Doing What I Do: My Stack of Books



I love to read.  I usually read more than one book at a time--say I have a nonfiction that I can read in small bites in the morning in between making breakfast and packing lunches, and I'll have a novel that I open when I have longer stretches of time.  Books are comforting to me.  I like to bring books with me while I wait during kids' activities, on long car rides, and when we go on vacations. 

 

Here is my latest stack.  The two books on the top were loaned to me by my pastor.  I frequently run into him at the local library, and we often talk about what we're reading.  I wish he would host a book club.

Bittersweet by Shauna Niequist is one that I'm trying to save for those mornings when I have time to read with my coffee.  I am torn between reading it as fast as I can or savoring it slowly.  I thought that her first book, Cold Tangerines, was really special, and I'm trying to hold off on pressing the "buy" button on Amazon for her latest book until I whittle down this stack.

A Dangerous Inheritance is a silly title.  The cover of this book makes me cringe as though I've been caught with a Harlequin romance in my hand.  But the author is Alison Weir, and I've read her nonfiction The Six Wives of Henry VIII, as well as some of her fiction (The Lady in the Tower), and I really enjoy her work.  This is historical fiction.  It's set in England during two eras--just before the Tudor era, and just after the rule of Henry VIII (so, mid-Tudor era).  I love to indulge my Anglophilia.  I can guarantee you that this will be the first book finished out of this stack.

Anne over at Modern Mrs. Darcy recommended the two books at the bottom.  I checked out Please Understand Me II because I'm always on the lookout for books that will help me understand the personalities of those around me (as well as my own).  I skimmed through it last night, and I can see that this is going to be a book that I will jump around in instead of going cover to cover. 

The Well-Trained Mind is a homeschooling resource.  I have checked out several books on homeschooling in the past to look for ideas to supplement what the kids are doing in school.  This book can give me some good resources for summer and the rest of the year.  I'm pretty sure that this book will give me more subjects to read about!

So that's my stack.  I usually keep a list of books to check out in a notebook.  Here it is:

 

I have carried this brown moleskine back and forth to the library for a few years.

Every month I pick up the latest BookPage publication from the library.  I get quite a list of books from the BookPage.  Then I go to the computer and put a hold on three or four at a time.

This year, my reading goal is to write a short blurb about the book.  I also give it a rating out of ten.  Here is my January page:

Would you believe that the nonfiction book about London was the highest-scoring book for January?

I'm not surprised, either.

So that's what I do with my reading.  Any suggestions for my next stack of books?