I have the scariest TBR pile in the world. No, really, I have.
If I were to pile the books on top of each other they could take out a few bodies when they fell.
All because I am addicted to books. And it's an addiction I'm happy to admit.
Unfortunately this results in daily deliveries and massive amounts of books on the surfaces in my home.
Buy a kindle! I hear you cry. Well, yes. I have. And the less said about the amount of books I have on my kindle the better. But really -secretly, it's like I can hide them all from my other half and my kids - it's fabulous.
So why buy all these books. Because I want to. And where do the recommendations come from?
Everywhere. Sometimes people blog about a favourite, sometimes I've just read reviews.
So here's what is currently on my TBR pile. Would you care to recommend where I start?
John Irving A Pray for Owen Meany - I saw
Julie Cohen talk about this book as she used to use it as a teacher. I'd never read it so thought I would add it to my collection.
Owen Meany is a dwarfish boy with a strange voice who accidentally kills
his best friend's mum with a baseball and believes--correctly, it
transpires--that he is an instrument of God, to be redeemed by
martyrdom. The scene of doltish Dr Dolder, Owen's shrink,
drunkenly driving his VW down the school's marble steps is a marvellous
set piece. So are the Christmas pageants Owen stars in. But it's all,
as
Highlights magazine used to put it, "fun with a purpose".
When Owen plays baby Jesus in the pageants, and glimpses a tombstone
with his death date while enacting
A Christmas Carol, the
slapstick doesn't change the fact that he was born to be martyred.
Kristan Higgins Fools Rush In
Millie Barnes is this close to finally achieving her perfect life...
Rewarding job as a local doctor on Cape Cod? Check. Cute cottage of her
very own? Check. Adorable puppy suitable for walks past attractive
locals? Check! All she needs is for golden boy and former crush Joe
Carpenter to notice her, and Millie will be set. But perfection isn't as
easy as it looks--especially when Sam Nickerson, a local policeman, is
so distracting. Sure, he needs a friend after being dumped by Millie's
fortune-hunting sister, but does she really need to enjoy his company
that much? He is definitely not part of her master plan. But maybe it's
time for Millie to start a new list...
Linda Howard Mr Perfect
What would
make your perfect man? That's the delicious topic heating up the
proceedings at a certain table of professional women at their favourite
restaurant. As the conversation picks up momentum, so do the quartet's
requirements for Mr Perfect. And they write down a tongue-in-cheek list
that's both funny and racy. The next thing Jaine Bright and her three
girlfriends know the List becomes an overnight sensation, grabbing the
interest of local newspapers and television coverage. No one expected
this avalanche of attention for something that began as a joke among
friends. But the joke turns deadly serious when one of the four is
murdered...The prime suspect in the case is the victim's boyfriend, one
of a number of men who found the List sexist and offensive. But an
impenetrable alibi gets him off the hook. Now, with the help of Jaine's
neighbour, an unpredictable police detective, the puzzle must be solved -
and time is running out as a deadly stalker targets the three remaining
friends, and the dream of Mr Perfect becomes a chilling nightmare.
I have 2 Susan Mallery books on my TBR pile.
With only 30 days to
come up with $2 million, Lexi Titan's last chance to save her day-spa
chain is to fake an engagement with wealthy Cruz Rodriguez. But neither
one of them is prepared for their long-ago shared passion to throw a
wrench into what seems like a perfect deal
Wedding
bells are ringing in Fool’s Gold, but not for Nevada Hendrix. Her
triplet sisters are engaged, and even her mother has a more active love
life than she does. Determined to make a fresh start, she applies for
her dream job, only to discover that her new boss is her first love.
Maybe she could overlook the fact that they’ve seen each other naked,
but she’ll never forget the way he broke her heart. Tucker Janack agrees
to Nevada’s “business only” ground rules. After all, love is a trap
that the construction millionaire has avoided his whole life. But when
great business partners turn out to be so much more, every rule gets
broken. Will either of them be willing to try again…or will their past
get in the way?
I have all three of Suzanne Collins books The Hunger Games, Mockingjay, Catching Fire and have heard great things about them. A fight to the death - on live TV. The game show where you kill or die,
and where the winner's prize is survival. In District 12, where Katniss
Everdeen lives, life is harsh and brutal, ruled from afar by the
all-powerful leaders of the Capitol. The climax of each year is the
savage Hunger Games - where twelve boys and twelve girls from each
District face each other in a murderous showdown. When sixteen-year-old
Katniss is chosen to represent her district in the Games, everyone
thinks it's a death sentence. Only one person can survive the horrors of
the arena. But plucky Katniss has been close to death before. For her,
survival is second nature...
Susan Elizabeth Phillips Natural Born Charmer, Ain't She Sweet
Chicago Stars quarterback Dean Robillard is the luckiest man in the
world. But life in the glory lane has started to pale, and Dean has set off on
a cross-country trip to figure out what's gone wrong. When he hits a
lonely stretch of Colorado highway, he spies something that will shake
up his gilded life in ways he can't imagine. A young woman . . . dressed
in a beaver suit.
Blue Bailey is on a mission to murder her ex.
Or at least inflict serious damage. As for the beaver suit she's wearing
. . . Is it her fault that life keeps throwing her curveballs? Witness
the expensive black sports car pulling up next to her on the highway and
the Greek god stepping out ofit.
As the summer progresses, the
wandering portrait artist and the charming football star play a
high-stakes game, fighting themselves and each other for a chance to
have it all.
Natural Born Charmer is for everyone who's
ever thought about leaving their old life in the dust and never looking
back. Susan Elizabeth Phillips takes us home again . . . and shows us
where love truly lives.
Michael Grant Gone Hunger Plague Lies.
Now I spotted this book in a book shop. The black cover and red word Plague intrigued me and I realised it was part of a teenage fiction set that started with the book Gone. I gave my 12 year old son the first book and he read 500 pages in 2 days. This from a boy who reads nothing.
What kept him interested? Read the blurb below...
Suddenly there are no adults, no answers. What would you do? In the
blink of an eye, the world changes. The adults vanish without a trace,
and those left must do all they can to survive. But everyone's idea of
survival is different. Some look after themselves, some look after
others, and some will do anything for power...Even kill. For Sam and
Astrid, it is a race against time as they try to solve the questions
that now dominate their lives...What is the mysterious wall that has
encircled the town of Perdido Beach and trapped everyone within? Why
have some kids developed strange powers? And can they defeat Caine and
his gang of bullies before they turn fifteen and disappear too? It isn't
until the world collapses around you that you find out what kind of
person you really are. This book offers a chilling portrayal of a world
with no rules. When life as you know it ends at 15, everything changes.
Finally my critique partner
Rachael Johns, listed this book as one of her favourites last year. So I had to buy it.
What Alice Forgot
Imagine losing the most important ten years of your life ...
Alice is twenty-nine.She adores sleep, chocolate, and her ramshackle
new house.She's newly engaged to the wonderful Nick and is pregnant with
her first baby.
There's just one problem.All that was ten years ago ...
Alice has slipped in a step-aerobics class, hit her head and lost a
decade.Now she's a grown-up, bossy mother of three in the middle of a
nasty divorce and her beloved sister Elisabeth isn't speaking to
her.This is her life but not as she knows it.
Clearly Alice has made some terrible mistakes.Just how much can happen in a decade?
Can she
ever get back to the woman she used to be?
So, have you read any of these. And can you recommend where to start??!!!!!!!!
