So I signed up for a TBR challenge, because I am looking at the amount of books I have to pack - 3 keeper bookcases, overfilled: 2 little plastic 3-drawer chests, also overfilled, of books I've listed on PaperbackSwap and am waiting to swap; all of my children's books (which are in 5 different Rubbermaid containers, three bookshelves in the parlor, and two bookshelves in the side of my desk); and my TBR 'pile', which, at present consists of 2 stacks under my bed (each 9 books high), 3 bins and the books tucked between my mattress and the bed frame (I'm counting 6 on this side) - and I am thinking that there will be no room in the new house for anything besides my books. (Not that we have a new house yet, HA! Am ignoring this fact as much as possible. Moving on!)

When I say that my keeper shelves are overfilled, I mean literally: I do not understand how people are able to 'display' things on book shelves... there is only room for books, and even then, there is still not nearly enough room for all the books. Oh, I've shown you the pretty book case, all organized by color and beautiful, but what I did not show you is the two other bookcases - also well organized (by genre, time period, &/or category), but also overflowing and extra-burdensome. (Also, the drawback of the by-color bookcase is that when you get a new book that should go on there somewhere, you have to shift the whole damn thing and try to make them fit... it's a little aggravating, but still totally worth it if only for the fact that people who Live In Your House and come in your room rather often, are only just noticing - after two years - the fact that it is color coded, thereby proving that they are totally oblivious, as has been previously suggested.)

So, the goal of joining the TBR challenge, for me, was to help me clear up a little bit of my TBR pile, and to commit to it publicly. But here's the thing: my to be read piles are varied and I am a finicky reader: I have to be in the mood to read a particular thing.

Right now in my non-fiction TBR I have a book on helping kids cope with divorce, another 3 or 4 about chronic illness, at least one about style (because I haven't got any), a book on photography, a memoir or two, and a book about food that I started reading in November and it scared me so much that I put it back in the pile, instead of having to starve to death because I could never eat anything again, ever. My fiction pile consists of a bunch of romance novels; a bunch of classics I keep meaning to read; a bunch of contemporary 'literature' that people told me was good or I read an intriguing review of; a few YA novels, a tiny bit of Sci-Fi, a comic book, and holy crap, let's not even start talking about the kids books.

And yet, with all that variety, the likelihood that I will still say "I don't have anything to read" is fairly high. (I will usually say this only to myself, of course, because members of my family are apt to react badly to this assertion, for reasons incomprehensible to me.)

So I've committed to the TBR challenge - for me, it's a 3:1 ratio: 3 from the TBR pile for every re-read or new buy - because I think I am judging my books to harshly - if they don't immediately 'call' to me, then I move on, usually to a reread from the keeper shelves, and the piles don't get any smaller.

Part of this is realistic - since I am no longer in school, I refuse to 'force' myself to read anything: if I am not in the mood for a book about killer food, then I will not read it, even if I know I should. (And will, eventually.) For optimum entertainment value, a book should suit your mood - it should be a good fit. I'm not going to throw that out the window, challenge or no. A second element to the mountainous TBR piles is that I continue to buy new books, which, also is unlikely to change. (Cannot not buy books: is physically impossible.)o

But another part of why my TBR pile never shrinks is a strange combination of laziness and fear - I fall back on the books I know will be good (because I've already read them) instead of attempting something new, taking the risk that this new book will have poorly plotted scenes or lacks witty dialogue. As long as those books stay in the TBR, they have promise, and too often that promise falls through once I start to actually read.

But I've decided that I don't like that aspect of myself - the playing it safe all the time part of me - all that much, and am trying to make changes when I see the opportunity to do so. Yes, this is a small thing, a trivial change, and no real hardship - if a book sucks, after all, I am not required to finish it: I just post it and move on. If it doesn't, and is instead wonderful, I have given myself a treat. Either way, the book is out of my TBR, and so: mission accomplished - but it feels good and necessary and like I'm doing something positive that, if I get the hang of it, might just carry over into other aspects of my life.

"Basically," you are saying to yourself now, "this entire post was her way of saying anything in her life can somehow be connected to books?" And you would be right, I expect. But at least I know I'm not alone.

A nice book meme to start the day/week

The folks at The Collective have had a pretty amazing week of book blogging (I'm catching up! And now can post a comment! Yay!), and I thought I'd play along. Feel free to play too.

1) What book are you reading right now? I am reading about 4 different things right now, but the one closest to me is Helping Your Kids Cope with Divorce the Sandcastles Way. (It's a long story.)

2) What is the fourth sentence on page 133 of that book? "Observant parents can glean a great deal about what their children are thinking and feeling by observing the products of their imaginiation: the artwork, stories, and essays they write for school or for entertainment (see Chapter 2)."

3) What is one book that changed your life? It by Stephen King. I read it when I was 10, going on 11. The main characters of the book (at the beginning) are all in the summer of their 11th year. They were just normal kids, scared shitless by some demonic thing that lived in their town. But they beat it (spoiler alert). Those kids had power and that summer? I had it too. There are others, but that one, that made me see how awesome words and stories really could be.

4) What is one book that you read again and again? I read a lot of books over and over. My room looks like a library. Seriously. I re-read my Nora Roberts books regularly: they're my comfort reads. My next re-read needs to be the last Harry Potter book, though, because I was too upset by the whole end.finality.over-ness of it the first time to actually absorb all the little things.

5) What three books would you want on a desert island? This book turns into a raft; What to do on a raft while you are waiting for rescue and Good Poems for Every Day by Garrison Kellior (well, he put it together anyways... thankfully they are not his poems: I do not get him.)

6) What is the funniest book you've ever read? The funniest? Oh crap, that'd depend on my mood, but the one I remember laughing at most, at least in recent years is America: the Book by Jon Stewart.

7) What book made you cry the most? I also cry pretty easily, but I would say that I bawled the most when I opened up whatever book was next in the Little House series and read the words "Mary was blind." Mary may have been blind, but I was blindsided - She was perfectly fine when I left her 5 minutes ago at the end of the other book!!! Are you kidding me?? What the hell is scarlet fever? And couldn't you have broken the news a little more gently??? I cried so hard my mom came in from the other room and made me calm down before I threw up. I was probably 7 years old.

8. What book do you wish had been written? Exactly what is wrong with NTE and how we fixed it so easily circa 1995.

9) What would be the title of your autobiography? Well I suppose it would have to be the sequel to number 8, but I'm not sure what the title would be yet.

10) What book do you keep meaning to read? The Painted Bird I told someone I had read this, and then sat there nodding along as they talked about plot points, because I realized about 3 seconds into the conversation that I had NOT in fact read that book. (I had read something with a similar title.) And I felt so stupid that I immediately got the book... but I haven't read it yet.

11) What five books should everyone be required to read?
Escaping into the Open by Elizabeth Berg
Harry Potter and... pick your favorite title by J.K. Rowling
All in my Head by Paula Kamen
Key of Knowledge by Nora Roberts
How to Get Your Child to Love Reading by Esma Raji Codel

12) What book was the biggest waste of your time? There's a lot of sucky books out there, but I'd have to say the one I would've thrown against the wall, if it had been an option, was Ethan Frome. Oh my sweet lord, this was a depressing book: my entire impression of the book is this (even after an entire semester spend studying Edith Wharton and her cronies) - It is cold. And snowing. And sad. And bleak. I have a limp. Now I walk in the snow some more, where it will be cold. The end.

13) What was your favorite book as a child? I'm going to go with the first book I remember being a favorite, and that is The Monster at the End of this Book by I have no idea, but staring lovable, furry old Grover. I thought this book was hysterical (and it's a big hit now with my nephews and niece), and it was the first book I remember reading all by myself.

14) What book have you read the most? Good Night Moon by Margaret Wise Brown. I have that down pat... If it were the time of Alice in Wonderland, I would have a recitation ready to go, at a moment's notice. As it is, my brother will literally call me and say "Read her the book" which I will then do, free of charge.

15) Is there any book's ending that you would like to rewrite? Hmm... I know there have been books that have totally pissed me off, but I can't remember them right now.