Murder by Death

Task 1:   Make two “prophesies” you think will come to fruition in 2019 in your personal or reading life. 

1.  I will fail any attempts to reduce my TBR.  (This is not a defeatist attitude, this is a pragmatic one; MT and I will be in Florida next July for my mom's birthday and I'd really like to say I'll be strong and stay away from the Friends of the Library shops, but I'd be lying.

2.  My ongoing shelving issue will remain an ongoing shelving issue.

Are they really prophecies when you're forecasting a sure thing?

Task 2:  The Five Pillars of Islam include almsgiving and the pilgrimage to Mekka.  Tell us: Have you ever donated books or rescued them from (horror of horrors) being trashed?  Alternatively: Is there a book-related place that is a place of pilgrimage to you?

See above, re: my FOTL addiction for the answer about rescues.  And though nobody could be blamed for reading my book haul posts and thinking HOARDER!, I do cull my books several times a year, donating in a typical year about 100 books to the only Friends of the Library anywhere near where I live in Victoria.  I just buy more than I donate. 

There are a few places that are pilgrimages to me, depending on where I am in the world; places that are at the top of the priority list every time I'm there.  When I'm at home in Florida, it's the, you guessed it, Friends of the Library sale areas inside our public libraries.  It's pretty much the first thing I do the first morning I'm there (it's literally across the street from my mom's house).  Repeat visits are made throughout my stay; you know,  just in case new stuff has come in.

When my bff and I are both in the States at the same time, I'll go to see her in Atlanta and when that happens, a pilgrimage to Chattanooga, Tennessee is a must.  McKay's used books is just off the interstate highway and it was my mecca when I lived in N. Georgia for 5 years. 

(Picture from their website - http://www.mckaybooks.com)

When I'm in The Netherlands to see the same bff, then it's ABC books in Amsterdam:

And when I'm in Sydney to visit the in-laws, it's always Berkelouw Books in Paddington:

(Picture from Sydney.com)

Task 3:  Prophets are messengers.  Tell us: Which book characters are your favorite messengers (no matter whether humans, angels, (demi)gods, etc.)?   I'm drawing a serious blank here.  This is why my grades in English belied my love of reading; I suck at breaking down what I read beyond 'gee that was good' or 'omg that sucked'.  So, for this I'm going to have to take the easy way out and say The Archangel Michael who plays messenger for God in the Charley Davidson series.  He's not particularly likeable, but I do chuckle each time there's a scene with him in it, mainly because Charley completely rains on his stoic parade.

Task 4:  Muhammad was a merchant before becoming a religious leader.  List 5 books on your shelves in which a key character makes / undergoes a radical career change.

1. Mercy Thompson series (Moon Called):  she starts off as a mechanic; by the last book of the series (so far) she's wife to the alpha of a werewolf pack and protector of a large chunk of the Northwest USA.

2. Greenhouse Mystery Series by Wendy Tyson:  MC starts off as a lawyer and becomes an organic farmer.

3. Sarah Booth Delaney Series by Carolyn Haines:  she comes home after a failed stage career and becomes a private detective.

4. Death on Demand Series by Carolyn Hart:  another failed stage career, but Annie comes to her new career as a mystery bookshop owner through an inheritance.

5. Lord Peter Whimsey books (Whose Body?) by Dorothy L. Sayers:  he's a shell-shocked war veteran and dilettante at the beginning of the series, but becomes a Private Inquiry Agent/Detective.  (This one might be a bit of a stretch...)