A few months ago I posted a confession – Stacks of Shame. It proved to be a popular post, with other bloggers joining in the ‘I’ll show you mine if you show me yours’. I pledged to cut back on the book buying until I’d reduced those TBR stacks a little. Well that book-buying-ban fell in a heap two days ago (thanks to Cyndi) but in the almost-three-months before that I didn’t buy any new books. Feel free to commend me on my restraint.
Part of my no-book-buying strategy was to keep a list of all the books that I come across during the ban that looked good. I figured I’d review the list at the end of the ban and see what still appeals.
So here’s what I would have/ potentially could have bought during my three month self-imposed ban:
Boomer and Me by John Case
Constance by Patrick McGrath
The Engagements by J. Courtney Sullivan
Alice Bliss by Laura Harrington
The Good Father by Noah Hawley
Who We Were by Lucy Neave
Flappers by Judith Mackrell
Memories of a Marriage by Louis Begley
Luncheon of the Boating Party by Susan Vreeland
Vivien’s Heavenly Ice Cream Shop by Abby Clements
Revenge Wears Prada by Lauren Weisberger
The Story of Before by Susan Stairs
Close My Eyes by Sophie McKenzie
The Emergence of Judy Taylor by Angela Jackson
Apple Tree Yard by Louise Doughty
The State of Me by Nasim Marie Jafry
Tomorrow There Will Be Apricots by Jessica Soffer
John Saturnall’s Feast by Lawrence Norfolk
Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen
Aftertaste: A Novel in Five Courses by Meredith Mileti
The Baker’s Daughter by Sarah McKoy
The Town that Drowned by Riel Nason
The Kitchen God’s Wife by Amy Tan
Of Marriageable Age by Sharon Maas
How to Eat a Cupcake by Meg Donahue
Starting from Scratch by Susan Gilbert-Collins
In the House Upon the Dirt Between the Lake and the Woods by Matt Bell
Tender at the Bone by Ruth Reichl
The Secret Knowledge by Andrew Crumey
Under the Wide and Starry Sky by Nancy Horan
And the Mountains Echoed by Khaled Hosseini
My Notorious Life by Kate Manning
The Chef by Martin Suter
Kiss Me First by Lottie Mogach
Just_a_Girl by Kirsten Krauth
Letters to the End of Love by Yvette Walker
Cascade by Maryanne O’Hara
Girlchild by Tupelo Hassman
Visitation Street by Ivy Pochoda
Fin & Lady by Cathleen Schine
Loteria by Mario Alberto Zambrano
Five Star Billionaire by Tash Aw
Remember How I Told You I Loved You? by Gillian Linden
The Virgins by Pamela Erens
The Affairs of Others by Amy Grace Lloyd
The Wicked Girls by Alex Marwood
Someone: A Novel by Alice McDermott
The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt
Sister by Rosamund Lupton
Sea Creatures by Sussanna Daniel
Plainsong by Kent Haruf
Fractured by Dani Atkins
& Sons by David Gilbert
Shorecliff by Ursula DeYoung
The Wife, the Maid and the Mistress by Ariel Lawhon
The Paris Architect by Charles Belfoure
That Part Was True by Deborah McKinlay
Blue Plate Special by Kate Christensen
Tampa by Camille Nutting
The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton
A Girl Like You by Maureen Lindley
The Reluctant Cannibals by Ian Flitcroft
Longbourn by Jo Baker
The First Affair by Emma McLaughlin
Pursuing Love and Death by Heather Taylor Johnson
The Round House by Louise Erdrich
The Lowland by Jhumpa Lahiri
The World Without You by Joshua Henkin
The Last Banquet by Jonathan Grimwood
Where’d You Go, Bernadette? by Maria Semple
Isn’t that just ridiculous?!
The titles with links will be staying on my TBR list. The others – well, my wallet is giving thanks for this self-imposed cooling-off period.
Wow I’m incredibly impressed by your restraint!
Thanks!
I’m impressed with the method of restraint. As someone who likes lists and buys way to many books I am going to steal this, well once I’ve been on holiday in October because I need new books for then of course!!!
Steal away! Honestly, I would have bought a lot of these on impulse… Given that I still have a huge TBR stack I’m glad I haven’t added to it. I might allow myself to buy 5-10 from this list before Christmas.
Thats quite the list and You have done very well!
Dear Kate,
I am very flattered to be on this list. If you’d like to get in touch I’ll find you an ARC.
Best wishes,
Deborah McKinlay (That Part Was True)
Thanks Deborah!
You’re welcome. Email me.
Hi Kate,
I work for Deborah McKinlay’s publisher. We would love to send you an ARC of THAT PART WAS TRUE. Please send your mailing address to marissa.sangiacomo@hbgusa.com.
Thanks!
Marissa
Many thanks Marissa!
You are to be commended. I didn’t just fail in my book buying ban, I failed spectacularly. I bought maybe 35 books (20 of which were from the used book sale, I’m justifying here, but it’s still shameful).
I’m about to start The Engagements in the next week or so. I got it for review and started it, but I didn’t find it very…engaging. Sorry, I do love a bad pun.
Ooh, fantastic list of books! I can’t say I’ve read any of them (oh, wait, I did read Kate Manning’s My Notorious Life; it was okay, I wasn’t fond of the writing though and found it to be a little slow/repetitive at times but it might just not have been my thing–raises some fantastic issues though!) but there’s a lot that are on my want-to-read list 😀
Congratulations on your book-buying ban! I admire your restraint these last three months 🙂 I think when I caved, I caved pretty badly–might’ve bought some 15 titles in total? *doesn’t want to count* LOL
With all the money you’ve saved you can buy yourself a new Kate Spade bag. Kudos.
See, this is why we’re friends. Ace idea.
I’m reading an ARC of My Notorious Life at the moment and I’m loving it! The writing does take a bit to get used to but I’m finding the issues fascinating.
Now that my ban is over I just have to careful not to go COMPLETELY CRAZY!
Wow! Your restraint is seriously impressive. I just finished Flappers last week and I highly recommend it, it’s a brilliant read. The only others I’ve read off your list are The Kitchen God’s Wife and Of Marriageable Age, and I’d definitely recommend both of those too. You’ve given me lots of good ideas for books to read – looks like my TBR list won’t be shrinking any time soon…
Well looks like I have a few more to add! Wasn’t sure about Flappers, only because I’ve read so many Gatsby-esque books of late but when it comes with a high recommendation, well….
I wouldn’t have been able to restrain myself from picking up The Goldfinch… cannot wait for that one to release!
Must say that access to Netgalley did ease the pain of the whole exercise and allowed me to read a few new releases. The ridiculous thing is that despite aiming to reduce the number of books stacked by my bed, most of what I read over the last few months was in my virtual TBR stack (e-books). So the piles of books remain…
Hey Kate, Just came across your list, lovely to see my novel there. I’d be happy to send you a copy for Christmas – or before! – if you want to send me your address. You can find my email me on blog profile, which my Twitter links to. warm wishes, NASIM
Hi Kate,
I’d love to send you a copy of Dani Atkins FRACTURED – that wont count as buying! Please email your address to becci@headofzeus.com and I’ll pop one in the post.
Very best
Becci (HoZ Publicist)
Many thanks!