Stacy's 2017 TBR Challenge

In 2013, I stared tracking the year I acquired a book so that I could get a better sense of how long some books were staying on my shelf. While there are still a frightful number of books on my TBR shelves from before 2013, my focus this year is in getting the remaining books from 2013 read along with some others. My main list will be the 10 books left from 2013 and then the rest will be my own choice.

I'm trying to make sure it's not too loaded with any one type of book (ahem, classics) to prevent getting burned out on the list.

MAIN LIST:

1. The Prisoner of Heaven by Carlos Ruis Zafon (2013) - July
2. Revolutionary Summer by Joseph Ellis (2013) - April
3. The Wandering Falcon by Jamil Ahmad (2013) - December
4. Moll Flanders by Daniel Defoe (2013) - December
5. Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe (2013) - October
6. The Lives of Tao by Wesley Chu (2013) - February
7. American Ghost by Janis Owens (2013) - July
8. The Man Who Was Thursday by G. K. Chesterton (2013) - January
9. Dombey and Son by Charles Dickens (2013) - September
10. City of Women by David R. Gillham (2013) - June
11. The Elusive Pimpernel by Baroness Orczy Emmuska (pre-2013) - January
12. Delicious by Ruth Reichel (2014) - June

ALTERNATES:

1. The Innocent Man by John Grisham (pre-2013) - October
2. Gentleman and Players by JoAnne Harris (pre-2013) - August
3. The Way of All Flesh by Samuel Butler (pre-2013) - December
4. Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe (pre-2013)? - October
5. The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini (pre-2013) - March
6. The Black Count by Tom Reiss (pre-2013)
7. Lincoln's Dreams by Connie Willis (pre-2013) - June
8. Team of Rivals by Doris Kearns Goodwin (pre-2013)
9. The Restaurant at the End of the Universe by Douglas Adams (pre-2013) - April
10. The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd (2014) - April
11. A Great Deliverance by Elizabeth George (2014) - February
12. The Book of Strange New Things by Michael Faber (2014) - August

Maybe this will be the year I actually read all 24!

Read - 22
Remaining - 2

Well, I see a couple good books, one that I hope you find better than I did (though I never find classics something to be burnt out on so that does not bode well for you! LOL), and one that I despise. XD And then a bunch I've never heard of or am only familiar with the title. :P Hahaha. Good luck!

Some of these books were given to me by my mother-in-law so I'm not really sure what they're about or if they are something I'd be interested in, but it seemed time to give them a go.

Completely interested in seeing eventually which ones you've read and how our opinions gel or differ.

The one from the main list that I'm most committed to reading is Dombey and Son as it's next up in my reading of Dickens. From the alternates list is Team of Rivals since I've been stalled at Lincoln for some time in my quest to read a biography of all the president's in order.

I think the same way about genre variety, though in my case mostly because I don't get much else read besides what's on this challenge. We're both gonna read Dombey and Son, imagine that! Not the easiest Dickens to trip across a copy of in a book store, took me a while to get mine. I'm expecting to have The Kite Runner on my list too, so we'll both catch up on that one.

I've read several others you've got here. Among the ones I haven't I've been most tempted by Team of Rivals. Looks like you bought it when it was new or close to it, and then it had Speilberg's Lincoln movie to push it even more. I'm still circling it, haven't committed to picking up a copy yet.

Haha, do you want to know the titles (without elaboration) or wait until you've read them to find out? :P

Love your list. I'm also thinking of reading Restaurant at the End of the Universe. I like your idea of tracking when you get a book. Kind of scary, too. I've been working on my list since August, but I'm thinking of scrapping it and starting all over.

Restaurant is zany fun along the lines of Hitchhikers Guide. I hope you enjoy it. The rest of the list, I don't recognize any of the titles at all though I've read a couple of other books by the authors. Should be interesting.

Nice list, Stacy. Kite Runner is an interesting read and I've also started A Team of Rivals many times but I'm stuck in the middle. Very well written and researched. Good Luck!!

I actually read Moll Flanders way back in my college days - wacky book. Very interested in hearing your thoughts on The Man Who Was Thursday and Team of Rivals (which has been in the news a lot in the last few years) if you get to them.

Good luck and happy reading! :D

Happy challenging!

Starting off the year with The Elusive Pimpernel and so far it's just as entertaining as her first two Pimpernel books.

Finished my first of the year and it was quite fun. Next up is probably The Man Who Was Thursday or The Invention of Wings.

1. The Elusive Pimpernel by Baroness Orczy Emmuska (3 stars)

The fourth in the pimpernel series and the rivalry between the Scarlet Pimpernel and Chauvelin is still going strong. This time Chauvelin is a man on mission to trap the Pimpernel in France and end his heroics once and for all. The scenes between Percy and Chauvelin are the best parts of the book with Percy's careless bantering at times confusing Chauvelin. The author relies heavily on telling the reader everything that is happening as opposed to just sort of letting things unfold. There's a bit of repetition too that got old, but all in all it was still a fun, fast-paced read.

As a huge fan of the musical, it gave me great joy to see that they got some of the lyrics straight from the books. In this case it was the following:

"We seek him here! We seek him there! Those Frenchies seek him everywhere! Is he in heaven? Is he in hell? That demmed elusive Pimpernel?"

Congrats, first one down! Sounds like a fun one too.

>12 LittleTaiko:

Cool! The Scarlet Pimpernel is in many ways the prototype for the modern superhero, a character type that has interested me deeply since childhood. I'm sure there is a great deal in those books that I would find fascinating.

Nice review! I've wanted to read those books for a long time, but I never got around to it. Now I have a new book for my wishlist. :)

2. The Man Who Was Thursday by G.K. Chesterton (4 stars)

Well, that was fun. This was written during the early 1900's so the events he was satirizing were a bit lost on me so I'm not sure I completely got the satire. But it was an entertaining ride with a small group of anarchists who are all known by their day of the week names.

Next up is The Lives of Tao by Wesley Chu which for some reason I thought was a mystery but is a rather amusing sci-fi novel instead.

Congrats for #2! I read a Father Brown mystery by Chesterton a couple of years ago and enjoyed it.

>16 LittleTaiko:

The Man Who Was Thursday is another one that makes most of my "I really need to read that one" sensors ping. Good to know you enjoyed it. :)

>16 LittleTaiko:, I was intrigued by the difference in perception between anarchists of his day (who weren't taken all too seriously) and terrorists of the modern era, who command our full attention and fears. Got me thinking about where the differences/similarities lie, and whether his answer suited the modern era.

I did manage to finish two more books from the list towards the end of February.

3. The Lives of Tao by Wesley Chu (4 stars)

I really don't remember why I bought this book several years ago and wasn't even sure what this book was about. It was a pleasant surprise to start reading this rather funny, sci-fi novel and be introduced to Tao. In a nutshell, Tao is an alien who resides in a host body and has been involved in a long war with another group of aliens who would like to destroy the world. When Tao suddenly needs to a new host body, he ends up with Roan, an out of shape, corporate drone type who doesn't have much initiative. He doesn't realize how his whole world is about to change. This was such fun - really looking forward to reading the next book in the series.

4. A Great Deliverance by Elizabeth George (4 stars)

Somehow I've never ready anything by Elizabeth George before which is surprising since I do enjoy mysteries quite a bit. This was the first in the Inspector Lynley series and was quite enjoyable. Since it was the first, there is a lot of setting up characters, but the mystery itself was engaging. It was a bit dated and the American tourists were a tad too much but I look forward to reading more in the series.

Next up for March are The Kite Runner and Revolutionary Summer: The Birth of American Independence. At least that is the plan for now.

Live of Tao sounds interesting. I think when I saw that on your list initially, I was confusing it with something else.

5. The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini (4 stars)

I feel like I'm probably one of the last people to read this book. However, I know I'm not the last since this book is on a couple of fellow TBR members to read this year. :)

For some reason I was afraid to read it as I thought it would be incredibly sad. While there are some sad and disturbing moments, it still was a book I enjoyed spending time with. It was quite eye-opening for me as to what life in Afghanistan used to be like. Definitely glad I finally read it.

I'm almost finished with Revolutionary Summer which is best read on the weekends when I'm wide awake and not right before bed. It's interesting, but there is something about history that can just cause me to nod off unexpectedly at night.

Also have The Invention of Wings and Restaurant at the end of the Universe on the agenda for April as well possibly Wandering Falcon. Really wonder what that book is going to be about...

>22 LittleTaiko:, things have evolved so fast and far in Afghanistan, this is what worried me, that I missed the timeliness window. Glad it still felt worth reading. I'm hoping to get to it this summer.

Two more completed during the last couple of days. Almost on track to read 2 each month. Just need one more to make up for March.

6. The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd (3 stars)

I bought this book a few years ago without knowing much about the story because a neighbor raved about it. Had no idea that it was historical fiction based on two rather important sisters from the 1800's. How is it that I've never heard of the Grimke sisters before? I enjoyed this look at their struggles to get their voices heard regarding abolition and women's rights. The story alternated between them and Hetty, a slave on their plantation. The alternating view gave a very wide view of the times, but perhaps made the story drag a bit in the middle. Definitely want to read more about the Grimke sisters now.

7. Revolutionary Summer by Joseph J. Ellis (4 stars)

Quick, fascinating look at a brief period during the very beginning of the Revolutionary War when the Contintental Army was faltering and the British had an opportunity to end the whole war basically as it was just beginning.

Next up should still be Restaurant at the end of the Universe. For May, I'm hoping to read City of Women and The Way of All Flesh

8. Restaurant at the End of the Universe by Douglas Adams (4 stars)

What is there to really say? Great fun and I really enjoyed the installment in the Hitchhiker's series. Hopefully I'll get to the third book quicker than I got to this one.

I felt the same way exactly.

I liked Restaurant too. The trilogy in general is a lot of fun.

9. Lincoln's Dreams by Connie Willis (3 stars)

Really can't go wrong with a Connie Willis book. This one was written in the 1990's so felt a hair dated but still featured her great sense of story telling. It explores whether dreams really mean anything and what they could be trying to tell us. Annie is suffering from horrible dreams that seem as if she is channeling Robert E. Lee. The author cleverly plays around with reality and characterization.

Hadn't intended on reading this one just yet but I needed something to read and only had e-book options at the time so decided to start this one. Glad I did. Plus it's a nice segue into reading Team of Rivals fairly soon.

I've also started The Way All of Flesh which has been surprisingly amusing and City of Women.

10. Delicious! by Ruth Reichel (4 stars)

I was in a funk and really needed something light to read so picked this one up and it hit the spot. I enjoyed the story of a young woman obsessed with food trying to make her way in New York. There are definite flaws as things unfold just a little too smoothly and there are no real surprises. However I liked the characters and wanted to hang out in their world a bit longer.

Since I got sidetracked with this book, I need to get back to The Way of All Flesh and City of Women though I'll be out of town for a few days and won't be taking those with me on the plane. Maybe I'll use the flight time to get started on Moll Flanders since that is an e-book. Either that or The Prisoner of Heaven since it's a short paperback and will travel well.

11. City of Women by David R. Gillham (3 stars)

My mother-in-law gave me this book four years ago after she read it and I'm finally getting around to it. Set in Berlin during WWII, it wasn't something I was just dying to read but every time I picked it up, I couldn't help but be caught up in the story. Yet, every time I put it down it would take some time for me to want to pick it back up again. I appreciated that it made me consider what life during the war would have been like for the Germans. It never really occurred to me that they had to hide in basements during air raids just like the British. While the men were away fighting, the women were left behind trying to survive the best they could while navigating relationships and new rules. The book centers around Sigrid whose husband is away fighting in the war. While he's away she's been having an affair with a Jewish man as well becoming friends with a young woman in her building who has a big secret.

Ended up taking this with me on the plane after all and actually finishing it! This leaves me with 6 books left from 2013 to finish by year-end. Next up is Prisoner of Heaven.

You are really doing great with your challenge.

It's funny how sometimes one can be caught up in a book like that and then put it down for a long time. I am the same way.

12. The Prisoner of Heaven by Carlos Ruis Zafon (4 stars)

Third in the Cemetery of Forgotten Books and my favorite. It combined the darkness of the others but had a bit more humor. I thought it was going to be a trilogy but happily there will be a fourth book that comes out later this year.

Now I'm on to American Ghost and The Book of Strange New Things

13. American Ghost by Janis Owens (4 stars)

This was given to me by my mother-in-law about 4 years ago and I've never really paid much attention to it since I didn't know what it was about. I think I had a vague notion it was some kind of ghost story, the cover helped with that impression.

However it ended up being a really good small southern town story that delved into the ugly racist past of the town and the repercussions felt today. The main character of Jolie was a joy to read about - very strong, fair, with a great sense of self.

Only four more to go from my main list! I started Dombey and Son last night. Only one chapter in but so far so good. I've missed reading Dickens. Off to revisit my tentative 2018 challenge list to make sure it includes another Dickens novel.

Still plan on reading The Book of Strange New Things this month and hopefully getting back to The Way of All Flesh and finally finishing that one.

You're like a reading machine! I'm impressed!

>35 LittleTaiko:, I want to get started on Dombey in September, but feel like I should get Clarissa out of the way first and that's not happening as quickly as I wanted. I'm feeling the "missed reading Dickens" too. Presuming I get to it before year end, next year is David Copperfield for me.

So far I'm really enjoying Dombey and am about 20% through. Next year with be DC for me too. Good luck finishing up Clarissa.

14. The Book of Strange New Things by Michael Faber (4 stars)

This book was so not my usual read as it combined science fiction and Christianity, but it was a gift from my mother in law a few years ago so I thought should finally read it. I ended up enjoying this book quite a bit even though it did leave me a bit unsatisfied. Set in the not too distant future (actually it's a little vague as to the timing) and Peter has been selected to go to Oasis, the settlement in space as a Christian missionary to bring his message to the aliens there. His wife, Bea, wasn't selected to go and will remain home. Fortunately they will be able to communicate through what is basically a fancy email system. While Peter is focused on his mission, life on Earth starts going horribly wrong. Since the story is told all through Peter's eyes, it's hard to get a full sense of the horrors happening at home which I found a bit frustrating. I kept wanting to know more about what was happening with Bea. Their situation really hammered home the difficulties of long distance relationships no matter how strong they are to start with. It kept me engaged throughout and always a bit on edge as I wasn't sure what was going to happen next.

Hoping to finish either Dombey and Son or The Way of All Flesh this week since I have both as ebooks and will be spending some time on an airplane with lots of opportunity for reading. For September, my goal is to read Uncle Tom's Cabin and Gentleman and Players.

>39 LittleTaiko:, sounds like imperialism in space, lol

That pretty much sums it up!

Heading into the final stretch of Dombey and Son - only about 30% left.

Two more down! Really need to get a start on Team of Rivals if I hope to finish it this year. Still working on finishing The Way of All Flesh as well.

15. Gentlemen and Players by Joanne Harris (4 stars)

This book hooked me with it's first sentence. "If there's one thing I've learned in the past fifteen years, it's this: that murder is really no big deal." It set's up a wonderful cat and mouse game that plays out at an English boys school. I found it very enthralling and kept turning the pages.

16. Dombey and Son by Charles Dickens (5 stars)

This is the latest in my slow moving quest to read all of Dickens novels. As soon as I started reading this one I realized how much I had missed his stories. This one is is one of his best with the usual assortment of colorful characters. I enjoyed all the various story lines and never found my attention wavering. It's not as good as my absolute favorite of his A Tale of Two Cities, but it's still a favorite.

>43 LittleTaiko:, fantastic to hear high praise for Dombey, I'm getting to that one in another book or two.

Not sure if I'm going to get through all 24 this year or not, though I'd really like to do that at least once with this challenge. I should finish Things Fall Apart and Innocent Man this week I believe. I've also started Team of Rivals but can really only get to it on the weekends. It's just too big to lug back and forth to work. Also still have The Way of All Flesh and Uncle Tom's Cabin in various states of completion.

>45 LittleTaiko:, I'm going to be a miss this year myself; oh well, it's a head start on next year's list, lol.

I'm also going to come up short. I only ever finished the whole 24 one time.

You're one time ahead of me! Just once I'd like to do the whole 24 and this year seemed like a year I could do it. I'm almost down to 6 left so there is hope yet!

Two more off the list and 6 to go in total.

17. Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe (4 stars)

African literature is not something I gravitate towards and my few attempts haven't been positive. This book started off a little slow for me but once I settled into the writing style I began to enjoy it more. This is a tale of one village prior to missionaries coming in to supposedly save them from themselves. The main focus on a rather pompous warrior type, his family, and the belief system for their village. The repetitiveness of the story telling was a bit trying at times, but his sly humor sort of won me over.

18. Innocent Man by John Grisham (2 stars)

My rating is not based on the actual story but more on the way it was told. It is a heartbreaking, but I'm afraid not completely uncommon for that era, tale of two men wrongly convicted for the rape and murder of a young woman in their community. It was appalling as to how badly their case was mishandled. However, the way Grisham lays out the facts let you know how mad he is upfront without giving the reader a chance to get the whole picture to feel the anger along wth him. Thank goodness for the Innocent Project and their work to help reverse the bad convictions that have been made over the years.

>49 LittleTaiko:, I liked Achebe's book for where he steers the reader sympathies and how alien he makes the missionary work feel. It's a story done plenty of times, but you still usually know where the missionary stuff is coming from. Here, he really manages to make it a step removed.

>50 Cecrow: - It did make me think about how what the missionaries were promoting was just as crazy as what they currently believed when you really look at the stories, symbols and gods that they use to make decisions.

19. Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe (4 stars)

I'm not sure why I was so apprehensive about reading this book but had put it off for years. I'm so glad I finally decided to give it a try. It was a very moving story full of the horrors of slavery. The way the story unfolded was a bit uneven as at first it alternated between Eliza and Tom but then settled in with Tom for so long that I was starting to forget about Eliza.

I liked the way that she used the same character names to represent two different sides to the story. The hero of the story is Tom but there is also a Tom who is a slave catcher. There are two George's as well, one who is trying to break free from slavery and the other who is the son of a slave owner.

With that one down, I now have 5 to go. Still need to finish The Way of All Flesh and should be able to get through Wandering Falcon pretty easily. We'll see how the rest goes.

>52 LittleTaiko:, took me a long while to get to that one too. I was very underwhelmed by the writing, but as a historical artifact I'm glad I read it.

20. The Wandering Falcon by Jamil Ahmad (3 stars)

This didn't feel like a novel, but instead felt more like slightly interconnected stories that all featured Tor Baz though he might only be referenced in passing. Set primarily in Pakistan and Afghanistan it shows the struggles of the people as their traditions and culture are threatened as new rules are put into place governing where they can and can't go.

Home stretch time and I still haven't given up on reading the four remaining books by year-end. I am almost 60% done with The Way of All Flesh and should finish it and The Black Count this week. After that, I hope to read Moll Flanders before finishing up with Team of Rivals. It helps that I have the week between Christmas and New Years off which allows for plenty of reading time for me since we aren't travelling for the holidays.

Whew, those are still some big ones. I'll be happy just to finish my Dickens title before the ball drops, at this point.

I know. If it weren't for that week off I really don't think it would be possible. Still not sure I can get it done but am going to try. At the very least it's helped to focus my reading for the month.

I'm in the home stretch, too. Hoping to finish, privately admitting I might not make it.

Moll Flanders may be a big book, but I'm told it reads quite easily. Hang in there!

21. The Way of All Flesh by Samuel Butler (3 stars)

This poor book did not get the attention it probably deserved. I've been picking it up off and on for several months and finally finished this month. It's one of those books that I enjoyed while reading but never felt particularly called to pick up. Basically it's a coming of age story narrated by the heroes godfather. Lots of skimming on my part through some of the longer religious bits.

And with that I have three to go and am probably finally conceding that they won't all be finished by midnight on 12/31. However, I will be wrapping up Moll Flanders either today or tomorrow which means I'll have accomplished my goal of reading all my remaining 2013 purchases this year.

Who knows - maybe I'll still be able to finish the other two but I'd kind of like to read something for fun right now and not because it's on a list.

The last few are always the hardest to overcome that feeling with. Ain't it funny how we make the lists ourselves, but still feel as if somebody else is telling us what to read? :)

22. Moll Flanders by Daniel Dafoe (2 stars)

I don't think that Dafoe and I were meant to get on. I bailed on Robinson Crusoe and found Moll Flanders to be okay. At least this was more engaging than RC. I probably would have enjoyed the story more if it wasn't told in such a run on style with absolutely no chapter breaks. It just goes and goes through all of her misadventure and dubious choices. I could sympathize with her a bit since the options for women at that time were slim. Yet there was something about here that just made you shake your head - especially her relationship or lack there of with her numerous children who seemed to just disappear into thin air.

I officially gave up on finishing the last two this year though I will probably wrap them up in 2018.

>60 Cecrow: - You're right - it's a self-imposed task and yet I can't help but want to do anything other than what I set out to do. :) Oh well, I've enjoyed reading a couple of books instead just because they sounded good and fit my mood at the time.

Guess this wraps up my 2017 thread. I'm ready to start my 2018 reading!

Crusoe I liked the actual story well enough, but all the religious proselytizing whatever you wanna call it, urgh it was never ending!! I wanted to smack him and tell him to shut up already. I did not like Moll either. It had those same religious issues, which is at least part of why I think she comes off so terribly unsympathetic, but yeah, just bad. Dafoe is definitely no friend of mine either, lol.

I made it through an abridged Crusoe as a teenager, but found it super dry and remember little. Something about a guy on an island. No interest in trying more Dafoe.

Congrats on 22 in 2017, that's a fantastic percentage!