TBR Challenge 2010 - The Do Over

It's time for the TBR (To Be Read) Challenge again. I wasn't very good at reviewing the books I read for the challenge, and I didn't update on my progress much throughout the year, but that's mostly because I was a bit embarrassed by my lack of progress.

I failed to check many books off my TBR List in 2009. Although I did read almost 2 dozen books, the majority of them didn't come from that TBR pile that's been collecting dust. Instead, I was buying books at one of my favorite second-hand bookstores or getting them through paperbackswap.com.

I did manage to read 3 of the 12 books off my main 2009 challenge list and 3 off my alternates list. In addition to my TBR books, I read through a number of books by new or new-to-me authors, did some research for my own writing by reading several best-selling memoirs and essay collections, and learned something new by reading a few business and self-improvement books (one of my favorites was A Whole New Mind by Daniel Pink).

Having joined Paperback Swap, my TBR list is growing exponentially. Thankfully, I've been able to share some of the books that I've read but were gathering dust on the shelves in order to make room for new additions. It's hard for me to part with my books, but because bookshelf real estate is extremely valuable in my house, I've had to make some sacrifices. Besides, I love sharing books with friends, so why not share them with strangers who might enjoy them, as well?

Sadly, my TBR List for 2010 looks much like my TBR list for 2009. I'm starting to think that if I haven't read them by now they just might not be catching my interest enough, but I'm going to give it a try again. There is, after all, only so much time in a year--and there are SO many books to read. Even if I keep up my reading pace of 2009 and only read books from my TBR list, I won't make it through all of these titles. I plan to do my best, though.

2010 TBR List

1. I Know This Much Is True by Wally Lamb


2. The Mermaid Chair by Sue Monk Kidd


3. A Hand to Guide Me by Denzel Washington


4. Writing Your Life by Lou Willett Stanek


5. Hollywood Worldviews by Brian Godawa


6. Operating Instructions by Anne Lamott


7. A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini


8. Size 12 is Not Fat by Meg Cabot (Finished 1/17/10)
   


9. Size 14 is Not Fat Either by Meg Cabot


10. Big Boned by Meg Cabot


11. American Girls About Town (Finished 2/15/10)


12. Certain Girls by Jennifer Weiner

Alternates:

1. The Ha-Ha by David King


2. Writing Articles from the Heart by Marjorie Holmes


3. Writing Life Stories by Bill Roorbach


4. Trudy's Promise by Marcia Preston


5. Plain Truth by Jodi Picoult (Finished 1/30/10)


6. The Well-Fed Writer by Peter Bowerman


7. The Amateur Marriage by Anne Tyler


8. The Girl Who Stopped Swimming by Joshilyn Jackson


9. Ghosts of War by Ryan Smithson (Finished 2/21/10)
   


10. Lisey's Story by Stephen King


11. The School of Essential Ingredients by Erica Bauermeister


12. Pigs in Heaven by Barbara Kingsolver

I'll try to keep you posted on my progress and let you know if any of these are worth recommending. If you want to join the challenge, visit the official challenge site and sign up. Here's to a year of reading!

Have you read any of these books? Any suggestions on where I should start?

TBR Challenge 2009 - It's That Time Again

I'm so glad I discovered the TBR (To Be Read) Challenge a few years ago, because it keeps me motivated to read those books I collect so compulsively. I'm glad to be a reader, but sometimes my love of books is bigger than the shelves I have to hold them.

The TBR Challenge for 2008 didn't go so well on my end. I got distracted by books for reviewing as well as new and used books hot off the shelves of the bookstore. I also seemed to have less time for reading this year, although I'm not exactly sure why. Priorities, I suppose. Anyway, I managed to read 7 wonderful books off my 2008 challenge list. I enjoyed every one of them and even added a few books by some of the same authors to my shelves. This is one of the benefits, as well as the curses of reading. As soon as I finish one book, I find I've added several more to my list of books I'd like to read. The more authors I find I enjoy, the more books I have to add to my shelves (physical or virtual).

Which brings me to my TBR List for 2009:

1. I Know This Much Is True by Wally Lamb


2. The Mermaid Chair by Sue Monk Kidd


3. A Hand to Guide Me by Denzel Washington


4. Writing Your Life by Lou Willett Stanek


5. Hollywood Worldviews by Brian Godawa


6. Operating Instructions by Anne Lamott


7. A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini


8. Nourishing Wisdom by Marc David (Finished 8/20/09)


9. Change of Heart by Jodi Picoult (Finished 1/18/09)


10. Certain Girls by Jennifer Weiner


11. American Girls About Town edited by


12. Girls' Night In edited by (Finished 3/11/09)

Several of these were on my list from last year (and the year before), but I'm hoping to plow through many of them this year. While 12 is the goal of this challenge, and 24 might be a miracle, 15 or so shouldn't be too high of a bar to set. So just in case I get through the 12 above, or I find I just can't get through some of them, here's this year's alternates list.

Alternates:

1. The Ha-Ha by David King


2. Writing Articles from the Heart by Marjorie Holmes


3. Writing Life Stories by Bill Roorbach


4. Trudy's Promise by Marcia Preston


5. Plain Truth by Jodi Picoult


6. The Well-Fed Writer by Peter Bowerman


7. The Amateur Marriage by Anne Tyler


8. Songs of a Humpback Whale by Jodi Picoult (Finished 4/26/09)


9. Mercy by Jodi Picoult (Finished 2/22/09)


10. Lisey's Story by Stephen King


11. I'm Not the New Me by Wendy Mclure (Finished 10/29/09)


12. Size 12 is Not Fat by Meg Cabot

If you want to join the challenge, visit the official challenge site and sign up. There's always room for more readers (if not for more books).

Have you read any of these books? Any suggestions on where I should start?

TBR Challenge: So Far, So Good

I'm right on schedule and feeling really good about my reading so far this year. Not only have I finished 3 of my TBR books, but I'm also plugging away on several "professional development" books and making a slight dent in my ever-growing magazine pile, as well.

As for the 2008 TBR Challenge, my third TBR book was We Are All Welcome Here by Elizabeth Berg. This was a good coming-of-age story about a southern girl whose mother, Paige Dunn, was paralyzed from the neck down after contracting polio while pregnant. Fourteen-year-old Diana Dunn learns about life, love and sacrifice in 1964 in Tupelo, Mississippi. In the midst of racial tensions and social unrest, as well as her mother's sickness and their never-ending financial distress, Diana tries to enjoy her summer, while Peacie, Paige's caretaker and assistant in raising Diana, worries about her husband's involvement in Civil Rights marches.

Elizabeth Berg is one of those authors that doesn't always stand out in my mind as a favorite, yet I haven't read a book of hers yet that I haven't liked. While I felt like the ending of We Are All Welcome Here was a bit contrived, I really enjoyed watching Diana grow up and grow out of her resentment and selfishness. If you like books like To Kill a Mockingbird and The Secret Life of Bees, I think you'll enjoy this one.

A Weekend of Reading

I did something this weekend that I haven't done in a really long time.

I devoured a book.

It all started Thursday night, when I ran a hot bath with cranberry bubble bath, lit a candle, and went searching my TBR Shelves for a book to read while I soaked. I slid a hardcover volume from its position between The Mermaid Chair by Sue Monk Kidd and Gods in Alabama by Joshilyn Jackson and then I slid into the tub. From the moment I opened the cover and read that first page of Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult, until I read the last word on page 440 this afternoon at 12:35, I didn't want to (couldn't) put it down.

I don't know if it was the story or the writing style or the characters or just the moment in time that I decided to pick up this book, but it had me consumed. I barely wanted to sleep, and I couldn't bring myself to work nearly as many hours as I had planned, because all I could think about was what might happen next. I haven't felt that drawn into a story in a while.

Maybe it was my recent state of being overwhelmed, or maybe it was the dreary, rainy Friday that started off the weekend, but I fell into this book and didn't come out until I'd finished it. I hope I learned a trick or two about telling a story, because Picoult had me begging for more information at each page turn. I hope I absorbed some of her ability to build and reveal characters and their flaws. I hope I can one day write a story that sucks someone in so completely as this story did me. A whole weekend passed me by while I lived the lives of characters in a book.

TBR Challenge 2008

I've come up with my official list for the 2008 TBR Challenge. I've scoured my bookshelves (and my library list) for the 12 lucky titles that will make my challenge list, and without further ado, here they are, in no particular order:

1. Girl Meets God by Laura Winner Finished 1/16/08


2. Citizen Girl by Emma McLaughlin & Nicola Kraus Finished 4/12/08


3. Reading Like a Writer by Francine Prose Finished 12/21/08


4. I Know This Much Is True by Wally Lamb


5. The Mermaid Chair by Sue Monk Kidd


6. Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult Finished 2/3/08


7. Gods in Alabama by Joshilyn Jackson Finished 8/31/08


8. A Hand to Guide Me by Denzel Washington


9. Hotel of Saints by Usula Hegi Finished 8/18/08


10. Writing Your Life by Lou Willett Stanek


11. We Are All Welcome Here by Elizabeth Berg Finished 3/14/08


12. Hollywood Worldviews by Brian Godawa

You might recognize some of these from last year's group. Since I didn't get to all 22 from last year, I figured I'd list them again. I'm going to have to read them all eventually! And just in case any of the first group turn out to be unbearable, or I'm just not in the mood for them, I've also selected 12 alternates (again, some of them from last year's list).

Alternates:

1. The Ha-Ha by David King


2. Writing Articles from the Heart by Marjorie Holmes


3. Writing Life Stories by Bill Roorbach


4. Tender Bar by J.R. Moehringer


5. Plain Truth by Jodi Picoult


6. I'm Not the New Me by Wendy McClure


7. To Own a Dragon by Donald Miller


8. Operating Instructions by Anne Lamott


9. A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini


10. Nourishing Wisdom by Marc David


11. God's Politics by Jim Wallis


12. The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman

Again, if you want to join the challenge, visit the official challenge site and sign up. The more the merrier, and just think of how much room you'll be able to make on your shelves for more wonderful stories!

A New Book Challenge

Over the last few years, I've found myself reading less and less because there were always so many other things on my To Do list. Then, about a year ago, I committed myself to a challenge I never thought I'd finish. I signed up to read twelve books in twelve months! I thought that I just might be crazy, given my busy schedule. But joining the 2007 TBR Challenge gave me just the excuse I needed to spend more time with my nose in books.

My book shelves aren't any barer because I keep buying more books, but I read more this past year than I've read in quite a while, and was able to make 12 checks on my long list of "I really want to read that" books. That's probably double the number of books I read in 2006. I also really enjoyed every single one of my TBR picks, which I didn't expect. Especially since many of the books sitting on my shelf stay unread for so long because once they're purchase I forgot why I picked them up in the first place or can't seem to get myself "in the mood" for them.

Twelve months later, I'm half a book short of completing the 2007 TBR Challenge (I'm sure I'll finish by 12/31), and I couldn't be more excited for 2008! Because the TBR Challenge really motivated me to read more this year, I've decided I'll be joining in on the 2008 challenge, too. If you're interested in being part of the challenge group, check out the official challenge site and sign up. Why not make the TBR Challenge 2008 one of your resolutions (or goals if you're like me and don't make resolutions) for the coming year?

I'll be posting my official TBR 2008 list soon, so stay tuned. If you decide to join, let me know—I'd love to see your lists, too. I'm always looking for new books to add to the ever-growing TBR pile.