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I recently had a few hours of down time, so I picked up a book from my to-be-read pile and settled in to enjoy it. I'd read a few pages when I got that 'I've been here before' feeling, so I looked at the copyright page, and sure enough, the book had originally been published more than ten years earlier. It had recently been re-released with a new cover. I wandered over to my keeper shelf and there the original version was, tucked in beside several other books from that author.
But I'd already been sucked into the story, and truthfully, after such a long time, I couldn't remember many details of the book. Only that I must have liked it, because I'd kept it. After so many years of reading, I can only keep books that I really love. If I tried to keep them all, there would be no room in my house for anything but books - no furniture, no television, no appliances. Nothing but bookshelves. And I was right about this book, because I enjoyed it just as much the second time around.
That got me thinking about keepers. I enjoy a well-plotted book, especially if it has a lot of twists and turns. But what makes a book a keeper for me are the characters. I have lots of Superromances on my keeper shelves, as well as lots of other romances, and some thrillers and non-fiction, as well. What makes a book a keeper for you? And what are some of the books on your keeper shelf? I'm always looking for books to add to my to-be-read pile.
Margaret Watson www.margaretwatson.com
Hmm...
Oddly, my keeper shelf has a lot of historical, yet I write contemporary! Here are a few of my favs:
* Season Of The Sun, Catherine Coulter (Love this book! and the love scenes were so great!)
* Karen Marie Moning (yep nearly everything she's ever written. I heart her)
* A Thousand Roses, Bethany Campbell
* The Perilous Gard, Elizabeth Marie Pope (I've loved this book so much it's falling apart)
* The Witching Hour, Lasher, etc (Ann Rice)
These are by no means my entire list...just a smidge.
Kim
Kim's website
A MAN WORTH LOVING, Harlequin Superromance, Nov. 09
TRUSTING THE BODYGUARD, Harlequin Superromance, Apr. 10
TO CATCH A KILLER, Silhouette Romantic Suspense, Aug. 10
Hi Margaret!
My keepers are the page-turning variety. Those books you can't put down, stay up late reading, and don't give a hoot that you're exhausted the next day!
It's funny, Kim, but a lot of mine are historicals, too.
Flower's from the Storm by Laura Kinsale immediately comes to mine. As well as anything from LaVyrle Spencer. She's the one who inspired me to write, so she's gotta be a keeper.
I think because I write contemporary, the historicals are more of a release?
First Come Twins 8/09
Next Comes Love 10/09
Then Comes Baby 12/09
Along Came a Husband 6/10
www.helenbrenna.com
www.ridingwiththetopdown.blogspot.com
Keepers
Thanks, Kim! I'll definitely check those out.
I read mostly contemporaries, but I've been reading more historicals lately and really enjoying them. The one I re-read was The Last Hellion by Loretta Chase.
Margaret Watson www.margaretwatson.com
keeper shelf
I actually have to trim down my keeper shelf, it's way too big. For me a keeper is a book that I have a really hard time putting down because it's so good. I have a variety of romances from historical, contemporary, and paranormal. I have Lori Foster's SBC fighters series, those are some really good reads. I've got many books by Linda Lael Miller as well.
Anything
that I can't bear to part with is a keeper and way too many to name. I love Janet Evanovich, James Rollins, Nevada Barr, Cindy Dees, Suzanne Brockmann, Catherine Coulter's FBI series, J.D. Robb's In Death, Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson YA, Frank Paolini's Eragon, James Patterson's Alex Cross, Ladies Murder Club, and his Maximum Ride YA, Keri Arthur, Patricia Briggs, Rachel Vincent, Ilona Andrews, The Left Behind Series, Raymond Feist, Catherine Asaro, Jennifer Roberson, Maureen Child, Catherine Mann, Mercedes Lackey, Terry Goodkind, George R.R. Martin, and so many more. It's hard for me to part with a good book and I have shelves in almost every room. I also have very eclectic tastes and read just about what ever I can get my hands on. My problem is having enough time to read everything that I like. Great blog!
The D2K Paranormal Junkies ~ 2008 Book Challenge Blog
my keepers
Definitely a lot of Supers - mainly from the past couple years when started reading them.
I have Janet Evanovich, Tara Janzen (the crazy series), JD Robb (oddly I prefer Nora writing as JD), Susan Wiggs - The Lakeshore Chronicles, Toni Blake.
But like you - if I'm running out of space - something's gotta go.
Read Home at Last - I enjoyed it very much!!!!
Keepers
My keepers are a wide range of everything from romance to non-fiction. A keeper for me is any book I might like to read again or share with my kids someday. There's something in the writing or the story that makes me want to revisit the book.
I'm a rereader. If I really like a book, I'll read it over and over. As my memory starts to slip, I'm not sure if rereading is more or less fun. I do like anticipating favorite scenes, but finding a surprise in an old friend is always nice.
Ellen
www.ellenhartman.com
Blog: www.romancenovelsblog.blogspot.com
Plan B: Boyfriend Superromance December 2009
The Boyfriend's Back Superromance May 2009
Hi Margaret
The books I keep are mostly romances; militaries and intrigue. It's hard to say why I choose to keep some books more than others. It may be they way they were written but mostly because I couldn't put them down. I love most of Nora Roberts, Catherine Coulter's FBI series; Lindsay McKenna, Carla Neggers; Elizabeth Lowell's romances; all of Diana Palmers' Long Tall Texans; Cindy Dees, Suzanne Brockmann, Catherine Mann, Susan Wiggs and so many more .....
My DH and I live in a 2-bedroom condo and I'm running out of room but the books I keep I don't want to give away - I'll just have to shelve something else to make more room. My books are too precious.
Nothing more relaxing than a good book and a cup of tea.
Keepers
Hi Margaret,
I love Keeper posts because they always add more to my To Be Read pile. My Keeper have a sub category - comfort reads and Georgette Heyer tops that list. The books you read when you've got the flu or need a pick-up for whatever reason. General favorites: Laura Kinsale, Larry McMurtry, Betty McDonald's The Egg and I, J. R. Ward, Nalini Singh, Julie Garwood, David Zindal and way too many category writers to mention.
Karina
www.karinabliss.com
Like Father, Like Son, Superromance Nov 09
What The Librarian Did, Superromance March 10
Sorry it's taken me so long
Sorry it's taken me so long to add my own comments - family stuff to do Thursday and yesterday, all day. One of my daughters came home to visit for a couple of weeks, and another is returning from France today - after a year there, teaching English.
Thanks for all the suggestions for new reads! I had some of them on my keeper shelf already, but I wrote down a lot of authors. Karina, I still have all my Georgette Heyer books that I bought YEARS ago - some of them from when I was a teenager. I've definitely read all of those more than once.
MarciR, I'm so glad you enjoyed Home at Last. I loved being able to use my past experience as a veterinarian when I wrote about Jackson. And Tara Jantzen and JD Robb are on my keeper shelf, as well.
I'm off to the airport to pick up my world traveler!
I know you'll
be busy again with your daughter. Enjoy!!!
The D2K Paranormal Junkies ~ 2008 Book Challenge Blog
Disclaimer
My disclaimer is that I rarely get rid of a book, unless I really don't like it. I just can hardly bear to let them go even if I will probably never re-read them. So, by definition, I guess that makes most of my books keepers, and that's why I'm buying more ebooks lately than print books. I'm running out of horizontal surfaces on which to store the print variety.
However, I am most definitely a re-reader. The books that I really love, I will read many times over. I laughed when I read that you bought a re-issued book. I nearly did the same thing by accident early this month. Rachel Gibson is an auto-buy author for me, and I nearly bought a book by her with a cover I didn't recognize before I noticed the title and realized it is already in my collection as one of my favorites. Almost all of hers are favorites, particularly The Trouble with Valentine's Day, Simply Irresistible, I'm in No Mood for Love, It Must Be Love, Truly Madly Yours, See Jane Score, and her newest True Love and Other Disasters. Other favorites are Beloved Heart by Mallory Burgess, Whispers at Midnight and One Summer by Karen Robards, The Billionaire's Proposition by Leanne Banks, The Chameleon Chronicles (the Evie trilogy) by Beth Ciotta, Shanna and The Flame and the Flower by Kathleen Woodiwiss, The Merry Widow's Diary by Susan Crosby, Knock Me Off My Feet and Public Displays of Affection by Susan Donovan, and more than I can count in this small space!
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July 2009 Member of the Month
Keepers
I keep books that are usually characters driven and well written. I know that I am hooked when I discuss the characters and people think I am speaking about real people. These are the books where I am completely drawn into the story. They are my can't but them down books when I read them. They are also my old standbys when I say that I don't have anything to read, yet there are books in my TBR pile. It is just that I am not feeling those particular books at that moment.