Top Ten Tuesday is a meme hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl, featuring a different top 10 theme each week. This week’s topic is The Ten Most Recent Additions to My Book Collection.
I’ve bought a few hardcover editions of favorite books over the last several weeks, but since those are all books that I’ve already read (and in some cases, already have in my e-library), I thought I’d focus on my greatest buying temptation: Kindle books. I can’t resist a good Kindle price break, even though the result is having more e-books than I have time to read. It’s not the worst problem to have!
Here are the ten Kindle books I’ve added most recently:
Burn by Peter Heller
Miss Benson’s Beetle by Rachel Joyce
The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin
One Perfect Couple by Ruth Ware
Ready or Not by Cara Bastone
Says Who? by Anne Curzan
The Berry Pickers by Amanda Peters
The Glory by Herman Wouk
The Secret Book of Flora Lea by Patti Callahan Henry
There’s Something About Mira by Sonali Dev
Have you read any of my recent additions? What books have you bought most recently?
It’s time for my annual end-of-year tradition — all the books I meant to read! Here’s a look back at all the books I purchased in 2024, but just didn’t get around to reading for one reason or another.
I do think I’m getting much better at keeping my purchased hard copy books under control. More and more, I’ve been leaning toward mainly buying either (a) new books by authors or in series that I know I want to own, or (b) buying hard copy books for my shelves after discovering (either through an ARC or the library) a book that I love.
Of course, I still do give in to temptation when I happen to walk into a brick-and-mortar bookstore, especially a used book store! Then all restraint goes out the window.
When it comes to physical books, I seem to have improved my track record during this past year! I bought fewer hard copies overall, and many of the hardcovers and paperbacks I purchased were copies of books I’d already read, loved, and then decided to add to my bookshelves.
In terms of e-books, there are many, many more of those purchased in 2024 but not yet read. I tend to grab copies of ebooks when I see a good deal, not necessarily when I have an immediate intention of reading them right away. So, you’ll see lots and lots of new Kindle books added in 2024… and most of them still to be read.
Let’s get to it. Here’s a salute to my unread books of 2024!
First, the hardcovers and paperbacks:
Note: I’m reading The Spellshop right now… so maybe I’ll actually finish before the end of the year!
As for the ebooks added to my Kindle library in 2024:
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Yes, that’s a ton of e-books! Keep in mind, almost all of these were purchased when their prices dropped to a dollar or two… but still, that’s way more than I really should be adding to my library, when I still have so many books yet to read. I’ll try to do better in 2025 (but also, I acknowledge that I say this every year!)
End note:
While I’m talking about “meant to read” books, I thought I’d take a look at my quarterly Top Ten Tuesday TBR posts of 2024, to see if I actually read the books I listed as my priorities each season. And guess what? I did pretty well this year! Apparently I did a good job naming books that I was truly interested in, and ended up reading all but four of the 39 books I named! (Yes, 39 is correct — one book was listed two quarters in a row, but I did finally read it!). My unread TTT/TBR books are:
Starling House by Alix E. Harrow: Still plan to read
The Thorns Remain by JJA Harwood: Still plan to read
D’Vaughn and Kris Plan a Wedding by Chencia C. Higgins: DNFd — just not for me
On Her Own by Lihi Lapid: Still plan to read
Have you read (and loved) any of my 2024 “meant-to-read” books? Please let me know if you see any you’d consider best of the bunch!
It’s time for my annual end-of-year tradition — all the books I meant to read! Here’s a look back at all the books I purchased in 2023, but just didn’t get around to reading for one reason or another.
When it comes to physical books, I seem to have improved my track record during this past year! I bought fewer hard copies overall, and many of the hardcovers and paperbacks I purchased were copies of books I’d already read, loved, and then decided to add to my bookshelves.
In terms of e-books, there are many, many more of those purchased in 2023 but not yet read. I tend to grab copies of ebooks when I see a good deal, not necessarily when I have an immediate intention of reading them right away. So, you’ll see lots and lots of new Kindle books added in 2023… and most of them still to be read.
Let’s get to it. Here’s a salute to my unread books of 2023!
First, the hardcovers and paperbacks. Several of these are illustrated/artsy versions of books I’ve already read (Tolkien-related and Harry Potter, among others)… but I’m including them here because I have yet to spend any time even looking through them.
As for the ebook added to my Kindle library in 2023:
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Whew, that’s a lot! I’ll do my best to get through my already-owned books and cut back on adding to my library in 2024… but I seem to have said that at the start of each of the past several years, and we see how well that’s worked out for me. Still, on the bright side — I have a lot of great reading to look forward to!
Have you read (and loved) any of my 2023 “meant-to-read” books? Please let me know if you see any you’d consider best of the bunch!
New year, new beginnings, new decisions, new directions…
I’m writing to announce a change here at Bookshelf Fantasies — specifically, about my Shelf Control weekly posts.
Back in 2015, I created Shelf Control and invited others to participate as well:
Shelf Control is a weekly celebration of the unread books on our shelves. Pick a book you own but haven’t read, write a post about it (suggestions: include what it’s about, why you want to read it, and when you got it), and link up!
Over the past seven years, I’ve featured 347 books from my shelves. I’ve been joined by wonderful participants, all book bloggers sharing their own variety of featured books. It’s been so much fun sharing and exchanging ideas, reading plans, and insights!
This past year, I’ve noticed that hosting a weekly book blog meme has occasionally started to feel more like an obligation and less like pure enjoyment. I’ve written in the past about my strong belief that book blogging should be a source of fun and happiness, and if it ever starts to feel like work, then I should reconsider what I’m doing. I still love the idea of Shelf Control, but I think it’s about time for me to cut back on commitments and just post when the inspiration strikes.
For that reason, it’s time for me to pass the reins to a new host!
I’m delighted to announce that Mallika at Literary Potpourri will be “adopting” the Shelf Control meme and will become its new host! Mallika has been the most involved participant in Shelf Control over the years, and her book selections are always fascinating.
I’ll still participate in the meme, but I love the idea of contributing now and then, rather than feeling forced to find a new book to feature week in and week out. So, look for my posts… just not necessarily every week.
Thank you to one and all who’ve participated by sharing your own Shelf Control posts and/or commenting on mine! Your thoughts, comments, and insights have meant so much to me.
Please join me in thanking Mallika for taking over Shelf Control, and please check in at Literary Potpourri for future Shelf Control posts!
Welcome to Shelf Control — an original feature created and hosted by Bookshelf Fantasies.
Shelf Control is a weekly celebration of the unread books on our shelves. Pick a book you own but haven’t read, write a post about it (suggestions: include what it’s about, why you want to read it, and when you got it), and link up! For more info on what Shelf Control is all about, check out my introductory post, here.
Want to join in? Shelf Control posts go up every Wednesday. See the guidelines at the bottom of the post, and jump on board!
A few years ago already, I shared my intention to do a “taking stock” Shelf Control post on an annual basis, to see how many of the books that I’ve featured as Shelf Control picks I’ve actually ended up reading.
Well… that was in 2019, and I only just remembered that I’d intended to make it a yearly tradition! Oops.
Better late than never — so here I am, at the end of 2022, ready to do a little tallying.
In 2022, I shared 47 Shelf Control posts.
Of those 47:
I have read a grand total of TWO books.
There are FIFTEEN that I’d put into the “unlikely to read” category. Upon reflection, I just don’t feel all that interested in taking the time to read them.
Some of these may end up in my donation pile, whenever I get around to doing another bookshelf purge.
Keep in mind, that’s just the 2022 selection of Shelf Control books!
Going back to when I first started this weekly feature (in 2015 — I can’t quite believe I’ve been doing these post for that long!) my stats are a little intimidating:
Total Shelf Control books so far: 347 Number of Shelf Control books I’ve read since posting about them: 33 Number of Shelf Control books donated or otherwise discarded: 63 Number of Shelf Control books that I doubt I’ll ever read (I still have them, but they may be next to go): 61
Which means:
Of the books I’ve featured, I have…
190 books still to read!
Which just goes to show that these Shelf Control posts do seem to help me in some way — they at least force me to really think about the books on my shelves, and eventually decide if I’m still interested. Although as my stats show, the most probably outcome for my Shelf Control books (particularly those I’ve owned for more than a year or two) is that I’m unlikely to actually read or keep them, when push comes to shove.
Still, this isn’t necessarily a negative. Since I don’t seem to ever quite stop adding to my home library, getting a bit of organization and motivation to donate the books I don’t intend to read is really a good thing.
Onward to 2023! Let’s see how my shelves are looking a year from now.
Happy New Year!
And for those doing a regular Shelf Control post this week:
It’s time for my annual end-of-year tradition — all the books I meant to read! Here’s a look back at all the books I purchased in 2022, but just didn’t get around to reading for one reason or another.
And… oops… I did manage to order a few more that are set to arrive later this week, but I’ll just go ahead and consider them 2023 purchases!
When it comes to physical books, I seem to have improved my track record during this past year! I bought fewer hard copies overall, and of the ones I did buy, I actually read quite a few (so they’re not included in this post).
In past years, this round-up post only included physical books (hardcovers and paperbacks), but I thought it might be fun (or embarrassing or daunting or overwhelming…) to also include all the e-books I added to my Kindle library but haven’t read yet.
Here’s a salute to my unread books of 2022!
First, the hardcovers and paperbacks:
And now, the Kindle books purchased in 2022. (In my defense, I tend to grab books I’m interested in when I see a good price drop… so most of these were deals that I snatched up, not necessarily books that I intended to read immediately and then just didn’t get to). My 2022 e-books:
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So, if I prioritized reading all of these 2022 book purchases in 2023… that would take up most of the year! I’ll give it a fair shot — and will try to stick to just buying the books I know I’ll read right away.
Have you read (and loved) any of my 2022 “meant-to-read” books? Please let me know if you see any you’d consider best of the bunch!
Top Ten Tuesday is a meme hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl, featuring a different top 10 theme each week. This week’s topic is Most Recent Additions to My Book Collection. I did buy a LOT of books at the end of 2021 — but I think I’ve share most of those already.
Usually, I build these posts around my physical books purchases, but to switch things up, here are my 10 most recent additions to my Kindle library:
Have you read any of these? Which ones do you think should be my priorities to read?
If you posted a TTT list this week, please share your link!
It’s time for my annual end-of-year tradition — all the books I meant to read! Here’s a look back at all the books I purchased in 2021, but just didn’t get around to reading for one reason or another.
To keep things simple, I’m focusing here on new physical books I bought or received as gifts — no ARCs, no e-books, no $1 books from the library sale or used copies picked up along the way.
Here’s a salute to my unread books of 2021!
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Onward to 2022 — when I hope to get through all of these 2021 books that I’ve neglected so far.
I don’t typically do book haul posts, but this week’s book-buying activity calls for an exception! I stumbled across Amazon’s 3-for-2 book sale purely by accident. (Sneaky Amazon — I didn’t see an actual promotion for the sale, but came across it while looking up a book that happened to be included).
I started small — just 3 books added to my cart. But then I saw more that I wanted… and more… and more. Some of these books have been on my wish list for quite some time, some are new releases that caught my eye, and some are books that I’d read as either e-books or library books, but really wanted my own copies.
I think I’m in serious need of a book buying ban from here on out (but who am I kidding? that’ll never happen!).
So, for those counting, that’s 20 new books! I believe there were six sets of 3 for the price of 2, plus one set of buy one, get one 50% off. My credit card is very tired now.
As you can see, I got a mix of contemporary, sci fi, fantasy, romance, and even a couple of non-fiction new releases.
Here’s a closer look at the covers of all my new preciouses:
It’s time for my annual end-of-year tradition — all the books I meant to read! Here’s a look back at all the books I purchased in 2020, but just didn’t get around to reading for one reason or another.
To keep things simple, I’m focusing here on new physical books I bought or received as gifts — no ARCs, no e-books, no $1 books from the library sale or used copies picked up along the way.
Bookshelf Fantasies 