“You can never get a cup of tea large enough or a book long enough to suit me.”

My shelves. Can you really ever have too many books?

Instead of sitting around biting my nails all day long as I wait (im)patiently to hear back from my betas (no, really, take your time! I’m kidding), I’ve been doing a LOT of reading. Like in the past few days? I read four books (though one was comprised of two short stories, so I’m not sure that really counts). Let me tell you about what I’ve been reading.

Thirteen Little Blue Envelopes by Maureen Johnson (Young Adult)
This is the first book I’ve read of hers, and it was an interesting idea, fun story. A teen goes to Europe on a sort of scavenger hunt, directed through information she reads in thirteen letters her recently deceased aunt left her. She discovers things she never knew about her beloved aunt, as well as about herself. Maureen writes great dialogue. It was good in this book, and even better in the next one on the list.

Suite Scarlett by Maureen Johnson (Young Adult)
Set in NYC, it’s about Scarlett and her family who run and live in a hotel (that’s not doing very well financially) in the middle of the city. There are crazy actors involved, theatre, and tight bonds amidst the siblings. I loved the snappy, smart dialogue and creative story line. A really fun read.

Hold Still by Nina LaCour (Young Adult)
I came across this book through Library Thing, a site for readers to post their personal library and talk books. (Great site! Great place to get book recommendations for whatever you like to read.) I was actually not expecting it to be very good from what one person had said about it. However, that was not the case. In fact, I couldn’t put it down and read it all in one day. Really well written, compelling story about a girl whose best friend committed suicide and the aftermath of getting through it, getting back to normal, a year long process. Beautifully done.

If You Go Into the Woods by David Gaughran (Adult)
Two short stories: “If You Go Into the Woods” and “The Reset Button.” While I’m not much of a short story fan (I just tend to like a longer commitment than a short story–I want to be carried away for hundreds of pages), I thought these were very well done. Good writing, really interesting, creepy ideas. If you like short stories, check it out.

So, now what am I going to do with myself? Next up is Blackbringer by Laini Taylor, another YA book. (Do you see a theme here?) I actually had borrowed this from the library a couple of months ago, renewed it twice (which means I had it for nine weeks) (!) but I was so busy with edits that I never had time to read. I finally picked it up a few days before it was due, got to chapter 6 and had to give it back. But by then I was hooked. So I requested it again, and Steve picked it up from the library for me tonight. (Have I told you how much I love my library? Like here. And maybe here, too.)

I also have three other library books sitting next to my bed and six other books I just downloaded onto my brand-spanking-new Kindle. (It just came this week.) And while I am wholeheartedly devoted to paper books and always will be (that is a photo of just one of my actual overcrowded bookshelves up there, you know), there are some indie authors I’ve been wanting to check out for quite a while, and buying a Kindle was the most cost effective way to do that. (Books printed on demand are more expensive than if you have a print run done. Most indie’s go with print-on-demand because you don’t know if you’ll be able to sell all the books in a print run.)

Enough about what I’m reading. What are you reading?

*Title quote by C.S. Lewis, a man I definitely would have gotten along with quite well. At least in the sense that we could have drunk massive mugs of tea together while reading the thickest books we could find.