what's on my bookshelf? from coulter to garwood

Blogger's Note: After years of sharing my thoughts on books through book releases and #bookselfies, throughout the month of August I'll be giving you a closer look at what books are in my home library.



I introduced part of my Catherine Coulter collection last week, but the real mass appears on this shelf, particularly in the form of the Sherbrooke series.

My most-read Coulter book is The Sherbrooke Bride , the first in the series. I have fond memories of reading it. Not my first historical romance novel, but one of the first, I borrowed it from a friend, who had probably borrowed it from her mom. This was about the time that we, at 13, decided we should probably try our hands at co-authoring a historical romance novel. If I'm remembering the story correctly, then I'm fairly confident there were definitely some major allusions to the Sherbrooke series. It's also worth noting that we only made it a few pages in before we took a break to focus on watching Practical Magic  while eating leftover lasagna. And then we never picked it up again. (By the next year, we were concerned with writing the next Harry Potter series, which was also abandoned for The First Wives Club and imitation crab time.)

We also see additional books that came to me from my mother in the form of Michael Crichton's works. That said, I did read Jurassic Park and The Lost World when I was in middle school. (They were probably the most challenging books I'd read to date at that point in my life.) My mom is a purist, and she preferred the book to the movie (as most people do), but man oh man, I really liked Sam Neill as Alan Grant and Jeff Goldblum as Ian Malcolm in the movies. They were defining parts of my childhood.

We move on to other books in my collection like James and the Giant Peach (not my favorite Roald Dahl book, but the one I picked up at a book fair) and my incomplete Bridget Jones series (I opted not to read Mad About the Boy, and a former roommate borrowed the first book in the trilogy and never returned it, which is part of why I still don't like lending books).

This is also the beginning of my Julie Garwood collection, which is one of my most extensive collections of historical romance. I'll talk about it more in my next bookshelf post, but these were some of my favorite books when I first discovered romance novels. Oddly enough, this shelf features three of my least-read Julie G books, but not because I didn't like them. I just already have about four or five in my "I read these every year" pile. You'll probably be able to pick those ones out for yourself in the picture.

Do you have any of the books on this shelf? Have you read any of them? Share your book story in the comments below.

The Complete List of Books Featured on This Shelf:The Heiress Bride by Catherine CoulterLyon's Gate by Catherine CoulterMad Jack by Catherine CoulterPendragon by Catherine CoulterThey Penwyth Curse by Catherine CoulterThe Scottish Bride by Catherine CoulterThe Sherbrooke Bride by Catherine CoulterThe Sherbrooke Twins by Catherine CoulterA Case of Need by Michael CrichtonDisclosure by Michael CrichtonJurassic Park by Michael CrichtonThe Lost World by Michael CrichtonRising Sun by Michael CrichtonJames and the Giant Peach by Roald DahlA Tale of Two Cities by Charles DickensFoul Play by Janet EvanovichBridget Jones: The Edge of Reason by Helen FieldingGone Girl by Gillian FlynnFatal Distraction by Emma FredericksonThe Bride by Julie GarwoodCastles by Julie GarwoodThe Claybourne Brides by Julie Garwood

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