2014 TBR Pile Challenge

Saturday, December 14, 2013



The Roof Beam Reader (Adam) is once again hosting the TBR Pile Challenge. I am pretty picky about what challenges I participate in, but I love this one because it encourages me to read books I already own.

The Goal:
To finally read 12 books from your “to be read” pile (within 12 months).

Specifics:
Each of these 12 books must have been on your bookshelf or “To Be Read” list for AT LEAST one full year. Caveat: Two (2) alternates are allowed, just in case one or two of the books end up in the “can’t get through” pile.

Here’s my list for 2014:

1) Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel (finished January 2014)
2) The Lotus Eaters by Tatjana Soli (finished May 2014)
3) The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski (finished March 2014)
4) One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez (finished February 2014)
5) Dune by Frank Herbert (finished May 2014)
6) Positively Fifth Street by James McManus
7) The Invisible Bridge by Julie Orringer (finished May 2014)
8) Blankets by Craig Thompson (finished April 2014)
9) Kiwi Tracks by Andrew Stevenson (finished August 2014)
10) Doc by Mary Doria Russell (finished May 2014)
11) Tooth and Claw by Jo Walton (finished January 2014)
12) The Americanization of Benjamin Franklin by Gordon S. Wood (finished January 2014)

ALTERNATES:
1) In Dubious Battle by John Steinbeck (finished August 2014)
2) Emily of New Moon by L.M. Montgomery (finished March 2014)

Photo by moi and from Adam's blog.

14 comments:

Unknown said...

i thought The Story of Edgar Sawtelle was excellent. Great pick and I hope you enjoy it!

Kailana said...

One Hundred Years of Solitude was really good, but I got names confused if I remember correctly. I think it might have been before blogging that I read it... So a while ago! I didn't like Dune. Have you read the Anne books? I know a lot of people are either an Anne person or an Emily person. I have read all the Anne books but only read the first Emily book. Need to fix that one day! I also really need to get to Wolf Hall and Tooth and Claw. Oh, and I liked The Lotus Eaters, too!

Riv said...

I re-read One Hundred Years of Solitude this year and was thorouhgly impressed (the first read some time in high school was somewhat of a catastrophe :p)

I have Wolf Hall and Dune planned for the next year as well, exciting.

Good luck with the TBR pile challenge :)

Leslie @ This is the Refrain said...

BLAAAAANKETS.

Favorite book! I hope you enjoy :)

Anonymous said...

The Lotus Eaters is on my list too. I just need to get it posted. In theory Wolf Hall should be on my list as well, but I don't think it's going to happen.

Brona said...

I read Dubne years (and years!) ago and surprised myself by how much I loved it (so much so I hunted down several more books in the series until I got tired of it.)
One Hundred Years of Solitude is on of those books I've read, but can remember nothing about :-(

Anonymous said...

Awesome choices! I can't wait to read Doc and Blankets, too. Good luck!

Anonymous said...

Positively Fifth Street was surprisingly good. It helps if you're a poker player, though.

OHYOS was beautifully written, but it IS confusing since its multi-generational and "all the characters have the same name" (well, not literally)

Have fun!

-Jay

Melissa (Avid Reader) said...

Erin Flynn - I love that it is inspired by Hamlet. Can't wait to read it.

Kailana - I have read all 8 Ann books and love them. I've been curious about the Emily books for awhile.

Riv - Can't wait to hear your thoughts on Dune and Wolf Hall!

Lu - Oh good! It's been staring at me from my shelves to so long.

52booksorbust - I want to read the sequel to Wolf Hall and realized I should probably read the first book before getting to the second : )

Brona - Yay! My Dad recommended it years ago, but for some reason I keep putting it off.

Epilogging - They've both been on my list too long.

bibliophilica - I'm not a poker player, but I love good nonfiction! I'll keep that in mind for OHYOS.

Bybee said...

I really enjoyed Positively Fifth Street.

Melissa (Avid Reader) said...

Susan - Good! I love hearing that about books I'm about to read.

Anonymous said...

Wow - what a list! I really need to read Dune and almost put it on my list too. Have fun!

Catherine said...

You've got a lot of great books here. Great and BIG. Dune is awesome and The Invisible Bridge beautiful. Have fun!

Melissa (Avid Reader) said...

Caitieflum - Dune is I've of those books I've been hearing about for so long!

Catherine - The story of Invisible Bridge sounds lovely!