tjsjohanna tries again in 2013

Every year I shoot for 50 books from my own shelves and so far I have not reached the goal ... but I'm still hoping to work my way through my shelves, so I'm trying again!
#1 Light from Heaven - finished up this series - so good!
#2 The Fellowship of the Ring - got motivated to give this a re-read and I'm really enjoying it - even the poetry!
#3 The Two Towers

Good luck this year. Ya never know. This could be your year!

Good luck with The Two Towers! I'm attempting a reread this year, because I've never been able to finish it.

I just re-read The Hobbit and will try to read the trilogy this year. I love the writing in The Hobbit so I have no idea why the trilogy has always somewhat intimidated me but this year I will cross them off my list.

Rabbitprincess and bucketyell, The Lord of the Rings is definitely more challenging reading - the writing style is more complex and stylized - but there are glimpses of The Hobbit story telling style, and there are some wonderful storylines that weren't in the movies. Good luck!

#4 Return of the King - loved the conclusion to the Lord of Rings - it made me cry with happiness and sorrow
#5 The Hobbit - just finished a read-aloud session with my kids - they loved it!

#6 The Bad Beginning - but the start of reading a new series that should help me whittle down my 50 books!

#7 The Reptile Room
#8 The Wide Window - I feel like I'm cheating :)

#9 Life Everlasting
#10 Little Women

A quarter through the year and only a fifth of the way through my goal - better get going!

You are doing admirably. The problem with reading only books from the shelf is that you need to keep buying new ones to add to the shelf.

Did you like Little Women? Are you really going to bother reading the whole Lemony Snicket series?

JenMDB - I've got enough books on my shelves already that I'll never read them all! No buying required - in fact, if it is a new purchase I haven't even been counting it :) I've actually read the Lemony Snicket series before when my oldest was young. I'm starting over with my littler ones. I get a kick out of the irony - and they are super quick reads ...

#11 Thunderball - first James Bond novel - eh.
#12 A Quiver Full of Arrows
#13 A Twist in the Tale - I forgot how good Mr. Archer is at the short story

#14 Out of the Silent Planet
#15 Perelandra - working on this trilogy. I'm liking it better this time around, but still somewhat ponderous reading.

#16 That Hideous Strength - finished - mixed reaction
#17 A Farewell to Arms - never read, now I can say I have - still thinking about my reaction.

I just watched the movie Silver Linings Playbook and in it, the main character reads Farewell to Arms and then promptly throws it out the window (and then goes off on a rant about it). I must say, that really made me want to read it to see what the fuss is about!

It's such a dour book - and the ending is depressing. I'm trying to think about it in terms of war and what Hemingway is saying about war - but mostly it just feels like such a fatalistic story ...

#18 The Federalist Papers - didn't think I would actually get through the entire thing. Some great stuff but everything is dealt with in such detail that it got overwhelming.

Color me impressed. I started that one a while ago and now it's just sitting neglected on my shelf.

fundevogel - I have been working on it for a good six months, I think. Finally I was making myself read one or two papers each day. Only finished because someone "dared" me to!

'A Farewell to Arms' is one of my favourite books,although I disliked it after my first reading.
Besides,I wrote an article about what makes the book a masterpiece in its own right: http://eyeoflynx.wordpress.com/2013/08/19/a-farewell-to-arms-hemingways-most-uns...

Maybe it can help you to appreciate the book a little bit more.

Evets_Kainzow - thanks for pointing me to your article. Interesting reading!

#19 The Widow's War - love this book.

#20 The Red Badge of Courage - a high school re-read that actually impresses - very well written and has something worthwhile to say about the human condition.

#21 The Awakening and #22 Ethan Frome - first time reading Ms. Chopin's piece. The second was a re-read. I was still surprised by the ending, even though I've read it before!

>I was still surprised by the ending, even though I've read it before!

:)

#23 Chronicles of Avonlea Further Chronicles of Avonlea - some gems of short stories in these two collections.
#25 Kilmeny of the Orchard - not one of my favorites

#26 Ella Minnow Pea - forgot I read this back in May.

In addition, I read 15 books that were new to my library this year (but I'm not counting them for "Off the Shelf" since I read them when I brought them home) and 27 books I've had on my Kindle for the last few years (but also not technically "Off the Shelf" though they are more in the spirit of reading books that are waiting and are mine).