Alvah's Books

Like Oklahoma’s Ado Annie, I am easily seduced. However, my seducers are not men, but books. On Monday, after clearing another surface to make room for yet another pile of books, I said aloud to anyone who would listen, “No more books until I’ve read through these six piles.” Lola, my Labrador retriever, picked up her head from the floor, and shot  me a look that basically said, “Yeah, right, I’ve heard that before,”  sighed loudly and then went back to sleep.

Well she was right; my resolve to not request or buy any more books went like smoke out the chiminey. Yesterday, I received emails from three publicists, inquiring if I’d be interested to review the books they were publicizing. After reading the blurbs and the synopsis, how could I say no? The titles seemed too tantalizing and as I my finger pushed the mouse cursor to “Reply” for a mere second I thought, but do you really need to read this? Don’t you have enough to tide you over for the rest of the year? Apparently not because I hit reply three times.

If you recall my Bibliophile or Bibliomaniac post, I listed recent acquistions. Here’s my progress: I’ve read and completed  two of the 14 listed (The Angel’s Game and The Scarecrow, reviews awaiting) , currently reading four (You or Someone Like You, Stardust, The Rise and Fall of Communism, Beowulf on the Beach) and outsourced two for review (Hunter and Two to Six) to my brilliant reviewer and speed reader Randall Radic—I still don’t know how he reads these books so quickly maybe it’s all that Merlot he drinks.

That leaves me with five from that list that are patiently waiting for their turn, but after I finish reading Julie & Julia and The Puzzle King, but wait what about the seven recent ones that came in the mail these past few days?

Okay, I have you all as my witnesses, no more books until I’ve finished and written reviews for all the books I have stacked all over the house. There, it’s in writing. Now hold me to it.

At the last moment, before settling in to finish off Alvah Bessie’s Spain Again, I decided to check my email and see if I needed to anythig urgent. Usually, I never get many emails on a Sunday evening, but not tonight.

I received a notice from GoodReads that I had an email, letting me know that I won Books on the Nightstand’s Beowulf on the Beach contest and won Beowulf on the Beach by Jack Murnighan.

In addition to winning the book, I’ll be participating in my first reading challenge and that’s to read one of the classics mentioned in Beowulf on the Beach.

I am so excited to have been selected as one of the five winners and to participate in the challenge. Thank you Books on the Nightstand!