Why I Do It

So how is the cataloging project going? Very well actually. I only have two Rubbermaid totes to go - the Anything Remotely Contemporary Tote and the Series Romance Tote. All of my historicals and trade paperback/hard covers are done.

All of this playing with my books has sort of reinforced that I have too many. It also makes me question whether or not I should keep reviewing. I read roughly 100 books a year, and about half of those are review books. The other half is whatever I check out from work or unearth from the TBR. At this rate, I will never be in danger of reading through my TBR which means something has got to give. Most likely I need to take some serious time off from acquiring more reading material.

The Boyfriend thinks I should keep reviewing. It's definitely brought more "good" into my life than bad, and it's also a really good "professional development" activity for my resume. It keeps my hand in, so to speak, and it really allows me to keep on top of what's new, what's hot, what's not - at least as far is romance and mystery fiction goes.

I tend to go in cycles with my reviewing gig. When I read a great book - I love it. I especially love it when I read a great book that I more than likely wouldn't have picked up on my own. I've also discovered great authors by reviewing. Off the top of my head - Susan Wiggs, Maggie Osborne and Emma Holly. The first books I ever read by any of these authors were review books I was assigned (in order: The Hostage; I Do, I Do, I Do and Beyond Seduction).

Unfortunately I've noticed one big trend over the last 8 years I've been reviewing - it's either feast or famine. I'm either working through a stack of great books or a stack of duds that cause my eyes to bleed. I'll be honest, when you're working through a duddy stack this "job" loses more than a bit of luster.

It's when I hit a slump of crappy review books or look at my TBR a little too long I start to get the itch to quit. Will I ever? Not likely. In the long run, the good outweighs the bad - but it's a little daunting when you've cataloged almost 500 books and you've still got two Rubbermaid totes to go. So a hiatus might not be uncalled for. Maybe later this summer...