Rebeki ROOTs with renewed relish in 2022

Last year I kept my ROOTs goal at a relatively low 18, so that I could focus on reading as many as possible of the books I panic-bought in spring 2020 (my "bookshop under the bed"), which I'd been too scared to add to my official TBR pile. The seven panic purchases I've yet to read have now been officially added to my To Read collection and things are all neat and tidy again. What's more, my TBR number is down one on last year, at 149, which is a real achievement under the circumstances! This year, I'd like to get back to more regular ROOTing and end 2022 having made a real dent in the pile. It helps that all my Christmas books have suddenly become potential ROOTs with the start of a new year - I love how that works! - but I'd also like to get to some of the longstanding occupants of my shelves. My goal for this year is to read 24 ROOTs, but I'd love to exceed that if possible. I wish everyone a great year of ROOTing!

ROOTs read in 2022

1. Casting Off by Elizabeth Jane Howard (bought in 2016)
2. The Manningtree Witches by A.K. Blakemore (Christmas present 2021)
3. Paradise Lodge by Nina Stibbe (Christmas present 2021)
4. Milkman by Anna Burns (birthday present 2021)
5. The True Deceiver by Tove Jansson (Christmas present 2021)
6. Table Two by Marjorie Wilenski (Christmas present 2021)
7. The Lying Life of Adults by Elena Ferrante (bought in 2021)
8. Letters from a Stoic by Seneca (bought in 2016)
9. Reasons to be Cheerful by Nina Stibbe (Christmas present 2021)
10. All Change by Elizabeth Jane Howard (bought in 2016)
11. The Summer House by Philip Teir (bought in 2020 - bookshop under the bed)
12. Late in the Day by Tessa Hadley (bought in 2020 - bookshop under the bed)
13. My Cat Yugoslavia by Pajtim Statovci (bought in 2020 - bookshop under the bed)
14. Heft by Liz Moore (bought in 2021)
15. Quartet in Autumn by Barbara Pym (birthday present 2017)
16. 10 Minutes 38 Seconds in This Strange World by Elif Shafak (birthday present 2021)
17. Our Spoons Came From Woolworths by Barbara Comyns (bought in 2013)
18. London Belongs to Me by Norman Collins (bought in 2012)
19. Troubling Love by Elena Ferrante (bought in 2021)
20. Meditations by Marcus Aurelius (bought in 2020 - bookshop under the bed)
21. Sovietistan: A Journey Through Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan by Erika Fatland (bought in 2020 - bookshop under the bed)
22. The Group by Mary McCarthy (bought in 2010)
23. Our Hearts Hang from the Lemon Trees by Laetitia Rutherford (bought in 2020 - bookshop under the bed)
24. Mr Ma and Son by Lao She (bought in 2021 - abandoned about 40% of the way through, but it still counts, as it’s off the shelf!)

ROOT prevention - books acquired and read in 2022

1. The Fell by Sarah Moss (late Christmas present, received February 2022, read April 2022)
2. Empireland: How Imperialism Has Shaped Modern Britain by Sathnam Sanghera (bought March 2022, read May 2022)
3. Happy Mind, Happy Life by Dr Rangan Chatterjee (bought April 2022, read May 2022)
4. Never Goodnight by Coco Moodysson (bought February 2022, read June 2022)
5. Working Hard, Hardly Working: How to Achieve More, Stress Less and Feel Fulfilled by Grace Beverley (bought August 2022, read August 2022)
6. Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals by Oliver Burkeman (birthday present - received July 2022, read August 2022)
7. Mr Loverman by Bernardine Evaristo (birthday present - received July 2022, read September 2022)
8. The Year of Reading Dangerously by Andy Miller (birthday present - received July 2022, read September 2022)
9. The Heart Goes Last by Margaret Atwood (bought September 2022, read October 2022)
10. Happiness, As Such by Natalia Ginzburg (bought August 2022, read October 2022)
11. The Fortnight in September by R.C. Sherriff (birthday present - received July 2022, read December 2022)

Borrowed books

1. The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman
2. Oh William! by Elizabeth Strout
3. Free: Coming of Age at the End of History by Lea Ypi
4. Diary of a Somebody by Brian Bilston
5. You Are a Champion: How to Be the Best You Can Be by Marcus Rashford
6. Heaven by Mieko Kawakami

Re-reads

1. Man at the Helm by Nina Stibbe
2. Love, Nina: Despatches from Family Life by Nina Stibbe

Read with my son

1. The Wizards of Once: Twice Magic by Cressida Cowell
2. Amari and the Night Brothers by B.B. Alston

Welcome to the ROOTers, Rebecca. I love to follow your reading and especially the books you will be reading with your son. Happy ROOTing.

Good luck with your reading in 2022, and well down on the reduced TBR pile! (even only 1 is a move in the right direction!)

Welcome back and have a great reading year! Agreed, actually making that TBR pile smaller is a wonderful accomplishment :)

>7 connie53:, >8 Jackie_K:, >9 rabbitprincess: Thanks! It's good to be back, and, as always, I'm hoping this is the year I'll manage to post more.

>7 connie53: I didn't get through as many books with my son in 2021 as I'd have liked, due to my often feeling too tired myself by the time he went to bed. He'll turn 11 this year, so I hope he'll still enjoy having me read to him.

>10 Rebeki: 11 is an age when they can read their own books, of course. I hope he will still need and enjoy some bedtime reading from you. It's that age when things start to change. Just keep it up as long as he likes it. It makes nice memories for him and for you.

Welcome back and good luck with your goals!

>11 connie53: I’m definitely noticing some things changing, but happily the bedtime reading is not one of them :)
>12 MissWatson: Thank you!

I’ve just finished my first ROOT of the year, the excellent Casting Off by Elizabeth Jane Howard. I’m going to be sad when I’ve finished this series.

I finished my second ROOT this morning, which was The Manningtree Witches by A.K. Blakemore, a Christmas present from my husband. Which really means I couldn’t resist buying it in the summer, but couldn’t face adding it to the TBR pile at the time!

Set at the time of the English civil war and the investigations of the “Witchfinder General”, Matthew Hopkins, it is often bleak, but also gripping, atmospheric and vividly written. I would like to read more about this period of English history.

"ROOT prevention"

I love this!

>16 rocketjk: Thanks! Since the reason my TBR has got so unwieldy is buying books and then not reading them for ages, I needed a category to motivate me to do things differently!

been busy reading, glad you're back with us!

Hi Rebecca. I've been away from LT Threads for a while. Too much going on in my life the last months. I hope you are still going strong with your reading.