Booking Through Thursday - Gluttony

This week’s Booking Through Thursday question is:

Book Gluttony! Are your eyes bigger than your book belly? Do you have a habit of buying up books far quicker than you could possibly read them? Have you had to curb your book buying habits until you can catch up with yourself? Or are you a controlled buyer, only purchasing books when you have run out of things to read?

My eyes are definitely bigger than my book belly! Back in my single, pre-child days, I could read whenever the mood struck me, which I'll say was quite often. But now, I can barely squeeze in time while riding the bus to and from work.

My husband, son and I love to browse through books and spend a good portion of whatever free time we have at a bookstore or library. In fact, when our initial plans fell through, my husband and I celebrated our anniversary hopping bookstores!

I buy books much faster than I can read them but I'm happy knowing I have a good selection waiting for me when I do have a few moments to spare. My husband has a bit more free time so he will actually get something read before our next bookstore run.

The beautiful covers, enticing blurbs, intoxicating scent of paper...ahhh... can you blame me for wanting more, more, more?

Click here to find out how other participants answered this question.

Booking Through Thursday - Juggling Act

At Booking Through Thursday today:

"Some people read one book at a time. Some people have a number of them on the go at any given time, perhaps a reading in bed book, a breakfast table book, a bathroom book, and so on, which leads me to…"

1. Are you currently reading more than one book?

Yes

2. If so, how many books are you currently reading?

Three: Poltergeist by Kat Richardson, The Sound of Paper by Julia Cameron, and Creative Journal Writing by Stephanie Dowrick.

3. Is this normal for you?

I used to read one book at a time but since I've started reading books on writing and poetry, I now usually read a writing book, poetry collection, and some type of fiction at the same time. Now I just need more time for reading!

4. Where do you keep your current reads?

I usually keep two books in my totebag: the fiction and either the writing or poetry book. That way I'm prepared for whatever mood I'm in during the commute to work. The other book stays at home in my bedroom or on the dining room table.

To find out how other participants answered these questions, click here for Booking Through Thursday.

Contest

My good friend and fellow texty lady Jane E. Jones is holding a contest! Win her new book Puppy Love and several other fabulous prizes. Just head over to Texty Ladies for all the details!

Booking Through Thursday: Storage

Taken from the BTT site:

This week’s question is suggested by Kat:

I recently got new bookshelves for my room, and I’m just loving them. Spent the afternoon putting up my books and sharing it on my blog . One of my friends asked a question and I thought it would be a great BTT question. So from Tina & myself, we’d like to know:

“How do you arrange your books on your shelves? Is it by author, by genre, or you just put it where it falls on?”

I tend to group mine by genre, keeping all series together. I have so many books and my shelves are deep so I'll put older books that I've already read in the back with new books in front of them. I try to put heavier books near the bottom because I have a phobia that the kittens will be in freak-out mode and knock the shelves over on top of them. Yeah, I know, it's a stretch, but, hey, it could happen!

Since I have bookshelves in the bedroom and the living room, I tend to keep the romance and erotic romance novels in the bedroom (makes sense) and the general fiction, how-to's, gardening, animal, arts and writing books in the living room. We really need a separate room just for books. My husband is a collector as well. His large collection of excellent comic books are stored in long cardboard boxes down in the mancave.

My TBR books are kept on the top two shelves of one of the bedroom bookshelves. I've severely cut back on new purchases until I can whittle away at the TBRs.

I'm not sure if I should admit it or not but I am a magazine junkie. Have been for many years. These you will find on the bottom of several bookshelves, in a stack on my desk, another on my desk chair, and several others in bags and boxes in my closet. It's bad, I know. Not so bad that you'll see me on the evening news when an intervention unit is busting into my house because the neighbors tipped them off to a "magazine hoarder", but it could easily slip into that if I didn't occasionally weed through them and throw a few out. Since I've developed an interest in collage, I'm hoping to rid myself of several by tearing out the picture and article gems and throwing the rest out. May the Force be with me.

Want to know how others arrange their books? Go to Booking Through Thursday.

Common Good Books

My husband and I dropped our son off at the Science Museum to hang out with his friend today and then we checked out Common Good Books (Garrison Keillor, prop), a bookstore I've been wanting to go to for some time now. I love going to the big chain book stores because there's so much to look at but I also enjoy shopping at the independent bookstores, not only because they have charm and you feel like you're supporting the common man, but I always feel like an important or delightful discovery is just around the next bookshelf.

Common Good Books didn't disappoint. The main body of the store is in one large open room but to get to Fiction and Travel, Religion and a few other topics, you're required to pass through doorways to narrow hallways lined with bookshelves, like a funhouse, and at one point, the wall recedes to an alcove with a couch surrounded by posters and books where you can sit and peruse to your heart's content. After months of searching for The Girl With No Shadow, Joanne Harris' sequel to Chocolat, I finally found it here. My husband found Bridgeman's Complete Guide to Drawing from Life and a few other treasures.

CGB supports local authors by carrying many of their books and hanging posters celebrating their work. I know they hold many book signings throughout the year.

As it's a bit of a drive from our home, Common Good Books probably won't be a weekly visit, but I'm sure we'll stop by again...and again.

Shopping Option

I've added a new feature here that I hope you'll enjoy. If you look below the "BOOKSTORE" heading in the sidebar, you can click on the various categories to browse and purchase books from Amazon. It will appear as if you've gone away from my site but you'll still be here. I'll continue to add new categories as I have time. I know how much I love to browse for books and maybe you do, too, so, I hope this shopping option will be of use to you. Have fun!

Rudi Jr.'s Book Picks

I'd like to introduce you to my son. We'll call him Rudi Jr. That's not his real name but he's using it here. Rudi Jr. will be posting his picks for great YA/Teen and Children's books. He might also add a random post here and there, possibly a poem or short story.

Rudi Jr. loves stories as much as I do and I think he'll have some great advice on what to look for on your next trip to the library or bookstore! Look for Rudi's picks in the sidebar under "Rudi Jr.'s Book Nook" or anywhere on this blog where you see Zeus. :)

Unusual Home for Books

How cool is this? I would have loved to have this as a young girl. Not only is it a super cool bookshelf, it's also a hideout or fort. You could have your bed behind it or a giant beanbag chair where you could get comfy and read.

I'm not sure anymore where I found this pic but it was somewhere on the Internet while searching the word "books." I'll come back and post a link if I ever find its origins.