The Obligatory First Post

Hello fellow book lovers, addicts, aficionados!  

Welcome to On The Shelf.  I'm obviously still in the 'working things out' stage here and hope to pull it all together within a week or two at least so your patience is appreciated.  My goal is to review the books I read (and hopefully some that my children read from time to time) and share book related things that I come across and find interesting.  Once I have things under control, my aim is to feature guest bloggers, vlogs and some other goodies that I'm rolling over in my brain.  If you'd like to be featured or have me mention your blog or vlog, please feel free to contact me via email and I will happily oblige.  

I don't want to bore you with anymore of 'blah, blah, blah', so I'll just dive right in.  I thought I'd start out with one of my favorite things, a book haul.  I have enjoyed watching the book haul vlogs on YouTube and reading the book hauls on various blogs so it seemed an appropriate starting point.  

I always am curious as to where others get there books so I'll share where I get mine from.  Tell me where your favorite place to find books are in the comment section below if you like.  I'm curious to know!  

First on my list is usually Goodwill.  Books are cheap, usually in good to great condition there, and they usually have a good variety to choose from.  I always feel like I've gotten the deal of the century after each trip there.  Second would be the library.  Yes, that's right, I utilize the public library.  I've always been a fan of the library, spending afternoons after school at our local one reading and perusing books for an hour or so waiting for my mom to get off of work. (She worked across the street from the library at that time.)  The library now is really great for any avid reader and even greater when you are low on book buying funds.  I enjoy that I can log onto my laptop and reserve as many books as I'd like at my local library and go pick them up in a few days.  I even have an app on my phone now.  Life in 2012 is a far cry from thumbing through the card catalog locating the book you desired.  The other place I usually can find a good deal on books is online.  I've been using a site called Paperbackswap for awhile now and love it.  Check out the site if you haven't heard of it.  We have a good used bookstore here that I go to every now and again also.  

Alright, without further hesitation, here's my very first Book Haul.  I'll start off with my recent Saturday library haul. 

11/22/63 by Stephen King

Approximately 849 pages in length.  Published in 2011.  Genre - Historical Fiction / Science Fiction

This was one of two books I was picking up on this past weekend's trip.  I've been wanting to read this for awhile now and been on the hold list at the library for months but finally it's in my hands.  I've been a King fan since my early teen years so I didn't expect anything but the greatness I knew.  I'm about a third into the book (283 pages down) and I've loved every chapter.  It's looking like this might be one of his best (in my opinion of course).  If you're a die-hard King fan, I'd definitely recommend adding this to you TBR soon.

Tinkers by Paul Harding

Approximately 192 pages in length.   Published in 2009.  Genre - Novel

This was completely an impulse selection.  The cover grabbed my attention and I read the little blurbs on the back, so I added it to my pile.  I know nothing about it and will leave it at that so it can be a surprise.  Hopefully it'll turn out good at the very least.  

Chocolat by Joanne Harris

Approximately 306 pages in length.  Published in 2000.  Genre - Novel.

This was also an unintentional pick up. I remember enjoying the film adaptation of this and frankly never knew it was adapted from a novel.  I felt slightly ignorant in that moment and also compelled to pick it up.  How could I not read it?  

Miss Peregrine's Home For Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs

Approximately 352 pages in length.  Published in 2011.  Genre - Children's Literature

This has been on my TBR list for a little while.  I saw it being promoted everywhere online and people were giving it great reviews and more adults were reading it then children.  I know this is his debut book so I'm looking forward to reading it.  I've flipped through the book and looked at the photos inside which are slightly creepy.  Hopefully the story works well with the photos.  

Scary Stories by Peter Glassman

Approximately 184 pages in length.  Published in 2006.  Genre - Young Adult Horror

While I was helping my oldest daughter try and find the Beastly books, I saw this one on the shelf above and  noticed some names I was familiar with so I had to get it.  It has various classic stories from Poe, King, Shirley Jackson, as well as some odd stories from H.G. Wells, Washington Irving and several others.  I've already read the first two stories which were great.  My daughter finished this book the instant we got home from the library and she loved it.  

The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place Series - The Mysterious Howling by Maryrose Wood

Approximately 288 pages in length.  Published in 2010.  Genre - Children's Literature

Another last minute pick up.  This is book 1 in the series, followed by 3 more I think.  I've heard that this is very Lemony Snicket-esque so we'll see how it turns out.  

There's my most recent book haul, all on loan from the library but I have a feeling I'll be picking up the Stephen King for my personal library somewhere down the road.  

That's all for now, hope you enjoyed my haul.  Please feel free to leave a comment below.  Also, question of the day....Where do you find the best deal on books?  Where's your go to place for book buying (online, bookstore, garage sales)?   

Signing off,

Reanna