It occurred to me recently that I can't be the only bibliophile who's jonesing for a book browsing fix. Unfortunately, our favorite hangouts like bookstores and libraries are closed to us during this pandemic. How can book lovers stay safe yet still get to wander through shelf after shelf of lovely, lovely books?
How about a virtual browse?
I know it's not as good as the real thing, but it couldn't hurt to give it a try, right? To this end, I'm willing to let you browse my own To-Be-Read shelves (ever afterward referred to as TBR). You can see what this mystery lover has on her shelves, come across new-to-you books and authors, and wonder why in the world haven't I got any of ____________'s books on my shelves.
Here is a photo I took yesterday afternoon. It shows the vast majority of my TBR, so when I say that I really didn't need that "survival" box from The Poisoned Pen, you'll know I wasn't lying.
I've kept the file sizes on all these photos intentionally large so that you can manipulate them to see whatever you want to see on whatever device you use. I'll have you know that I personally (and all by my lonesome) put together all the shelves you see in the photo back in the 1980s after I bought this house. If you look all the way down to the end, you can just barely see a table. That's the table from the craft room. I love it, not only because it's such a good size and very useful but because it also folds in half which makes it extremely versatile. (Yes, I put the table together, too. I'm a huge fan of flat-pack furniture.)
I'll share my TBR with you, one bookcase at a time, but until I see how you're going to react to this, today, I'm just going to share one shelf with you: the one TBR here in the office. It usually houses the newest additions or ones I've moved in from the living room to remind me that I really want to read them ASAP. Let's take a look!
The Office TBR |
Remember, you can click or tap or whatever it is you do to enlarge the photo so you can actually read the titles and authors. If you can't quite tell what a specific book is, leave a comment saying something like "Cathy, what's that book that's the fourth from the left?" and I'll tell you. Easy peasy.
What say you? Any books here that you've read? Any books that you want to read? Any books that surprised you? Talk to me! You know that inquiring minds are dying to know!
And... now that you've got a taste, do you want to browse the rest of my TBR? Let me know!
I looked over your office TBR books, and the only one I read was Deadland. I look forward to the reviews of the others though.
ReplyDeleteAnd I love how book lovers are focused on finding and reading bood books during a pandemic. I think I may have to buy some more. Although I have a TBR stack, I don't think a juicy mystery is there, and I need a Steve Cavanaugh or the newest Elly Griffiths, Donna Leon Susie Steiner or perhaps Jane Casey.
My bedroom books are ones I have read, and the huge living room bookshels holds mostly fiction I've read or nonfiction which I mostly haven't read.
Right now I have no qualms about buying books because bookstores need our help so badly.
DeleteI must add another "Dead Land," this one by Sara Paretsky about to be available.
ReplyDeleteThat seems to be a rather common title. I'll have to check into that...
DeleteWhat a great idea to share your shelve, Cathy! Thanks. I like that feeling of getting to know online friends a little better, especially now, when we're locked down physically. And there's no better way than peeking at people's bookshelves!
ReplyDeleteAh yes-- you can tell an awful lot about a person by looking at what's on his/her bookshelves!
DeleteJust for future reference, I ALWAYS want to see other people's bookshelves. The only thing that surprises me about this shelf is how few of them I'm familiar with. Only the Obreht is on my own TBR. Thanks for the taste!
ReplyDeleteYou're welcome-- and your preference to see more always is duly noted!
DeleteI own a couple of the books on your shelf and want to own more. They are all unread. I've got Unsub and Westering Women. I've read the first two books by Joe Ide. I can't believe I don't own Little Black Lies by Sharon Bolton. Must rectify that. I also have read a couple of Rebecca Cantrell's series, but not A Game of Lies. By the way, as I was researching I noticed that the first book in that Cantrell series, A Trace of Smoke, looks to be 'FREE' on Amazon. Just FYI for anyone interested.
ReplyDeleteSo, I like this feature and would love to see all your shelves. My only impulse is to crawl through there and put them in 'library' order. I'm really missing volunteering at the library. LOL
I wondered if anyone would notice that they're not in library order! LOL You shouldn't have too much trouble with the ones in the living room-- they're all alphabetical by the author's name.
DeleteMy only concern is the budget, my credit card bill. I feel like I must go through the TBR stacks before I buy any more books. Oh, but that's such a strict policy imposed on myself and this crisis does call for breaking the rules for books and chocolate.
ReplyDeleteYes, it does.
DeleteWhat a wonderful idea! I enjoyed my virtual browse - you've reminded me that I've already got Cantrell and Shaw on my 'to read' list, so I'll be looking into those. And I had not heard of Skull in the Ashes before - that sounds interesting.
ReplyDeleteI just finished reading William Shaw's Deadland, and it's made my Best Reads of 2020 list. I hope you give him a try soon (and start with The Birdwatcher if you can).
DeleteI'm so glad Deadlands made your Best Reads of 2020 list. I enjoyed it, too, and was irked when the phone rang while I was reading it.
ReplyDeleteI can't wait until Shaw's next book in this series. I would buy it. I agree to start with The Birdwatcher, an excellent read.
I'll look out for his next book and also Sara Paretsky will have her newest V.I. Warshawski book out which has the same title as Shaw's.
I was going to pre-order the next book through Amazon UK, but they are filling overseas orders anymore, probably due to the pandemic. I pre-ordered it through Amazon US, and they can't make up their minds if the book title is Grave's End or Low Places.
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