King Arthur Movie Tristan

How many books (roughly) are in your tbr pile? Is this in increasing number or does it stay stable? Do you ever experience tbr anxiety in the face of this pile?

Great question. Seeing how my TBR mountain has officially gotten out of control. I don't know what to say. The books in these photos are books I'd like to read, just for me, no review deadlines. I have a whole other mountain of books that have deadlines.










I don't really know how many books I have in my TBR pile, but the pile does keep growing. If I had to guess I'd say at least 40.

Yes, I do get TBR anxiety when I actually look at these books sometimes. Especially if there is a deadline for the review. But then I just remind myself, it's not a job, it's something I do for enjoyment, so why get all anxious about it?

How about you? What's your TBR pile like?

My TBR mountain is getting a wee bit out of control. I do take full responsibility for my behavior. That is all I can say about it! lol. Well, here it is. These are the books I really need to read during March/April. These are all books
that I have happily agreed to review or requested for review.





1. The Traitor's Wife: A Novel of the Reign of Edward II by Susan Higginbotham

2. The Broken Parachute Man: A Novel of Medical Intrigue by Robert Bolin

3. The Ten-Year Nap by Meg Wolitzer

4. Pemberley Manor: Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice continues... by Kathryn L. Nelson ARC

5. The Smartest Way to Save: Why You Can't Hang on to Money and What to Do About It

6. The Cold Wife by Ruth Nordin

7. The Mighty Queens of Freeville was sent to me by http://mother-talk.com/

8. The Fearless Fish Out of Water: How To Succeed When You're The Only One Like You








And lets not forget these ...these are just extras i'd like to sneak in once the ones I have deadlines for are finished. A friend gifted me the Tales of Beedle the Bard. And I've already begun reading The Darkest Kiss.



The Tales of Beedle the Bard and The Darkest Kiss (Lords of the Underworld, Book 2)

I've got another book review coming soon...j.kaye has sent me Trust Me by Brenda Novak to read & review for her blog. I've been wanting to read this author for a while, can't wait to get started on this one.

visit the author's website

*aaaahhh* I just got a book fix. These goodies arrived in the mail today. I'll be reading and reviewing them on my blog. And I didn't even break my book ban.

Special thanks to Danielle from Source Books for sending me these.





Line of Scrimmage by Marie Force : He’s a football star hero, and he’ll do anything to win back his soon-to-be-ex wife. But her new fiancé will do anything to stop him...






Romeo, Romeo by Robin Kaye : Macho as he is, Nick Romeo turns out to be the nurturing one in the relationship...every woman’s fantasy male--tall, dark, handsome, rich AND he loves to cook and clean. (I hope to be doing an author interview with Robin Kaye here on my blog, so stay tuned for that)






Reluctant Widow by Georgette Heyer : A sparkling Regency romance with intrigue and excitement, from the queen of the genre. Eleanor Rochdale finds herself married and widowed within 24 hours, and embroiled in an international spy ring, housebreakers, and murder.

I received some books in the mail recently, and will be reading and reviewing them.




I won this one over @ cheryl's book nook



The Almost Noon
by Alice Sebold

For years Helen Knightly has given her life to others: to her haunted mother, to her enigmatic father, to her husband and now grown children. When she finally crosses a terrible boundary, her life comes rushing in at her in a way she never could have imagined. Unfolding over the next twenty-four hours, this searing, fast-paced novel explores the complex ties between mothers and daughters, wives and lovers, the meaning of devotion, and the line between love and hate. It is a challenging, moving, gripping story, written with the fluidity and strength of voice that only Alice Sebold can bring to the page.

--------------------------------

I received this one to read & review from j.kaye .






Trust Me by Brenda Novak

Four years ago...
Skye Kellerman was attacked in her own bed. She managed to fend off her knife-wielding assailant, but the trauma changed everything about her life. As a result of that night, she joined two friends--also survivors--in starting The Last Stand, an organization to help victims of crime.
But now...
Her would-be rapist is getting out of prison. Skye knows that Dr. Oliver Burke hasn t forgotten that her testimony cost him his reputation--and his freedom.
Sacramento detective David Willis, who investigated her case, believes Burke is a clear and present danger--and guilty of at least two unsolved murders.
And now Burke is free to terrorize Skye again. Unless David can stop him. Unless Skye can fight back. Because Oliver Burke has every intention of finishing what he started. And that s a promise. Trust me.

Thank you ladies!

I found out about this over @
j.kaye's blog. The idea is to take a photo of your TBR pile. It's a monthly thing. 'What's on Your Nightstand?'

The guidelines are simple:


* Write a post on your own blog (or feel free to play along in the comments if you don't have a blog).

* You can simply post a picture, or tell us how and when these books got into your to-be-read pile, or give a mini-review of the books in progress.

Do you really want to see it? Are you sure?


This here is my TBR pile. Plain and simple. Plus this week I got books in the mail
that I won online. So that added 14 books in one single day to my TBR mountain:









I'm currently re-reading Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. Third times a charm right? I'm looking forward to reviewing it, it's one of my favorite books.





And I'm also reading Twenty Fragments of a Ravenous Youth (ARC), which I'm nearly done with. It's really a good read. I would never have thought to pick this book up on my own, and i'm glad I got a chance to read it.









Among my TBR are The Richest Season, The Shining, The Goose Girl, The Virgin's Lover and Mansfield Park, Sense & Sensibility & A Summer Afair, to name a few.




And I purchased Breaking Dawn this past weekend, so that went straight to the top of my TBR mountain. I'm a HUGE fan of Stephenie Meyer's Twilight series. Edward...*sigh* He's the modern vampire version of Mr.Darcy from Jane Austen's Pride & Prejudice.




What are you reading? How's your TBR pile? Anyone reading 'Breaking Dawn' out there?

title: Shattered Dreams: My Life as a Polygamist's Wife

author: Irene Spencer

genre: autobiography/non fiction


publish date: 2007

pages: 385




first line: I edged sideways down the aisle of the crowded Greyhound, careful not to bump anyone with the bulky brown suitcase, which held my every possession: two or three plain cotton dresses, my undergarments, and toiletries-the sparse but precious contents of my hope chest.




rated: 5 out of 5 stars

Irene Spencer did as she felt God commanded in marrying her brother-in-law Verlan LeBaron, becoming his second wife. Her dramatic story reveals how far religion can be stretched and abused and how one woman and her children found their way out, into truth and redemption.

Shattered Dreams is not the type of book I would normally chose to read.
But after my sister and I watched the episode on Polygamists on Oprah, yes I watch Oprah....my sister bought this book. She read it then insisted that I read it so we can discuss, what in my opinion we've already discussed to death, the Polygamist cult. So I borrowed her book and once I began reading, I was found it hard to put down.



Irene Spencer was born into a polygamist family. Her mother, was the second of her her father's four wives, one of these wives was her own aunt: her mother's sister.






Irene goes on to describe how she and her siblings suffered through extreme poverty. As I was reading this book, set in the 1950's, I pitied Irene and these children. It's so incredible that people live this way, and so unbelieveably sad.

'Our polygamy and our poverty made us different, but it also bonded us to each other, especially as our sense of conspicuousness and persecution heightened. We got on by bare necessitites, sometimes wanting even for those, while the other kids routinely enjoy what we knew were great blessings: a new pair of shoes to start each school year, store-bought clothes now and then, and the acceptance of our teachers, administrators, and one another.

I began to hate school and long for the safety of home.'

At age 16, Irene was married to Verlan LeBaron, a 23 year old polygamist with one wife already...his first wife is Irene's own older sister, Charlotte. Irene moves in with Verlan and Charlotte in a tiny home in Mexico. Now when I say tiny 'home' I mean a shack with mice crawling up the walls at night. Irene is torn between her religon and what she truly wants, to be loved by her husband. Charlotte and Irene have an uncomfortable relationship, having to share a husband. All the while Verlan fears that the authorities will come and arrest him for having two wives, one of which is a minor.







I didn't think I would enjoy this read, but after a few pages, I was hooked. Irene's story was very interesting. It's gots plenty of O-M-G moments, the things Irene goes through are hard to believe. Irene explains the polygamist way of life, and thier way of thinking. She quotes thier bible. So the reader gets a better understanding of how she lived, and what was going on in her mind. Polygamist's follow the 'Principle' also called the 'Celestial Law'. Basically men are to have as many wives and children as they possibly can, this will ensure divine rewards in the afterlife. For them, it's all about future glory in the afterlife. But there is plenty of hypocrisy involved.

'This was one of the more vexing contributions polygamous women were called on to make: the recruitment of new wives to thier husband's households. After all, only so many women were born into the Principle, and each man was commanded to wed as many of them as he could. There was terrible competition.'

Irene lives in poverty most of her life, and it only gets worse once she marries Verlan and he begins to take on more wives. Irene is just 17 when her first child is born and Verlan takes on his second wife. Irene also struggles with feeling unloved, since Verlan spends barely any time with her, there is also alot of jealousy between the wives. It's hard to believe people live this way.
Verlan winds up with 10 wives and 58 children! Each time he takes on a new wife, his last wife is supposed to give his hand away in marriage.

'Meanwhile, I inherited responsibility for Verlan's twenty-five children living in that four-bedroom house.
I had to send fifteen kids off to school every morning. They all wore uniforms I had to keep washed and ironed. Four babies were in diapers, and we couldn't think of buying disposables.


I had to bake twelve loaves of whole whaet bread every other day. I cleaned, served, washed dishes, ironed, and cooked for the whole crowd, plus the many visitors who always seemed to be on hand.'

This was a touching, and inspiring story. Irene ends up having 13 children and adopts one child. She struggles with major depression and such heartache for most of her life.


I'm a firm believer that God helps those who help themselves. And this is what Irene Spencer does, she struggles and gets herself out of this horrible situation.



about the author:


Irene Spencer came from five generations of polygamy. As the second of ten wives, she was the mother of 14 of her husband's 58 children. Her captivating story provides an intimate look at the daily struggles Irene faced as a plural wife.


During her twenty-eight years in a polygamous marriage, Irene gave birth to thirteen children (all single births). Her ninth child was adopted as a newborn daughter.




Irene lives in Anchorage Alaska, with her faithful husband of twenty years, Hector J. Spencer, who never leaves her side. At 84 years of age, Hector travels with Irene, proudly basking in her recent, new-found success. They currently reside in Woodbridge, California with Irene's oldest daughter, where Irene continues to write and work on various projects.


visit the author's website: http://www.irenespencerbooks.com/

I received some great books in the mail recently. I'll be adding these to my TBR pile and reviewing them on my blog.



These are from j.kaye:






Wicked Ties





Witch Ember






The Raven






Inside My Heart : Choosing to Live with Passion and Purpose





And this one is from from Books and Cooks



The Richest Season

title: The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants


author: Ann Brashares

pages: 376

genre: YA fiction

publish date: 2001

first line: Once upon a time there was a pair of pants.





rated: 4 out of 5








I was looking for a fun, light read so I picked up 'The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants'. Oh my gosh, this book made me smile from page one. I was easily hooked on it, and finished it up quickly.



Four best friends, Carmen, Tibby, Lena & Bridget are preparing to split up for the summer. Carmen finds a pair of jeans at a thrift shop and buys them for $3.49. The girls try them on and realize that even though they each have different builds, the pants fit them all perfectly. They realize these pants are special. They promise to keep in touch during the summer and decide to pass the pants along to each other. They decide to that each of them cannot keep the pants for more than one week. They even make rules for the pants.

'We are everything to one another. We don't need to say so; it's just true. Sometimes it seems like we're so close we form one single complete person rather than four seperate ones. We settle into types-Bridget the athlete, Lena the beauty, Tibby the rebel, and me, Carmen, the...what?' ...

You know what the secret is? It's so simple. We love one another. We're nice to one another. Do you know how rare that is?'

Carmen goes off to spend the summer with her father. I loved Carmen's character, mostly because I can relate to her story, I went through a similar experience around her age. Tibby stays home and gets a local job at a grocery store, and ends up meeting 12 year old Bailey, the two girls become good friends. Lena goes to Greece to
stay with her grandparents. Bridget goes off to soccer camp in Baja California.




The storyline was good, the characters were likeable and it's the kind of book you get sucked into quickly. I really enjoyed this one. This book is part of a series. I will probably pick up the other books as well.






About the author:



Ann Brashares was born and raised in the Washington, D.C. area with her three brothers. She attended the Sidwell Friends School and then studied philosophy at Barnard College, part of Columbia University in New York City.



After college she worked in editorial jobs until 2000, when she began her first novel, The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, published in 2001. Over the next five years she wrote three sequels–The Second Summer of the Sisterhood, Girls in Pants, and Forever in Blue. In June 2007 she will release her fifth novel, The Last Summer (of You and Me). The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants was made into a feature film and released by Warner Brothers in 2005. The studio is currently filming a sequel to be released in the summer of 2008.




visit the author's website:
http://www.annbrashares.net/







'The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants' was made into a film.
Click here for details.

title: Love In The Time of Cholera

author: Gabriel García Márquez

pages: 348

published: 1988

genre: Latin-American fiction

first line: It was inevitable: the scent of bitter almonds always reminded him of the fate of unrequited love.
















rated: 4 out of 5 (for an interesting plot)









'Love in the Time of Cholera' is one of the most unique books I've ever read. It's not quite what I expected. When I first started reading, I was expecting a love story and the start was a bit 'off' for me. But then I kept on reading. After about 50 pages, the love story began.



The story takes place somewhere in the Carribean.
The book starts off with the story Dr. Juvenal Urbino and his wife, Fermina Daza. The elderly couple have been married a long time when Dr. Urbino falls to his death.



Florentino Ariza, a man in his 60's now, comes to the funeral, and faces Fermina to tell her he still loves her after all these years.
Florentino met Fermina and fell in love with her some 51 years ago.




Then the love story about Florentino and Fermina begins. The author takes you back to when they first met.
Florentino delivers a telegram to her father one day, and sees Fermina for the first time reading with her Aunt. Fermina lives a very sheltered life and he winds up watching her from a distance every day. She and her Aunt notice his attentions and eventually Fermina develops feelings for him as well.


Florentino writes her a love letter.

'Even when he observed her, unseen, during those days of longing when he waited for a reply to his first letter, he saw her transfigured in the afternoon shimmer of two o'clock in a shower of blossoms from the almond trees where it was always April regardless of the season of the year.'

The two write love betters back and forth for over 2 years, before Fermina's father finds out and takes her far away.

By the time they return home, she is 17 years old. She and Florentino found a way to communicate through telegrams while she was away. And now, they plan on marrying.
You also learn the story of how Fermina met her husband, Dr.Urbino.




I liked that there's love letters involved. Florentino even ends up writing them for other lovers who can't come up with ideas of their own. He also winds up writing a book of love letters.



I both liked and disliked this book. It was hard for me to give it a rating, because I really disliked Florentino. It's the first time I've read a book and had a strong dislike for one of the main characters like this. He is a pervert.




This is a story about unrequited love. But the story also grossed me out, for lack of a better expression. I didn't like Florentino at all. At first I thought he was this great romantic, and I wanted Fermina to want him. But as the story goes on, you see he is nasty. I won't give away too much, but if you read it, you'll see what I mean. I lent this book to my sister in law and she felt the same way about Florentino. He's kind of creepy and even reminded me of a stalker. Also the way he is described in the book is not attractive at all. He has black greasy hair plastered to his head, wears wire rimmed glasses, is very skinny, wears all black, and drinks tons of strong black coffee all day long.




The storyline is full of drama. But beware of the icky parts. There's plenty of O-M-G moments. This is my first and last time reading Gabriel García Márquez.



I'm kind of torn in my review here, the love story is good, but the oddities were a bit much. I found I kept on reading just to see how the story ended more out of curiosity than anything else.



One thing I really liked what that Gabriel García Márquez writes the story like poetry at some parts. It was beautiful to read some passages.

'It was the year they fell into devastating love. Neither one could do anything except think about the other, dream about the other, and wait for letters with the same impatience they felt when they answered them. Never in that delirious spring, or in the following year, did they have the opportunity to speak to each other.'

About the author:



This book was first published in Spanish: 'El amor en los tiempos del cólera' by Colombian author Gabriel García Márquez.


Love In The Time of Cholera was made into a movie in 2007.




I am very interested in seeing the film version of this book. I wonder how they went about putting this story on the big screen. To me, this isn't the type of book that would be good for a movie. When I see the film, I'll post a review of it on my blog as well.







This read has been part of the following reading challenges:

RRC

TBR

100+

Triple 8

New Classics