Bookshelf Meme

I do so love a good meme and Bookwormom tagged me for one about a week ago.

Bad Cindy.

I'm not sure how this will end because my brain will pull a whole bunch of stuff out of no where and decide to wax poetic.

So, you know.

Normal Cindy post.

Helmets on people.

The books that’ve been on your shelves the longest:

Ohhhhh, baby!! The mind is a whirling and I got some titles for ya.

1. A Rose in Winter by Kathleen Woodiwiss - I'm trying to think if this would be the longest one of the shelf and it would be a very close tie to Katherine Sutcliffe's book Renegade Love - my very first keeper.

I know these covers come from an era of 'bodice ripping' art but I was always intrigued by A Rose in Winter's cover and I must have stared at the hero on the cover of Renegade Love for hours because he was so different from all those Fabio and long haired guys that I never found attractive.

The guys on these covers. Yep. I'll say it.

Yum!


A book that reminds you of something specific in your life (a person, a place, a time, etc.):

Okay the first book to come to my mind is Julie Garwood's Secret. It was the end of my 3rd year in university and I was mentally exhausted and just ready for the hard stuff to be over. Final exams were on and my last one was almost the second to last day in May. Which is horrible because everyone else was normally done the first few weeks of May. I couldn't believe how many of my friends had their exams either in class or in the first few days and then went home. Me? Nope, three to four weeks of sheer terror and prep.

I digress.

I've mentioned before that during school I refused to allow myself to buy or read new romance books. I know myself and I knew I would spend a weekend reading a book and not get important papers finished. Even then, I was still editing and working on papers for most of the night before they were due. Technology back then was not graceful and the number of times I would have to reset the printer to get the damn paper to print out. I mentioned terror, right? Because I would just make it to the class in time with smoke rising from my sneakers from running wild through the parking lot to the building.

My, how I do go on.

Anyways, I worked at a pet food store on the weekends - every friggin' weekend. But on this Saturday in May I had an exam at 9am and could go till noon. Now, I could have gone to work afterwords but I just didn't want to so I booked the day off.

After the exam I went to the bookstore. My sanctuary. And TADA!! A new Julie Garwood book!! I remember that day so well. Thrilled to have a new book by my favourite author I went home and started reading around 11:30am and didn't stop until the last page around 8:30pm. (slow reader) It remains my favourite to this day. For all the above reasons and for the story itself. Wonderful.

A book you acquired in some interesting way (gift, serendipity in a used bookstore, prize, etc.):

Well, I've definitely won prizes and woot!! Loved everyone of 'em.

But I'll tell you the story of the time before the internet. A time when you couldn't find books you wanted cause they were out of print and the only places you could go were creepy dusty places with boxes and boxes of musty books for sale.

For real.

Not only that but books with vampires in them? So rare they were worth more than diamonds!

No. Really!!

I believe my first vampire book was from Maggie Shayne's Twilight series. Mmmmmm, vampires. While reading this amazing book from Harlequin or Silhouette or whatever, I flipped to the front of the book and found other titles from the series. Thing was, they had all been in print and I knew I wasn't going to find them at the bookstore. (Okay, what's weird is that I remember clearly reading this book first which is fine but it was also the first in the series so how could it have had the other titles listed in it? Bad memory)

3 years I looked and browsed never really believing I would find that last book. The one I really wanted to read.

I couldn't believe my eyes when I entered a used bookstore and found a discount table with category books tied with strings - 3 for a dollar.

There in a pile of three were the two Twilight books I had been looking for for 3 years. I was so excited but I knew better than to make any noise (I had done that the last time I scored a book and scared the clerk so bad she thought she would have to call 911).

I also remember worrying that the teller would look at the books and say 'OMG, these are rare books, how did they get into that pile! These are like 400 bucks!!'.

A book that’s been with you to the most places:

Renegade Love. All of Julie Garwood's backlist. And most of Kathleen Woodiwiss's books also. From my home, to being married and being in Bob's home and then moving here to our new home.

I do have to admit that I finally bought a new copy of Renegade Love in case I ever wanted to read it again because my original is all broken from reading and reading and reading. I'll never part with that original though. Oh, I found the pictures of it I took a few years ago!

The most recent addition to your shelves:

Egads. I haven't bought myself a book in a while! I'm waiting for Nalini Singh and J.R. Ward, Anne Stuart etc.

I was busy buying books as gifts this year but I didn't get to add any to my shelves. I have gift cards - only 40 bucks but I know at least one book I want to buy.

Because if you didn't already know, I love him.

Seriously. Bad crush on him cause he makes me laugh till it hurts.

Good stuff.

AND -

We're done!

I can see you doing your happy dance.

So, who shall get tagged - hey, I see you slinking out in the back!

Nath (gotcha), Rosie, Holly (cause she supposed to blog more), Ames, and C2.

Just so you know, I don't know the original creator of this meme and don't know if there are books still being given away but I do know the original post was in November. So I'm thinking, not so much. But I had fun doing it!

The Rules
1. Tag 3-5 people, so the fun keeps going!
2. Leave a comment at the original post at A Striped Armchair, so that Eva can collect everyone’s answers.
3. If you leave a comment and link back to Eva as the meme’s creator, she will enter you in a book giveaway contest! She has a whole shelf devoted to giveaway books that you’ll be able to choose from, or a bookmooch point if you prefer.
4. Remember that this is all about enjoying books as physical objects, so feel free to describe the exact book you’re talking about, down to that warping from being dropped in the bath water…
5. Make the meme more fun with visuals! Covers of the specific edition you’re talking about, photos of your bookshelves, etc