This and That

So, one week of the new year down, I'm feeling pretty good about my resolution to Finish Things.

First step on my road to Finishing is Organizing. Specifically, I wanted to find a way to catalog all of my TBRs and keep track of what, when, and where. By happy coincidence, I was trolling around the blogosphere and found LibraryThing via Sara Donati's blog entry. So very. very. cool.

Only problem is that I spent an entire day logging every single book I own into my library rather than focusing strictly on my TBRs. I did use a TBR tag so I can sort and find my TBRs and keep track of them. I'm using the comments section for each book to log when I read it, as well as assigning it a star value and trying to write at least a brief synopsis to remind me of the story and what I thought about it.

And as I was emptying off my shelves in order to log in books, I used that opportunity to rearrange my TBRs. In an effort to help myself achieve my goals, I culled out about half a dozen books that I've already started but haven't finished for one reason or another (besides hating the book, that is). I'm going to work my way down that stack first before tackling the rest.

Only problem with half-read books is that I usually have to reread or at least skim enough of the beginning to re-acquaint myself with the charactes and story premise.

This weekend I finished Karen Marie Moning's Kiss of the Highlander (a solid C+ read for me) and picked up Linda Howard's Heart of Fire. I'm really enjoying HoF so far and can't recall why I didn't finish it when I first started reading it. Probably got busy or something.

While running errands today, I stumbled on a copy of the newly re-released The Secret Pearl by Mary Balogh. Despite my commitment to finish what I already have before buying anything new, I couldn't help myself. When several friends recommend TSP to me, I moved Heaven and Earth to find an old copy. I did enjoy the book as much as my friends thought I would, so having a new copy seems a wise thing to do. Plus I can lend it out without fear of never getting it back. And since I've already read this book, I figure it doesn't add any weight to my TBR load.

So, all this to say, I'm plugging along. Check out LibraryThing, but stand warned that it's addictive. And if you want a good read, I highly recommend The Secret Pearl.