Tuesday, July 13, 2021

My TBR Short Shelf

Last week was one of those chapters I'd rather rip out of my book. A new doctor who saw something, freaked out, and told me to hie myself off to the Emergency Room. A day spent in the Emergency Room. Another day spent getting my leg rewrapped by the same person who couldn't wrap it properly the week before. As far as the wrapping goes, do these people think Denis and I have nothing better to do than show up two or three times a week for a leg wrap? For cryin' out loud, give me the stuff and I'll put it on myself, and the darned thing will stay put!

As for the ER visit, I knew that what the new doctor suspected was not what was going on. I knew I'd be wasting my day in one of my least favorite places on the planet, but I knew it had to be done anyway. Just in case.  (Plus, my preparation worked. I now have a hospital "go bag" in case they hold me hostage. I brought that with me as well as my knitting bag with not one but two projects in it. I had both my Kindles, all the charging cords I needed... I was set for a long stay. Just try to get rid of me!

It worked. I passed all the tests with flying colors, and once those test results were in, they got rid of me so fast that my head spun (happily).

All this has left me seriously behind in my blogging. I haven't had time to do the research on my next Celebrating Mysteries with a Strong Sense of Place, and I was wondering what to do. Then I looked at the shelf on my new table here by the daybed. Then I took a picture of it. I would imagine that most of us have a pile or a stack or a shelf of books that represent the very top of the books we want to read next. I'm calling mine the TBR Short Shelf, and it will probably become a semi-regular feature.

Let's take a look. (You know me, I left the file size on the photo large so you can do what you have to do to to see what you want to see. *wink*)



Pardon the glare from some of the mylar covers on the books. Starting from the right and moving to the left, you can see-- shock!-- a book of knitting patterns for afghans, a black spine, three green spines, and a multi-colored blue spine. Two of those green spines keep track of new book releases and giveaway winners. The multi-colored one is my Kindle Fire. 

Now we can get down to the important stuff: the books. The next two books, Hairpin Bridge and Suburban Dicks, were both ones that I'd had my eye on for awhile, but watching the Taylor Adams event (with Craig Johnson!) and the Fabian Nicieza event both for The Poisoned Pen tipped the scales, and I had the bookstore send me copies. By the way, both events are Facebook videos, but you don't have to be logged in to Facebook to watch them (although they do try to get you to do it).

Mary Miley's Silent Murders is the next in her Roaring Twenties series that I want to get back to, and Tahoe Jade is Todd Borg's next Owen McKenna mystery that I'll be reading very soon-- probably as soon as I finish typing and scheduling this post. I adore Owen and Spot.

Steve Hamilton's The Lock Artist is a book that I'm partway through. It has a very interesting main character-- a young man who will not speak. I'm looking forward to finding out why as he gets himself into one scrape after another. This is another book I was compelled to buy after meeting Hamilton at The Poisoned Pen and listening to him talk about this book.

I enjoyed Riley Sager's Home Before Dark so much that when I read the synopsis of Survive the Night, I knew I had to read it, too.

Sam Sattler from Book Chase "twisted my arm" to get a copy of Michael Punke's Ridgeline to read. It took very little twisting because I've always been deeply interested in Native American history and fiction.

And now we've finally come to the last book on the right. I've been a cheerleader for William Shaw's DS Alexandra Cupidi books since The Birdwatcher, so I went looking to see if he'd written anything else. He had. She's Leaving Home is the first of his Breen and Tozer mysteries set in London in the late 1960s. And after reading Sam Sattler's review of it, I know I need to get a move on!

That's it-- a look at my current TBR Short Shelf. Now spill the beans. Is your "short shelf" shorter or taller? Inquiring minds would love to know!

22 comments:

  1. Ugh! What an experience you had, Cathy! I am so sorry you had to go through it. No wonder it's a week you'd just as soon forget. I'm glad you passed all the tests, anyway. Your short shelf looks fascinating. I see you've got a William Shaw and a Steve Hamilton there; I like both writers' work, so I'm hoping you'll enjoy them. The rest look appealing too, and I hope they make up for THAT WEEK.

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  2. Well that does sound like a week one would rather forget. But, I am glad to hear you have prepared yourself.

    I get most of my books from the library, so my TBR is mostly virtual which means I don't have a stack, unless I have been to the library. My stack is non-existent right now as I haven't been to the library. But I have been enjoying some vacation time with my husband 🙂. Next up for me will probably be a biography about Harper Lee and Martin Walker's Bruno, Chief of Police.

    I really enjoyed this look at your TBR Short Shelf! Thanks for sharing.

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    1. We readers do enjoy looking at each other's shelves, don't we?

      And you're going to be reading Bruno?!? That is certainly a review I will keep an eye out for since I love the series so much-- and that first book is a perfect introduction!

      Enjoy that vacation time with your husband. It's very precious.

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  3. Having a hospital go bag is a good idea given your experiences, Cathy. I'm glad this trip didn't turn into as long a stay as it could have been.

    I like your TBR Short Shelf!

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    1. The first time I was hospitalized at the beginning of all this, it was a shock, and I quickly learned that most husbands are not the perfect choice to send home with a list of necessities to bring back tot he hospital! LOL

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  4. https://www.messynessychic.com/2021/07/12/13-things-i-found-on-the-internet-today-vol-dlxii/

    Have you read Messy Nessy? She may be a new entertainment for your brain?
    Take care of yourself....that's an order, we need you.

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    1. I've visited Messy Nessy a few times. She can have some fabulous posts, and your reminder made me head right over there to subscribe. Your link is also going on my Weekly Link Round-Up, so thank you so much!

      And that last line, Tricia? I've been on an emotional roller coaster for the past few months, and you just made me search for the tissues. You never know what a blessing a few kind words can be. Thank you. *HUG*

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    2. We spend so much time taking care of others. It's hard to give ourselves the same. I wish we lived closer, I would teach you to knit socks. They are fun and would let the time you spend healing go by faster. I can't knit blankets in the summer....it's too HOT.

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    3. I live in a climate where hot is normal. I never used to knit things like blankets and afghans in the summer for that reason, but we have new windows and a new air conditioner and both have made a wonderful difference here in the summer.

      Thanks for the sock-knitting lessons offer, but I've seen someone knitting a sock, and the whole thing made my eyes cross. I knit to relax, and even the thought of knitting socks ties me up in knots. I do have a good friend who finds it very relaxing. In fact, she always has a sock-in-progress on her needles. In a way, I envy you both!

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  5. Trips to the ER are never fun. Glad it turned out to be nothing. I've heard good things about Hairpin Bridge, and I'm a fan of Riley Sager, too. Looks like you've got some good reading ahead of you. :D

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    1. I watched The Poisoned Pen Bookstore's recent event with Riley Sager, and I'm looking forward to reading Survive the Night even more!

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  6. Too bad about that trip to the ER, but so glad it turned out all right. You're probably coming close to a Guinness World Record on number of health care professionals you've seen in the recent period.

    Glad you are OK and to learn that you had a go-to bag with all of your necessities for a stressful day. Knitting and Kindle are a good combination.

    I saw Barbara's interview with Fabian Nicieza and I was laughing my head off when she asked him why the woman protagonist had four children and was expecting a fifth. I mean why didn't she use birth control? There's no way a woman could have all those children and have a career and go places. (I mean, this was fiction, right?)

    So funny. I enjoyed that intervieew and Suburban Dicks is on my TBR list because a pregnant woman who happens onto a crime scene and gets wrapped up in the investigation with a reporter -- well, who wouldn't want to read about her?

    Enjoy those books and we look forward to your mystery round-up based on locations whenever you get to it. But take care of yourself first and foremost.

    I'm trying to read two books (nonmystery) and I just keep listing crime fiction I want to read. Message to self: Sometimes don't give in to calls of other fiction and look for the dead bodies.

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    1. It has to be some kind of "other" fiction for me to read it anymore. I think I'm hooked on dead bodies. Perhaps I should've been a coroner?

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  7. I am now wrapped up in Eternal, by Lisa Scottoline, which is about the Italian Holocaust. I must admit I didn't know about some of the fascist policies in the 1930s directed at Jewish people.

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    1. Sometimes the more I learn, the more disgusted I get.

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  8. Everything negative is a good thing in this case! Thank you for the links to the books.

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  9. Yes, I didn't know that the Italian fascists decreed that Jewish people were not Italian in 1938, even if their families had lived in Rome for generations (or elsewhere in Italy).

    And Jewish people could not teach, nor go to school nor own property or a business or work as a doctor. And no one Jewish could marry a non-Jew. Under that law, my parents wouldn't have been prohibited from marrying.

    But it gets worse as people living in Rome's Jewish Ghetto (yes, it still existed, having been decreed by the pope in 1555) are impoverishes, out in the streets begging, selling their possessions, hungry. And, of course, it gets worse when Mussolini aligned with the Nazis.

    It's a pleasant book, but it's going to get worse.

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  10. Yes. It gets worse when the Nazis march in and occupy Rome. The worst happens. This again is a historical novel which is very informative, but sad and infuriating.

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  11. Thank you for the Amazon links! These are some great recommendations for my summer TBR pile. I have been on a murder mystery kick this summer and I just finished a new book titled "The Glass Alibi" by John Burns. I was searching for an old school private investigator noir crime and my google searches led me to this book. I have always been fascinated by the dynamics in those old "gum shoe" noirs and I love the way this one is written (although this one takes place in the 80s). The author manages to weave a believable and gripping tale in such a flawless and believable way that you really have to pry this thing out of your hands for a break. It's chilling, exciting and has some dark humor as well! The crime is heinous and the web Private Eye, Nick Sloan has to uncover is deep and disturbing. I couldn't put it down. Hope you and your readers will check it out.

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    1. Thanks for the heads up, Deborah. I'll certainly be taking a look at this book.

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