kac522's 2014 TBR Challenge

I also am in the ROOTs challenge, and this year I didn't come close to my goal. I'm determined in 2014 to pull books off my shelves, and read, read, read! I bought more than 75 books in 2013, and I need to make a dent in that pile. Plus, I want to finally finish reading the Trollope "Palliser" novels.

SO--for 2014 I'm striving for 14 on my main list, 14 on my alternate list, and 1 bonus book on each list, for a total of 30 books. The "alternate" listings are just suggestions; I'm giving myself leeway with these if other books on my shelves beckon.

Ambitious, I know, but if I do the first 12 I'll be happy. Really.

Here are my lists. The (year) is the year I acquired the book.

MAIN LIST

1. The Ladies Paradise, Zola (2013) ✔ Mar 2014
2. Civil to Strangers, Pym (2013) ✔ Jan 2014
3. The Life of Charlotte Bronte, Mrs. Gaskell (2012)
4. Little Women, Alcott (2013) ✔ Dec 2014
5. The Mystery of Edwin Drood, Dickens (2011) moving to 2015
6. Italian Short Stories, ed. Trevelyan (2013) ✔ Mar 2014
7. The Eustace Diamonds, Trollope (2012) moving to 2015
8. Phineas Redux, Trollope (2011) moving to 2015
9. The Prime Minister, Trollope (2012) moving to 2015
10. The Duke's Children, Trollope (2012) moving to 2015
11. Barnaby Rudge, Dickens (2011) moving to 2015
12. Master and Commander, O'Brian (2011)

Possible 13. In a Summer Season, Taylor (2013) ✔ Jul 2014
Possible 14. A Game of Hide and Seek, Taylor (2013)

Possible Bonus 15. Friends and Relations, Bowen (2013)

Alternate List--subject to revisions and/or additions

1. Remains of the Day, Ishiguro (before 2005)
2. Suite Francaise, Nemirovsky (2009)
3. The Lost, Mendelsohn (2011)
4. He Knew He Was Right, Trollope (2011)✔ Jul 2014
5. The Death of the Adversary, Keilson (2011)
6. A Raisin in the Sun, Hansberry (2012)✔ Nov 2014
7. Wives and Daughters, Gaskell (2012)
8. Waverley, Scott (2013)
9. Mister Pip, Jones (2013)
10. A Quilt of Words, Niederman (2013)✔ Dec 2014
11. The Custom of the Country, Wharton (2013)
12. Stories, Mansfield (2013)
13. A Heritage and Its History, Compton-Burnett (2013)
14. The Appointment, Muller (2013)
15. Peace Like A River, Enger (2013)

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My original list ends here. Below are other books from my TBR shelf that I read in 2014:

16. The Pocket Emily Dickinson, Dickinson (2012) ✔ Jan 2014
17. Anti-Judaism: the Western Tradition, Nirenberg (2013)✔ Jan 2014
18. Their Eyes Were Watching God, Hurston (1993?) ✔ Mar 2014
19. Soldiers with Picks and Shovels: the CCC Camp at Carlinville, Illinois, Emery (2013)✔ Mar 2014
20. Seize the Day, Bellow (before 2011) ✔ Aug 2014
21. Surfacing, Atwood (1990s) ✔ Aug 2014
22. The Points of My Compass, White (before 2009) ✔ Oct 2014
23. The Hound of the Baskervilles, Conan Doyle (before 2011) ✔ Oct 2014
24. A Circle of Quiet, L'Engle (2013)✔ Dec 2014
25. Death Comes for the Archbishop, Cather (before 2011) ✔ Dec 2014
26. The Golden Lion of Granpere, Trollope (2013) ✔ Dec 2014
27. The Yellow Wind, Grossman (2011) ✔ Dec 2014
28. A Christmas Carol and Other Christmas Writings, Dickens (2010) ✔ Dec 2014
29. So Long, See You Tomorrow, Maxwell (2013)✔ Dec 2014

Audiobooks that I acquired before 2014:
1. Jane Eyre (2012) ✔ Feb 2014
2. Mansfield Park (2013) ✔ Mar 2014
3. Emma (2013) ✔ May 2014
4. The World of Robert Schumann (2012) ✔ Jun 2014
5. Sense and Sensibility (2013) ✔ Jul 2014

And here's my ROOTs ticker:

The only one of your titles I've read is A Raisin in the Sun, waaaay back in the 7th grade, so aside of knowing that I thought it was good, and that it's about African Americans, I remember pretty much nothing. :P

Welcome to the fray! :)

Great choices here. I'll have Dickens and Trollope on my list too, but different titles. Zola, O'Brian and Wharton I'd like to sample some time. Remains of the Day, Waverley and Mansfield's stories are already on my TBR pile. The only book I've already read is Little Women, away back when I was little myself. I preferred Little Men, maybe for the obvious reason.

Welcome! A Raisin in the Sun is the only one on your lists that I've read, too.

Good to see a lot of Trollopes on that list. I do adore him. Good luck with your challenge.

Thanks for the welcome, all. Yes, I read Little Women when I was little, too, and last summer I bought an older used copy that's similar to the one I used to have (actually it was my mom's childhood copy, and heaven only knows what happened to it). I thought it would be fun to re-visit the book; earlier this year I re-read The Secret Garden and was quite surprised to find how much I enjoyed it.

And I don't know how A Raisin in the Sun eluded me, so it seemed a good time to read it.

You are doing great with your challenge and you have lots of good titles on your list.

Thanks, but I feel like I'm way off the mark. I have a few library books laying around here, and once those are done NO MORE LIBRARY BOOKS (yeah, right) and ONLY TBRs!

Wow, didn't notice you were updating your list since you weren't posting. That's like ... stealth reading!

My posts are here:
http://www.librarything.com/topic/160861
My TBR books are in the first 2 categories.

Home stretch--I need 11 books off my TBR pile to meet the challenge (definitely with a lot of different books than I originally planned). I've decided to save all the Trollope for next year (200th birthday), and make a sweep of my shelves for shorter books.

lol - doing the same thing, taking on anything I can read quick to make my end-of-year results as good as possible and knock down the TBR pile a bit more in 2014!

Yep, gotta be under 300 pages....:)

I see I'm WAY off on my main list, but I think my 30 total TBR books is something I can achieve. I'm not sure why, but I always reads lots in December--maybe to take my mind off the stress of the holidays.

Wow--I am SO far off my original list (only 6 read!), although I'll probably end up reading 30 of my TBR books, just not the ones on my original list! It's like putting a title on my list means FOR SURE I won't read it :(