Pick-a-Shelf discussion

I've chosen 'ROMANCE' as the shelf for this month, a shelf that seems extremely popular but not one I would usually choose myself - hope you all can find something you like or even more appropriately for this month - love!
http://www.goodreads.com/shelf/show/r...

Great choice Cam! This is a genre that I don't venture into much. I will see if I can incorporate this into the Summer Challenge as well.

Oh wow, this is going to be interesting. Like Lauren, this is not a genre I venture into that much but it should be fun!

My read will be Nicholas Sparks' The Notebook. I've got my hankies ready for it!

I'm not much of a Romance reader myself either but I seemed to find a lot of good choices to choose from here--nice pick Cam! I think I will read "Love Story" by Erich Segal. I just loved the movie!

That coincidentally is one I have read & lourved it Mitzie. Hope you do too. Hankies are a very good idea!

Cam, I love the movie, so I'm really looking forward to finally read the book and weep like a baby again hehe!

I joined the group a while ago but have been slack in participatng...oops. So I think this is a good shelf to get me back into it. I love Nicholas Sparks so may re-read Dear John or I have just recently bought The Time Traveler's Wifeso may read that.

Ok - I went through a real romance period a while back, so I thought I would try to find something different to read for this shelf, but no such luck. So - I think I will stick with some of the items on my TBR pile:

Morrigan's Crossby Nora Roberts
Chesapeake Bluealso by Nora Roberts (which is already on my summer challenge list
Just Listen by Sarah Dessen
Love Walked In by Marisa De Los Santos

Since I am doing a few other challenges, I think I will start with these and see how it goes.

Mitsie and Cam - The notebook is WONDERFUL, and Cam is right, the hankies are a must.

I'm new to this.. so this month and my first book read in this group will be Message in a Bottle

Romance is a genre i try to stick clear of all together... but theres a first for everything isnt there :)

Well Done all you brave ones that are stepping outside your cozy zones, I assure you I'm just as uncomfortable.

nice pick...I seem to have some of those books around my room...so yay...I can maybe put a dent into the books that need to be read

so I looked through my endless books on my TBR shelf and I only had one book The Other Boleyn Girl. So shows you how much I read in this genre. I am also going to try Enthusiasm for the Summer vacation challenge as well.

Okay, as I said in my other post...I knew I would find a ton of books on this shelf that I wanted to read, even though romance is the genre I like the least. The shelf really has a lot of variety...that's what I love about this group!

I just checked "All American Girl" out from the library, and I can use that for BEACH BLANKET too!

My friend just loaned me "Outlander" and everyone I know who has read it says it is great.

I just finished the first Sookie Stackhouse book and the second, "Living Dead in Dallas" is on this list.

Plus, "Twilight", "The Time Traveler's Wife", "Rebbeca", "Sense and Sesibility", "Water for Elephants" and "Confessions of a Shopaholic". All books I have had on and off my list for months.

So I'll start with the first 3 and see where it goes from there. I never thought I would say this about romance, but I knew I would say it about you...GREAT PICK CAM!

Well I'm quite pleasantly suprised. I went through my to read pile and clicked on some of the individual books & all three I've checked so far are on the romance shelf: they are
Eucalyptus By Murray Bail
(am reading this in a group read & can't wait to start - just scrapes in with 1 person having it on their romance shelf)
The Summer Garden By Paullina Simons
(loved the first one in this trilogy - The Bronze Horseman)
Getting the Girl By Markus Zusak
(loved everything else Zusak so far)

Wow I never thought going through my own books there would be something on the romance shelf!

In addition to Message in a bottle, i'm going to read The Pact A Love Story by Jodi Picoult.. really into her books lately. Have read My Sisters Keeper and currently reading 19 Minutes... might keep the theme :)

Hmm, well I am planning on reading Time Traveler's Wife in August and I also have sworn to myself that I am going to finally read Pride and Prejudice (bows head in shame) so I will start there.

I'm 4 for 4 now. A book I only picked up this week - Possession A Romance By A.S. Byatt (It's already there, in the title)

I found another book that looks interesting, so if I can get my hands on it I will also try to read Necklace of Kisses A Novel.

Cam: wrote: "Well I'm quite pleasantly suprised. I went through my to read pile and clicked on some of the individual books & all three I've checked so far are on the romance shelf: they are
[book:Eucalyptus|1..."

ooh, I didn't know about the Zusak book. I've loved all his books so far too! I might have to add this one to my list.

Thank goodness. I have been reading nothing but dark depressing things it seems and I am ready for some LOVE! I had already decided to read Love Walked In next, so that will work out nicely. I also plan to read Belong to Me A Novelfor an upcoming book club. My mom loaned me the first several books of the Outlander series, so I will get into those next.

There are a quite a few books that have been picked, that I wouldn't have thought of, that are currently sitting on my Mt.Bedsidetable. And a lot that I have read & loved too (Vicki - Pride & Prejudice is just about my all time fave book). I now have quite a few more books to look up, some that have been mentioned twice already. Lynne - good job, three at least for now + Zusak possibly - not bad.
Thankyou to all of you that are giving this a go, & to those that love this genre already.
Nora Roberts - Good stuff Lyn & Natasha - she is awfully popular - have to admit I'm addicted to her futuristic 'In Death' series written as J.D. Robb starting point - 2058 'Naked In Death' - Lt Eve Dallas the untamable wild New York policewoman up against The handsomest, sneakiest, bad but oh so good Roarke - the most powerful & rich man in all the world - did I mention the Irish accent, tall, dark, mysterious & the brightest blue's you've ever seen (sadly for me:( next one not due out till November) and I clearly only read them for the crime!

Laura wrote: "Thank goodness. I have been reading nothing but dark depressing things it seems and I am ready for some LOVE! I had already decided to read Love Walked In next, so that will work ou..."

I just read Belong to Me for Realistic Fiction last month and loved it. I can't wait to read Love Walked In this month. Maria de los Santos writing and characters are phenomenal!! I hope you enjoy!

Additionally, the Outlander series is one of my faves.

Sure Cam, you can certainly tell that by your lack of details regarding the physical features of said Roarke. I have only started one book, called Remember When, which is a Nora Roberts - J.D. Robb collaboration (if you can call it that since both are the same person). Half of the book takes place in the present and was written by Nora, the other half in the future, written my J.D. I got interrupted and never finished, though. Will have to finish it and check out the others.

I didn't think that I normally read too much romance, but turns out my TBR pile has some! I am going to read
Belong to Me A Novel by Marisa de los Santos
Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris and
The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton.
I am glad to see that I can get some of my pile done!

Chelsea wrote: "I love this genre! Thank you!!! My pick for this month is Wuthering Heights. I'm so excited!

I recommend Message in a Bottle to anyone that hasn't read it. One of my favo..."

I read Wurthering Heights for Classics month and loved it. I hope you do too.

Also, I will also be reading Belong to Me for book club next month.

You guys will have to let me know when you finish Belong to Me. I would be happy to discuss. I really loved the book.

FYI - I will be gone until August 11th on vacation, so I will not be posting for a while. See you all when I get back.

I think I will be courageous and add a fourth... Love Walked In by Marisa de los Santos

Lyn wrote: "Laura wrote: "Thank goodness. I have been reading nothing but dark depressing things it seems and I am ready for some LOVE! I had already decided to read Love Walked In next, so tha..."

Lyn - I am a few chapters into Love Walked In, and I am already in love with the author's style. I read some reviews that talked about loving the "cadence" of her writing. I would have to agree! Isn't it great when you know you have another book by an author you love to look forward to? Hope you get to read it soon!

I was thinking about the fact that only a couple of people categorized the Marisa de los Santos books I picked to read as Romance. I think these books probably fall into the slightly more socially acceptable genre of "Chick Lit". I suppose the more typical idea of this genre is the Nora Roberts or Danielle Steele type of books. I went through an entire summer where I did nothing on my days off, but go to the beach and read Nora Roberts. And I loved it! If someone is looking for a really good, scandalous, pick you should try Family Album by Danielle Steele. There is isn't anything that doesn't happen in this one! I think the only real problem with the typical romance novel is that the authors clearly follow a formula in order to churn out book after book, so they all seem to seem alike after awhile. Other than that they are great guilty pleasures!!

I will try to get to At First Sight before the end of August. It is one of my books in the Summer challenge but I have the B and E book to read first!
Changed my mind about At First Sight now that I realise there is another book before it so now will read Captain Corelli's Mandolin.

Sara wrote: "I didn't think that I normally read too much romance, but turns out my TBR pile has some! I am going to read
Belong to Me A Novel by Marisa de los Santos
[book:D..."

Sara I just finished The Forgotten Garden and really enjoyed it - hope you do too!

I think I'll attempt to jump back into this group for this. For now, I'll start with Suzanne's Diary for Nicholas, since I know Patterson's books move quickly.

I'm starting with Dead Until Dark (since it's been on my TBR list forever) and The Time Traveler's Wife (since it crosses a challenge from another group). Maybe more if I have time, but I doubt it. I always seem to over-extend myself every month and can never complete them all... but I just can't help it, they all sound so good! :)

Melissa wrote: "I think I'll attempt to jump back into this group for this. For now, I'll start with Suzanne's Diary for Nicholas, since I know Patterson's books move quickly. "

One of my sentimental favorites. I read the whole book in 4 1/2 hours on a plane trip. Could not put it down, even for the yummy airline food. :)

Melissa wrote: "I think I'll attempt to jump back into this group for this. For now, I'll start with Suzanne's Diary for Nicholas, since I know Patterson's books move quickly. "

Tara wrote: One of my sentimental favorites. I read the whole book in 4 1/2 hours on a plane trip. Could not put it down, even for the yummy airline food. :)

I too read this on a plane ride along with Patterson's "Sam's Letters to Jennifer". You might also try his "Sunday at Tiffany's"

I am not looking forward to this month's shelf pick. Not one romance book on my to-read list. However, I keep saying I'm going to try to read a Jane Austin novel some day so now's the day (or month?).

Melissa wrote: "You might also try his "Sunday at Tiffany's"

I actually read this one last year. Not too bad.

I'd love to read The Time Traveler's Wife, since the movie is coming out, but I loaned my copy to my mother-in-law to read before she goes back to school. Hopefully she'll be done by mid-August so I can read it then.

Melissa I just finished The Time Traveler's Wife and loved it! We read it for my book club at home and some were mixed on how they felt about it, but I thought it was great. Cannot wait to see the movie!

I'm reading Shiver for this month. I'm glad the topics romance. :)

Romance, huh? I was surprised at how many of the books on the first page I've read! For this month, I want to reread Pride and Prejudice. I haven't read it since high school, and I didn't really enjoy it much then. I'm wondering if I will enjoy it more this time. I've also always wanted to read Gone With The Wind, so this is the perfect excuse!

Angela wrote: "Melissa I just finished The Time Traveler's Wife and loved it! We read it for my book club at home and some were mixed on how they felt about it, but I thought it was great. Cannot wait to see the ..."

I think I'm going to check with my mother-in-law about it today. I keep seeing the movie previews and wanting to start the book, then remembering I don't have it. I love Rachel McAdams, so I really want to see the movie, but I don't want to see it before I read the book.

I'm about halfway through Suzanne's Diary for Nicholas. I'm thinking I'll be able to pick up Something Borrowed to read, too.

Luann - Gone With the Wind is one of my all-time favourites!

I am going to be listening to The Time Traveller's Wife on my road trip this coming weekend!

I've been a bit slow at picking something this month because things have been a bit crazy at home. Romance isn't something I read often but I might try to find a copy of Mansfield Park - I think it's the only Austen I havn't read yet.

I am adding Wuthering Heights to my list. I am about a third into it.

I have chosen the Vampire Chronicles by Anne Rice. Like it so far!

I have just finished the Italian romance by Joanne Carroll. Not just a romance, or rather less of a romance than I expected. There was a surprising depth to this with WWII history between Australia and Italy, reflection on life choices and ageing. Really quite enjoyable.

Some of you have been reading a couple of my favourites - time traveller's Wife especially. cam I didn't know there was another Markus Zusak - i love his other two.

Cathy wrote: "Some of you have been reading a couple of my favourites - time traveller's Wife especially. cam I didn't know there was another Markus Zusak - i love his other two. "

Oh Cathy, have just finished & haven't stopped howling since (good or bad you'll have to find out for yourself). He is amazing no matter what he writes or who it's for. (This I think would be largely aimed at teenegers to young adults) - I am neither, but he made me feel like I was, all over again.

My mom is a huge romance reader and just gave me a ton of romance books to post on paperbackswap for her. Amongst them was a book that fit into the challenge and so I thought I would squeeze another romance book in.
So I am going to try...
The Next Mrs. Blackthorne

I know nothing about this series, but I wanted to at least read one true romance book.