May TBR Pile Update

Now it's the calm before the storm.  I've had three weeks of no added books and while it's been a rather slow reading month for me I know the inevitable shit storm's coming.  I mean I do leave for BEA on Tuesday morning.  It's only a matter of time.  But for right now I have May and it was a quiet one.

The original pile -

And it's sister digital list -

DREAMING ANASTASIA by Joy Preble (free copy from BN)
THE BUTTERFLY CLUES by Kate Ellison
DROWNING INSTINCT by Ilsa J. Bick
MESMERIZE by Artist Arthur
ESCAPING TITANIC by Marybeth Lorbiecki
TITANIC by Philip Wilkinson
TIME VOYAGE by Steve Brezenoff
THE LIBERATION OF MAX MCTRUE by Kim Culbertson (from the author)

I closed April with 194 books.  I closed May with 193.  Still a loss, albeit a small one, but I'll take it.  Rest assured I'll be weeping into my pillow come July.  Poor me, I know.  I still hold onto the pride that I have in keeping my review pile (far left below) so low and how on top of my digital galleys I am.  It's something I can hang on to.  At the very least.

The pile as of May's end -

Look at the little woobie!  So tiny!  Thank god.  And I really haven't added this year.  I'm okay with that.  Until next week.

And the digital list (from NetGalley unless otherwise noted) -

THE POISON DIARIES by Maryrose Wood (Epic Reads deal)
DREAMING ANASTASIA by Joy Preble (free copy from BN)
THE TREACHERY OF BEAUTIFUL THINGS by Ruth Long
THE RAFT by SA Bodeen
HANGING BY A THREAD by Sophie Littlefield HANA by Lauren Oliver (Sony Digital Library)
THE CURIOSITIES by Maggie Stiefvater, Brenna Yovanoff and Tessa Gratton
SKYLARK by Meagan Spooner
FOUR SECRETS by Margaret Willey
ASHEN WINTER by Mike Mullin
THRONE OF GLASS by Sarah J. Maas
THE INFECTS by Sean Beaudoin
FREAKS OF THE HEARTLAND by Steve Niles
BEYOND by Graham McNamee 
DRAGON AGE, VOLUME 1 by David Gaider, Alexander Freed
THE BLACK ISLE by Sandi Tan

Not incredibly imposing to the point of a nervous breakdown but manageable.  Now if I could just get out of this damn reading funk.  Although the rash of DNFs I'm having is making me plow through my pile a little faster.

BEA is Streaming!

As you can see from above, the BEA streaming video is all set up and reading to go!

Streaming will actually begin Tuesday morning with the Book and Author breakfast, featuring Stephen Colbert.  It'll feature two more author breakfasts through Thursday along with buzz panels and events on the author stages.  Check out this list for all of the details on what you can watch streaming throughout the week.

Armchair BEA is also doing their version of BEA streaming with their online correspondents set up to chat about the event as it goes on.  So even though you may be missing out on actually being there this year, you have a bunch of options to make it FEEL like you're really there.  Be sure to jump in on these opportunities.  I'm sure you'll end up seeing more than those of us on the floor!

Things I've Learned from Books + 154

The only way to end the first book in a YA series is to chop it off at the knees, just when the going gets good.  It doesn't matter if everything behind it was just build-up to the REAL story.  You're not getting that until book two.  Suckers.

80s Awesomeness! ~ 162

I don't know very much about Final Fantasy other than it was a spawn of the 80s and is a pretty important video game as far as video games are concerned.  An epic role playing game that started off having far fewer pixels and are more two dimensional stuff.  And then it evolved into this -

That's about all of it.

Freaky Friday :|: 162

Title: Starstruck
Author: Richie Tankersley Cusick
Published: November 1, 1996
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Pages: 240
Summary:

Meeting handsome actor Byron Slater after winning a contest, Miranda Peterson enjoys the attention of the media and the glamour of Byron's world, until she stumbles on the private actor's deadly secrets.  (amazon.com)

Could be interesting in a Patrick Bateman sort of way.  This one isn't really tugging me one way or another.  It could be good but it's pretty low on my list of squee-worthy YA horror cheese.