Books, Books Glorious Books

At the risk of giving some of you a sever case of book envy, one of the highlights of the RWA conference is getting all the free books you could possibly imagine. I was telling sister Lisa this before I went and she asked me an interesting question. She asked if I had plans to read all the books I have or is it just the books themselves I like to collect. I thought about this and had to admit, a large part of the thrill comes in just the owning of them. I have so many books now in the TBR pile, if I do the mathematics, which to be honest isn’t likely because it would take mathematical talent of which I have none to figure out, taking into consideration the number of books I have unread, the number of books I read a week, which is way down anymore, too much time spent on the internet and on blogs talking about books, and the number of years I have left to live, I will never read all that I have now. If I were to completely stop buying books altogether and only read these I have, I could last for years. Then take into consideration the number of books I own and factor in rereading and I’m set for life.

But do I plan to stop buying? Not on your life! As I stood in line, experiencing claustrophobia, heat, tired, aching Feet that still haven’t forgiven me yet, part of me wondered what on earth I was doing – and why?? Was it just books I wanted or were the ones I picked up, ones I figured I would read. And I came to the conclusion that each and every book I picked up were either books I thought would be a good read, or in some cases books I had already read and very much enjoyed and wanted to share with other readers – via contest starting Sunday *g*.

Chances are I won’t get to all of them, but each one had something that got my attention. Whether it was The Bargain by Julia Templeton, an erotic medieval which I’ve started reading or Howling at the Moon by Karen MacInerney, which is a tale of an uban werewolf by an author I’ve never heard of before or We’ll Never Tell by Kayla Perrin, a suspense tale I know I’ve seen somewhere in the blogosphere or Bound to Please by Hope Tarr, the first in a new series by Harlequin – Blaze Historicals, something grabbed me about them.

I’m fortunate that I like pretty much all genres so I don’t limit myself when choosing what book to read. I admit that I start a lot of books that I don’t end up finishing for one reason or another, but each one I pick up, I do so expecting to like it. And I’ve had quite the surprise with some of them. I never really expected to like the Lara Adrian Midnight Breed series, but I’m delightfully surprised at how much I’ve enjoyed the ones I’ve read. I didn’t think I’d care for Urban Fantasy, but Driven and Hidden by Eve Kenin blew me away. Who’d have thunk when I read Countdown by Michelle Maddox (which is out now by the way) I would be so enthralled with it.

I thought I was getting over historicals but then comes Joanne Bourne and Elizabeth Hoyt to rekindle my interest in them again.

I picked up a couple of Jill Shalvis book who is an author I’ve really enjoyed in the past.

I picked up Oceans Apart because I knew I’d read a wonderful review of it on Book Binges. And Twisted Creek because Nath really enjoyed it and she’s a tough sell!

So yes, every book I get, I have every intention of reading, when is another matter though. And yes, Lisa is partly right. Part of the addiction is in just the having.

So I’m curious now about other readers with huge TBR piles that they may not ever get through. Is it just the acquisition of the book that gives you the rush, or the unexpected thrill when you’ve read one you didn’t think would be as good as it was?