Collecting can be murder — two weeks of fun — #bookgiveaway

IMGP2894Collections. We’ve all got ’em, whether we realize it or not. When I was writing the third Food Lovers’ Village Mystery, BUTTER OFF DEAD (July 7, 2015, available for pre-order now), I realized that one of the book’s themes is collections—and what happens when one becomes an obsession. Collecting can be murder.

So I thought it would be fun to ask other writers to share pictures of their collections and tell you how they came about. Starting soon, for the next couple of weeks, I’ll post a new collection and the cover of the author’s latest book on my blog, www.LeslieBudewitz.com/blog; the posts will also appear on FB. Leave a comment on the blog or on FB—tell me about your collections, if you’d like—for a chance to win a copy of the featured author’s latest book, many of them signed. Ruff the Cat will pick a winner the next morning, so check back to claim your prize!

As the shelf shows, you’ll have a chance to win books by Catriona McPherson, Cathy Ace, Connie Archer, Kate Carlisle, Sheila Connolly, Kathy Aarons, Vicki Thompson, Susanna Hardy, Daryl Wood Gerber aka Avery Aames, Roberta Islieb, and me—and maybe a few more.

We’ll wrap up with a few pictures of my collections and some special Food Lovers’ Village giveaways.

(Hint: if you subscribe to the blog, you’ll receive the posts by email and you won’t have to hunt for them on FB.)

(This contest is not sponsored or endorsed by Facebook.)

44 thoughts on “Collecting can be murder — two weeks of fun — #bookgiveaway

  1. My book collection is very big. I own about 400 books. That doesn’t count ebooks. I have collected books for a long time and I keep them all on display. Sometimes it’s hard to find room for all of them. Lol

  2. Dragons! A tea kettle dragon in the kitchen along with a tea cup with dragon legs, Pocket Dragons covering one of the antique typewriters in my office. (I guess that means a typewriter collection too?) Dragon humidifier on the hearth. Dragons in the garden. I’m getting a little claustrophobic and concerned here. Not that I think I’m being stalked, but if there are dragons everywhere you look, it’s possible you’re not crazy, they are stalking you..
    And books!. Name a room, there’s a book case/shelves, random books laying around …
    Marbles.
    Okay, I’m a pack rat and have been since I was a toddler and traded one of my mother’s shoes for a cookie. Although as an adult I would haVe kept the cookie.

      • Oh, yes. We were living in Panama, the Canal Zone, and leaving food around like that… not good. Snakes, spiders, sloths, little sister who ate everything including the contents of my parents’ ashtrays…

  3. I have well over a thousand books on my shelves, 95% cozies. Connie Archer, Ellery Adams, You, Deb Baker, Laura Bradford, Laura Childs, Kate Carlisle, Kate Collins…and on, and on,

    • Word Press asked if I approved this post. Darn right I do! And I see must be an alphabetizer… Do you know Laura Childs and I are first cousins?

  4. I collect snowbabies! I just love them and try to get a new one every Christmas. We have a corner china closet in the dining room and they are just perfect for them. With the amount of books in the house you might say I collect books too. Even though I now have a kindle, I refuse to get rid of my books!

  5. My young adult children laugh t my collections! Most treasured are teddy bears (my favorite has a ceramic necklace that says tied to my heart by adoption and love). Second, is atypical antique items: a bronze bell from the Chicago World’s Fair, A wall hanging of Delft Dutch tiles removed from a house constructed in the early 1900’s and recently added a wall plaque from Denise Swanson made on a roofing tile that is 175 years old. My book collection is almost all cozy mysteries (many series of my favorite authors are complete), primarily those with animals, recipes and/or crafting of some type. That doesn’t include over 400 cozy mysteries on my Kindle. I also have our daughters Nancy Drew and American Girls collections and a shelf dedicated to books which we read to our 5 year old granddaughter.

    • Some treasures there! I’d love to know how you got that World’s Fair bell. Love Delft — my mother has a small collection, mostly bought in Amsterdam in 1970. I bet that 5 y.o. is looking forward to the day she can read some of those Nancy Drew and Amer Girl books!

  6. I collect books and teapots…I try to pick up the old Nancy Drew ones as well as Beverly Gray, Judy Bolton, Leslie Ford anything from the 1940’s I love the covers as well…then I have new cozy’s and on my Kindle about 400…:P Marilyn ewatvess@yahoo.com

  7. I’m at the downsizing stage of life and my son has walked thru the house and told me it was time to start giving things away! I’m so not ready to do that! On the other hand, I would love to add this to my growing collection of Cozy Mysteries! Thank you for the chance to enter this giveaway.

  8. Books…I have two very large bookcases in my finished basement filled with books, plus two smaller bookcases. I collect mostly mysteries, but I also read fantasy books in the Lord of the Rings style. And I occasionally donate a large number of books to help clear out. Thank goodness for ebooks…they don’t take up any room.

    • Turns out that women of a certain age are big users of e-books — for exactly that space reason you mention!

  9. I’ve collected books since before I could read and model horses (mostly Breyer and Peter Stone) since I was about 8 years old. The majority of the horses are stored in an inordinate number of Ikea PAX units (the big honkers) hung with frosted glass doors although a few special pieces are housed in a glass curio. Most of my books are displayed on open shelving. I am lucky to have enough space at home to keep a large accumulation of stuff, though I do purge from time to time.

    • Do you still add to the horse collection? I had one as a child, but it’s long gone. I’m sure many of us envy your storage space!

  10. A shorter list might be things I don’t collect. Haha If I like something I rarely have only one, so I guess that constitutes a collection. Kind of like what they say about potato chips…”you can’t just one”

    • Michael, readers like you are heroes to writers! Leave a comment on any individual day’s post to be entered to win a book by that day’s guest.

  11. I like to collect miniatures. A number of years ago we had to move for my husband’s job, and one of the ways I consoled myself was by hanging up a printer’s drawer someone had given us and beginning to fill it up. It’s now a lovely hodge-podge of tiny souvenirs from our travels, memories, and trinkets from my own and my daughters’ childhoods…you name it. When my oldest is ready to move out on her own, I’ve got an empty printer’s drawer all ready to give her. I’ve told her she can choose a dozen items from our drawer to get her started on filling her own. And of course, as a librarian and avid reader, it goes without saying that I also collect books! 🙂

    • Renee, that sounds simply delightful! And so sweet of you to think ahead with a drawer for your daughter to start her own collection.

  12. I didn’t plan on collecting books, I just love them. They can take me anywhere. I have so many books I’m not telling the number.
    I also collect salt and pepper shakers. Never thought I would but it can be part of history so I find it interesting.

    • I suspect salt & pepper shakers are among the most popular things to collect — a bit of history, as you say, and personal history — great memory-sparkers.

  13. I definitely collect books, new ones old ones, big ones, little ones, I do limit myself to certain subjects as I realize I can never have a house as big as the Library of Congress and there warehouses. Cozies probably top the number of books, I won’t list everything else. bwahaahaa, I also collect vintage office supplies, old knitting needles and patterns, Harry Potter things I find on sale, crayons, vintage kitchen items. I do have my house up for sale and I will be losing the wonderful bookshelves I had built. But need to be nearer to my parents. However, when pressed I can let go of items.

    There is always room for more books.

    • Liz, you gave me a big smile at the thought of living in the Library of Congress! I love old office supplies, too — I just rescued a box of Dennison gold stars from my mother’s desk — I know it came from my father’s office, and it’s stamped 15 cents. Pepper, the main character in my Spice Shop mysteries, shares that love.

  14. My house is overrun with books. I’ve had to start giving books to the library. I also have a collection of cows that I’ve collected from different countries.

  15. I have a big collection of cookbooks and mystery books. I have some Hard Rock Cafe teddy bears that my kids would buy me when they traveled. My favorite collection is related to the cult Evil Dead trilogy. My favorite B-horror movies and my favorite actor, Bruce Campbell. I have action figures, different versions and foreign releases of the movies along with video games and books.

  16. I collect books (of course), several thousand. I also collect coffee mugs and vintage PC adventure games.

  17. I have a huge book collection. My favorites are my mystery and cookbook collections but I also collect other genres. I can never have enough books! I also have a huge stuffed animal collection.

  18. I collect cat cookie jars. Also I have every book I ever bought. I love mystery series and historical fiction (historical to the 1800’s not 800 in England with kings) I have all the
    Wagons West series by Dana Fuller Ross. I love them.

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