Help, my books have taken over the house

…So I need to add on a room!

By Jeff Salter

It’s New Year’s Eve so I really feel I should say at least something about the year that ends tonight and the one which begins after midnight. But that’s not our topic, so if you’re interested in my notions about resolutions – and other aspects of new years – please check out this link to my NY post for start of 2013 (which also flashes back to NY 2012)

https://fourfoxesonehound.wordpress.com/2013/01/03/another-new-year-already/

But our topic this week is about those TBR (to be read) lists – or, for some of us, actual physical piles of books – which we’ve either bought or want to buy — but somehow have not yet found time to read.

To explain what composes most of my TBR, I need to back up some 15-17 years ago when I joined the History Book Club and the Military Book Club. That was really dangerous, because they made hardcover books so affordable that I could not pass up the titles that interested me. Their regular offerings were tempting enough, but they’d also have frequent sales, like three hardcovers for $33 (with free shipping). And when they really wanted to nail me, they’d offer FOUR hardcovers for $40 (with free shipping). Folks, I developed an entire library of military and history books! [[[ I guess I should stop here and explain that my main hobby – after I had to give up golf – was collecting and displaying military gear. So, in a real sense, these books were part of my research. ]]]

Rick Atkinson

Anyway, over the several years I was enrolled in HBC and MBC, I amassed quite a collection. I’ve read many of them, of course, but have two high stacks of others that I want to read. It would take days to type all the titles, so let me – for the purposes of today’s blog – just mention one particular set – the Liberation Trilogy by Rich Atkinson. I read the first of these – on America’s involvement in the North Africa campaign of WW2 – and was hooked. As soon as the other two titles became available, I snapped them up. They are quite lengthy, so it’s not something I want to read in bits and pieces — I want a long, uninterrupted weekend to tackle each one!

Bill Bryson

Another author – totally unconnected to my military hobby – also specializes in history (at times) but nearly everything he writes is also quite humorous. I stumbled upon his work when my daughter loaned me a book her sister-in-law had loaned her. As I read “A Walk in the Woods” – now a motion picture with Robert Redford and Nick Nolte – I laughed until I cried. That led me to read some five or six other Bryson titles and that’s hardly half of the ones he’s published. So, naturally, I want to carve out the time to read the others. Some are in my Mom’s collection, so I can borrow them whenever I wish.

My colleagues

I have purchased – or, sometimes, won in drawings – numerous books (mostly digital format) from friends, colleagues, or other acquaintances in the very broad (and often misunderstood) array which some folks find easier to label as ROMANCE. Some are possibly similar to what you might expect by that category, but most of these friends, colleagues, and acquaintances have written and published stories that are so much more than conventional wisdom imagines “romance” to include. There is depth of character, richness of plot, freshness of approach, and – in many cases – creative blends of multiple genres.

Of course, I’ve already read many of these, but have hundreds more stacked up to read — when I find time. From those I have already read, I can tell you these authors are VERY talented!

Question:

What about you? Got any special title or titles that you’ve been hankering to read?

[JLS # 260]