Catching Up on Reading

Yesterday, I went to place my cordless phone on its base and not only toppled the base and handset over the side of the bookshelf in my office, but tripped over the large pile of books on the floor. Two years ago, life began to get crazy. I took on more review requests than I could handle. Even as I saw the TBR pile becoming an insurmountable task, I kept saying yes. I know how hard it is to get word out there about your book. Free e-books and self-publishing have made it even more challenging. And honestly, saying no never has been one of my strong suits.

When reviewing books became more of a duty than a pleasure, I decided it had to stop. That's why I've been closed to anything other than reviewing first chapters of books for over a year now. I simply have to catch up. After next month, my gift to me is to start working through my electronic and printed TBR pile. I'm even participating in the 2013 Catch Up Reading Challenge sponsored by Books, Bones and Buffy.

Here are some titles I look forward on catching up with. Those in bold are the ones I wish to tackle first, since they are reviews I owe to people. 

• Brotherhood by Jerry Jenkins
• The Queen’s Vow by C. W. Gortner
• Help! For Writers by Roy Peter Clark
• The Kensei by Jon F. Merz
• Love Your Husband Love Yourself by Jennifer Flanders
• Dead Reckoning by Caitlin Rother
• Becoming Marie Antoinette by Juliet Grey
• Natural Treatment Solutions for Hyperthyroidism and Graves’ Disease by Eric M. Osanksy
• The Third by Abel Keogh
• Zero Day by Mark Russinovich
• Water to My Soul: The Story of Eliza Lucas Pinckney by Pamela Bauer Mueller
• The Map Across Time by C.S. Lakin
• Miracle Play by Lynn McMonigal
• Forsaking the Call by Lynn McMonigal
• The Ladies of Faith by Lynn McMonigal
• Mama’s Comfort Food by Rhett DeVane
• Blood: The New Red by David S. Grant
• Anasazi Intrigue by Linda Weaver Clarke
• Mayan Intrigue by Linda Weaver Clarke
• Montezuma Intrigue by Linda Weaver Clarke
• Desert Intrigue by Linda Weaver Clarke
• For the Birds by Aaron Paul Lazar
• FireSong by Aaron Paul Lazar
• Resonances by Mary Andrews
• Rose of the Adriatic by K. M. Daughters
• The Second Republic: Trapdoor by Steven Bradley Clarke
• The Covert Element by John L. Betcher
• Fur Ball Fever by Maureen Fisher
• Fire Men by Gary R. Ryman
• The Pull of Gravity by Brett Battles
• Angels Don’t Die by Soren Petrek
• Patience by Soren Petrek
• Snow Burn by Joel Arnold
• Dominic by Hazel Statham
• A Dream Unfolding by Karen Baney
• A Heart Renewed by Karen Baney
• A Wedding to Die For by Heather Haven
• Alone by Lisa Gardner
• American Lion by Jon Meachum
• Asking for Murder by Roberta Isleib
• Assumption of Right by Annabel Aidan
• Cabal of the Westford Knight by David S. Brody
• Calling the Dead by Marilyn Meredith
• Chasing Lincoln's Killer by James Swanson
• Dancy's Woman by Lori Copeland
• Daughter of Liberty by J.M. Hochstetler
• Dead Man's Gambit by Frank Scully
• Deadly Omen by Marilyn Meredith
• Deadly Trail by Marilyn Meredith
• DeadMistress by Carole Shmurak
• Exiles on Main Street by Lisa Kleinholz
• George Washington Stepped Here by K. D. Hays
• Godchild by Vincent Zandri
• Here's the Story by Maureen McCormick
• Hide by Lisa Gardner
• Intervention by Marilyn Meredith
• Lilly's Wedding Quilt by Kelly Long
• Little Girl Gone by Brett Battles
• Little Mountain by Bob Sanchez
• Lost and Found by Jacqueline Sheehan
• Mother's Day Murder by Leslie Meier
• Native Son by J. M. Hochstetler
• Never without Hope by Michelle Sutton
• Obsession by Sally Royer Derr
• One Simple Act by Debbie Macomber
• Outside the Ordinary World by Dori Ostermiller
• Possession by Rene Gutteridge
• Preaching to the Corpse by Roberta Isleib
• Property by Valerie Martin
• Rabbit: Chasing Beth Rider by Ellen C. Maze
• Red Dust by Fleur McDonald
• Rhett Butler's People by Donald McCaig
• Silenced Cry by Marta Stephens
• Starting Over by Laura Rittenhouse
• Texas Roads by Cathy Bryant
• The Case of the Mystified M.D. by A.K. Arenz
• The Choice by Suzanne Woods Fisher
• The Confession by Beverly Lewis
• The Fairy Tale Bride by Kelly McClymer
• The Fire in Ember by DiAnn Mills
• The Fisherman's Wife by Dianne Sagan
• The Postmistress by Sarah Blake
• The Reckoning by Beverly Lewis
• The Remains by Vincent Zandri
• The Shunning by Beverly Lewis
• The Spies of Warsaw by Alan Faust
• Uncertain Ground by Carolyn Osborn
• Unequally Yoked by Marilyn Meredith
• Valeria's Cross by Kathi Macias and Susan Wales
• Walking through Walls by Karen Coiffi-Ventrice
• When Pigs Fly by Bob Sanchez
• Why I Left the Amish by Saloma Furlong
• Wing Beat by Marilyn Meredith
• Devil's Hand by M.E. Patterson
• The Chosen by Andrea Buginsky
• Children of the Fog by Cheryl Kaye Tardiff
• The Next Best Bride by Kelly McClymer
• The Moses Quilt by Kathi Macias
• American Patriots by Rick Santorum
• A Step in the Writer Direction by Donna Clark Goodrich
• Lonestar Angel by Colleen Coble
• What Did Jesus Say by Rev. Terry Allan Christian

What is a book sitting in your TBR pile that you would like to tackle this year?