Screw Spring, We're Heading Straight For Summer

After months of whining about how cold it was, it seems I may finally be getting some relief in the form of summer. Colorado has skipped spring altogether and is diving headfirst into my favorite season. Now if only I had a pool. But I do have a hammock (and need to find the sunblock, apparently!).

I've broken out the flip flops, the shorts, and *gasp* may even buy some new clothes (I'm working on that one). And, I'm making a renewed effort to tackle the bookshelves. We're talking organization, knocking out some TBRs, and renewing relationships with some oldies that I've seemingly forgotten about.

I'm inspired by Mark Henry and others who are trying their own book buying bans -- I won't got that far just yet seeing as how June seems to have a plethora of must-haves -- but I'm trying to make a deal with myself and read some of the other acquired titles before adding to the shelves. And while I'm not going to be totally strict as in all-I-can-read-are-the-chosen-TBR-titles, my goal is that within the next two to three months, I will have read all of the A-E picks I've made.

My strategy was to take about three titles from each letter, pick one from the bedroom shelves (those are the newer releases) and at least one from the living room shelves (those are the older ones). We'll see what happens. For "A" alone, I've got Daniel Abraham's The Dragon's Path, Sarah Addison Allen's The Peach Keeper, and Kate Atkinson's Case Histories. Two news, one old (and in true junkie form, I've already got the rest of Atkinson's series in house as well, having read book three first). I'll keep you posted on progress. I've started Abraham this afternoon.

In the meantime, I have some brief follow ups for you from some of the past Pre-Pub titles I've had a chance to read since posting (Pre-Pubs are usually the only time I post about books I've either not read, or books that aren't out yet. I put publisher's info any time I haven't read them myself and I thought I'd bring you up to speed on some of those in case you don't read the BB reviews):

Last week's book, S.J. Watson's Before I Go To Sleep, is utterly fantastic in it's mind-bendingly twisted Memento-ish way. I literally just finished reading this one and you can do it in one sitting. Trust me. Super quick, intense, and makes your head go all over the place trying to figure it out!

The White Devil by Justin Evans is another fantastic one. Very, very dark! I loved the multiple stories going on: the historical mystery intertwined with present day. And a nice gothic tone as well.

Graveminder by Melissa Marr was HOLY SMOKES good! I've not read any of Marr's teen books as of yet, but I'm going to have to snag them from the JJs after this one. Loved it -- completely original concept and not at all what I'd expected.

And finally, Amanda Stevens's The Restorer is a fantastically creepy supernatural mystery. This was another first for me. Though I'd come across Stevens before, this was my first read by her and I've got two more of her books in the TBR now while I wait for the second in this series.

These are all pretty dark reads. Since late April, I've read 21 books. Of those, I'd say about a third of them were what I would consider dark -- not genre specific, but really twisted reads. In fact, because I'm curious, here's a super, super basic breakdown:

Mystery/Thrillers: 9

Paranormal/Sci-fi: 8

Other fiction: 2

Nonfiction: 2

Anyway. I'm rambling. It's that kind of day. Hope you had a fantastic weekend and got some great reads in!