So many books... so little time!

I was reading through the post that I'm putting up tomorrow on my Incredible Women blog - it's about DeNae Handy's favorite authors. I commented on how much I love to read. Then, while I was standing upstairs in the hallway, trying (like I do every night), to beg my teenagers to go to bed, I started looking through the books on one of my many bookcases. These things prompted me to take a walking tour around my house, looking at all of my bookcases. I decided that I just had to post pictures of my bookcases here - you will not believe how many books I've got! I think maybe I should clean up these bookcases, straighten the books, look for books that I haven't yet read, etc. So, that's my next "project" in my house. Here are the before pictures... (and suggestions for some great reads on each of those bookcases)

Ok, this is the book case in my office - it's WAY too small. It holds mostly my "bookclub" books. I've read probably 95% of the books on these shelves. Some of my favorites here?
Girl With A Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier
1776 by David McCullough
Mr. Darcy's Diary by Amanda Grange
Reading Lolita in Tehran by Azar Nafisi
Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants by Ann Brashares


This is a small set of shelves that I bought for my business, but it's slowly being taken over by my books - yikes!
Favorites here?
The Book of Lost Things by John Connolly
Fablehaven Series by Brandon Mull
Complete Food and Nutrition Guide - 3rd Edition
The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown
My Fair(y) Godmother by Janette Rallison


This bookcase is in my living room, and it holds mostly church books - or fiction by LDS authors. Some of the best books here?
Jesus the Christ by James Talmage
Prelude to Glory series by Ron Carter (about the Revolutionary War)
Rachel & Leah, Rebekah, and Sarah - books by Orson Scott Card
Righteous Warriors by John Bytheway
Glimpses in the Life and Heart of Marjorie Pay Hinckley by Virginia H. Pearce


This bookcase houses my overflow of book club books, plus more church books, and some of my favorite fiction series. (Notice the statue of Dumbledore on the top shelf!)...
Harry Potter collection by J.K. Rowling
The Dangerous Book for Boys by Hal Iggulden (comes in handy with 4 boys!)
It's Not About the Bike by Lance Armstrong (read this while I was fighting breast cancer)
Shakespeare Stories, I and II by Leon Garfied and Michael Foreman (if you want Shakespeare that's a little easier for kids to read - the stories without all the hard to understand words - these books are perfect)
Confessions of a Slacker Mom by Muffy Mead-Ferro (one of my all-time favorites)



When I was newly married, I went to a used bookstore and bought tons of classics - I really felt like I wanted these books out where my kids could see them - so the top two shelves are stuffed with classics. This shelf also includes some collections by favorite authors, along with Rick's college textbooks.
A few of my favorites?
Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe
Lots of Agatha Christie books
My wonderful Jane Austen collection, of course
Several Ayn Rand books - among them... Anthem, The Fountainhead, and Atlas Shrugged
Several books by one of my family's favorite authors - Orson Scott Card... Ender's Game (and all the subsequent novels), the Red Prophet series, Homebody, Stone Tables, etc., etc.


This bookcase - my third upstairs, has books by authors such as Tom Clancy, Sue Grafton, John Grisham, etc. Plus, it has my entire children's picture book collection. Here are some favorites...
The Jericho Sanction, Mission Compromised, and The Assassins by Oliver North (that's right, THE Oliver North - excellent books!)
How to Talk to a Liberal (If You Must) by Ann Coulter
Eat Smart, Walk Smart and Walk Away the Pounds by Leslie Sansone



This last bookcase is my "children's books" bookcase. It also holds lots of CDs, DVDs, and VHS videos. I LOVE children's books. My youngest is almost 13, and I just can't bring myself to get rid of any of these kids' books. Here are a few favorites...
Winnie-the-Pooh books by A. A. Milne
Runny Babbit by Shel Silverstein
Flipped by Van Draanen
Jolly Postman books by Janet and Allan Ahlberg
Castle in the Attic (and Battle for the Castle) by Elizabeth Winthrop


Of course, there are boxes downstairs full of Dr. Seuss, and Mercer Mayer, etc.

I hope this has given you some good ideas for books to read. Reading is one of life's greatest pleasures. Now, I've got some time - it's midnight and everyone else is in bed, so I'm off to continue reading one of the books I'm in the middle of... either A Patriot's History of the United States OR Swan Thieves by Elizabeth Kostova - oh, which one?! Eeny, meeny, miny, mo...