Great book. Want more.

                 Come A Stranger
                 by Cynthia Voigt

This fifth book in the Tillerman Cycle was a little hard to get into.  The main character wasn't as interesting as previous ones have been--her challenges seemed trivial; her worries manufactured; her personality undeveloped.  I shouldn't have worried--she grew into still another of the marvelously complex Cynthia Voigt creations that I've learned to expect.

It's amazing that the five books in the series have all been interconnected despite the difference in time and perspective.  She must have planned this in advance, but I don't see how.  I don't dare read an interview with the author--not until I've finished all seven books in the series.  An interview might contain spoilers.

I must read the next two books, but unfortunately there was a wreck right at the entrance into the library parking lot.  Tomorrow....



Changing the subject, about a year ago I made a list of the "recently added, unread" books on my bookshelves.  There were 21 of them.  I put them on a to-read list and added the Shelf Discovery books and came up with 100 books.  I've been working off this list, in order (mostly), all year.

A few of the 21 original books have since gone to the Half-Price Books buying area; a few more to the library donation stack.  I also got rid of six or seven books from a mystery series that I didn't expect to ever read again.  And now...my bookshelves are fuller than they were before!

This is a sad state of affairs.  IMHO, a bookshelf should only hold books in the categories below:
    plan to read,
    intend to read again someday,
    useful for reference material, and
    may never read again but can't bear to part with.

So there is my goal for 2014--trim the shelves.
Step 1 of my goal is to identify the problem, and this I have done.  I have made a list of 53 books that are currently occupying space on the shelves.  A very few of those are books I read many years ago and need to re-read, but most have never been opened.

So, here are my rules.  (Last year's rules with slight modifications)
1. Must read the first two chapters of a book before giving up on it.
2. Any books that are given up on must be blogged about, explaining my delinquency in full.
3. An occasional swap is okay but don't make a habit of it.
4. New books can only be added at the list's indicated insertion points. (no matter how appealing they are.) 
5. Exceptions to #4 are only allowed if the new book is a library book or some other sort of temporary loan.
6. No more than 20% of reading can be done during my lunch break.