Stop the insanity --- serious help needed ..........

I am overwhelmed and need the assistance of my readers! Please help!

I am not sure that I would call myself "a reader", but I do read. I always have a book in progress and read anywhere between 2-3 books a month, depending on what is on television and how much is going on at the office.

Last Spring, I decided to finally bite the bullet and read Margaret Georges VERY LONG Autobiography of Henry the VIII. The book was wonderful and should be ready by everyone, but is a huge commitment and took me about 2.5 months to complete.

I then quickly got through Jonathan Sanfran Foer's Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close which was wonderful (thanks for the tip, Mom) and Jodi Picoults mindless but easy Perfect Match.

And, this evening I sat down to start a new book. HERE IS WHERE I DISCOVERED THE PROBLEM!


Books find there way into my house a number of ways (generally they are passed down or purchased at COSTCO) and they go to one of 3 places, the trash (because I decide that I will never read them), the book shelf (for future reading, that is where The Autobiography of Henry the VIII was for over 2 years) or, my nightstand. Books on my nightstand are "co-pilots" and can be called up at anytime! They are the next to read. right now, there are 19 books cluttering my nightstand. SEE THE PROBLEM ?!!?????!!!!!!!


I do not know when this got so out of hand, but I suspect that it happened during the last 4 wives of Henry the VIII. And now, I have to plow through this enormous stack! Where do I start? Should I send some directly to "trash"? Should I send some to "book shelf"? Should I take off three weeks from work, send the girls to my mom's and cram?

Here is what is there, you tell me .............................................

The Letter of the Law - Tim Green (don't know where I got it. Susie maybe?)
To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee (this might explain that one)
Velocity - Dean Koontz
Dead Sleep - Greg Iles
The Girls Guide to Hunting and Fishing - Melissa Bank (dangerously close to "Trash")
The Devil in the White City - Erik Larson
Snow Flower and the Secret Fan - Lisa See (my friend Patty recommended this one, and I trust her judgement, so it is pretty high up on the list)
The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold (Came highly recommended. I have started this but it grosses me out and I can get past pg. 75. Will give it one more shot, but have put it down 3 times already).
Lost on the Forest - Sue Miller
The Myth of You and Me - Leah Stewart
The Secret Life of Bees - Sue Monk Kidd
The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini
Girls Gone Bad - Jillian Medoff
Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil - John Berendt (read this one years ago ........ why is it on my nightstand?)
The Corrections - Jonathan Franzen
Death by Hollywood - Steven Bochco (as in LA Law? He wrote a book?)
Patricia Cornwell - Blowfly (very close to "trash". I have not enjoyed her books for years)
Here by Dragons and The Sunne in Splendour - both by Sharon Kay Penman (I think that these were recommended by my Uncle David and came fro my mom. They might go to "bookshelf" because they look a little heavy for summer).

Suggestions? Help! I feel like I am facing down a "hell semester". Need clarity. What should I read? What should I trash? What's on television?