What Have You Been Reading This Fall?

What have you been reading this fall? I’ve been in my editing cave a lot lately with the two books that are coming out early next year, so I haven’t been reading as much as I like to. And there are so many new books out there that look like a lot of fun. So far this fall, I’ve been reading Eve Calder, Catherine Bruns, Julie Anne Lindsey, Jenn McKinlay, Spencer Quinn, Vivien Chien, Lee Goldberg, Kristin Kisska, Libby Klein, Tina Kashian, Sarah Fox, and Paige Shelton. All are great reads. If you haven’t already, add them to your TBR list.

Recently I finished John Grisham’s THE EXCHANGE and Janet Evanovich’s DIRTY THIRTY. I recently found Eve Calder’s series on the Cookie House. What fun. I can’t wait to read more.

What has been your fall favorite?

My TBR Pile and Other Bookish Things This Weekend

This is one of my TBR (to be read) piles. I did a good job of moving through it, and then I came back from several book festivals this spring with bags of new additions (and editions). But that's not going to stop me from heading over to the Chesterfield Countywide Friends of the Library Really Big Book Sale this afternoon. I'm looking forward to what I can find. (And I may have to start another TBR pile. What's one more.) And I'm still working on my Goodreads reading challenge. I hit the half-way point before June. Whooo hooo!

This is going to be a bookish weekend for me. I'm working on questions for our panel for the Suffolk Mystery Authors Festival in August. We're doing a presentation on the "Many Hats Authors Wear." If you haven't been to this festival, add it to your list. It's one of my favorites. There are so many mystery writers and fun events in one afternoon. 

I'm wrapping up some programming details for our Sisters in Crime - Central Virginia chapter and polishing my short story submission for our next anthology. This one is southern themed, and it should be lots of fun. 

My dog novella, "Moving on" is almost finished. I'm going to do one more read through and send it off for editing. It's going to be in To Fetch a Thief later this year with stories from three other talented writers.

And last, but not least, I'm wrapping up revisions to my new cozy mystery set outside of Charlottesville, Virginia.

I hope you've got big plans for the weekend that include books. Drop me a comment and let me know what's in your TBR pile.

What's in Your TBR Pile?

Disney Dog and One of My TBR Piles

My "To Be Read" (TBR) pile is huge. Actually, I have two - one in the den, and one on my nightstand. When I die, there will probably still be a stack of unread books. When we moved to this house, we didn't have a lot of furniture, but we had boxes and boxes of books. Just about every room as at least one bookshelf.

My grandparents and parents started my love for books and reading a long time ago. Someone asked me recently if I read differently as a writer. I'm not sure if it's because I'm a writer or whether it's because of a busy schedule. But I do notice differences in my reading habits lately.

I used to feel obligated to finish every book I started. Now I give myself permission to quit if the book doesn't grab me. If novels are riddled with typographical or grammatical errors, I usually put them down. Since I do a lot of writing and revising, typos and stylistic errors jump out at me and scream. I like plots that move. I get annoyed with mysteries that I can figure out in the first half of the book.

My free time is limited. I work full-time, do volunteer work, and write. I tend to be more selective in what I read. I read what I like, and I don't follow best-seller or popular book lists like I used to. My favorite genres are mysteries, histories, and biographies.

I read ebooks on my iPad. I love the convenience of downloading anywhere and taking a library with me. But I still like the feel of paper.

What's in your TBR pile? Have your reading habits changed?