Trying Something Different This Year

You hear a lot about people's TBR (to be read) pile on reading sites. I don't necessarily have a TBR pile; instead, I have a list of books I can browse through when I'm looking for something to read. It's made up of books that I thought sounded interesting at some point, and I like having them as options. Last year, most of what I read came from that list. This year, though, I'm going to do something different - I'm going to read my bookshelves.

I just assumed I had already read most of what was on the various bookshelves in the house, but one day while waiting on something, I was looking at one shelf and realized there were nearly as many books on the shelf that I hadn't read as those I had. That sent me looking at other shelves, and before I knew it, I had a list of probably 30-40 books (and that doesn't include a few in boxes from when I relocated my sewing/writing room). A lot of them are books I bought when my kids were still young, as well as the history books I've given to my husband at Christmas throughout the years. Some were "bargains" I just couldn't resist at some used book sale. Anyway, it's their time.

I started with The Ivy Tree by Mary Stewart. I bought this one for 75 cents at a library book sale. It's older than I am (published 1961), and not a genre I normally read (mystery/thriller, I guess), but even I had heard favorable things about Mary Stewart. The story starts with a woman (Mary Grey) who is talked into impersonating Annabel Winslow by Annabel's cousin Con to trick Annabel's grandfather into giving Con control of the family estate. For her part, Mary will get a cut of the family fortune. Things get complicated, though, when Mary finds out about a secret lover Annabel had who has come back home after years away. There's a major plot twist I won't give away, and things get rather convoluted in the climax. There were some sections that seemed to move slowly, and I was a little confused at one point, but overall, it was a pretty good read. This one gets to stay.

I will say, the character of Con was one of the more interesting ones I've encountered. On one hand, he's charming and handsome. He's also very hard-working and has made a success of the estate during the eight years since Annabel disappeared. He probably didn't even need to perpetrate the fraud to get the estate. On the other hand--he's a sociopath, for real.