Every so often I make a vow not to buy any more books until
I make a dent in my towering to-be-read pile. I may even keep it until I see a
launch announcement from a favorite author, a recommendation from a friend who
knows my taste, attend an author event, or give into the temptation to walk
into a bookstore. One whiff of new book or, worse, OLD book smell and my credit
card leaps from my wallet.
At this moment I have sixty-nine unread hard-copy books
sitting on my bookshelf, not including a couple dozen or so more research
books. There are twelve unread e-books on my Nook, and twenty-nine on my wish
list, each one screaming “buy me.”
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| Photo by Deborah Downes |
Hello, my name is Kim Bullock and I am a book hoarder. An
addict. If this condition is left unchecked, someday my house is going to look
like this. (No, the photo was not taken in a used book store. It is a friend’s
apartment. The view is the same from any angle, in any room.)
Instead of checking myself into the nearest 12-step program,
I’m going to give you a glimpse of my bookshelf, the one filled with stories
yet to be devoured, and invite you to do the same.
The Ambassador’s Daughter by Pam Jenoff
Admittedly, the cover seduced me first. A woman wears an expression
like her world is about to end while she embraces a soldier. The Eiffel Tower
looms in the background. The colors are faded, like a hand tinted historical
photo. Paris. 1919. Secrets. Danger. Romance.
My heart races just thinking about cracking open the cover to this one.
Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein
A female British spy is trapped in WWII France and arrested
by the Gestapo. Will she give up her mission or face a grisly execution? I don’t
know about you, but I have to know!
Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys
No, it isn't related to THOSE shades of gray. This one is
another WWII story, YA this time, and takes place in Siberia. Oddly enough it
had been sitting on my shelf a month when my daughter brought home a second
copy from her school book fair, shoved it into my hands, and said “read this!”
Leonardo and the Last Supper by Ross King
This is one of the few non-fiction selections on my shelf,
but all of King’s art history books read like densely-rich novels and, well,
exactly like he speaks in person. This is a good thing. It’s impossible to read anything by him
without feeling both smarter and entertained.
The Josephine B. series by Sanda Gulland (The Many Lives
& Secret Sorrows of Josephine B., Tales of Passion, Tales of Woe, and The
Last Great Dance on Earth.)
What can I say? I love Napoleon and Josephine
enough to stick with them for 1000 pages.
The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne
I know little about this book other than it takes place in
WWII from the point of view of a nine-year-old who encounters a fence and
becomes friends with a boy in striped pajamas on the other side. In other words,
it will tear my heart out by the roots.
This exercise has been enlightening. I never imagined that
five of the eight books I chose from my stack would take place in France, and
that all but one would involve war. Hmmm…
So, what’s in your to-be-read stack?
