Sunday, February 13, 2011

Sunday Salon: My Sneaky Solution to the TBR Dare


Good morning, all of you Valentines! Can you just feel all that love in the air? No? In our case, it is more a brisk 39 degree chill in the air, coupled with a slight headache from all that romancing my husband and I did at a soiree at our favorite wine store last night. Nothing says hubba hubba like a wine tasting, chocolate, and good friends.

It was a extra busy week this past week, with my sister in town. She is a great cook, and a movie fanatic, so these are the activities we dabbled in. We went to see "The King's Speech" at the theater (who dare not love Mr. Firth?), watched "A Film Unfinished" at home (unearthed German footage of the Warsaw ghetto), as well as "Let the Right One In", a Swedish vampire movie based on the book I just finished. I also re-watched "The Notebook" with my daughter, and cried like a damn fool. We also had a couple nights of uber-cooking. Lots of fun.

But as a result, not much reading was accomplished. Like I said, I did finish "Let the Right One In", which was pretty long, and am about halfway through "The Postmistress". In the audio world, it was a much sadder scene. I'm STILL listening to and enjoying "Venetia Kelly's Traveling Show", and I also started listening to (and not really enjoying) "Housekeeping" in my car for Books, Babes and Bordeaux at the end of the month. It came from the library on an MP3 disc, and for the life of me can't figure out how to transfer it to my iPod. I'm so bad with technology sometimes, I scare myself.

I'm doing great with my TBR Dare still, but I seem to have subconsciously figured out a way around it. All book club reads are exceptions to The Dare, and I've now just joined my THIRD book club (a Skype book club). Don't tell my husband or he will think I'm insane. So between the three, I am feeling rather gluttonous with books NOT sitting on my bookshelf. Pretty shifty, huh?

The problem is...when to get all this reading done. For a girl who swore off all challenges and ARCs, I'm sure feeling some pressure. Three book clubs, and books that need to be read and reviewed for the UCF Book Festival in April, and I've got a full plate. I need to get down to serious business here this next week, which, with the exception of a Sea World field trip, should be relatively calm.

Before I ship out here for church, I had to share a book that appeared in EW this week, and it almost made me drool for wanting it. "House of Prayer No. 2"??? Anyone heard of it? Seriously, read the review on EW. It must be mine. But how to read it before April 1st? Hmmm...wonder if I could convince a book club to read it?




22 comments:

Meghan said...

This has happened to me as well - I keep thinking I'll stop buying, but then I invent new commitments which mean I have to buy books! LOL.

Despite the fact that your week kept you from reading much, it sounds great! I'm sure you'll catch up this week. :)

Julie P. said...

I'm feeling the pressure too! I have had such an incredibly busy personal life that my reading has been virtually nonexistent the past week or so.

rhapsodyinbooks said...

A Skype bookclub sounds like so much fun! How does it work? I know how to skype one to one, but many to many?

Yes on the pressure. I'm thinking about quitting blogging on my next birthday as a present to me! :--)

Frances said...

Hey insane woman, doesn't your husband read your blog? :) I secretly (shhh!) applaud your plan though. There are a couple of books that I need to devise a sneaky plan for myself. Enjoy your week and I wish you the best of luck getting on top of things.

JoAnn said...

This is too funny... love your way around the tbr dare!. I want to know how the skype bookclub works, too.

Peppermint Ph.D. said...

Makes me feel a little better to see so many commenting that life has gotten in the way of reading and blogging for the last couple of weeks. If I can ever get back into my routine, I'll be fine...if ever ;)

Unknown said...

3 book clubs?! Wow! I don't know how you manage - I sometimes struggled with reading the book for 1! It is a great way around the TBR dare rules though - I'm sure you can get one of them to read House of Prayer No. 2!

bermudaonion said...

Spending time with your sister is so much more important than books - deadline or not.

We're so excited you're joining the Skype book club. Don't tell anyone, but sometimes members don't get the book completed in time, so don't feel like there's too much pressure.

Alyce said...

I have a hard enough time managing making it to one book club, so I am in awe. I've cut way back on review copies and have been reading more books from my shelf and the library. I'm loving it!

Natalie~Coffee and a Book Chick said...

I've not heard of House of Prayer No. 2, but it certainly does have a pretty intriguing title! Looking forward to reading what you think of it! Happy Valentine's Day to you and enjoy all your books. What did you think of "Let the Right One In?" I'm thinking that I'd like to see that one soon (I love freaky scary movies).

Melissa said...

Hope you enjoyed your time with your sis! And I had to laugh at you joining another book club. :) Nothing like adding a little pressure to your reading schedule, right?

Gavin said...

Happy Valentine's Day, you wild thing. I hope your head is feeling a bit less achy. I have managed to stick with the Dare so far, but there are a few books coming up on my library hold list that just might change that:) Have a great week.

Melody said...

I haven't been reading too many of my TBR books even though I've taken up the TBR Dare (the library books have been keeping me occupied lately but I'm gonna go back to my shelves for a change, and oh those review copies I've to read as well, hehe).

Happy Valentine's!

Jenners said...

You are sneaky! I will come to you when I need help justifying a book purchase! : )

And you always seems to have a busy week, which is good.

Ana S. said...

The tricks our book-obsessed brains will come up with, eh? :P

Zibilee said...

You are very much like me in the ways that you trick yourself and your husband into bringing more books into the house, while ostensibly being on book restriction. I think we have a problem, but it's totally ok, because books are edifying objects, and if there is ever a time when the world outside just shuts down, we will have so much to keep ourselves busy with, we will be the only sane ones left!

The Bumbles said...

Sandy Sandy Sandy - what am I going to do with you? To get around your challenge restriction you are now overwhelming yourself with book groups. Just go buy whatever book you want - it then becomes part of your to read pile which you are devoted to decreasing. Selective book buying beats an avalanche of committed reads that you may or may not care about. Read what you want and then give it away. Problem solved.

Dawn @ sheIsTooFondOfBooks said...

Sounds like a great visit with your sister!

Ah, so you join a TBR challenge, with book group picks as an exception. Then you create a fake book group, with imaginary, invisible members. Next, you justify all your book purchases by saying they're part of this fictitious book group .... Sandy, you are brilliant!

Bybee said...

I had 3 book groups, but am down to 2 now. And one of them is on hiatus till March.

Ti said...

I am wiped out just from reading your post. Three books clubs? That would be hard for me to keep up. As soon as it begins to feel like pressure then it is no longer fun to me.

I was on a reading binge and doing really well with all of my reading, but then we got the pup and I got sidetracked.

Alice said...

I'm still waaaay behind for the Okra Pick Challenge. I need to do something about it.

Kathleen said...

I wouldn't say sneaky, I would say innovative!