rid of a bunch anyway in the months to come. Like Christie said, library-ing isn't the same as owning, but it'll be the only way (and e-reader, which I know you don't like) for me in the future!
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