Bragan vs. the TBR Pile 2013, Part 2: It Begins!

OK, my first thread was approaching 50 messages before the year even began, and most of them involved me flailing around embarrassingly trying to decide what to do with my ticker, since it turned out my original idea of just doing a point system wasn't compatible with the way the group ticker works. Which isn't quite how I want to start out the year, so: fresh new thread!

I've settled on doing two tickers. One for the group participation, with the simple goal of reading 100 pre-2013 books by the end of the year:




And one slightly more complex "book points" ticker:




This one works thusly:

Books acquired in 2013 earn zero points and are not included in this challenge.
Books acquired in 2012 are worth one point each.
Books acquired before 2012 but after I first joined LT in 2007 are worth two points.
And books I already owned when I joined LT in 2007 are worth three.

The goal of 136 points was arrived at by some arcane mathematics I have now mostly forgotten, but it seems reasonable enough. This is the one I'm really going to shoot for, as I like the encouragement it offers to read the older books, and the flexibility it offers in how to go about doing that. We'll see how well it works in practice, though!

And I really cannot wait to get started. I'm very enthused about the year of reading in front of me, not least because I want completely freaking nuts in 2012, and now need this challenge more than ever.

Happy New Year, and happy reading, all!

I hope that you enjoy all your reading and I'll be watching closely your points ticker. I like the idea and if it seems to work, I may incorporate it myself!

I did 'star' this topic. I will be gladly following you, Bragan.

>2 cyderry:: I can't really take credit for the idea. I think I got it from streamsong. But it seemed like exactly what I needed this year! It will be interesting to see how well it works.

>3 connie53:: Yay! Glad to see you here. And happy reading in 2013!

Got you starred. Can't wait to see what's been on your shelves for years...and years...and years...:)

>5 dudes22:: There is so much that has been on my shelves for years. So much. Not to mention a ridiculous number of books acquired in 2012...

Good luck, Bragan. Can you give us an approximate estimation of how many tbrs you have in total.... not just for this year, but overall? (Please, make me feel better about my 200).

ramblin - I can do that...560 TBRs.

560 is fairly impressive. But right now, mine stands at 624 TBRs -- gulp! -- with a bunch more on the way, as I went on a bit of an end-of-the-year internet book shopping spree recently. Does that make you feel better? :)

I think my "pile" is at around 400something. lol.

My TBR pile needs a room of its own. 613 books as of yesterday.

Hah! Mine's 'only' 418!

And that would be the reason why we're all here. :)

I've got you all beat. Mine is currently at ... Wait for it....1134. Yes there are 2 ones at the beginning, that's not a typo. It's amazing that I don't hyperventilate every time I mention it. And there are a few more I plan to acquire with my gift cards this year. Before the 13 challenge starts.

>14 dudes22:: Thank you. That makes me feel better. :)

Haha, now I do feel better. Thank you.

Somebody here (I forget who) has a tbr pile of 50, so I was starting to wonder if I was unusually bad...

How'd you get 1134, Dudes? Did you inherit lots of books, or are you an inveterate collector & accumulator & book lover?

now I'm thinking maybe I should stop trying to buy fewer books, dudes. Thinking of all the ones I hesitated on! No winning...:)

Oh, yeah, there is no way to win. If you snatch a book up, it just adds to the pile of things you're going to have trouble finding time to read. And if you let it get away from you, you'll regret it afterward.

Ivy - My downfall is library sales. I love them - paperbacks a quarter or 50 cents and trade paperbacks $1(although some sales are going to $2) - sucks me in every time; even when I try to rein myself in. When I first joined Bookmooch, I'd go and grab all kinds of books. Then I'd get home and check out the back before I listed them, and decided to keep them and read them first. But this year, I'll be better - I promise.

Oh, man, the library sales killed me this year. I went to one that was a bag full of books for $5. I bought two bags. You can fit a lot of books in one of those big paper grocery bags.

Starred. Good luck, Bragan.

Thanks! I have the feeling I may need it.

> 14 i can beat that my friend, i am currently around the 1360 mark and am getting worried now.

Good luck with reducing the TBR pile bragan, i will be following you.

23> ok you win. But one or two good library sales this year and I'm right there with you. Not my plan but ..who knows?

> you can go infront of me dudes22, i am not making any new year's resolutions but i am going to try not to buy any books in January whilst reducing the TBR pile.

My hard copy TBR pile is pretty small, but the Kindle is an entirely different story. Good luck with your challenge!

>26 susanj67:: My boss kept trying to talk me into buying a Kindle today. The fact that that would just make it even easier to buy more books struck me as a significant argument against it.

And thanks!

Well, the first book of the year took me a little longer to finish that I was hoping, but 'tis done!

1. Cold Days by Jim Butcher.

This is a one-point book, being one I just got last year. I have the feeling there are going to be quite a few of those before I get into any of the older ones. After all, I have to read the ones I got for Christmas.

And, very shortly after the first book comes the second! Mainly because it was very short.

2. Aetheric Mechanics by Warren Ellis. One more point!

Bragan, you and seem to have a lot of books in common! I will be keeping an eye on you :D Good luck and pleasant reading!

I have so many books that sometimes it seems like I have a lot in common with everybody! But it looks like we do have a nice overlap. :)

Thanks!

Readin' right along!

3. The Making of the Fittest: DNA and the Ultimate Forensic Record of Evolution by Sean B. Carroll. Another one-point book. Both this one and the last one were books I got through SantaThing for Christmas. Thank you, Santa!

Amusingly, that now puts my TBR Pile at 666 volumes. I knew that thing was evil!

4. The House With a Clock in Its Walls by John Bellairs. One more point! I think I'm off to a pretty good start.

checking out your tickers! Yes, you áre on the right track.

Four already! Great start. You are right about the Kindle making it easier to buy even more. This year I am recording on my 75 Books Challenge thread all the books I acquire. So far I have only bought one, and I will think twice about all the cheesy freebie romances if I have to confess them on my thread!

Ohh, I know what you mean. I was at the supermarket and there was this bin with romantic pockets with the worsed covers. I skimmed through them, but stayed strong!!!

>36 susanj67:: That sounds like a strategy! I've vaguely thought about maybe listing my books bought on this thread, but I'm already embarrassed by the sheer number, just from all the stuff I ordered online in December. (What was I thinking?!)

5. And Another Thing... by Eoin Colfer, for one more point.

Chugging right along...

6. What Would MacGyver Do? True Stories of Improvised Genius in Everyday Life edited by Brendan Vaughn. One point! And I will get around to reading some of those older books soon, I promise.

7. Christine by Stephen King. One point!

8. ChronoSpace by Allen Steele. Yay, it's a three-point book! I'm not even sure how long I've had this one, but it's off the Pile now!

I loved MacGyver...

I was never exactly a regular viewer, but I definitely remember enjoying it when I tuned in, back in the day. Unfortunately, most of the stuff in the book wasn't nearly as much fun.

Skipping one book that doesn't count because I just bought it this year, we come to:

9. Kim by Rudyard Kipling. One more point!

10. Some Kind of Fairy Tale by Graham Joyce. One more book, one more point.

That's likely it for me for the month, but we'll see what happens tomorrow...

You are doing great, bragan!

Thank you! Not quite as great as I'd be vaguely hoping for, to be honest, but not bad at all, either. :)

Hey, look, I did finish another one! Which also nets me one more point.

11. The Walking Dead Chronicles: The Official Companion Book by Paul Ruditis

Yeahhhh

OK, let's see what my tally is. To be honest, I'm a little afraid to look.

JANUARY 2013

Books acquired: 56 (not counting a couple of cookbooks). I wish that were a typo.
Books read: 12
ROOT books read: 11
Total YTD book points accumulated: 13
Current TBR total: 668 (WAAAAH!)

Yeah, see, when I said I went nuts ordering stuff online in December that all showed up this month, I meant it. Although at least at lot of those were on sale. And I did have a gift certificate for some of it. Still, that was just insane. Well, at least I am doing better now. If I discount all those ordered-in-December tomes, the total number of books I acquired this month is four, with one of them being an ER book, and one given to me by the author to review. So I only actually bought two.

Not that it helps me with the TBR total, though. Sigh. Must read faster, and stop getting distracted by shiny objects. :)

Belatedly ETA: Whoops, I miscounted initially! The total is 56, not 62. Um... yay?

62 , respect!

I'm not sure if respect is the right reaction, but thanks. :)

I was vaguely considering listing my "books bought" on this thread, too, but already there seem to be too many of them...

Well, I would like to be able to buy any book I like (in terms of space and money) So for me 62 books is a dream!

Wow 11 books read so far, your on track for 100 but don't worry about the TBR pile my friend, you know that the disease we have is incurable so your just going to have to live with it. The only remedy i can suggest is that you try to keep the numbers down slightly.

Hope you are well my friend, i am fine now that i have got rid of my bad cold but the missus has got it again so i am keeping my distance.

>54 connie53:: I may now be running out of both space and money. :)

>55 johnsimpson:: Yes, I think I'm doing good for the challenge, and not bad for the points challenge, even. But, yeesh, that TBR! Hard not to worry about it when it's threatening to take over my house. :) I have been very, very good about not opening the book catalogs or clicking on the websites so far this year, though. We'll see how long I can keep it up.

And I am well! Except for the book-buying addiction, of course. Hope you avoid a recurrence of the cold!

12. The Lottery and Other Stories by Shirley Jackson. This one is worth 2 points, since I bought it in 2010. Yay! It's nice to see the points ticker jumping ahead a little.

>34 bragan:: Hooray for one of my favorite books! (Um, was it my fault that you had it in your TBR pile? *sheepish*)

>58 melonbrawl:: No, it was the fault of a friend of mine who thought it was an unforgivable oversight that I hadn't read any Bellairs as a kid, and felt the need to rectify that as much as possible. :) He gave me that one, and a couple of others, as well. I'm actually planning on reading The Curse of the Blue Figurine next, when I finish the ER book I'm currently on.

Skipping the ER book, which I just got and which doesn't count:

13. The Curse of the Blue Figurine by John Bellairs. One more point!

And, hey, wow, I just realized that I miscounted the number of books I acquired in January! It wasn't 62 at all (minus the cookbooks). It was only 56! How pathetic is it that I sort of feel like this is cause for celebration? Or that some tiny, traitorous portion of my mind thinks I should go out and buy six books to make up for it?

14. America Again: Re-Becoming the Greatness We Never Weren't by Stephen Colbert. One point!

That title cracks me up. Oh, Stephen!

He does know how to turn a phrase. :)

Oh, is that the one with the glasses? My son has that one.

But my favorite Colbert is I Am A Pole... And So Can You!. It's my granddaughter's favorite book.

Yep, the one with the glasses! Which apparently my cat found extremely interesting. I'd put them on to look at the pictures, and he'd immediately start sniffing at my face. :)

I Am a Pole is also loads of fun, but I think I like this latest one best.

Skipping another Early Reviewers book I just got...

15. Holmes and Watson by June Thomson. And that was an old one! Three points!

16. The Man Who Lied to His Laptop by Clifford Nass. One point!

Although that's after skipping a couple more books that didn't qualify for this challenge. I'm doing less well on that score so far than I expected, though I guess so far my numbers are still on track.

17. Master and Commander by Patrick O'Brian. That took a while. But I've had it since 2010, so it's worth two points. Yay!

>69 bragan: How did you like it? I wasn't the biggest fan at first, but when I found myself still thinking about Jack and Stephen weeks later, I knew I was hooked.

You can read my full review of it on my Club Read thread here, but the short version is that I found it slow-going and hard to get into, especially at first, but also felt like there's something really cool in there that does make me want to keep reading the rest of the series. So perhaps not at all dissimilar to your reaction.

Yes, it sounds almost exactly like my reaction. I'm glad you're thinking of going on with the series -- Post Captain and HMS Surprise are both wonderful. And yes, you're spot on about the odd-couple friendship. It's really neat to see them grow together as friends and shipmates.

I already have Post Captain. It was one of the books I got in the SantaThing exchange this past Christmas, which spurred me on to finally getting around to reading Master and Commander. And I do love a good odd couple friendship. Nice to know there's more to look forward to with that!

18. Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs. I've had this one since 2011, so two points! Which is nice. I hadn't realized it had been sitting around that long when I started it.

And what did you think of it? It's on my TBR pile too.

>75 connie53:: It was OK, if you're in the mood for some light YA fantasy, but not as good as I was hoping it would be. The photographs are interesting, but feel kind of gimmicky, and I think the set-up for the story was better than the execution. Also, you should be aware that it's apparently meant to be the beginning of a series, and it doesn't really have a satisfying stand-alone ending. I really wish I'd known that going in.

And since it's somehow March already...

FEBRUARY 2013

Books acquired: 5
Books read: 12
ROOT books read: 7
Total YTD book points accumulated: 25
Current TBR total: 661

So, somewhat slow progress, but progress nonetheless.

> thanks, Bragan. I did not know that either. Hmmm, I have to think about this book and reading it ;-)

You might like it better than I did, anyway. It's gotten a lot of good reviews.

I might! But I won't find out any time soon. The book stays on my STBR pile though. You never know when the mood is right.

And my first book for March:

19. Stuff: Compulsive Hoarding and the Meaning of Things by Randy O. Frost & Gail Steketee. One point!

20. Anonymous Rex by Eric Garcia, for one more point.

21. Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn, for one more point.

22. Einstein: His Life and Universe by Walter Isaacson. This one took me forever to read, but it was worth it, both because it was very good and because it's one of those books that I've spend years constantly telling myself I was going to get around to Real Soon Now, Honest. I got it back in 2007, very shortly after I joined LT, which means it just barely misses the cutoff point for being a three-point book, but, hey, it's still worth two.

And a much faster read:

23. Complete Zombies vs. Robots by Chris Ryall & Ashley Wood. Only one point for this one.

What did you think of Gone Girl, Bragan?

I really liked it. It was very, very readable, had lots of interesting twists and turns, and did some clever things with the narration. I think it pretty much lived up to the hype, which considering how hyped it was is saying something.

Thanks, I've this book on my SoonToRead pile, so it moves a bit higher now!

If/when you get to it, I hope you end up liking it as much as I did!

24. The Treasure of Alpheus Winterborn by John Bellairs. One point.

(And, yes, this is me zipping along now, trying to make up for lost time.)

25. The 1984 Annual World's Best SF edited by Donald A. Wollheim, for one more point.

You are flying, Bragan!

I may still actually be a little behind this month, since that Einstein bio took me so long, but perhaps I am making up for it. :)

26. Doctor Who: The Visual Dictionary. One more point!

27. The Postmortal by Drew Magary. One point.

I wish I could read that much, Bragan!

And yet, it is a drop in the bucket compared to how much I still have to read!

But every drop counts

28. Impossibility: The Limits of Science and the Science of Limits by John D. Barrow. This one is a three-pointer! It's been on the Pile for I don't know how long, and is one of those books that for ages and ages I've been telling myself I should get to soon. Finally getting to one of those always feels like an accomplishment!

Is it the end of March already? Well, then...

MARCH 2013

Books acquired: 1 (Yes, honestly! One!!!)
Books read: 11
ROOT books read: 10
Total YTD book points accumulated: 37
Current TBR total: 651

I have been so good with curbing the book-buying this month that clearly -- clearly! -- I need to take myself to the Friends of the Library sale next month to celebrate.

Well done, Bragan! Just 1 book bought!!!

I really don't know quite how it happened! Some combination of much willpower and little spending money this month, I guess. :)

Just blame it on much willpower! ;-)

29. The Spellman Files by Lisa Lutz, for one point.

30. Economix: How Our Economy Works (And Doesn't Work) in Words and Pictures by Michael Goodwin, illustrated by Dan E. Burr. One more point! And a very worthwhile book...

31. The Long Earth by Terry Pratchett & Stephen Baxter. One more point.

32. Uranium: War, Energy, and the Rock That Shaped the World by Tom Zoellner. This one is worth two points, since it's been on the Pile since 2009.

33. Reached by Allie Condie. A disappointing conclusion to a trilogy I started off really liking, but at least it's off the Pile now. One point!

Is that a part of the Matched series?

Yes, it's book three.

Thanks, I have this book on my STBR pile, but that may change now.

I really loved Matched, but sadly the other two books did let me down, I felt.

I will give it a change, Bragan.

34. Await Your Reply by Dan Chaon. Which I really enjoyed. And which has been on the Pile since 2010, making it worth two points.

Hi Bragan, you really are doing well with the reading my friend.

Yes, not too badly! And reading some good stuff, too!

35. The Girl Who Played with Fire by Stieg Larrsson. I have to say, I still do not understand why Larsson is so ridiculously popular. Still, this one is off the Pile now, and since it's been there since 2011, it nets me another two points.

36. If People Were Cats by Leigh W. Rutledge. A very quick little read. One point.

37. Them: Adventures with Extremists by Jon Ronson. One point.

OK, let's see what the damage is for April...

April 2013

Books acquired: 22
Books read: 11
ROOT books read: 9
Total YTD book points accumulated: 49
Current TBR total: 661

So, I'm doing great on my goals for the year, but the TBR Pile is once again going in entirely the wrong direction.

Hihihihi. Really! I just enjoy your posts so much.

Aww, thank you. I'm glad to hear it. :)

Don't feel bad - there are many of us here who are in the same situation. I was actually doing great until the pet refuge sale last week. But - so far - even though the number of TBRs has gone up, the number of actual paper books has gone down. Just not enough so far. And the library sale that always destroys my progress for the year isn't til June.

>123 dudes22: (hah, fun post#! :P) I'd even go so far as to say most of us are in that situation. It's why we're in the group, after all, we love books & buy them up faster than we can read them! lol. Personally I don't see the group as trying to completely wipe out the TBR pile, merely as an effort to keep reading from it, and not just let the stacks pile up more & more without attention! :)

>123 dudes22:: Yes, to echo PolymathicMonkey, I'm sure I'm very, very far from the only one, or we wouldn't need this group! It's the library sales that are always my undoing, too. I bought 17 books at the last one. Unfortunately, or fortunately, depending on how you look at it, I am going to have to miss the big one I wanted to go to this month, due to work. So maybe I'll actually make some progress! :)

>124 .Monkey.:: Completely wiping out the TBR Pile never even seemed like a realistic goal to me! But, ah, there was a time when mine was so much smaller... :)

hah, I can barely even remember when I used to be able to pile up all my books in the 2 large shelves of my bureau-thing! lol. For me, there's two annual events that are my big nemeses: a book festival that's like a huge event hall full of tables of overstock (I presume) with tons available for between like €1.50-3.95, plus some nicer editions for more (but still great prices), and then the largest book market in Europe that attracts over 100k people with hundreds of sellers of used (and a handful with new) books, comics, and some other semi-related things, and even though it's in large part Dutch, I still wind up with shopping bags full of English stuff. As annoying as it is to have to seek out the English, it's also my saving grace, because if there was more of it (or I could read the Dutch) I'd be lost, I wouldn't be able to pass up all the amazing deals! LOL. But after the library sale I just got 20 things at, and plans to hit up both of those this year, I'm going to be firm and pass them by for the next couple yrs, or the books are going to run me out of the apartment, bahaha.

I vaguely remember back when my so-called Book Pile really was just one pile. Admittedly, it was a pile that reached halfway to the ceiling, and I thought that was pretty big at the time. Ah, little did I know...

I've been a little tight on cash lately, for various reasons, and I thought that would at least help keep the book-buying down some, but mostly it just made those twice-a-year library sales where you can get as many books as you can stuff into a bag for $5 all the more attractive.

> 126 - Do you mean the bookmarket in Deventer, PolymathicMonkey? I have never been there, because we were always away on holiday in France around that time, but perhaps this year will be the year to go.

>128 connie53: Yup! We didn't go in '09 (my first year living here) because we'd only just got back from getting married/honeymooning in Italy for a few wks, and we still settling into our apt and everything, but we went in 2010 & 2012 (skipped 2011 due to the local one already overflowing things lol), and we'll be going this year, bringing mom along too :D You should definitely go, it's amaaaaazinnnnng! Of course, it's also dangerous for one's wallet & shelves, with the omg tons of things to choose from, but...! :D

>127 bragan: That's why I'm always so keen on these events! I don't have the funds to go on "regular" book binges, so I figure, why shouldn't I go stock up on 20-40 books for really good prices when I have the chance, when otherwise books are like 5x the price?! haha.

When I first joined Bookmooch, I used to grab anything that I thought might be good to put on there to get some points. But then I'd get home and start reading the back covers and think, "Oh maybe I should read this first. It sounds interesting." And then I found LT and that just made it worse.

I made a list of what I really wanted to look for this summer to avoid the trap of picking up everything of interest. At the pet refuge sale I picked up 12, none of which were on my list. It's sad - it really is. And my husband and I have been considering down-sizing which kind of scares me to death.

"Down-sizing" is a terrifying word that I try not to think of very often.

38. The Wild West on 5 Bits a Day by Joan Tapper. One more point, and I am now all set for my trip back to 1880, just as soon as I perfect my time machine.

39. Days of Atonement by Walter Jon Williams. I've had this one forever and ever and ever, and it's one of those books I've been constantly telling myself I should read next... only, well, maybe after I get to these other books first. So I'm happy to have finally gotten it off the Pile. Three points!

40. Parasite Rex: Inside the Bizarre World of Nature's Most Dangerous Creatures by Carl Zimmer. One point.

41. The 1988 Annual World's Best SF edited by Donald. A. Wollheim. One more point.

42. The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters. One point.

What a great book! What did you think? I have a friend who was not impressed, but I loved it.

I definitely liked it! I can understand why not everybody might be impressed, though, I think. Objectively, it's very slow-paced, and it's weirdly low-key with the haunted house elements, but I thought it really worked, overall, and Waters' writing kept me absorbed.

I've only read Vingervlug by Sarah Waters and I liked that a lot. So I put The little Stranger on my Kobo for future reading.

Fingersmith is amazing, yes. I think my favourite of hers so far is The Night Watch. Incredibly moving.

Fingersmith is the only other thing of hers that I've read, but I liked it a lot, too. I've already got a copy of Affinity that I must get around to sometime, and The Night Watch is definitely on my wishlist.

Affiniteit is also one of my TBR books. Maybe a ROOT for the summerbreak!

Going to search for The Night Watch in Dutch.

Affinity is really creepy. I hope you both enjoy it.

43. The Professor and the Madman by Simon Winchester. One more point...

44. Britten and Brülightly by Hanny Berry. And one more point. Just plugging away... :)

45. Faster: The Acceleration of Just About Everything by James Gleick. One more...

46. The Lost Encyclopedia by Paul Terry and Tara Bennett. Which I'd been dipping in and out of for months and months and months. But I'm done with it now! One more point.

47. Asteroid Rendezvous: NEAR Shoemaker's Adventures at Eros edited by Jim Bell and Jacqueline Mitton. One more point. Man, I really do need to get back to reading some of the much older books on the Pile, but it's just so easy to keep picking up these books from last year.

48. Amsterdam by Ian McEwan. One point. I'm on something of a roll!

Wow, is it June already? Well, OK, then...

MAY 2013

Books acquired: 6
Books read: 14
ROOT books read: 11
Total YTD book points accumulated: 62
Current TBR total: 653

On with the June reading!

49. Curse of the Spellmans by Lisa Lutz, for one more point.

50. The Infernals by John Connolly. One point. And the top ticker, at least has now reached the halfway mark!

Yay! :) Great work!

Thanks! The points ticker should be there by the end of the month, too, so I am on track!

Good job, Bragan!

Thank you! :)

Hi bragan, the reading and the points ticker are coming along mighty fine my friend. Hope this message finds you well and that you are whittling your TBR pile down mate.

Well, yes. Whittling the TBR pile down... Not happening, I'm afraid. There were some incidents with discount book catalogs... :)

Nevertheless, I appreciate the sentiment!

That's the problem, you can't avoid discount book catalogs, secondhand bookshops, charity shops, infact any place where books are hanging about, never mind we do try.

I was good, for a while, about throwing them out unread, but I am weak.

Aren't we all weak concerning books? We just have to keep on trying to restrain our selves. And accept times we are weak and indulge in book buying.

I seem to go through waves. There are times I can be very, very restrained... and then, the next thing I know, I'm standing in the middle of a small avalanche of hardbacks, and I have no idea where they all came from!

51. The Plague of Doves by Louise Erdrich. Which I've had sitting on the Pile since 2010, so it's worth two point! And it was excellent, too. Shame on me for taking this long to get around to it.

52. Alfred Hitchcock Presents: 12 Stories They Wouldn't Let Me Do on TV. One more point.

Hitchcock collections are fun. Does he say why he wasn't allowed to do the stories on TV?

I think the general idea was that they were a little too "shocking," although some of them would also have required special effects that didn't exist in 1957, when the collection was originally published. It's actually a bit amusing, because by modern lights, I'd say they're mostly quite tame. (Although probably a couple of them still wouldn't make it to TV today, as they have some rather, um, old-fashioned attitudes towards race.)

53. Drop Dead Healthy by A.J. Jacobs. One point. And with that, I am now at the halfway mark on the points ticker, as well! Yay!

Yay!!!! Halfway on both tickers, and not yet halfway on this year. Great job, Bragan.

Yep, so far, so good! Just got to keep reading through the second half of the year. :)

And thanks!

54. Un Lun Dun by China Mieville. Which I thoroughly enjoyed. One more point.

Finishing up June:

55. Post Captain by Patrick O'Brian. One point.

And, OK, let's see what the damage is for June!

JUNE 2013

Books acquired: 24 (Oh, dear.)
Books read: 10
ROOT books read: 7
Total YTD book points accumulated: 70
Current TBR total: 667

And on into July...

56. The Skinner by Neal Asher

57. The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind by William Kamkwamba and Bryan Mealer. I've had this one since 2011, so it's worth 2 points.

58. The California Roll by John Vorhaus. One point.

59. Ideas and Opinions by Albert Einstein. Which has been on the TBR pile for a very, very, very long time. Of course, time is relative anyway, right? :) Three points!

60. Nim Chimpsky: The Chimp Who Would Be Human by Elizabeth Hess. I've had this one since 2008! So, two points.

61. Zone One by Colson Whitehead. One point.

62. Tender Morsels by Margo Lanagan. I've had this since 2010, so, two points.

And another month down!

JULY 2013

Books acquired: 20 (I'm not sure how that happened)
Books read: 10
ROOT books read: 7
Total YTD book points accumulated: 82
Current TBR total: 676

Onward into August!

63. Revenge of the Spellmans by Lisa Lutz. One point.

64. The Telling by Ursula K. Le Guin. I'm pretty sure this one has been sitting on the TBR pile for more than a decade. Three points!

65. Machine of Death edited by Ryan North, Matthew Bennardo & David Malki. I've had this one since 2011, so, two points.

66. Proust and the Squid: The Story and Science of the Reading Brain by Maryanne Wolf. Two points.

I think I am doing better lately at reading these older, higher-point books. Yay!

You are on 2/3 of your points ticker so you are on schedule. Keep it up.

Still readin' away!

And a very short one I read, basically, in one sitting:

67. Figgs & Phantoms by Ellen Raskin. One point.

68. Doctor Who: Shada by Gareth Roberts. One point.

69. Good Without God: What a Billion Nonreligious People Do Believe by Greg Epstein. One point.

I like the title: It made me chuckle ;-)

It fit the book very well, too. Although a billion people is probably an overestimate. :)

70. Blood Lite, edited by Keven J. Anderson. One point.

71. The Avengers: The Inside Story by Patrick Macnee with Dave Rogers One more point.

72. Ring By Stephen Baxter. This one's been on the Pile forever. Three points!

I just read your review of Ring and thumbed it. The only Baxter book I've read is The Long Earth which was written with Terry Pratchett and I enjoyed a lot. I still have The Long War and Doctor Who: The Wheel of Ice left to read. I thought he would be a good Sci Fi author to start reading, but if his stuff is really hard Sci Fi then I might reconsider. Thanks for the review.

Thumbed your review of Shada! I bought it in London earlier this year and am looking forward to reading it :)

>195 craso:: Thanks for the thumb! I didn't care for The Long Earth much either -- I thought it was a fantastic idea buried in an unfocused mess of a book that felt more Baxtery than Pratchetty -- so if you enjoyed that, it's possible you might like Baxter and his writing style more than I do. But his stuff is, indeed, very, very much on the hard SF side, or at least most of it is. If you're a Who fan, you may enjoy The Time Ships, which I understand was originally meant to be a Doctor Who novel, but I'd avoid books like Ring unless you're the sort of person who enjoys hundreds of pages worth of characters explaining physics to each other.

>196 rabbitprincess:: And thank you for the thumb, as well! I hope you enjoy it as much as I did! Which I bet you will. It's just such a fun story.

#195 The Time Ships is one of my husbands favorite books so I thought that Baxter would be okay. Only time I tried reading true hard SF was an Arthur C. Clarke book and I didn't like it at all. I think Baxter wrote a book or two with Clarke before he died. That would make sense.

I agree with you on The Long Earth. I enjoyed it because of the idea and the Terry Pratchettness. I have read conflicting reviews of The Long War but I decided to read it nonetheless.

Somehow, despite my desire to swear off Baxter, I suspect I'm going to find myself reading The Long War, too. Even though the reviews I've read have made it sound a lot like everything I had problems with in The Long Earth is still evident.

OK, let's see the stats for August!

AUGUST 2013

Books acquired: 6
Books read: 13
ROOT books read: 10
Total YTD book points accumulated: 98
Current TBR total: 663

A very good month, overall! Not only did I read a higher-than-average number of books, and a good number of ROOTs, but I did not, in fact, buy a single book all month! All the "acquired" ones are either ER books that arrived this month, or books I ordered sometime in July. Also, I purged my TBR Pile of five very old books that I'd finally decided I was never, in fact, going to read. All of which adds up to progress! Which is good, because, boy, do I need it...

73. The Girl Who Fell Beneath Fairyland and Led the Revels There by Catherynne M. Valente. One point.

74. The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake by Aimee Bender. One more point. This brings my points ticker to 100! Which doesn't actually mean anything at all, but is a pleasantly round number. :)

75. Hen's Teeth and Horse's Toes by Stephen Jay Gould. One point.

76. Captain Vorpatril's Alliance by Lois McMaster Bujold. One point.

You seem to be on the right track, Bragan!

Yes, I think I'm doing OK! Not so much of the really old books so far this month, perhaps, but I'm still making progress steadily.

77. I'm Your Man: The Life of Leonard Cohen by Slyvie Simmons. Turns out, I've had this one on the pile for one year almost to the day. One point!

78. The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield. I've had this one since 2010, so it's worth two points.

79. Redshirts by John Scalzi. One point.

The September statistics:

SEPTEMBER 2013

Books acquired: 5
Books read: 9
ROOT books read: 7
Total YTD book points accumulated: 106
Current TBR total: 660

It ain't much, but at least I'm going in the right direction!

At your rate of reading you will surely reach your goal.

The points might be very slightly iffy, but I don't think there's much question I'll reach it on the straight book total. Go, me! :)

80. The Best American Science and Nature Writing 2011 edited by Mary Roach. One point.

81. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl. One point.

82. Thorns by Robert Silverberg. One point.

83. The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes. One point.

OK, so, lately I mostly seem to be reading one-point books I bought last year, but at least I'm reading 'em pretty quickly!

84. The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan. One point.

85. Lost at Sea: The Jon Ronson Mysteries by Jon Ronson. One point.

86. The Sisters Brothers by Patrick deWitt. I've had this one since 2011, so, two points.

You are almost there, Bragan!!

Closing in, anyway! I've had an awful lot of opportunity to read lately. With the US government shut down, the observatory I work for hasn't gotten its funding, so we're also shut down. But I'm on the skeleton crew, mostly there just to make sure all our equipment is OK, but not actually allowed to do much work. So I've been finishing a book a day for the last week. Nice for my TBR pile, or at least, it would be if there hadn't also been a library sale this week. I'd much rather we were able to keep doing science instead, though.

It must be very frustrating, this shut down. I hope it will be over soon for everybody over there.

Deeply, unbelievably frustrating. And thanks. I'm not placing any bets at all, myself, as to how long this will go on, or when it's going to end. In the meantime, I just keep reading...

Lost at Sea: The Jon Ronson Mysteries sounds interesting. I just picked up The Sister Brothers at the local friends of the public library store. Thank you for the reviews.

I am sorry to hear your work has been affected by the shut down. Hopefully, there will be a compromise soon and you can go back to science.

Yes, I recommend both of those! I hope you like The Sisters Brothers, too!

And thanks. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

87. The Hot Zone by Richard Preston. One point.

88. A Slave No More by David W. Blight. I've had this one since 2008, so, two points.

89. Year Zero by Rob Reid. One point.

90. The October Country by Ray Bradbury. One point.

91. Proofiness: The Dark Arts of Mathematical Deception by Charles Seife. I've had this since 2011, so, two points!

Doing great, Bragan!!

I'm doing better than I expected! The end may be in sight! :)

Just keep reading!

I think I can do that!

92. The Mysterious Disappearance of Leon (I Mean Noel) by Ellen Raskin. Another childhood favorite revisited for one more point.

93. A Modest Proposal and Other Satirical Works by Jonathan Swift. One point.

OCTOBER 2013

Books acquired: 23
Books read: 18
ROOT books read: 14
Total YTD book points accumulated: 123
Current TBR total: 665

All that reading, and I'm still going backwards!

That is probably because of all that acquiring, Bragan ;-))

Yes. Yes, that would be the reason! I blame all the library sales. And there's another really big one next week... :)

I see some more acquiring coming your way, Bragan.

Maybe I'll manage to restrain myself some. Maybe.

I just had to put together a bunch of new bookshelves and move all the TBR books into the living room (and the kitchen, and the hallway), because the attached-to-the-wall shelves most of them were on were beginning to look like they might not stay attached much longer. You'd think I could take that as a hint... :)

That's probably all that piling of new acquiries (is that an English word?) on old shelves. Perhaps you should balance some more. ;-)

I believe the word is "acquisitions," but, you know, I think I like "acquiries" better. :)

By the way, since I took a picture to commemorate my accomplishment after putting together all those shelves and moving all those books, here's what my TBR "pile" looks like right now:



Except that that's not actually all of it, because there's another bookcase (with three more shelves) out of sight in the hallway. Yeah, I might have a teeny-tiny book problem. :)

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOW. Nice!!!

I do like having a living room full of books. Now it matches the rest of my house. :)

I love it. And space enough for new 'acquiries'
The blue space in the back is a doorway?

The blue is the wall of the kitchen.

And on to November's reading!

94. 11/22/63 by Stephen King. Which felt like it took me about fifty years to read, but it's done now! One point.

> 249; Aha! I can see it now.

Yes, I think that can be a bit visually confusing, if you're not familiar with my house. :)

95. Dodger by Terry Pratchett. One point.

96. Failure Is Not an Option: Mission Control from Mercury to Apollo 13 and Beyond by Gene Kranz. I've had this since 2011, so it's worth two points.

Getting very, very close now!

Yes, I'm sure you can make it!

Failure is not an option! *grin*

97. Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan. One point.

Ohh, I would love it when they go and translate that book, bragan. What did you think of it?

I liked it. It was a bit silly, but it was fun. And very geeky, which always appeals to geeky me. :)

Speaking of geeky...

98. Chicks Unravel Time: Women Journey Through Every Season of Doctor Who edited by Deborah Stanish & LM Myles. One point.

99. The Tattooed Potato and Other Clues by Ellen Raskin. One point.

100. Your Medical Mind: How to Decide What is Right for You by Jerome Groopman and Pamela Hartzband. I've had this one since 2011, so it's worth two points.

And with that, I have met my goal for total ROOT books for the year! YAAAAAAAY! I'm still shy four points on my points ticker, but I expect that will catch up soon. :)

Well done! And such an ambitious target, too!

And yet, my TBR pile is still wildly out of control. :)

So is my own. But we don't give up the good fight.

Congrats, Bragan!

So is mine! But every ROOT counts.

Congrats on reaching your target Bragan and don't worry about the TBR pile, mine is totally out of control but what the heck. Just carry on reading and it will sort itself out.

Thanks all! I am trying to tell myself that the out-of-control TBR is perfectly rational. I'm just stockpiling books in case of disaster. Although I think this is probably an indication that I have been reading/watching too many post-apocalyptic stories lately.

Hurray hurray! Congratulations! :)

Well done!!!

Good for you! Congratulations!

Thank you! Thank you all! I'm rather pleased to have met that particular goal this early. :)

101. Prize Stories 1997: The O. Henry Awards edited by Larry Dark. One point.

102. The Man in the Rockefeller Suit by Mark Seal. I've had this since 2011, so it's worth two points. One more to go!

Is it December already? Well, OK, then...

NOVEMBER 2013

Books acquired: 5
Books read: 10
ROOT books read: 9
Total YTD book points accumulated: 135
Current TBR total: 659

So, for once, the TBR Pile is going in the right direction!

Also:

103. Remarkable Creatures by Tracy Chevalier. Which I very much enjoyed, and which is worth two points, since it's been on the TBR pile since 2010.

Which puts me up and over on the points ticker, meaning that I have now achieved (and exceeded!) both of my goals for the year! Yaaaaaaaay!

Now, I can go and buy more books to celebrate, right? ;)

Yes, you may and you can!

congrats!!

Woo hoo! Hurray for meeting both your goals! :D

Thank you, thank you! Yaaaay!

Well done, well done. So what are you buying next?

Actually, I, um, may already have ordered a number of books this month. I, uh, forget exactly what. :)

You see? There are reasons I need this group!

We are there for you!

pssstt..... I've ordered some new ones too.

Mine just arrived. Okay, so they're for my French conversation course, but still...

>282 connie53:: Thank you! It's nice to have the enabling-- uh, I mean the support. :)

>283 MissWatson:: Oh, well, books for a class totally don't count!

And still I keep going!

104. This Is Improbable by Marc Abrahams. One point.

Not quite done yet!

105. The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins. I've had this one since 2010, so it's worth two points.

Seasons greetings my friend from John.

And to you, too! And may your New Year be filled with excellent reading :)

106. Best Science Fiction Stories of the Year: Fourth Annual Collection edited by Lester Del Rey. One more point.

This may or my not be my last ROOT of the year. We'll see what I manage to get through in the next few days.

There time left this year, Bragan. You may read one more ROOT. Or a new and shiny one.

A new and shiny one is up next. (It's one I have to read for the Early Reviewers program.) But that might not take me very long, so there may well still be time for one more ROOT. We shall see!

Look at that, I did sneak one more in before the new year!

107. The Spiderwick Chronicles: The Completely Fantastical Edition by Tony DiTerlizzi & Holly Black. One last point!

Yeah!!!

All right, I do believe that's all I'm gonna get through this year! Seeing as it's 7 PM on New Year's Eve, and I have a lot of non-reading things to do this evening. And that's not too shabby a year is it? I exceeded my goals by a nice, comfortable margin. Next year may be more of a challenge on that score, but it's one I'll be looking forward to.

Here's the final monthly wrap-up:

DECEMBER 2013

Books acquired: 24
Books read: 14
ROOT books read: 5
Total YTD book points accumulated: 142 (Yay, me!)
Current TBR total: 670

The sad thing here is that I think my TBR Pile total is now as high as it's ever been. I wouldn't have added nearly as many books this month, except... Well, first there was SantaThing. And then that Amazon gift card I got for Christmas. (I mostly bought practical things with it, really, but you can't have an Amazon gift card and not get one book!) And then, well, my wonderful semi-local independent bookstore was being forced to move its location (although, mercifully, not to close), and their website was begging me to come and buy stuff from them because "Any book you buy is a book we don't have to move!" and how could I be hard-hearted enough not to help them out? And then a friend came by with a box of books -- mostly classics -- he was purging from his shelves because he had duplicates and offered me my pick. And... yeah.

Still, that's lots and lots of wonderful, shiny books that will qualify as ROOTS next year! Right?

My 2014 thread, by the way, can be found here. If you like, come and join me for another year of reading!

I love the way you explain your book acquiring. It sounds perfectly logical.

Happy New Year, Bragan.

Yes, it all makes perfect sense at the time! And yet, somehow it all adds up to sheer book chaos. :)

And Happy New Year to you!