Sandi Shilhanek | Retail Therapy

On Tuesday I let my emotions get the best of me and stormed out of my job in the direct vision of my boss, and quite possibly other employees. Did I care? No, not really. Was I thinking sanely? More than likely I wasn’t. What did I do next? What any self respecting woman/bookaholic might do I took myself out for some retail therapy.

Where else would a self proclaimed bookaholic go for retail therapy, but to the bookstore? My reason for going to the bookstore was really twofold….one in my haste to leave school I had left my book, and two who knew what new treasures might be awaiting me?

I went to Half Price Books, a chain store that sells used books, music, DVD’s etc. If you’re just going to wander and don’t have a specific title in mind you might be able to spend hours and hours in the store. If however you want a specific title and don’t find it your disappointment might be so overpowering that you leave the store almost immediately.

The book I was hoping to find a replacement for was Behind The Shadows by Patricia Potter. Unfortunately for me they didn’t have it. I was fortunate instead to find Taming The Fire by Sydney Croft and Vision in White by Nora Roberts. Finding these two books while exciting does produce a whole new set of problems. Do I feel elation about the additions to the TBR pile or do I feel sorrow for the books that are destined to be sucked into a deep dark hole quite possibly to never be seen again?

Do you have an opinion? Do you use retail therapy to ease your emotions be they good, bad, or indifferent? If you can answer yes to either of these questions then please comment and share either that opinion about how I should be feeling with great books in the TBR or what your last retail therapy purchase was.

Until next week I wish you happy page turning.

Sandi Shilhanek | Discovering a New Author

In several of my yahoo groups the conversation tends to run to discovering a new to you author. As you can imagine being dedicated readers someone in the group has usually read whichever author is being discussed, and being the eclectic readers that we are can we all agree on one good book? Of course not! That then leads to the person whose just discovered an author having to get not only one backlist book, but all of them!

Do you have an author that you can remember having to glom? I know that I was late to the party on several very popular authors. One that comes to mind is unfortunately no longer writing, but when she wrote I had to head off to the closest store and get everything she had written. Now I envy the person who is just discovering Lavyrle Spencer because she has a finite backlist!

I remember when I discovered Sandra Brown. I was on vacation, and figured that vacation money wasn’t like real money, and I could take a chance on an author I hadn’t read. I bought Mirror Image and was hooked on this author. Even all those years ago she had an extensive backlist, and I have made a serious effort to find it, and read it. Of course I’m not caught up, but I know that my TBR pile holds books I will be enjoying when I decide I need my Sandra Brown fix.

Now…how do you feel about backlists? Do you have to own everyone the author you’ve just discovered has to offer? Do you read the blurbs and only pick the ones that totally appeal? Do you even (imagine me shuddering as I typed this) ignore the backlist and just move on to the current work by a new favorite author.

Sandi
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Sandi Shilhanek | Trying a New Author

This last Wednesday our book dinner group got together. As always is there any better way to forget the horrors of the day job than by getting together with some of your closest friends to discuss not only the book or author of the night, but also what made the day so horrific.

This time our author of the hour was Linda Howard. Of course who can resist Linda Howard and the chance to visit with her even if it’s over the phone, so we had new members to join our group for dinner. Overall the group tried really hard to be on their best behavior so that the newbies wouldn’t be scared off. I would say that for the most part we were very well behaved, though I can only behave for so long before I just have to blurt something!

O.K. I digress Linda Howard was awesome. How could she not have been? I think it’s really hard to find an author who really appeals to a group as diverse as ours, and if I remember correctly everyone in the group had something they wanted to ask or just tell Linda.

Every time I leave the book dinner I go home inspired to dig through my TBR and see if there’s an unread book by the author who we chatted with. If there is nothing by the author then I have to hit the store and buy the book we discussed.

What inspires you to try a new author or a book by an author you might have read in the past and not been particularly impressed by?

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Sandi

Sandi Shilhanek | Holiday Wish List Reading

Sandi and Candy Havens Reading on Sandi's Kindle
Originally uploaded by freshfiction

Just because I told you I feel like I’m in a reading slump doesn’t mean I don’t eagerly check Amazon each week to see what titles have been released for my Kindle. My wish list is growing by leaps and bounds, and unless I suddenly decide to not only play the lottery but also win it will most likely continue to grow.

So, as I scan this list I think to myself which book are you most looking forward to? Well, that’s easy the ones I’m really looking forward to are the upcoming Virgin River books by Robyn Carr. However, I’m sure you’re most tired of me being all fan girlish over Ms. Carr, so it’s time to see whom else is on the list and who else has me totally excited to be reading again.

As it turns out I have two wish lists. One is my I want these titles that are released list, and one is my I want these titles that are upcoming list. From my released list title I am most anxious to own Silver Bells an anthology, Home for the Holiday by Lisa Plumley, and a McKettrick Christmas by Linda Lael Miller.

So it appears that I’m quite anxious to help myself into the holiday spirit by getting lost in some good reads. What is on your wish list? Are you like me and have a list of released titles, and a list of upcoming titles? What makes you move a book from the wish list to the TBR pile?

Sandi Shilhanek | TBR

I have to say I love the Internet! I learn such interesting things, and things I never knew I was truly interested in until someone either in one of my Yahoo groups mentions it, or I see it posted on a bulletin board at one of the websites I like to visit.

This week what is grabbing my attention is To Be Read piles, from here on out to be known as TBR’s. TBR’s are mentioned a lot as I visit different places, and they provoke a slew of different emotions from people.

Some people I’ve noticed are proud of their TBR’s and will gladly tell you all about how they have it organized, how much time they spend perusing it, and how it’s taken over their homes. Others are aghast that people allow books to have free range over their homes and lives, preferring to limit themselves to a small number.

Me? Well, my TBR is vast and definitely has overtaken the space in my small home. I unfortunately don’t have it organized well at all, and when I see or read about people who have alphabetized or arranged by publisher, or by size their TBR piles I want to say, “Hey don’t you realize that takes time, and you could be reading instead?” Then when I get over that I want to say, “Would you like to come organize my pile?”

I’m curious do you have a TBR? How old do you think the oldest book in the pile is? How often do you cull it? Is it a pile or more like a mountain range? Are your friends amazed by it? Have they given you a wish list based on it?

I will share that I don’t think I could read my TBR in my lifetime. I plan on it being my children’s inheritance. I’m sure that there’s a book or two, or even maybe a hundred that might be worth something on the open market. I will not ever admit to how many actual books the TBR contains, because isn’t it already enough to have admitted that it’s not in any way organized?

So now that you know something about my TBR I have some questions about yours.
I’m curious do you have a TBR? How old do you think the oldest book in the pile is? How often do you cull it? Is it a pile or more like a mountain range? Are your friends amazed by it? Have they given you a wish list based on it?