This Absurd Expansion of my TBR Is Brought To You By the Public Library

Okay, so I know I made a vow (on camera, no less), that I wouldn't buy another book until I went to RWA Nationals. My TBR pile was sort of getting out of control thanks to my purchases and a truly serendipitous cluster of book-contest winnings, and I wanted a chance to trim it down before I encountered the RWA Nationals Goodie Room.



Well, when I made that vow, I was unaware of my Public Library's semi-annual booksale, which sold perfectly good romance novels for 50 cents a piece (or you could bring your own box and pay a flat rate of 10$). How - how could I let such a chance go by? If I didn't check this out, I would have to wait until September for the next semi-annual booksale, and that's just unreasonable, wouldn't you agree?



This isn't an addiction. I can stop whenever I want. But why would I want to with all these wonderful books? Besides, I was very responsible with my book buying at this sale. With two exceptions, I'd only bought books by authors I knew and enjoyed. But I can see that you're disbelieving, and shaking your heads in disapproval, so allow me to go over my purchases in finer detail:



The Already Reads:



These two I'd already read and adored, but had borrowed from the library. Well, now I own them, and technically since I've already read them they don't go on my TBR pile anyway, so nyaa nyaa nyaa.



The Series Finishers:



True, I was a little iffy about getting these, because even though I loved the first book, these last two weren't as favourably received by critics. However, I've been known to disagree with reviewers before - and something about both stories really interested me, and I wanted to finish the series. Besides - they were CHEAP!



The Developing Favourites:



These are books by authors whose works I've read once, and really enjoyed, so when I saw these books on the table at the sale, I quickly snatched them up to see if I didn't just get lucky the first time around.





The Already Favourites:

These, as my regular readers will know, are all books by favourite authors of mine, so I feel nothing but justified in snatching them up. I'm a dedicated acolyte of the Church of Balogh, Laura Lee Gurhke has impressed time and again, Loretta Chase is, well, Loretta Chase (and considering this is her latest book, I'm still doing a happy dance for grabbing it for fifty cents), and Eloisa James impressed me quite a bit with Duchess In Love, and this is a story within the same series.



The Lucky Dips:



Okay, so these two were the exception to my "only buy books by authors I've read and enjoyed" rule. With Candice Hern, I've never read her novels, but I really enjoyed her story in the It Happened One Night anthology, so when I found this at the sale, I thought it would be an excellent opportunity to get to know her in a longer format. With Judith McNaught...hmmm, it's an interesting situation. I already have Almost Heaven on my TBR pile, but I still haven't gotten around to reading it (I'm rectifying that situation, though - it's next up when I'm done Sex With Kings), but I've heard nothing but how wonderful and awe-inspiring and magical all of her historicals are. And, admittedly, the first page of Almost Heaven really caught my attention. And - and it was FIFTY CENTS. So SUE me. It was cheaper than a cup of coffee.



The Very, Very, VERY Lucky Dip:



While I left the book sale with a rather exaggerated amount of pride (all fifteen books ended up costing $7.50 combined, less than a single new paperback costs here in Canada), this is the find that made me embarass myself by shouting "SCORE!" in the middle of a crowded library parking lot. It's by Loretta Chase. It involves an honourable secondary character from Lord of Scoundrels. And Chase's website says it's out of print. Can you say DIAMOND IN THE ROUGH?



So, really, dear readers, after all this can you blame me for temporarily lifting my no-book-buying vow to visit this important library book sale?