Now I am ready for my Original List for my 2009 TBR Challenge. I am using the books that I did not read during last year's TBR Challenge for my first list.

1. Age of Innocence
2. On the Origin of Species
3. Alias Grace
4. Oliver Twist
5. The Old Man and the Sea (Read)
6. Invisible Man
7. Frankenstein (Read)
8. Dracula (Read)
9. Get Shorty (Read)
10. Dangerous Liasons (Read)
11. The Count of Monte Cristo
12. Brideshead Revisited (Read)

Now, I just need to choose the 12 for my alternates list. What fun! :)
--BJ

Message edited by its author, Nov 8, 2009, 6:45pm.

Here is my Alternate List:

1. The Voyage of HMS Beagle
2. The Woman in White (Read)
3. Atonement (Read)
4. The Three Musketeers
5. Sarum
6. The Demon in the Freezer
7. Complete Nonsense (Read)
8. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (Read)
9. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
10. The Bear and the Dragon
11. Swann's Way
12. Cold Mountain (Read)

Now I just need to wait until January to get started! :)
--BJ

Message edited by its author, Sep 6, 2009, 11:41am.

Hi billiejean! If it's any kind of incentive for you I read The Old Man And The Sea in about an hour, so it should be an easy one to cross off your list. Good luck with your challenge!

Hi, LibraryLover23!
Thanks for the suggestion! This book is one of those that my kids read in high school that I had never read and want to get to someday. I am excited about this challenge and can't wait to get started! :)
--BJ

Thanks to LibraryLover23's suggestion, I did indeed start with The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway. This book was a quick, easy read, but it was also magnificent. I loved this book! :) Now I need to start Swann's Way by Proust which I think will take me longer than a month to read.
--BJ

I'm so impressed that you're tackling Swann's Way so early on. That book is on my tentative TBR list for this year (though I didn't put it down as part of this challenge because I'm pretty intimidated by it.)

Good luck! I'm looking forward to following your progress.

Hi, MeganGrace!
I have actually been looking at Swann's Way on the bookshelf for over a year. Plus my daughter read all six books last summer. So I am just going to start already and take it slow. I will probably read other books at the same time. Good luck with your challenge, too! :)
--BJ

#2
I'm going to read Cold Mountain for my 999 Challenge. :-)

Message edited by its author, Jan 8, 2009, 9:52am.

Hi, Carolien70!
Cold Mountain is one of the books hanging around the house that my kids read in high school. I tried it read it once before, but stalled out. I did not stick with it long enough. I think that if I read it a little longer, I will like it. Let me know when you read it and what you think. :)
--BJ

I really didn't like Cold Mountain. For some reason, it bored me silly.

I read a book off of my alternate list The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. I have been wanting to read this for a long time. It was light, fun, and funny to balance all the long ones that I am reading, too. I guess my next one needs to be from the main list. I am thinking that I would like to read Get Shorty, another funny book. :)
--BJ

Hitchhiker's Guide is fun, so are the sequels! I have Get Shorty to read as well. I'll be interested to see whether you like it or not.

I love the movie Get Shorty so I think I will like the book. I was going to read it before HGG, but my daughter borrowed it first. She had only seen part of the movie, but she LOVED the book. Uh, oh, high expectations!
--BJ

I see that I forgot to put Chocolat on either of my lists. If I don't read it this year, I will try to remember to add it next year.
--BJ

I'm going to read Chocolat for my 999 challenge.

I could do that, too! What a great idea!
--BJ

Hi BJ
I'm reading Brideshead Revisted at the moment, which I see you have on your main list; and am really enjoying it so would like to say that you are in for a good read there !

Thanks for the mention! I saw on tv that there is a movie for that out now -- maybe on dvd, I'm not sure. Maybe I can read that one next month.
--BJ

Well, I just finished another book from my alternate list. I need to give another look to the primary list! :) The book that I read was Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier. This Civil War story was an amazing read, and the first novel by Frazier. I really enjoyed it.

I am only just barely hanging in there with my schedule. I hope that I will be able to read at a quicker pace now. February and March were slow months for me. I have no idea what I am going to read next. I am thinking Frankenstein, but also considering Get Shorty and Brideshead Revisited. Swann's Way has fallen by the wayside for now!
--BJ

Hi BJ,

I also have Brideshead Revisited to read this month and Get Shorty is on at least one of my lists for this year as well. I'll be interested to see how you like either/or both.

BTW I read Cold Mountain a few years ago and well, no pun intended, it left me cold. I didn't really enjoy it at all and remember skimming through an awful lot of it.

Hi, judylou!
You know the first time that I tried to read Cold Mountain, I could not even get through the first chapter! But the second time, I decided to persevere through that part and I found that the more I read of it, the more I liked it. Ultimately, I enjoyed it immensely. Why the difference? I have no idea. I guess I was more interested in the story this time through. Sometimes books are that way. But I am glad that I gave it another try because I enjoyed it so much.

I hope to read both Frankenstein and Brideshead Revisited this month. However, my reading will have to be a little faster than it has been of late. :) So far, I have only read one tbr book a month. And that just barely! I will be interested to see what you think of Brideshead and Get Shorty. I just know that Get Shorty is going to be terrific!
Have a great day!
--BJ

Message edited by its author, Apr 4, 2009, 10:46pm.

Yes, the movie was great and hopefully the book will be just as good (better?).

As far as Cold Mountain goes, it is true that it can depend on the timing as to whether a book resonates or not. Sometimes I just know that I am not in the mood for a particular story or a particular storyteller!

As I remember Cold Mountain, which I loved, the writing was rather dense, which made it somewhat difficult to read. However, the whole time I was reading it, I had the feeling that each and every word was chosen with intense care. I loved the movie too, which I think was true to the book.

There are several scenes that stick out from Cold Mountain that will probably always stay with me. It is a beautifully written novel.
I just realized you have a book called A Demon in the Freezer on your alt list! What a title!! My interest was piqued, so I looked it up and was suprised to see it is a true story. I never would have found this book on my own but I think it will go on my TBR pile.
--Wela

Hi, Wela!
That book (Demon in the Freezer) was a book assigned in my daughter's English class at school, and I am trying to read all of them that I haven't read before. They are usually really good. She says that this book is extremely scary -- especially because it is nonfiction! So I definitely want to read it this year, but I am not sure when this year. :) Have a great day!
--BJ

I finished my fourth book for the tbr challenge, Frankenstein by Mary Shelley. I thought that this book was terrific. I can't believe that I had never read it all these years. So far, I have been enjoying these tbr books. I hope that it stays that way! :) Have a great day!
--BJ

I finally finished my book for May in June! And it is also from the alternate list. Oh, well. I read Atonement by Ian McEwan. This was a book that my girls read in English class. I have been on a personal quest to read all the books that they read that are new to me. I did not think that I would like this book. It is not the type that I usually read. However, much to my surprise, I found myself totally drawn into this story. So I am glad that I read it.
--BJ

At last I have read Get Shorty. This book is hilarious. The movie from the book is one of my all-time favorite movies. I just love it. I also have the sequel to this book which I hope to read soon. This book is on my main list. I have started The Woman in White, which is on my alternate list.
--BJ

Wow, you are doing such a great job with your TBR mountain.

Thanks for your kind words! You have made my day! :)
--BJ

Well done BJ!

Thank you, Judy Lou! I am all smiles! :) By the way, The Woman in White is quite enjoyable. I am not reading at the speed of light or anything, but I am definitely liking what I read.
--BJ

I finally finished The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins -- yet another from my alternate list. This was a great book! Full of suspense! I am starting Dangerous Liaisons by Pierre Choderlos de Laclos next.
--BJ

I just finished Les Liaisons Dangereuses by Pierre Choderlod de Laclos. I read this with a group read on the 1001 group. This book was both witty and tragic. It did not read to me like a book from the 1700s.
--BJ

I just finished Edward Lear's Complete Nonsense by Edward Lear from my alternate list. I seem to be reading about half from each list. This was a quick fun read. I especially loved The Owl and The Pussycat, The Jumblies, all of the Nonsense Alphabets, and especially the Nonsense Botany. I am planning to read Dracula for October. I cannot really believe that I have never read this classic.
--BJ

I finished Dracula for October. My upcoming book is The Count of Monte Cristo, which I have discovered is super-long! The actual TBR copy that I had was abridged, so I went out and got a copy that is unabridged. Now I am not sure that I can finish it for November.
--BJ

Go on BJ, you can do it . . . . :)

I wasn't able to join the group read of The Count of Monte Cristo over at the 1001 Books group, but they all seemed to whip through it in a matter of weeks. It sounds like a page turner and quick read, despite its girth. I'm with Judy, you can do it!

I was hoping to read it along with them, but I haven't even started it yet. But everyone tells me that it is a great read. Maybe I can just follow a little behind. :) Thanks so much for the encouragement. That is what I need with the long ones.
--BJ

Well, I haven't started The Count of Monte Cristo yet, but I did read Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh, which has been on my tbr for 20 years. I don't know why I took so long to read it, because it was a good book. One more book to go for 2009.
--BJ

#9 I'm half way reading Could Mountain. I'm not really enjoying the book. Sometimes it seems more like a struggle. But I want to finish it (as always), so I'm going to struggle my way through it. :)

I actually had to start the book twice, but I ended up really enjoying it. I think that the book improves as you go along. Good luck! :)
--BJ