Tag: Curiosity Killed the Cat

Organization

Posted November 29, 2010 by Holly in Discussions | 12 Comments

We’ve finished moving. I have some light cleaning left to do at our old house, a few odds and ends to put away here and all of my books left to unpack. The new house is approximately double the size of our old house. There’s tons of storage, huge rooms and an amazing amount of natural light. It’s wonderful.

Except we gave up a room in moving. Our old house was a 3 bedroom, 2 bath with a den. This new house is a 3 bedroom, 3 bath with a sunroom. The problem with the sunroom is that it’s totally open to the rest of the house. The entire back wall of the house (which is the sunroom) is windows. The inside wall is made up of double glass doors into the living room, a large window into the living room and a huge doorway into the dining room. This leaves me with one full wall (the wall separating the sunroom between the main living area and the master bedroom) of free space for bookshelves – and it isn’t very big.

This is the back wall of the sunroom. I had to angle the shelves in order to make them fit (it was my SIL’s suggestion). I actually like how they look, but..where am I supposed to put the rest of the shelves? I have four more that need to go somewhere.

There’s extra space in the living room where I can set up a reading nook. But it isn’t large enough to hold more than one or two small shelves. So, again..where do I put the rest? The shorter shelves I can line up against the back wall of the sunroom under the windows I guess, but that means buying more shelves since I only have 2 short ones right now. Not that I have a problem with that, but MM might.

That isn’t my only dilemma. I’m also not sure how I should organize them. I used to have a set shelves for my collections (authors I’ve glommed over the years – Linda Howard, Hannah Howell, Lisa Kleypas, etc), one for my keepers that weren’t gloms (maybe just one or two books by the same author), one for my hardcovers/trade paperbacks and a set for my TBR pile/review books. Do I keep them the same way? Since I’ll be using shorter shelves that means less books per shelf. Which means my collections will be spread out farther. Not a big deal, but I like having everything together.

Because I’m nosy and looking for inspiration, how about a quick survey? Feel free to answer the questions here in the comments or on your own site with a link here so I can read it.

1. How do you have your books organized? Do you alphabetize by author, keep your gloms together or jumble them all up in a way only you recognize?
2. Where do you keep your books? Do you have a room for them or are they scattered all over the house?
3. Do you separate your hardbacks and trade paperbacks, or shelve them with your mass market paperbacks?
4. Do you proudly display your books in the main part of the house, or keep them hidden in a closet or bedroom?
5. Like me, do you dream of having a library, like the one in Beauty and the Beast?


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Short Stories

Posted November 17, 2010 by Holly in Discussions | 7 Comments

Last week I reread Strangers in the Night by Linda Howard. The book is made up of 3 short stories; Blue Moon, Lake of Dreams and Whiteout. None of the three are very long – I think the longest is just over 100 pages (I packed the book, so I can’t verify).

I know many readers don’t like short stories and novella collections (anthologies), either by one author or many. I’ve always liked them. I think it’s a great way to discover new authors or keep up with some favorites between full length releases. They’re also great if you’re pressed for time or in the mood for something quick.

Not all authors can write short stories well, however. It’s hard to make a romance believable with a short page count. I think Howard is a master at this. Regardless of the page count, she has the ability to draw readers in and engage them emotionally (or at least she does me).

Take Whiteout for example. A woman alone, stranded at a mountain resort during a blizzard. A stranger who ends up on her doorstep, half frozen and near-dead. She strips him naked to get him warm, then hijinks ensue. Hope should have seemed like a complete slut. She had sex with a man before she ever even spoke to him. She knew nothing about him – not his name, occupation, marital status, nothing. But she didn’t come across as a slut. Howard really made the story work, pulling the reader in and making the circumstances allow for behavior we wouldn’t normally find acceptable. That takes major talent.

Meljean Brook is another author who can write emotionally compelling short stories. In Sheep’s Clothing is a very short story she wrote for the Mammoth Book of Paranormal Romance (it has been re-released in the Under Her Skin anthology). I bought the Mammoth Book of PNR just for Meljean’s story and I wasn’t disappointed. Though the page count was very small, Brook created a fantastical blend of romance and story. I believed fully in the relationship and the mystery. Not a small thing, considering.

How do you feel about short stories? Do you like it when authors tease us with novellas between full-length releases? Do you find new authors through them? What authors do you think excel at writing short stories? Are there any you don’t care for?

PS: Check out the poll on the sidebar.


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Sound Off – Where Are You From?

Posted June 22, 2010 by Holly in Discussions | 59 Comments

I seem to be especially nosy curious this week. Today’s question comes to you courtesy of Pearl, from Pearl’s World of Romance. For those of you who don’t know, Pearl is from the Netherlands, but she’s currently visiting the States. This past Saturday, the So Cal Book Bloggers got together and had lunch with Pearl (look for a full post to come about that later this week). It was wonderful meeting her and getting to hear about reading adventures..I especially enjoyed hearing what kind of books are available to her there.

Meeting Pearl got me to wondering, where are our readers from? I know we get visits from all over the world, but I’d like to know where, exactly, y’all are from.

So, Sound Off..tell me where you’re from and, if you’re a lurker, introduce yourself.

Hi, I’m Holly and I currently live in the desert of Southern California.

Now it’s your turn….

*image credit winxfm


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Poll: How Many Books Do You Read a Month?

Posted June 21, 2010 by Holly in Discussions | 8 Comments

As you can see from our Monthly Reads Posts, how much each of us reads varies from month to month. Even so, we each have our own average. Casee averages about 12 a month, Rowena around 10 and I average around 15. I think we all used to read a lot more than that, but now we have a lot more things that take our attention.  Our kids are getting older and are busier, our jobs (or lack thereof) are more demanding. Or spouses and/or families require more from us.

I think we do pretty well. 10-15 books a month is a pretty respectable number. Although in my opinion, reading is fabulous, period. Whether you read a book a month or a hundred books a month, the fact is, you’re reading. And that’s wonderful.

Still, being the nosy curious sort and all, I wonder, how many books do you read per month?


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Authors Taking Advantage of the Digital Market

Posted May 11, 2010 by Holly in Discussions | 1 Comment

Bestselling author M.C. Beaton (aka, Marion Chesney) has made two of her out of print historical romance series available exclusively at the Kindle store. Her Six Sisters and The Traveling Matchmaker series are available electronically for the first time for Amazon’s Kindle.

I have to say I’m glad that authors are taking advantage of the digital market to re-release some of their out of print novels. I hope more authors decide to do the same in the future.

What say you? Are you as happy as I am that authors are re-releasing in electronic format? Or are you still resistant to digital books?


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