HelenNZ strikes again!

I was pleased to each my goal plus 2 last year so will stay at 48, as it is doable and leaves room for the new and shiny. No strategies, just plugging away at those shelves.

Welcome back and good luck!

My current TBR shelves contain 348 books, so that means I am to read about a seventh of them.
Going by past years, despite my best efforts, I purchase more than I remove. A true addict, but it's fun and there are always plenty of surprise reads.

My new ticker is ready to go

Welcome back, Helen. Happy ROOTing!

Happy Rooting!

Good luck with your ROOT reading!

Welcome back & good luck ROOTing in 2016!

Welcome back and happy ROOTing!

At last I have an opportunity to record my progress. I have got off to a slow start due to family staying but I hope to pick up the pace.

January.
1. Chappy by Patricia Grace
2. Three Cheers for the Paraclete by Thomas Keneally
3. A Patchwork Planet by Anne Tyler
4. The Quality of Mercy by Barry Unsworth
5. A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan
6. The Ghost Road by Pat Barker

>9 HelenBaker: You have finished three more ROOTs then I did, Helen.

That reminds me I need to get around to reading Patricia Grace.

February.

7. Portrait of the Artist's Wife by Barbara Anderson
8. Nobody's Fool by Richard Russo
9. The Scarecrow by Ronald Hugh Morrieson
10.Dreams of Speaking by Gail Jones

March.

11. The Good Muslim by Tahmima Anam
12. Swimming in the Dark by Paddy Richardson
13. The Mayor of Casterbridge by Thomas Hardy
14. Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal? by Jeanette Winterson

Nice progress! Looks like you're reading some interesting ROOTs :)

April

15. Year of wonders by Geraldine Brooks
16. The Fall of Light by Sarah Laing
17. The Pale North by Hamish Clayton

> Nice progress, Helen!

May.

18. This House is Haunted by John Boyne
19. Gifted by Patrick Evans
20. Journey to the Stone Country by Alex Miller
21. The Paying Guests by Sarah Waters

June.

22. The Taliban Cricket Club by Timeri N. Murari
23. A Fringe of Leaves by Patrick White
24. July's People by Nadine Gordimer
25. Bird Cloud by Annie Proulx
26. The Garden of Evening Mists by Tan Twan Eng
27. The Shipping News by Annie Proulx

You're almost to your halfway mark! Way to go!

Good job, Helen. Just one more to reach your halfway point!

July.
28. Ransom by David Malouf
29. Watch of Gryphons by Owen Marshall
30. The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton
31. Tenderness: stories by Sarah Quigley

August.
32. Amsterdam by Ian McEwan
33. We Were the Mulvaneys by Joyce Carol Oates
34. The Party Line by Sue Orr
35. The Orphan Master's Son by Adam Johnson

Past the halfway point! Excellent.

Yeah only 13 more books to go - you can definitely do that!

September.
36. How It All Began by Penelope Lively
37. The Skinny Louie Book by Fiona Farrell
38. The Hotel New Hampshire by John Irving
39. The Misunderstanding by Irene Nemirovsky

October.
40. The Secret Chord by Geraldine Brooks
41. The Best New Zealand Fiction Volume 3 by Fiona Kidman

7 to go! Great progress!

November.
42. God's Own country by Ross Raisin
43. The Bone Tiki by David Hair
44. What Happened to the Corbetts by Nevil Shute
45. Plumb by Maurice Gee
46. Meg by Maurice Gee
47. Sole Survivor by Maurice Gee

December.
48. The History of Love by Nicole Krauss
49. Eventide by Kent Haruf
50. Benediction by Kent Haruf
51. Moon Tiger by Penelope Lively
52. Out Stealing Horses by Per Petterson
53. What was Lost by Catherine O'Flynn

I have just noticed that my TBR shelves currently stand at 352, so if I read 4 or 5 or more books this month I will have made progress in that I started the year with 348. I am also going to stick with some lighter reads for the month, as life is far too busy at present.

Congratulations on reaching your goal!

Hurray, congratulations on reaching your goal! Enjoy your lighter reads. December is an excellent time for them. :)

>29 HelenBaker: oh what did you think of it?? I have that on my shelves :)

>30 HelenBaker: woo hoo! That's better than I can say... ;)

And yes, Congrats on reaching your goal!

Thanks. I loved the beginning of The History of Love. Leo Gursky really is the star of the book. However, I wasn't so taken with the other narrators and indeed found the changing voices and timeline confusing. I am not alone in saying it would warrant a reread to sort things out in my mind.

Congrats on reaching your goal!

>34 HelenBaker: interesting -- & good to know going into a book!

Thank you. That's beautiful.

I have just noticed that my TBR shelves are now at 348 which means I am finishing the year with the same number to be read as when I started the year. Oh well it could be worse. Maybe this year I will be more restrained with my purchases but I think this is the first year that it hasn't increased. That is progress of a kind.

Breaking even is very good! :)

Yes, I'm hoping that breaking even will be my 2018 goal! (for 2017 it is 1.5 books bought for every 1 read, down from 2:1 last year!).