An Abundance of Authors

I can't remember the last time I did a meme, but after reading a few posts from some of my favourite book bloggers, I was inspired to participate this week. Plus really, I'll take any excuse to take pictures of my books. Today's prompt from The Broke and the Bookish is to list the top ten authors we own the most books of.  If you didn't already know, I own a lot of books, so I was immediately curious to see which authors would make the cut. Interestingly enough, it's not necessarily my favourite authors whose books I own the most of.

1. Diana Gabaldon: 10 - I own 6 in hardcover and a few duplicates in paperback. Because who knows which format I'll want to read them in.

2. Robert Fulghum: 8 - I first discovered Fulghum's books when I was 14 and spent a good chunk of my summer vacation in Croatia on my grandparent's farm. Teenage me filled page after page in a journal reflecting on the wise words. Oh teenage me. 

3. J.K. Rowling: 6 - All the Harry Potter books minus 1. Confession: I have yet to make my way through this entire series. Maybe when Sully is old enough to read the books with me?

4. Wally Lamb: 5 - The only one I haven't read is the collection of short stories by women from York Correctional Institution in Connecticut where Lamb taught (teaches?) a writing workshop. 

5. Amy Tan: 5 - I love Amy Tan. Love her. Still keeping my eye out at thrift and second hand book stores for a hardcover copy of The Joy Luck Club. 

6. Emily Giffin: 5 - One of my guilty, chick-lit pleasures. 

I own 4 books of several other authors, so honourable mentions go to: Agatha Christie, Lori Lansens, Stephanie Meyer (I know, I know!), Christopher Paolini, Jenny Han, Nicholas Sparks (stop judging!), Jennifer Weiner, and Rebecca Wells. 

Tell me: Which authors dominate your bookshelves? Let me know in the comments! 

I'm an easy sell if...

Hosted by The Broke and the Bookish

This weeks Top Ten Tuesday list is words or topics that instantly make you buy or pick up a book. At first I was like, "this is too hard, I'll never come up with 10", but turns out I'm a pretty easy sell if your book consists of (or promises to consist of) any of the following:

1. Eating Disorders: I have been fascinated by eating disorders for as long as I can remember. Whether it be  fiction or non-fiction, I will probably read/buy it.

2. The Holocaust: I wouldn't say I'm a huge history buff, but I find World War II, and more specifically, The Holocaust, utterly interesting, fascinating and haunting. I will read pretty much anything about it that I can get my hands on.

3. Pit Bulls: As this misunderstood breed is garnering more and more attention, I find there are more and more books cropping up about this breed, in both fiction and non-fiction. I am a huge dog-lover, but my heart lies with the bully breeds and I am always excited to see a book that features them. 

4. Medical Topics: And it's not just because I am a nurse! Mental illness, physical illness/disability, legal issues relating to medical issues - you name it, I'll probably add it to my physical TBR if I haven't already read it.

5. Midwives: This deserved it's own category apart from medical topics because when I think of some of my favourite books, they are about midwives, and if I haven't already read it, my interest is immediately piqued if it's a story about a midwife.

6. Lori Lansens: One of my favourite authors and the author of my favourite book, The Girls. I will buy every book she publishes before I even know what it is about. And she's Canadian!

7. Autism: I have always been intrigued by this disorder (for lack of a better word), and I am always drawn to books that highlight any aspect of autism.

8. Animals as Narrators: Who hasn't ever wondered what animals are really thinking? Sadly, we will never truly know, but some authors have done a great job of portraying what we think animals are thinking.

9. The Beach: I've always been a little envious of people who own beach homes or who have the kind of life where they can spend an entire summer at a beach house. I love to read about summers spent at the beach - the descriptions of the smell and sound of the ocean, the possibilities of summer-romances - the place where the every-day noises and distractions of regular life seem to come to a stop. If I can't go there, then I can at least enjoy reading about it!

10. Books set in Canada: There's something really neat about reading a book that takes place in a city or province that I have either lived in, live in or have been to.

What words or topics instantly get YOU to pick 

up or buy a book?

Top Ten Tuesday: My Fall TBR List

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and The Bookish

I wasn't going to do Top Ten Tuesdays again this week, but then I thought maybe I could use this weeks topic of 'top ten books on your fall TBR list' to get my reading list organized for this fall. I rarely never have a reading plan in place, instead, I tend to just go to my bookshelf and grab a new book when I need one, But sometimes, this means I'll go a whole day or two without reading anything because I can't decide on what to read. Or I'll become too overwhelmed with my TBR pile to pick something. OR...I forget about the books I was so excited to read just last month. So without further ado, here are the 10 books I am challenging myself to read this fall. Most of them are no longer new, but they will be new to me! 

 
1. When God Was a Rabbit, by Sarah Winman. This is Septembers book club pick, and it is also my pick. Which means that I am hosting book club this month as well. While I think everyone should read every book club book, I definitely think you should read the book you choose!

2. We'll Always Have Summer, by Jenny Han. This is the 3rd book in the Summer I Turned Pretty trilogy and I absolutely loved the first two. I'm excited to finish this series.

3. Love Anthony, by Lisa Genova. My boss received an ARC of this book which comes out this month, but decided it wasn't for her. She passed it along to me, feeling the subject matter is much more up my alley. I'd love to finally read a book *before* it's released. I've never had this opportunity because I've never asked for or received an ARC before.

The Tower of TBR

My husband and I were supposed to be in Nova Scotia right now for a holiday, but ended up having to move the trip to the end of September. The next few books are the books that I was saving for the trip and would like to read while I am there.

4. Summer Sisters, by Judy Blume. I've never read this book of Judy Blume's before. When I was getting ready to leave for my destination wedding last November, I asked Twitter for "beach-read" recommendations. (Ha! Silly me, thinking I would have time to read during my wedding...!) Anyway, a conversation occurred in which a friend of my SIL's highly recommended Summer Sisters, but my SIL was like "ugh, do not read that book" (or maybe it was the other way around, I can't remember). Either way, of course it made me want to read it all that much more to decide for myself, you know? I found an old paperback copy at Value Village a few months ago and it's been sitting on my shelf ever since.

5. On the Island, by Tracey Garvis Graves. I have read nothing but amazing reviews on other blogs about this book. When I picked it up for super-cheap at Costco one day, I decided I wanted to save it for the long plane ride to Nova Scotia. Flying is one of my favourite times to read, and I wanted to ensure I had an unputdownable book with me.

6. The Age of Miracles, by Karen Thompson Walker. This cover was constantly catching my eye from the shelves at the bookstore, but the synopsis on the front flap didn't really grab my attention. Then I read a really great review of this book on Bookosaur that pretty much had me purchasing the book the next day!

7. The Thorn Birds, by Colleen McCullough. My mother-in-law gave me this book several months ago. She said she had been keeping her eye out for it at thrift stores as she really wants me to read it. I generally cringe at the sight of old mass market paperbacks, but then a little discussion with her and a little research on this book had me bumping it up on my TBR list.


I know to most people, four books for a 10-day vacation doesn't seem like a lot, but I'll be lucky if I read two of the four. I always take more books with me than I will read because I hate running out of the things to read when I am travelling. How much reading I get done will really depend on how much we do in Nova Scotia. I can't read in the car so that takes away a large chunk of possible reading time.


8. The One and Only Ivan, by Katherine Applegate. I have had my eye on this book sine January. I even ordered myself a hard cover copy! But I'm a little nervous to read it as books about animals are almost always sad.

9. Miss Peregrine's Home For Peculiar Children, by Ransom Riggs. I bought this book months ago because it's cover and pages are beautiful and eerie at the same time. I figure it will be a good Halloween read this fall!

10. Gone Girl, by Gillian Flynn. I don't think I need to say much about this book. It's been all over book blogs and best seller lists this past month. I picked up a copy at Costco the other week and can't wait to read it. I may take it with me to Nova Scotia if I don't get to it before then. 


So there we go! Hopefully now that I've put it down on paper the internet for everyone to see, I'll feel more accountable to sticking with my list. Unfortunately, at the speed I'm reading books these days, these ten books *could* potentially take me to the end of the year to read! Yikes. Or maybe this list will encourage and prevent me from wasting time in between books!

Tell me: What books are on your must-read list for the fall?

Top Ten Tuesday - Bookish Confessions

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. I've never participated in a Top Ten Tuesday post before, but that's because I usually can't think of 10 things to list. This Tuesday's post was different. Everyone bookworm has bookish confessions - for me, it was just a matter of deciding which ones I wanted to share with you guys.

So here ya go, my top ten bookish confessions:

1.  I love hard covers. So much so, that if I own the book in soft cover and come across the hard cover at a thrift store or in the bargain section of the book stores, I will buy the hard cover to replace the soft cover.

2. Before I purchase a hard cover, I always remove the dust jacket to look at the cover/spine just to see how visually pleasing it is or isn’t. But I never actually remove the dust jackets once I get them home.

3. I was 16 years old when I read Outlander by Diana Gabaldon. I loved the book and I fell in love with Jamie Fraser. Now, 10+ years later, I am married and my husband’s name is James Fraser.  Crazy. 

4. I always have a book with me, wherever I go. Even if I’m just going over to a friend’s house – you never know - they could get a really important phone call and I’d just be sitting there for 20 minutes wishing I had a book with me. 

5. I look forward to waiting in the waiting room before appointments just so I can read my book. I also look forward to flying, just for the (mostly) uninterrupted reading time.

6. I have only read the first 3 Harry Potter Books.  I was reading them as they were being released, but then I fell behind and the movies started coming out. I told myself I wanted to re-read the first HP book before the movie and that never happened. This is what I said before each movie. And now I tell anyone who will listen that I plan to have a huge Harry Potter reading/movie watching marathon in which I will read each book, followed by its movie.  This hasn’t happened yet, but it’s on my bucket list!

7. I think it’s really weird when people don’t have any books in their home. I get it, you don’t read a lot, or you use the library, but everyone should own a few books, even if it’s just coffee table books! 

 8. It makes me sad that I will die before I can read ALL the books. When I was really young, I believed that I could read every book in the library and for a few months, I took out books starting on the top shelf of the ‘A's.  

 

9.  When my husband (boyfriend at the time) and I were moving from the East Coast of Canada, back to the West Coast, he made me lift up all my boxes of books and decide which boxes felt the heaviest. The top 10 heaviest boxes came in the truck with us because hubby didn't want to pay the movers to ship the books across the country for a second time. Seriously. I think we saved maybe 10 bucks.

10.  If I’ve been to an author reading and hear them read out-loud parts of their book, I will then read the entire book in said author’s voice.  So if they have a British accent, I will read the book with a British accent in my head.

Tell me: What are your bookish confessions?!