Found!

Found on the floor next to my side of the bed:

From the library: The Street of the City by Grace Livingston Hill
A New Name (also by GLH)
Winter in Thrush Green by Miss Read
The Christmas Mouse (by Miss Read)
The Cross-Country Quilters by Jennifer Chiaverini (love this series)
The Door in the Wall by Marguerite de Angeli (working my way through the Newbery winners)

To go to Goodwill: A Room of My Own by Ann Tatlock
Stories to Enjoy--Literary Heritage Series
Junior Girl Scout Book ca. 1963

I picked the first two books up at a thrift store. The first one was a good story, set in the Depression. I just know I will never read it again, so off it goes. The second book is the "short story" book I had in school in seventh or eighth grade. Almost all the stories are depressing, though. Maybe they wanted to "expose" us to a new level of stories with unhappy people and unhappy endings. The Girl Scout book (from a library sale) was the edition I used, but after looking through it, I don't really see a use for it for myself or my family.

From Blackeyed Susan's bookshelf: Mystery on Cobbett's Island--Trixie Belden
Nancy Drew--Secret of Red Gate Farm
The Bungalow Mystery
The Clue in the Diary
Anne Emery--Married on Wednesday
Rosamond du Jardin--Wedding in the Family

Susan is reading through the original fifteen Trixie Belden books. I read a couple of Nancy Drew's every year for myself--a couple of years ago, my older sister bought a set of six to read on airplanes. Fun! The other two are residing on Susan's bookshelf until Violet gets a place of her own (she is a dorm rector at a university). She has quite a collection of 40's and 50's teen-girl novels. I have enjoyed sharing these books from my girlhood with my two older girls. Violet's favorite author is du Jardin--Forget-me-not's is Anne Emery. I love Lenora Mattingly Weber's "Beany Malone" series m'self!

From my Grace Livingston hill bookshelf (four shelves full!):
Brentwood
The Gold Shoe
Re-Creations

Finally, my Charlotte Mason Companion by Karen Andreola. I read this once a year to keep me motivated. AND my One Year Bible, which I have faithfully (so far) kept up-to-date!

Why? might you ask, are all these things not-put-away? I'm afraid this is a pretty constant state for my bedtime reading. I mean, if it is 11:30 at night and I finish a book, who wants to get out of bed to put it away? And somehow, the little book fairies seem to push them under the side of the bed by morning...

Friends, this is Nineteen Books I have not put away. But, today is a New Day, and since I filed our taxes yesterday, and it looks like we will have enough coming back for a New Mattress (oh, frabjous day! Callou, callay!), this was a Decluttering Job that was calling my name.

I wish I could say that there will never again be nineteen already-read books near- and under-my-bed, but my Charming says that it is silly to make promises with my mouth that my personality won't keep. I always have Hope, though...

edited to add: Lest you think that I never read anything with "tooth," the stuff I read in my bed is almost always Froth (exception: the One Year Bible, of course!). Somehow I feel that I need to be sitting up while reading "real stuff." The exception was John Adams by McCullough, 600+ pages, which I did read at bedtimes.