Library Loot and Reading Plan

I recently moved the furniture around in our living room so that I could make a little play area for the kids to use during the day. I thought it would make the toys in the living room look intentional, as opposed to messy (and it does!) but one of the by products of this was that I relocated the shelves where we keep our library books. Instead of being along the same wall as my "desk" (the spot at the table where I always sit, next to my sewing machine), they are now directly across the room from me, in my line of sight. Suddenly, I can't stop seeing all the books that I have checked out and need to read before I can't renew them any more.  At my current rate of less than a book a week, there's no way I'll be able to read them all. In order to make it seem a bit more managable, I returned every book that wasn't on the shelf for a reason. That is, I returned all the impulse grabs. This leaves me with the following list, in no particular order, which is still completely impossible!

• Daughter of Smoke & Bone by Laini Taylor, half done with this one, as mentioned previously.
• Agnes and the Hitman by Jennifer Crusie and Bob Mayer. For my personal reading challenge
• The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern. Because everyone and their dog loved it and put it on their list.
• Falling for Hamletby Michelle Ray. For the Janssen Reading Challenge. This one is ILL, I can't renew it. Need to brush up on my Hamlet first though.
• Splitby Swati Avasthi. Also for the Janssen Reading Challenge. Also via ILL.
• In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto by Michael Pollan. Again with the everyone and their dog, plus it seems like a good followup to The Kitchen Counter Cooking School.
• This Is Where I Leave You by Jonathan Tropper. Recommended by several blogs, and my good friend Shawna.
• The Most Beautiful Walk in the World: A Pedestrian in Paris by John Baxter. Recommended by Amanda. Sadly this one will have to go back because I'm not going to get to it before it's due tomorrow, and no more renewals. I'll bring it home again one day.
• Ten Things We Did (and Probably Shouldn't Have) by Sarah Mlynowski. I have no idea who recommended this one, but someone did!
• A Profound Mind: Cultivating Wisdom in Everyday Life by the Dalai Lama. Ok, no one recommended this one, it was on the new release shelf. I remain fascinated by religion, khama, happiness, and the intersection of such. At 148 pages and two renewals remaining, I think I'll get to it.
• Tolstoy and the Purple Chair: My Year of Magical Reading by Nina Sankovitch. This is another that made the rounds. I saw it in the Large Print section and snapped it up.
• Shine by Lauren Myracle. Because unless you spent last fall under a rock, you heard about this one and the controversy.
• Hold Me Closer, Necromancer by Lish McBride. Bookshelves of Doom gets the credit for it. ("Speaking of, the love story is adorable.")
• The Bucolic Plague: How Two Manhattanites Became Gentlemen Farmers: An Unconventional Memoir (P.S.) by Josh Kilmer-Purcell. Ok, no rec for this either, I guess.
• The Weird Sisters by Eleanor Brown. This one isn't a library book, it's my next book for the BlogHer Book Club. I was thrilled to get in on this one since I've heard so many great things.

And to round it all out, yesterday I got a call that I have two more books waiting at the library- Make the Bread, Buy the Butter: What You Should and Shouldn't Cook from Scratch -- Over 120 Recipes for the Best Homemade Foods and The Magic Room: A Story About the Love We Wish for Our Daughters (that second one is an ILL, so again, no renewing on it!)

If I'm realistic at all, I'll start with the ILLs, then the BlogHer book (due Feb 8, I think.) Where would you start?

(The top shelf of books are the ones on this list, the second shelf are all for Mike. The third shelf are kid's library books, and the bottom shelf are random books we own that needed a place to go when I was cleaning the living room. The canvas bag is full of library returns.)