Cecrow - 2011 TBR Challenge

Primary List:
1 The Kon-Tiki Expedition - Thor Heyerdahl (finished 2011/01)
2 The Diary of a Young Girl - Anne Frank (finished 2011/02)
3 A Passage to India - E.M. Forster (finished 2011/04)
4 New York - Edward Rutherfurd (finished 2011/05)
5 The Black Company - Glen Cook (finished 2011/12)
6 One Hundred Years of Solitude - Marquez (finished 2011/10)
7 Under Heaven - Guy Gavriel Kay (finished 2011/07)
8 Watchmen - Alan Moore (finished 2011/05)
9 The Jewel in the Crown - Paul Scott (finished 2011/11)
10 Black Like Me - John Griffin (finished 2011/08)
11 Gardens of the Moon - Steve Erikson (finished 2012/01)
12 Deadhouse Gates - Steve Erikson (finished 2012/03)

COMPLETED 2012/03

Alternate List:
1 The Turn of the Screw - Henry James (finished 2012/04)
2 If On a Winter's Night a Traveller - Italo Calvino (finished 2012/02)
3 The Sword in the Stone - T.H. White (finished 2014/04)
4 The Invasion of Canada - Pierre Berton (finished 2014/10)
5 Flames Across the Border - Pierre Berton (finished 2014/10)
6 A Farewell to Arms - Hemmingway (finished 2013/12)
7 A Canticle for Leibowitz - Walter M. Miller (finished 2014/12)
8 The Heart is a Lonely Hunter - Carson McCullers (finished 2014/08)
9 Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov (finished 2016/01)
10 Reading Lolita in Tehran - Azar Nafisi (finished 2016/02)
11 The Day of the Scorpion - Paul Scott (finished 2012/06)
12 Memories of Ice - Steve Erikson (finished 2012/06)

COMPLETED 2016/02

Seeing as it's end of February, I've allowed myself a headstart (ie. cheat!) by posting two titles I've already read this year. Both of them at least count in terms of TBRs I've finally tackled. I think I'm the last person I know to read Anne Frank's diary, everyone else read it as a teenager.

Marquez has sat on my shelf for an especially long time, at least three years. I've unintentionally built up a bunch of India-themed titles on my shelf so I've decided to go in the order of chronological events, starting with Forster and then Scott. After Scott's, I also have A Fine Balance waiting but it won't make the list for this year since I doubt I'll get through all the Raj Quartet. Glen Cook is a warmup for Erikson; I'll read at least the first three Black Company novels but I only put the first on this list.

"Almost on the list" included Musashi and some Tad Williams I've been meaning to get to. And I still might this year, in place of those listed. I'm giving myself a free pass to completely blow this list and go off on tangents whenever I feel like. Otherwise I'll get obsessed, as though someone's gonna judge me if I fail to complete my list as stated.

In any case, these definitely represent titles I'm overdue in reading, which I think is ultimately the point of this challenge - to encourage my reading to catch up with my acquiring!

I also have One Hundred Years of Solitude on my list. I think someone is having a group read of that book sometime this summer. But I can't recall who. :) Lots of good titles on your list. I am glad that you decided to join us.
--BJ

My biggest motive is, if I have this list I've pledged to read then maybe I'll stop impulse buying other books and making these continue to wait. And wait, and wait ... you probably know what I mean. ;)

I came across my copy of Marquez in a summer 2007 garage sale, along with A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. Funny enough, I read the other within a couple of weeks but 100 Yrs has languished ever since. I'm a fan of both the fantasy genre and historical fiction, so I'm hoping that leaves me well positioned to enjoy it. With my current slate, not likely to pick it up until summer rolls around again, though.

The Marquez has been on my mental TBR list for a few years now. For some reason it is one of those books that I am a bit wary of.

I've only read a short story by him before, in my university days. I vaguely remember it had something to do with a man who had wings and that I had no idea what to make of it. It didn't inspire me to run out and try his novels. But his is one of those names you can never escape for long, and when it's looking at you for 50 cents in a yard sale ... yeah, the time had come. So I thought. Three years later, it's really about time I got around to it, lol.

I've tried that geneological fantasy twice. 'Haven't given up. Some day...

Great list, by the way.

A Dance with Dragons has just been announced for July; presuming that holds true, I'm gonna get messed up for sure now. ;)

Progress! A Passage to India is possibly the best novel on culture clash I've ever read. In multiple instances these individuals make attempts at friendship and fail, unable to bridge the gap between them. I think the final pages have it right: so long as one culture claims superiority over the other, that must impact every lesser relationship forged beneath its shadow. This novel is sure to remain a standout for me at year end.

Sounds like a great read!
--BJ

Finally finished New York after more than a month; considering how easy a read it was, this speaks volumes regarding my reading speed. The good news is that's the largest one until I get to Erikson.

Skipped ahead on my list to read Watchmen so that I can watch the movie. Well written, a credit to the graphic novel medium.

Edit: some interesting differences in the movie; the usual mix of the understandable and the unnecessary.

Finished Under Heaven, really enjoy this author but found it only an average effort for him. Taking time out from my list now to tackle George Martin, who I intend to savour.

Marquez was supposed to be next, but Black Like Me skipped ahead when I needed non-fiction for some reading on the side. Penetrating insights from a sociology classic. An engaging experiment, widely read in schools - I'm surprised I never heard of this book until very recently.

It's a relief to have finished One Hundred Years of Solitude - not because it was a difficult read (I liked it a lot) but because it was the title on my TBR list I was most afraid of not finally striking off this year. Now I can say - done! Yay TBR Group for motivating me!

On the other hand, here's heads-up that I think I can manage another two on my list but probably won't get to the Erikson titles until January - too much pre-reading I want to get done first. And I won't even scratch the surface of my backup list ... geesh

Congrats on !00 Years of Solitude! That was a big one on my list, too.

The Jewel in the Crown was good to read so soon after A Passage to India, while my recollection of the other was still fresh. Doesn't match Forster for literary heights. Seemed almost cut out for being rewritten as a non-fiction piece with its having so much unveiled commentary and opinion, although I still appreciated the story in this format.

Finished The Black Company as pre-reading ahead of starting Erikson's Malazan series. Good story, deserves its place among 1980s classics of the fantasy genre. Looking forward to seeing how it influenced the other work.

That's as far as I'm going to get with the list I established, so it's time to sum up.

TBR Primary List: 10 out of 12 - hurrah!
TBR Alternates: Zero, zilch, nadda. Not so good.
Total: 10 out of 24

This was my first year on this challenge. I treated my twelve leading choices like signposts, and it helped me to clear away some long-overdue titles while advancing my reading on a number of fronts.

I've learned a valuable lesson about my alternates list. It was comprised of alternative signposts that I never resorted to, rather than the most likely books I'd read in-between. Whoops.

Total Books Read this Year: 42! (that's practically a record, I typically average two a month)
TBR Pile Remaining: 126 or thereabouts ... sigh ... the challenge continues ...

Congrats on a great reading year!

Well done!

Sadly, 100 Years is still on my list.