September Reads...

Hey - it's still October and it looks like I just made it with my September reads. (Let's pretend okay?) The above picture is one I took on a trip a couple of weeks ago to Flagstaff and the campus of Northern Arizona University. Yes, the leaves actually change up there and we were even told they had snow already. But sadly it was gone when we got there. It was a fun overnight trip I took with my teen who is considering going to NAU next year. She did get accepted but hasn't decided yet. There might be a few more trips in the future to other campuses. It was a fun girls only road trip. Sadly, I forgot to bring my camera and had to reply on the cell phone.

Audiobooks

1. Finding Perfect/Susan Mallery/Contemp/B
2. Sunset Bay/Susan Mallery/Contemp/B-
3. Seduced by Shadows/Jessa Slade/PNR/C+
4. Forged of Shadows/Jessa Slade/PNR/C

Not many audiobooks in September and I don't remember why. September seems a distance memory already. LOL I am all caught up with the Susan Mallery series and frankly, I'm ready for a break. Recently I've been listening to Sarah Addision Allen's audiobooks but that will have to wait until next month's list.

Print/Electronic Books

1. A Night to Surrender/Tessa Dare/Historical/A
2. Bad Boys Do/Victoria Dahl/Contemp/A-
3. Atlantis Betrayed/Alyssa Day/PNR/A-
4. Animal Attraction/Jill Shalvis/Contemp/A-
5. Doubleblind/Ann Aguirre/SciFi/B+
6. Her Colorado Man/Cheryl St. John/Historical/B+
7. Forever/Maggie Stiefvater/YA/B+
8. Giving Chase/Lauren Dane/Contemp/B
9. Unleashed/Sara Humphreys/PNR/B
10. Soldier on Her Doorstep/Soraya Lane/Contemp/B
11. Archangel's Blade/Nalini Singh/PNR/B
12. Outside In/Maria V. Snyder/YA/B
13. Tempted by His Target/Jill Sorenson/RS/B
14. Everything I Know About Love I Learned From Romance Novels/Sarah Wendell/Nonfiction/B

The Numbers

Contemporary ~ 4
Historical ~ 2
Non-Fiction ~ 1
PNR ~ 3
RS ~ 1
SciFi ~ 1
YA ~ 2

Format

Print ~ 10
E-Book ~ 4

Pretty good month and now that I'm looking back, I'm starting to remember some wonderful reads. LOL I don't seem to have any one sub-genre that I'm sticking to lately which is good since maybe I won't get burnt out on any of them.

This year, and I say this every year, I'm going to get a short list of holiday themed romances to read, yep, during the holidays. So far on the list is the anthology Snowflakes and Stetsons by Jillian Hart, Carol Finch and Cheryl St. John and reviewed here by Hilcia over at Impressions... of a Reader. The rest on the list will come from the ever growing TBR pile. I figure it's a good way to get in the holiday mood or possibly keep me sane and carve away at the TBR pile before it takes over the house.

So how about you - do you enjoy reading holiday themed romances around the holidays or do you read them anytime of the year?

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