No Good Deed...

goes unpunished. Isn't that how the saying goes? Well, I tried. I really do want to decrease the tbr pile but the fates always conspire against me. I went by Goodwill yesterday to drop off some of the kids clothes they've outgrown. As I pulled into the parking lot I see this huge sign in the window ~ 50% Off Everything! As in everything in the store. I ask you, how could I not go in?

It was very crowded but I bravely made my way to the books. :) While I didn't find anything on my list, I always have the list in the car, I did find some potential good reads. The paperbacks were $1 and the hardcovers were $1.50. That's after the 50% off. I already have Kinsale's Flowers from the Storm in paperback, decided to get the hardcover because I just love that Fabio cover!

I've never read anything by Zoe Archer, Liz Carlyle, Janet Chapman or Katharine Kincaid. Brockway, Enoch, McKinney and Michaels I've read in the past and like. So, did I get any good ones?

Something completely unrelated to books. I saw this truly terrifying commercial last night. What are these people thinking, broadcasting something like this without a warning! Why, oh why, won't they think of the children, or the adults who get freaked out by by this shit.




And in case anyone was wondering - we're still shopping for the flat screen tv. We tend to take a long time with big purchases. :)

September Book Spending Results

For the month of September I kept track of my book spending. I made a list of each book and how much it cost. I wasn't too surprise by how much I spent. I think it would have been more had I not been keeping track. The number of books did surprise me. Now I know why my TBR pile has become a monster.

The numbers:

The most spent on one book ~ $2.99.

The least spent on one book ~ 0.50.

Total number of books ~ 40.

The grand total spent ~ $50.46 USD

All are used but in good shape, some look like new, some like they've only been read once. A few are a bit yellowed with age and have a bit of that "old book" smell. I did plan to buy C. L. Wilson's King of Sword and Sky which would have put me close to $60 but I still haven't made it to the bookstore.

Some of my favorite finds:

Hawkins Heart by Suzanne Brockmann. I have been looking for this book for a very long time. It's part of Brockmann's Tall, Dark and Dangerous series about SEAL Team Ten. It's one of the few in the series that I didn't have.

A Long Fatal Love Chase by Louisa May Alcott. I've read Little Women and it's one of my favorite books as well as a favorite movie (the 1933 version with Hepburn) but I've never read A Long Fatal Love Chase. I don't remember what blog I read about it only that someone posted that it was one of their favorite books. The title stayed with me so when I saw it I grabbed it.

Forever in My Heart by Jo Goodman. First, Jo Goodman is one of my favorite authors. Second, on our last move I lost at least one, maybe two boxes of books (damn movers). Yep, Goodman's were among them. Also among some of the missing were books by Jo Beverly, Cynthia Wright, Laura Kinsale and Kathleen Woodiwiss. I'm slowly replacing them so I was please to find a Goodman that I didn't have.

A Rose in Winter by Kathleen Woodiwiss. Same reason as the Goodman.

Irresistible, Slightly Dangerous and Under the Mistletoe all by Mary Balogh. They're Baloghs I don't have and I want them all. : )

Three Weddings and a Kiss. Stories by Woodiwiss, Kleypas, Chase and Anderson. Talk about some wonderful writers. Although I haven't read any of Chase's. I have all but one of her books. Need to get to those.

Here is the final list for books purchased in September. The few duplicates I will either take to the UBS or give to friends.

American Gods, Neil Gaiman
The Historian, Elizabeth Kostova, TPB
The Serpent's Shadow, Mercedes Lackey, HC
The Thirteenth Tale, Diane Setterfield, TPB
Art of War, Sun Tzu, TPB
Don't Let Go, Marliss Melton
How to Propose to a Prince, Kathryn Caskie
In Bed with the Devil, Lorraine Heath
8 Sandpiper Way, Debbie Macomber ~ duplicate
Forever in my Heart, Jo Goodman
An Honorable Thief, Anne Gracie
Dying to Please, Linda Howard, HC
Venetia, Georgette Heyer
Into the Fire, S. Brockmann, HC
Long Fatal Love Chase, L.M. Alcott, HC
Slightly Dangerous, Mary Balogh
Pretties, Scott Westerfeld, TPB
Hawken's Heart, S. Brockmann
The Edge of Desire, Stephanie Laurens
A Fragile Trust, Helen Kirkman
The Duke Next Door, Celeste Bradley
Agnes & the Hitman, J. Cruise/Bob Mayer
Love Letters from a Duke, Elizabeth Boyle
Under the Mistletoe, Mary Balogh
Midnight Rainbow/Diamond Bay, Linda Howard
The Bean Trees, Barbara Kingsolver
A Rose in Winter, Kathleen Woodiwiss
Crazy for You, Jennifer Cruise ~ duplicate
Irresistible, Mary Balogh
One Perfect Rose, Mary Jo Putney, HC/pb size
Born in Shame, Nora Roberts
Three Weddings & a Kiss, Woodiwiss, Kleypas, Chase, Anderson
Somebody's Lover, Jasmine Haynes, TPB
The Velvet Chair, Jennifer Stevenson
Once a Pirate, Susan Grant ~ duplicate
After Glow, Jayne Castle
Draycott Eternal, Christina Skye
Before the Scandal, Suzanne Enoch
The Macgregor Grooms, Nora Roberts ~ duplicate
Morning Comes Softly, Debbie Macomber ~ duplicate

How Much Money?

So I'm wondering how much money is too much to spend on books? $50 a month? $100 a month? I guess it all really depends on your income and expenses and of course your book obsession.

When organizing my books over this past weekend it hit me how many books I own that I haven't read. It's closing in at 200 and at the rate I've been buying books it won't be much longer before I pass that mile marker. I do get lucky and find most of my books used and pay anywhere from .50(library) to half price(UBS).

But really, things have gotten out of control...




So I've decided to find out how much I really spend in a given month. I'm keeping a book buying log. It's nothing fancy just a list of what books I buy, where I buy them and how much I pay for them. I'm keeping it on my spreadsheet with my budget since that seemed like the most logical place. I've also started keeping track of my grocery spending since that has gotten out of hand as well. (Sam's Club is dangerous I tell you, dangerous.)

So how much have I spent so far this month? $6.48. Want to know what I got?






The Gaiman(0.50) was mass market size, the Lackey(1.00) was hardcover and the rest were trade paperbacks(Kostova 1.00, Setterfield 1.99, Tzu 1.99). All used, all in good shape with very little creasing and little or no fading.

The only new books I'm planning to buying this month are Faefever (hardcover, ouch) and King of Sword and Sky. So not too expensive and IMO well worth it.

I'm going to try to keep the spending under $50. We'll see if I can do it or if I totally blow it.