Friday, February 24, 2012

stacks and stacks.

Listening To: Winter by Joshua Radin
Line Obsession: "Shortly after the three o'clock bell, Kiki Strike emerged from the building and walked briskly down the path that lead to the gate. Wearing a military-style coat that reached down to her ankles and a Cossack hat of the blackest fur, she looked as dangerous as anyone under five feet could." - from Kirsten Miller's Kiki Strike: Inside the Shadow City {Which is enchanting, fun, full of wonderful characters and currently only $3 on Amazon. Love this Vanity Fair review: "If Harry Potter lived in New York City, he'd have a mad crush on 14-year-old Kiki Strike."

The clean part of my nightstand.
I have company coming over this weekend so that means I'm cleaning like a mad woman, trying to cram various piles of junk into various closets in such a way that the closet doors don't bulge.

... Is that too much honesty?

This is the sort of company who doesn't mind the occasional dust bunny ( ... or .. uh ... dust antelope) pouncing across my floor. But sometimes I think it's probably good to knock the cobwebs off the broom and try to remember how the vacuum cleaner works and so on.

Maybe it's because I'm in a cleaning state of mind, but today I looked at my nightstand and realized that maybe, just maybe ... I have a problem:


Why can't I just finish one before I start another?

Eventually one book hooks me and I push the others aside to finish it. But my reading habits are very akin to channel surfing. Not sure that's a good thing.

Speaking of books, I'll be reviewing one of my favorite new novels next week. I'll probably start on Wednesday, because there's an interview and a swanky giveaway attached. I'll break it all up over next weekend, so you get a chance to comment. I know some people like surprises. So I'm not going to tell you who I'm interviewing.

But I will give you a clue: the author's name starts with J and ends with Enny B. Jones.


And her newest book is funny and sweet and romantic and and atmospheric. And it resonated so hard against my heart. It's the sort of book I had to take a big deep breath over after I finished reading. Beautiful story. I can't wait to talk about it.


And her interview is incredible/hilarious too. I think you'll love it a bunch.


If you've read The Mystery Book already, or you get a chance to read it this week, I hope you'll stop back by and fire up the comments with your thoughts. I would love to start a discussion about it! It will be like a bookclub except we can't share snacks. That would be a great feature on a Mac though, wouldn't it? I could just think up a snack, type in the name of it, and it would appear in front of you? Sort of like how the White Witch gave Edmund some Turkish Delight? (... or maybe that's a bad example ...). (Tangent: have you tried Turkish Delight? Can you believe Edmund ratted out his sibs for that? I mean, Samoas? Would be understandable. Birthday Cake Oreos? Totally. But Turkish Delight ... that's not a viable trade. Unless real Turkish Delight tastes very different than the kind I tried from TJ Maxx.)

I'm going to send my White Witch Snack App idea to Apple. Also, I would like a Jedi Mindtricks
app.


*waves hand in slow arching motion* Slow Driver, you will move out of the fast lane so that I can drive there. 


*waves hand in slow arching motion* Julian Fellows, you will write season 3 of Downton Abbey by next week. So that I can watch it by next month. Because January 2013?!?! 

Feel like ending the week with some adorable? Biscuit can help with that.



Does your nightstand pile of books look rather tower-esc as well? What are you reading these days? Happy Weekending to you! 

13 comments:

  1. i always either have dozens of books to finish. dozens of books to start. or nothing to read at all. currently i'm reading animal farm for school and rereading hunger games so that i can be a very picky super fan at the midnight showing.
    LF

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  2. I can't read more than one book at a time. :) I've tried, but I always end up putting one aside and focusing on the other. Well, technically I do read two at a time, but one is my "fun" book- novel, memoir, whatever, and the other is my quiet time devotional type book. Does that make sense?

    Like right now I'm rereading Narnia again. I'm on Prince Caspian. But I'm also rereading Mere Christianity as my devotional "serious" book. {I didn't plan this double dip of C.S. Lewis, but I'm liking it a lot.}

    I loved There You'll Find Me!

    I've never tried Turkish Delight, but when I saw it in the first film and did some research, I was horribly disappointed. I always imagined it as this wondrous chocolatey dessert, like better than the best fudge in the universe or something.

    ~Kristin

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  3. Waiting until January 2013 for the next season of Downton is torture. TORTURE!

    I've added that Kikki Strike book to my Amazon wishlist, sounds fun!

    Also, I got your email and will be writing you back soon! :)

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  4. January 2013????? As in next year?? WHAT THE HECK?!! WHY, God, why??!!!!!!!!!

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  5. Oh my gosh! I was just "attempting" to clean out my closet (of books) this afternoon!!!
    There was a moment in time when there was a stack of books on my floor, no joke, like 3 feet tall.
    And that was just my "move somewhere else" pile.
    LOL!
    I decided they didn't look like they were that many when they were IN my closet, why did they multiply like that?

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  6. I want to read Jenny's new novel so bad!

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  7. Hahaha saying I have more than a few books on my night stand (or shoeboxes rather..I don't have a bedside table or stand) would be an understatement. I always start a book and then move onto another and I think I have about six on the go and funnily enough whenever I'm out and about and the subjects of books comes up, I always leave asking ' Oooh I need to read that book, may I borrow it?'
    And Btw I adore the cover Jennys book.
    Looking forward to the review :)

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  8. Oh I always have tons of books around my house!! In fact, my husband just bought me more bookshelves!:) And I will be in the middle of several books at the same time-they just all look so good!

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  9. Turkish Delight: the most horrible, disgusting, sticking-to-my-teeth dessert that I have ever had. It was a bad trade, Edmund.

    I got an early copy of the Mystery Book via Netgalley, and oh my goodness, I fell in love.

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  10. Oh, you just give me more and more books that I should add to my list of must reads. Sounds like this will be another.
    The one and only time I've ever had Turkish Delight it was really gross. It tasted like water that had been in a vase with a bunch of flowers in it, and then that water had been somehow solidified and goo-ified. BUT, I've heard other people rave about it, so I'm pretty sure I just had the cheap kind too, and Edmund probably got the good stuff. Lucky little brat.
    Ahh, and here I was so sure that we were going to get Downton Abbey by September, but that's only the lucky Brits, isn't it? How are we going to survive?!

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  11. I was recently inspired to clean out all my bulging junk drawers and get rid of all the stuff I'll never use (like receipts, tacky Christmas decorations, and things I never filed). It made its way to about 12 haphazardly organized piles on my floor. Once I got to that point, I lost my inspiration.
    ...That was Tuesday.
    I'm not going to talk about what my room looks like now. Let's just say, I had a LOT of junk drawers.

    Downton Abbey is a perfect example of why I don't usually get into TV shows (dramas, at least) until after the series has already been canceled - that way I can see the whole story in a span of just a few days. I'm terrible with spoilers - I want to know everything that happens right away. (Yes, I usually read the back pages of a book by the time I'm halfway through it.)

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  12. I think I have at least half a dozen books I'm currently reading. Classic literature, romance, fantasy, sci-fi...the list keeps going :P

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  13. My nightstand is always filled with books. At the moment it's piled high with Tolkein and 3 journals and my kindle (which when turned on will open to Jane Eyre) and Not a Fan. and Misquoting Truth and Secrets of the Secret Place...you know the non-fiction = not always quite as fun but totally interesting stuff.

    My Grandmother just asked me what I want for my birthday and now I know what to tell her. A new book written by Jenny B. Jones. :)Because every since I first heard about it, I've been dying to read it.

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