tymfos effort to eradicate elephantine TBR pile

I already have other challenges going:

75 Challenge (1/1/10 through 12/31/10)
thread 1: http://www.librarything.com/topic/78980
thread 2: http://www.librarything.com/topic/83758
thread 3: http://www.librarything.com/topic/88141
thread 4: http://www.librarything.com/topic/90698
thread 5: http://www.librarything.com/topic/93832
thread 6: http://www.librarything.com/topic/97045
thread 7: http://www.librarything.com/topic/99914

1010 Category Challenge (10/10/09 through 10/10/10)
thread 1: http://www.librarything.com/topic/74456
thread 2: http://www.librarything.com/topic/94529

But all this reading, and my bookshelves are still overflowing. I need this challenge!

OK, here goes. I was going to be wimpy and say 14 for 2010. But, at that rate, as I kept buying, the pile would keep growing.

So I'm going to take a cue from the other Terri and try to read at least 2 per month from my shelves . . . total goal, at least 26 in 13 months, starting 12-1-09, ending 12-31-10. If I can get to more, that will be swell.

To fit this challenge, any book must have been owned by me and in my posession prior to 12-1-09.




December
1. Rescue Warriors: The US Coast Guard, America's Forgotten Heroes by David Helvarg. Non-fiction, 333 pages + select bibliography and index. (Started 11/12/09; Finished 12/3/09)
2. Singing God's Work by Allen Bailey. Non-fiction, 159 pages. (Finished 12/5/09.)
3. A Death in Belmont by Sebastian Junger. Non-fiction, 166 pages. (Started 12/13/09; Finished 12/13/09)
4. A Fatal Grace by Louise Penny. Mystery fiction, 311 pages. (Started 12/10/09; Finished 12/20/09)
5. Tracks in the Straw by Ted Loder. Devotional, 174 pages. (Finished 12/23/09)
6. Ghost in the Mirror: Real Cases of Spirit Encounters by Leslie Rule. Non-fiction, 231 pages. (Finished 12/27/09)
7. Ghost: Investigating the Other Side by Katherine Ramsland. Non-fiction, 300 pages. (Finished 12/28/09)
8. A Child Shall Lead Them: Lessons in Hope from Children with Cancer by Diane M. Komp, M.D. (Finished 12/31/09)

January
9. The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde. Fiction, 349 pages. (Finished 1/9/10)
10. The Story of My Father by Sue Miller. Non-fiction, memoir, 171 pages. (Read 1/24/10).
11. Mistress of the Art of Death by Ariana Franklin. Historical fiction / mystery, 400 pages. (Finished 1/29/10).

February
12. When Michael Calls by John Farris. Mystery/suspense fiction, 184 pages. (Finished 2/18/10)
13. Strength to Love by The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Collection of sermons, 155 pages. (Finished 2/26/10)

March
14. They Call Him Cale: The Life and Career of NASCAR legend Cale Yarborough by Joe McGinnis. Biography, 203 pages. (Finished 3/1/10)
15. Haunted Deland and the Ghosts of West Volusia County by Dusty Smith. Collection of folklore/legends/true ghost stories, 126 pages. (Finished 3/22/10)

April
16. Kiss Her Goodbye (Browne) by Robert Gregory Browne, Suspense/Thriller, 293 pages. (Finished 4/17/10)
17. Battle Cry of Freedom by James McPherson. Non-fiction, 862 pages. (Finished 4/27/10).
18. The Killer Angels by Michael Shaara. Historical fiction, 355 pages. (RE-READ finished 4/30/10.)

May
19. Zeitoun by Dave Eggers. Non-fiction, 335 pages. (finished 5/1/10).
20. Blue Like Jazz by Donald Miller (finished 5/14/10).
21. Columbine by Dave Cullen (started 5/14/10; finished 5/22/10)
22. Grace (Eventually): Thoughts on Faith by Anne Lamott (finished 5/23/10).

June
23. American Gothic (Bloch) by Robert Bloch (started 6/18/10; finished 6/20/10.)
24. St. Dale by Sharyn McCrumb (started 6/20/10; finished 6/25/10)

July
25. Winfield Scott Hancock: A Soldier's Life by David M. Jordan (started 6/13/10; finished 7/8/10)
26. Once Around the Track by Sharyn McCrumb. (started 6/27/10; finished 7/13/10).
27. The Monsters: Mary Shelley and the Curse of Frankenstein by Dorothy and Thomas Hoobler. (started 7/13/10; finished 7/19/10).
28. Cape May Court House by Lawrence Schiller (started 7/28/10; finished 7/29/10)
29a Cape May Ghost Stories by Charles Adams III
29b Atlantic County Ghost Stories by Charles Adams III (finished 7/31/10)

August
30 To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee (finished 8/6/10)
31 Disaster on the Mississippi: The Sultana Explosion April 27, 1865 (finished 8/10/10).
32 Murder in the Adirondacks by Craig Brandon (finished 8/19/10)
33. Plan B: Further Thoughts on Faith by Anne Lamott (finished 8/19/10).
34. Black for Remembrance by Carlene Thompson (started 8/25/10; finished 8/26/10)

September
35. The Problem of Pain by C.S. Lewis (finished 9/22/10)
36. The Woman in Black by Susan Hill (finished 9/25/10)

October:
37. Best Ghost Stories of J.S. LeFanu by J. Sheridan LeFanu (finished 10/21/10).
38. The Cross in Our Context: Jesus and the Suffering World by Douglas John Hall (finished 10/29/10)

November:
#39 Ghosts of Mississippi (Vollers): by Maryanne Vollers\
#40 William James: On Psychical Research by William James (started 11-9-10; finished 11-30-10)

December
41. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
42. A Night to Remember by Walter Lord
43. Death Be Not Proud by John Gunther
44. The Civil War, A Narrative: From Fort Sumter to Perryville by Shelby Foote
45. The Worst Hard Time by Timothy Egan (finished 12/31/10)

Welcome, Terri! I'm excited to see what folks read off their shelves. You've set an ambitious goal. Good luck!

I like that--"The Other Terri." Good distinction!

And good point about "in my possession prior to 12-1-09." I'm stealing that.

And good point about "in my possession prior to 12-1-09." I'm stealing that.

You're welcome to use it . . . I still feel like I'm copping out making the cutoff that recent.

I'm currently in the middle of 5 books that fit that criteria (a couple of them "stalled" for quite a while, one an Early Reviewer copy I just got). I don't think it's quite fair for me to count them all, since they were partly read before I started this challenge. But if I don't count any of them , I'll probably not make my goal for December . . . ah, maybe I'll count two of them here when I finish them and call it a month. :)

Help! If there's anybody here who knows how to use TickerFactory to add the cute counters. . . can you have different counters for different threads, and if so, how? When I set up the ticker for this thread, I went back and my ticker for the 75 challenge was also changed to be like the one I put here. (I edited it again for the 75 and deleted it from here.)

I mean, it provided a button to click to configure ANOTHER counter, and when I clicked that and followed the steps, I had figured the code it would give me would be for a separate counter . . .

My thanks to calm on the 75 challenge, who helped me get my counters straightened out.

So much for bringing down the TBR pile! I bought 4 books today (though 2 were presents for my son, so those two don't really count). Read two, buy two . . . and Christmas is coming . . . never get the pile down this way!

Finished my first official book off the shelf for this challenge:

Book #1, Rescue Warriors: The US Coast Guard, America's Forgotten Heroes, by David Helvarg.

Overall, good book. Full review here:

http://www.librarything.com/work/8159287/reviews/46655053

Congratulations! I think you are the first of us to finish a book off the shelf! You'll be our inspiration.

That's not fair!
Your not suposed to read books that I want to add to my TBR pile. :)

#8 But I cheated! I had it started a bit beforehand . . .

#9 Who said life was fair? :)

>9 usnmm2:: I hadn't thought about the fact that this is just another group within which to find more books to add to the pile! Darn!

I have been thinking that if my little brain functions the way it usually does I will start reading some of the books I own and then decide I need to read more of the genre/about the time/about the events/etc, etc and will thereby add MORE to the TBR.

Aaargh, as they say.

>11 LisaCurcio: There is no escaping the TBR pile.

Resistance is futile!

That is exactly why I set such a modest goal! But any little progress will be good!

More progress:

Book #2: Singing God's Work: The Inspirational Music, People and Stories of the Harlem Gospel Choir by Allen Bailey. Non-fiction, 159 pages.

This is a book I received from October's Early Reviewer batch.

review posted:

http://www.librarything.com/work/9235210/reviews/53436195

tymfos;

Two books and the year hasn't started yet. Are you trying to encourage us or make us feel guilty? :)

This second book was really short. And both books were started in November . . . I have a couple of others I'm reading that were started prior to December that I'm not going to count here, to make up for the fact that these were only partly read in December
. . . if that makes sense.

So it's not as much as it looks, you see. No need to feel guilty (nor particularly encouraged, for that matter).

:)

I really like the idea posted by NeverStopTrying about posting (when possible) where, when, and why you got the books.

My books so far:
Rescue Warriors was bought sometime earlier in 2009 at Waldenbooks, on impulse. I thought it sounded interesting (I like reading about rescues) and I figured when I was done with it, I'd donate it to the library and we have a lot of patrons who might like reading it.

Singing God's Work was, as I think I noted, obtained through October's batch of Early Reviewer titles on LT. I requested it because it sounded interesting, as I like Gospel music.

A daunting task. I would be hard pressed to remember dates. I can say with certainty that I order most of my books online from B&N. The rest I buy at the local B&N. But, I am going to NYC this weekend with my daughter and one of the main attractions is the Strand.

#18: Agree: many of my books, I have no idea where they came from and when, they've been around for so long.

Enjoy NYC!

I was so overwhelmed at the Strand last summer, I completely lost sight of the fact that they will ship books. My husband was probably relieved.

Book #3: A Death in Belmont by Sebastian Junger. Non-fiction, 166 pages. Purchased used, 8/09 at Frogtown Books in Toledo, OH.

Wow! This book was a real find. More than simple "true crime" book about a murder. This book deals with issues of justice and race and the changing society of the 1960's. And the Boston Strangler. Junger takes this complex tale and does it full justice, in my opinion.

Full review:
http://www.librarything.com/work/520493/reviews/49217016

Wow, great review, Terri. And look at you, already on your 3rd book. Maybe I'll get lucky and people will mistake you for me....

LOL, Terri! Thanks for the kind words.

Starred you, the other terri ( waves) and rd...
more to come..

I am humbled by your 2 a month plus attempt...

We'll see how long the 2 a month goes. It should work for January, as I have plans to do 2 group reads that I have on the shelf. After that . . . well, February is a short month, so . . . (already working on excuses . . .)

*The Other Terri waving back!*

LOL you 75'ers are just the best, doncha think?

Book #4: A Fatal Grace by Louise Penny (Canadian edition title: Dead Cold). Mystery fiction, 311 pages. Second in the Three Pines Mysteries series featuring Inspector Armand Gamache. Purchased used, via Amazon.com. (Started 12/10/09, Finished 12/20/09.)

I love Louise Penny's Three Pines mysteries. I like the setting, the quirky characters, and the plot twists. I enjoy her literary allusions and her wry sense of humor. I like the way the reader never quite knows all that's going on -- sometimes even at the end of the last page. That "unsettled" quality that Penny leaves at the end of the book is so much like real life.

I need some time to put together a full review, but my short version is that I liked it.

ETA to add: Here is the link to my review:
http://www.librarything.com/work/2705703/details/49464643

I just finished A Rule Against Murder which is the 4th in the series. You'll be happy to hear that they just get better and better!

What is the title of the first book in the series? Sounds like a series I should check out.

Still Life by Louise Penny. Enjoy!!

You know, I tried Still Life, excited by the rave reviews people here have given Louise Penny. And I hated it. I couldn't get past the cutesy stuff and all the self-conscious whimsy. Maybe I'm just not cut out for cozies, since I disliked the best the genre has to offer.

#32 Well, as I always, say, if we all liked the same books, libraries -- and LT -- would be pretty boring! I've had the same kind of experience with books that other people all rave about.

Book #5: Tracks in the Straw : tales spun from the Manger by Ted Loder. Devotional, 174 pages. Requested and received as birthday gift, 2/09.

This book is a collection of writings looking at the Christmas story from unusual points of view -- animals in the stable where Jesus was born, a maid at the Inn where there were no rooms, the Innkeeper, etc. My favorite of the lot was the one set in modern times: "Gum on the Altar," about two friends in a mental hospital at Christmas time.

The previous books I've read by Ted Loder, Guerillas of Grace and My Heart in My Mouth, contained passages which spoke to me in a deep, deep way. This one really didn't.

#32 RidgewayGirl - I actually stopped and started Still Life a couple of times before I got into it so I know it's not necessarily for everyone. Plus, I listen to the audio which I think is very well done. I do think the series is improving with each book.

#34 Aw, I was thinking how good that book sounded, till you said it didn't speak to you. Was it bad, or just not inspirational?

#35 Hi, coppers! Thanks for dropping by. I agree -- Penny does grow as an author with each book, I think.

#36 Terri, I honestly don't know how to answer that. Obviously, from the book ratings, someone liked it. The other books I've read by him were prayers, which were very poetic -- wonderful use of language -- and always had at least some lines that really hit home. This was prose & much of it seemed stilted, though some of that was a device to convey the odd POV's from which he was writing. Some of it was quite clever and did make me think. Maybe just not quite what I expected.

Happy New Year to everyone!

Terri, your word is good enough for me.. I am ordering the other Three Pines books..

and as for the ticker factory.. do you still need a hand?

I think I've got the ticker under control! :) Thanks!

But I've definitely lost the handle on keeping the LT threads read over the holidays. . . ;)

Book # 6: Ghost in the Mirror: Real Cases of Spirit Encounters by Leslie Rule. Non-fiction, 231 pages. Purchased at Books a Million (I think) sometime in 2009.

I grabbed this book off my shelf because it looked like a quick, easy read and I wanted to be sure I finished at least one more book this year to reach my goal in the 75 challenge!

I've always thought that some of the creepiest ghost stories were of people looking in the mirror and seeing someone who isn't supposed to be there . . . I thought this book would be full of stories like this. In reality, while each section featured such a story and the theme was emphasized throughout the book, there were lots of other kinds of ghost stories, too. These are all accounts that purport to be true. Some were pretty creepy, some less so. There was some theorizing about mirrors as portals into the nether realms, etc., that I don't necessarily buy into.

Rule includes contact information for those haunted places that are business establishments, such as restaurants and inns. That always makes me feel a little skeptical, wondering how many of the stories are real, and how many are just PR to draw business from people fascinated by the paranormal. Rule does seem to do a fair amount of investigating as far as the history behind the alleged hauntings, pointing out some legends which aren't supported by fact. (It's not unusual to see hauntings attributed to an event that supposedly happened years ago which, according to historical records, never really happened. . .)

This is a genre I enjoy and collect, and this was a fairly standard entry in my collection.

Book # 7: Ghost: Investigating the Other Side by Katherine Ramsland. Non-fiction, 300 pages. Purchased at library sale in 2008.

This is a book that sat half-read for much of this year. I'm not quite sure why I put it aside for so long. I suspect I was having trouble digesting some of Ramsland's adventures as she stumbled through her efforts to have a true paranormal experience.

This story grows out of her experiences researching her book on the Vampire sub-culture, during which she recieved a ring with a questionable history, and a possible ghost -- a not-so-nice ghost -- attached. For someone who purported to believe in the possibility of the supernatural as something with some power, she seemed to take a lot of reckless risks. She sought out all kinds of conflicting spiritual techniques and philosophies, sort of a paranormal smorgasbord, and ignored a lot of the advice she had sought out. It seemed that she alternately questioned and believed everything anyone said.

I suspect her attitude mirrors that of many people today: skeptical yet wanting to believe there's something more than what science can measure and explain. Struggling with all the conflicting theories of the paranormal which are out there claiming to be right. Drawn in by one convincing argument after another, some of which are mutually exclusive.

I kept waiting for her more critical investigative attitudes to reassert themselves, which eventually they did to some extent. Agreed: the field of paranormal investigation is not well served by those who blindly accept everything odd as paranormal, without looking for natural explainations. It makes it that much harder to objectively study those things which truly do seem unexplainable.

Which doesn't mean that her final actions in the book were all that sensible . . .

(No image available) Book # 8: A Child Shall Lead Them: Lessons in Hope from Children with Cancer by Diane M. Komp, M.D. Non-fiction; 168 pages plus endnotes. Purchased quite a few years ago, possibly from Amazon.com, and misplaced on my husband's office bookshelves for quite a while (maybe a decade?).

A word of disclaimer: I had the privilege of meeting Dr. Komp when I was part of a chaplaincy training program years ago. She made such an impression upon me that I sought out her writings.

From my review: Diane Komp is on the faculty of Yale Medical School, and a practicing pediatric oncologist. As such, her practice is not only devoted to the care of children with cancer, but she treats many of the sickest of the sick: those whose poor prognosis causes their families to seek out the most expert of care. And her career began at a time when the word "cure" was hardly even in the vocabulary for childhood cancer patients. I can't imagine a more difficult job. . . In this book, Dr. Komp shares her spiritual journey, as her experience of the suffering of children led her first away from, and then back to, faith in God. She shows us the strength of the young patients she treats, and how they can be an example to all of us as we face the issues of life and mortality.

full review here: http://www.librarything.com/work/758601/reviews/51671783

Wow, December has really been a great month for making a dent in my TBR shelves! Let's see how it goes next month . . .

ETA to add possible source and (vague) timing of purchase.

That sounds like such an inspiring book. How long was it on your shelf?

That's hard to answer. We moved some books to my husband's office I-don't-know-how-many years ago when we ran out of bookshelf space at home, and somehow it wound up over there for quite a spell. I rediscovered it when I went through our books in the office to catalog for LT, and brought it back home. That was a couple months ago, and I've had my eye on it ever since . . . So I've owned it quite a while, but it didn't sit on MY shelf for too long.

You are my idol! 8 shelf-books in one month. Awesome!

You know the danger here...we're going to read everyone else's books and then want to go out and get them. Good work, Terri, and a good start. Like your ticker.

Yeah, 8 shelf books in one month . . . then I wandered into a used bookstore while I was in Florida over Christmas and bought . . . . 8 books.

No, I can't claim to have just wandered into the bookstore. I sought it out DELIBERATELY, via Google. (For shame!)

So with those books added to the one I got for Christmas from my husband, I am now further behind than when I started.

And, in general, the new books are thicker than the ones I read in December.

I am hopeless!

Naw, you're just like the rest of us. And yes, I am laughing.

Go ahead, laugh . . .

*shoe-horning one more book onto overstuffed bookshelf and holding breath while waiting to see if bookcase explodes*

:)

9 for 8?sounds about right :)

Book #9: The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde. Fiction, 349 pages.

This book has been on my shelf at least since college -- maybe high school -- when I first read it. It is literally falling apart. When a group read was proposed, I was eager to read it again and see how I'd like it after all these years.

I ejoyed it, even though I remembered much of what was going to happen. Some sections felt a bit tedious, but overall a good read that gives much to think about.

(And now I'm at least even again re: shelf reads vs. new aquisitions!)

Book #10 (Second for January).
Title: The Story of My Father
Author: Sue Miller
Genre: Non-fiction, memoir
Length: Main Text: 171 pages
Source: Owned; purchased from Buck-A-Book bin at Ollie's, Fall 2009
Dates: 1/24/10 (into 1/25 if strict about midnight EST as start of new day)
Challenges: 75 Challenge; Books off the Shelf challenge; 1010 challenge -- Interesting People category book #2
Notes: Novelist Sue Miller's memoir revolving around her father's descent into Alzheimer's Disease.

from my review: ( http://www.librarything.com/work/177620/details/51154140 )

I don't read a lot of memoirs, so I'm probably a poor person to review one. I don't know if this is good or bad, as the genre goes; but it was a compelling read, which I felt I wanted to stay up and finish.

It's hard to talk about "enjoying" a book like this. The prospect of oneself or a loved one developing Alzheimers is quite naturally terrifying to most people, I think. Certainly it is to me: my family history -- and therefore my likely gene-pool -- is loaded with the dread disease.

Yet the book is fascinating to read. Alzheimer's progresses differently in different people, depending on the parts of the brain damaged; Miller's father developed hallucinations/delusions fairly early on, but maintained his recognition of his family and friends almost to the end -- though the ultimate course of the disease was cut short by another fatal physical illness caught too late, likely cancer (as was the case with my own father).

Of course, Alzheimer's takes a terrible toll on all closely involved. Miller does not shy away from talking about her feelings, and her Afterword analyzes her motivations for writing the memoir in detail.

A fascinating, though very sad, book.

I read quite a few memoirs and for me, you have captured what makes a good memoir: "it was a compelling read, which I felt I wanted to stay up and finish."

#54 Thanks, Lois! I just hope that those who might be influenced to read the book after reading my review (several have expressed interest on my 75 thread) share that feeling! I'm not sure how much my own personal/family baggage influenced how I read the book.

But, then, isn't that the case with just about everything we read?

Book #11:
Title: Mistress of the Art of Death
Author: Ariana Franklin
Genre: Historical Fiction / Mystery
Length: 400 pages
Source: gift from Linda (Whisper 1), October 2009
Dates: 1/29/10
Challenges: 75 Challenge, 1010 Challenge "Whodunit" category, Books off the Shelf Challenge
Notes:

Wow! this was a great read! VERY well written! And very original. My thanks to Linda (Whisper1) for recommending it and sending me her copy! I will be back to post a link to my review. Just wanted to get it listed here now.

ETA to add link Full review here:
http://www.librarything.com/work/1718023/details/52157933

I am keeping ahead of my reading goal for this thread. However, I am still losing the TBR battle. Just bought 4 books at Ollie's yesterday, and brought home 3 from the library sale table earlier this week. . . added to the 8 books I bought on vacation, that's 15 purchased this year, with only 11 read since Dec. 1. (I'm not even going to think about what I may have added to the collection in December.)

shhhhhhhhhhh

I won't tell if you don't !

Book #12:
Title: When Michael Calls
Author: John Farris
Genre: Mystery/Suspense
Length: 184 pages
Source: public library book sale 25 cent table, purchased 2008(?)
Dates: 2/18/10
Challenges: 75 Challenge, Books off the Shelf Challenge
Note: I could put this in one of several 1010 Challenge categories, but it's not needed in those categories.

I picked this off my TBR shelf seeking a quick, easy read to get out of a book funk. This book is not award-winning material, but it certainly sufficed. A rather creepy, suspenseful plot kept me guessing and reading on.

In a tiny Missouri town, locals receive phone calls from someone claiming to be a boy named Michael. But Michael disappeared and supposedly died in a blizzard 16 years ago. Is Michael phoning from beyond the grave? Has his spirit posessed some troubled child in the community? Is the caller some delusional maniac or a cruel prankster? Could Michael possibly be alive?

When people start getting killed, the search for answers becomes critical -- and perhaps dangerous.

This wasn't the most artfully written book I've ever read, and I felt the author could have laid on a bit more atmosphere. But the plot held my attention and there were some genuinely creepy and suspenseful moments.

I really have to read this..
I do like creepy!

I really have to read this..
I do like creepy!

FYI, I'm willing to part with my copy of When Michael Calls . . . but it is not in great shape. Pefectly readable, though!

well.. if you are offering.. :P

Book #13:
Title: Strength to Love
Author: The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Genre: A collection of sermons
Length: 155 pages
Source: A treasured resident of my bookshelf for decades
Dates: finished 2/26/10
Challenges: 75 Challenge, Books off the Shelf Challenge, 2010 Category Challenge ("A Matter of Faith" category)
Notes: A re-read (probably, a re-re-read)

I wanted to read something with spiritual depth for the first week of Lent. I needed something for my "Books off the Shelf" challenge. I felt inspired to do a re-read of this book, which I first read in graduate school. Unlike many of my books, this volume was replete with dog-eared pages and much highlighting. The book clearly spoke to me in my youth, and speaks to me even more strongly now as I read with older, wiser eyes.

In my category challenge, I will place this in the "faith" category, rather than the "20th-century history" category where it could have resided given Dr. King's role in the Civil Rights movement. While the book clearly reflects the circumstances of its time and place of origin -- the U.S. Civil Rights movement, the Vietnam war, and nuclear proliferation -- the book transcends time and place, dealing with timeless and universal issues and principles.

My full review: http://www.librarything.com/work/373641/reviews/46071346

Note: while this is a book from my shelf, it really isn't a book off my shelf, as it is going back onto the shelf! But it still counts by my rules for this challenge.

Most highly recommended!

I does count, MLK is a keeper in any realm..
treasured, I like that.

Thank you for your posting about Dr. King's book. I've put a hold on it at the library. I'm really looking forward to browsing through it.

I hope you enjoy it, Lois! Thanks for stopping by!

I guess I'm on a roll with racing books.


Book #14
Title: They Call Him Cale: The Life and Career of NASCAR legend Cale Yarborough
Author: Joe McGinnis
Genre: Biography
Length: 203 pages + appendix
Source: My bookshelf, purchased 2009 from Books-A-Million
Dates: Finished 3/1/10
Challenges: 75 Challenge; 1010 Challenge (2nd book in "start your engines" category), Books off the Shelf Challenge

This was a pretty basic biography of the great racer Cale Yarborough, the first man to win three consecutive NASCAR Winston Cup Championships. I wasn't particularly impressed with the writing, though there were no glaring errors, factual or editorial, that I detected. The format, with many sidebar quotations, seemed a bit cheesy.

The last chapter laid on the hero worship a bit thick. Mind you, Yarborough's a favorite of mine from my youth, but I prefer my books to be a bit more objective.

When I looked at the source notes at the back, I got more of a sense what was wrong. The source materials were Yarborough's autobiography, and a bunch of web sites. (This after just reading another NASCAR-themed book with a 2-page bibliography, the author of which had interviewed many NASCAR insiders for the project.)

I probably would have done better to read Cale's autobiography.

Sounds like one you're glad to have off the shelf!

#68 Meh! I'll probably keep it around a while, just because I collect motorsports-related books. (At least until I get a better book about Cale. I'll have to look for that autobiography . . .)

Good that it counted toward all three of my challenges!

Terri, I needed an easy read for the weekend.. something I could pick up for a few minutes here and there then put dow..

The book you sent me is perfect, I am loving it ... and I thank you!
now, back to it to see if it will quell the headache..
:P

Again.. Thank you!

You are ever so welcome, Kath! Glad it suited your needs!

Hope the headache goes away!

This entry duplicates what I posted on my 75 challenge thread.

I found a slender volume to make my "quota" for Books-off-the-Shelf. I thought I was getting brain candy for a paranormal buff, but this turned out to be slightly more serious stuff. Still, I read it cover-to-cover in the course of the late afternoon and evening, with breaks for necessary family care.

Book #15:
Title: Haunted Deland and the Ghosts of West Volusia County
Author: Dusty Smith
Genre: Ghost stories (true/legend/folklore)
Length: 126 pages
Source: TBR shelf; purchased from author after Daytona Beach ghost tour, January 2009.
Dates: Finished 3/22/10
Challenges: 75 Challenge; 1010 Challenge, "Strange But True" category; Books off the Shelf challenge.
Notes: Author sold her books out of the back of her car after the ghost tour! This copy is autographed to me, "Happy hauntings! With grave regards, Dusty Smith 1/09"

Dusty Smith is a paranormal investigator, a ghost tour operator, and cemetery preservationist in the Daytona Beach area. Unlike some of her other books, which often offer up documented paranormal investigation cases, this is more in the realm of regional legends and folklore.

I wanted a quick, easy read today and thought this would be it. Actually, it's deeper than many books of this genre, and more unsettling. The unsettling part has less to do with unearthly things that go bump in the night, and more to do with the all-too-earthly historical record which is recounted in the telling of these stories. Most ghostly folklore brings one in contact with a piece of history if it is told even moderately well. Smith includes a lot of historical detail and even photographs. I must say, I had an especially difficult time with the chapter dealing with the ghost of the KKK member. Not brain candy at all.

Sounds good! Think you may have answered the question in my thread... what to read next? something spooky!

Spooky is almost always good, IMHO.

agreed

I needed to get SOMETHING done for this challenge, and it couldn't be anything too deep or weighty. I settled for this.

Book #16:

Title: Kiss Her Goodbye (Browne)
Author: Robert Gregory Browne
Genre: Crime Thriller/Suspense/(with a dose of the supernatural/Horror)
Length: 293 pages
Source: TBR Shelf (Purchased last November as impulse buy at Ollie's)
Dates: Finished 4/17/10
Challenges: 75 Challenge, Books off the Shelf Challenge

This is not great literature. I'm not sure I can even call it good genre fiction. But if you can deal with a crime thriller with a heavy dose of the supernatural/paranormal, this can be a real page-turner. It wasn't the sort of tale I could really believe, but I could suspend disbelief and enjoy the story. I definitely wanted to know how it turned out.

Jack Donovan is a Chicago-based ATF agent and former CPD detective. His chief nemesis kidnaps his daughter and taunts him with the knowledge that she has been buried alive with a limited air supply. This prompts an increasingly frantic investigation, and some risky behavior by Jack. In the process, this skeptic agent faces questions of what happens when we die? when a heart stops and is revived by a medic?

Lots of people die in this book. Suffice it to say, some are deader than others.

ETA to finish post -- after losing the post once, I decided to re-start it and submit it partly done before I lost it again!

Book #17:
Title: Battle Cry of Freedom
Author: James M. McPherson
Genre: Non-fiction
Subject Matter: US Civil War
Length: 862 (footnoted) pages plus (extensive) "bibliographical note" and index
Source: TBR shelf; purchased at library sale during vacation in August, 2009
Dates: finished 4/27/10 (12:30 a.m. EDT)
Challenges: 75 Challenge, 1010 Challenge: Blue vs. Gray category #1; Books off the Shelf Challenge
Notes: Considered by some to be the finest single-volume account of the US Civil War

FINALLY! I finally finished it! And it was well worth the effort. It's good that such a lengthy volume fits all three of my challenges.

I'm not going to do a formal review; I doubt that I can say anything that hasn't already been said about this marvelous account of the US Civil War. It's meticulously researched and footnoted, packed with detail, and yet a thoroughly readable narrative of what happened leading up to and during the war between the states.

I'm really glad I read this one!

Book #18:
Title: The Killer Angels
Author: Michael Shaara
Genre: Historical fiction
Subject Matter: US Civil War, Battle of Gettysburg
Length: 355 pages
Source: Longtime resident of my bookshelf
Dates: finished 4/30/10
Challenges: 75 Challenge, 1010 Challenge: Blue vs. Gray category #2; Books off the Shelf Challenge
Notes: Pulitzer Prize winner; re-read of a favorite novel

I have been wanting to re-read this for some time. If anything, the passing years have made it an even better read for me. I finished reading with tears streaming down my face. Of course, I feel that the "right side" won the battle; but oh, the cost on both sides was horrific. A brilliantly-written, emotionally stirring book.

This is a book FROM my bookshelf, but will not be a book OFF my shelf, as I will always want to have a copy of this very special book!

Book #19:
Title: Zeitoun
Author: Dave Eggers
Genre: Non-fiction
Length: 335 pages
Source: Purchased from Waldenbooks last fall
Dates: finished 5/1/10
Challenges: 75 Challenge; 1010 Challenge: (not sure which category); Books off the Shelf Challenge

I'm having a very difficult time wrapping my feelings about this book up in words. It is a powerful book.

This book is about A. Zeitoun, resident of New Orleans when Hurrican Katrina hit -- a businessman who stayed in the city to look after his properties; his family, who evacuated from the city; those who were supoosed to be helping and keeping order in flooded New Orleans; and the total breakdown of the legal system following the storm.

Amazing man, fascinating family, horrible injustice, amazing resilience. Not sure what else to say. Eggers' straightforward narrative style drew me in and carried me though the whole incredible saga of Zeitoun's efforts to help his flooded neighbors, and how some very bad things happened to a good man.

Book #20:
Title: Blue Like Jazz
Author: Donald Miller
Genre: Non-fiction/Spirituality
Length: 242 pages
Source: Purchased at library sale during vacation, August 2009
Dates: finished 5/14/10
Challenges: 75 Challenge; Books off the Shelf challenge; 1010 Challenge, "Matter of Faiith" category
Notes:

I bought this book on a whim, used, for $1. I liked the title. I liked the cover. I liked the description of the author (in one of the blurbs) as "Anne Lamott with testosterone." And I loved the author's note:
I never liked jazz music because jazz music doesn't resolve. But I was outside the Bagdad Theater in Portland one night when I saw a man playing the saxophone. I stood there for fifteen minutes, and he never opened his eyes.
After that I liked jazz music.
Sometimes you have to watch somebody love something before you can love it yourself. It is as if they are showing you the way.
I used to not like God because God didn't resolve. But that was before any of this happened.

This book is a bit uneven in quality. Some of these autobiographical essays were less than impressive to me. But others stopped me in my tracks. This is a book with which many Conservative Christians might be uncomfortable. Miller has his complaints about the church, and about the way many Christians view faith and interact with those around them -- especially those who are different from them. He has no use for empty ritual (though its clear that not all ritual is empty to him), or being judgmental of others, or of the kind of morality that is almost obsessed with sexual behavior.

He does acknowledge the reality of what traditional theology calls "original sin" -- the fact that all people, and the world, are broken and need fixing. He zeroes in on the sins of self-righteousness and self-centeredness, and the primacy of the commandment to LOVE. In this, I believe he is a faithful follower of Jesus.

He has problems with religion, with Christianity (as an institution), with "religious people," but loves Jesus and invites the reader to love Him, too. He does all this with an honesty about his own failings and shortcomings that is refreshing. He gave me some things to think about, so I consider the time spent in reading this book worthwhile.

Book #21 (3rd for May):
Title: Columbine
Author: Dave Cullen
Genre: Non-fiction
Length: 358 pages text plus timeline, acknowledgments, notes, bibliography, and index
Source: purchased at Waldenbooks, Fall 2009
Dates: finished 5/22/10
Challenges: 75 Challenge; 1010 Challenge, 20th Century USA category; Books off the Shelf Challenge
Notes: Recently won an Edgar award (2010 Fact Crime)

This was a heavy one. Marvelously researched and well-written, it dispels many of the myths which abound about the school killings near Littleton, Colorado at a school whose name -- for too many people -- has become synonymous with the carnage which happened there on April 20, 1999.

Everyone wants to believe that two young men snapped and went on a rampage because they were bullied as outcasts. The truth is much, much scarier.

An excellent book.

I pre-ordered the paperback of Zeitoun. I will read it. Earlier I would have said that it will go to my library. .. not so sure.

I did not offer Zeitoun to our library because I didn't feel that there would be much demand for it by our patrons -- thus, not a book that we would accession. We simply don't have enough space to take everything people donate, even new titles. We can get it through ILL for those who want it, and we do not charge for that service.

Book #22:
Title: Grace (Eventually):Thoughts on Faith
Author: Anne Lamott
Genre: Non-fiction memoir/essays
Length: 253 pages
Source: purchased on vacation at bookstore in Saranac Lake, NY in 2008
Dates: finished 5/23/10
Challenges: 75 Challenge; 1010 Challenge ("A Matter of Faith" category); Books off the Shelf Challenge

Ah, Anne Lamott. I love her spunk, her honesty, idealism, and faith. Sometimes her political rants/snipes drive me a little crazy, even in those cases when I agree with her. I found more snipes than outright rants in this book. Since her biggest rant in this book involved protesting the closing of an entire city's library system, I could hardly fault her this time.

How could I not appreciate someone who helped organize a massive emergency read-in to protest the closing of libraries?

Anne's non-fiction writings are always slices of life, filled with children, pets, friends and neighbors, nature, everyday problems, and humor. She never tries to make herself look too good. She always seems to pull some sort of spiritual lesson from her struggles. She offers simple words of wisdom in a complex world:

On protesting the closing of libraries:
We came together because we started out as children who were saved by stories, stories read to us at night when we were little, stories we read by ourselves, in which we could get lost and thereby found.

On confiding/confessing to a friend:
. . . as I told her my bleak and embarassing story, it felt like dirty clothes. I'd been trying to wash and dry it inside myself, in my embarrassed mind, which doesn't really make much sense, laundry-wise. When you hang things outside, they get air, warmth, light; and you see that even with the stains and frayed collar, the garment has kept you covered and warm for a long time.

And this:
The best way to change the world is to change your mind, which often requires feeding yourself. It makes for biochemical peace. It's almost like a prayer to be needy, to eat, to taste, to be filled, building up instead of tearing down."

It's sentiments like these that make me enjoy Anne Lamott's writing.

Dang! You have been doing some fine reading! I'm feeling like I want to put nearly all of these onto my library wish list, which will not help with my BOTS challenge at all! I have a Donald Miller book about half-read. Since I own it, if I finish it, it would count. I am definitely going to have to request the Anne Lamont book. Have you read Seeking Enlightenment--hat by hat by Nevada Barr? It reminded me of Lamont's Traveling Mercies.

Hi, Laura! Thanks for dropping by! Sorry to be sabotaging your BOTS challenge.

I never read Barr's Seeking Enlightenment -- hat by hat. I'll have to investigate that one! I loved Lamott's Traveling Mercies.

*Ever-Expanding List expands some more . . . *

I'm in trouble with this challenge this month! I'm currently reading 3 books, not one of which counts toward BOTS. Two are ILL's, and one is too new. (I foolishly put an acquisition cut-off date on my challenge, so that I couldn't use BOTS as an excuse to go out and buy more books so that I could read them off my shelf . . .)

I chose this book to read now because I needed a quick, easy read for this challenge!

Book #23:
Title: American Gothic (Bloch)
Author: Robert Bloch
Genre: Historical fiction / suspense
Length: 221 pages
Source: Library book sale, purchased for 25 cents!
Dates: started 6/18/10; finished 6/20/10
Challenges: 75 Challenge; Books off the Shelf Challenge

The author of this book, Robert Bloch, also wrote the novel Psycho (Bloch), (in)famously adapted by Alfred Hitchcock into a movie blockbuster. Here he brings us another tale of lodgings where the guests check in but don't live to check out. This time, the tale is loosely based on a true story, that of convicted serial killer Herman W. Mudgett AKA H. H. Holmes, who built a rooming-house "castle" during the 1893 Chicago World's Fair, complete with secret passages and some sinister facilities in the basement -- subject of Erik Larson's non-fiction book Devil in the White City -- which I now must read, of course!

I initially wasn't all that impressed with this book. I liked the setting and the historical details about the Chicago World's Fair. But the writing struck me as slightly pedestrian compared to some of the more literary writers I've been reading lately, even in genre fiction. The plot developed slowly, albeit with a good bit of atmosphere. But by the end, the suspense had built to the point where I was becoming quite anxious about how it would all turn out for our protagonists. It became quite un-put-down-able (if such a word were to exist) in the final chapters. I find it very difficult to rate.

Book #24:
Title: St. Dale
Author: Sharyn McCrumb
Genre: fiction
Length: 311 pages
Source: Purchased used at The Book Barn, Niantic, CT several years ago
Dates: started 6/20/10; finished 6/25/10
Challenges: 75 Challenge; Books off the Shelf Challenge; 1010 Challenge, "Start Your Engines" category
Notes: re-read, in honor of first visit to NASCAR Hall of Fame

I just love this sweet, tender, insightful look at a bunch of "pilgrims" on a Dale Earnhardt memorial tour, a year and a half after his death. Sharyn McCrumb indicates in her "author's note" that she wanted to write a book about the phenomena of "secular sainthood" -- the way people idolize certain heroes in life and even more in untimely death (can you say "Elvis?") and the impact it has on their lives. She found the perfect subject in writing about a bunch of Earnhardt fans touring race tracks in the southeast.

We see the tour from a wide variety of perspectives -- that of "true blue" fans; a pair of newlyweds married in the infield at Bristol Motor Speedway; a clergyman, new to NASCAR and more comfortable touring medieval pilgrimage sites, accompanying a sick child on a "last wish" trip; a NASCAR-disdaining judge "dragged" along by her fanatic sister; a southern aristocratic lady NASCAR fan; a man who "inherited" the tour ticket from the father he never met; and the tour guide, a jaded ex-racer who wants back into the sport and who didn't really like Dale all that much.

I love how she takes all those assorted, clashing, jumbled up perspectives, this unlikely band of pilgrims, and weaves a yarn that eventually has them all pulling together in a crisis.

I love that it's written so that a newbie to NASCAR can understand it, but I also love the little "insider" references. (I caught more of them this time through).

OK, so the end is a little hokey -- maybe cornier than Kansas in July -- but that's OK with me.

Book #25
Title: Winfield Scott Hancock: A Soldier's Life
Author: David M. Jordan
Genre: non-fiction (biography)
Length: 318 pages plus notes & index
Source: Purchased new several years ago
Dates: started 6/13/10; finished 7/8/10
Challenges: 75 Challenge; Books off the Shelf Challenge; 1010 Challenge, "Blue vs. Gray" category book #4

This book started out with tremendous promise: thorough, yet readable and even, at times, entertaining.

This is a detailed biography of the great Civil War General and 1880 Democratic candidate for President. I wanted a battlefield atlas in my other hand while reading some of the battle descriptions (though three simple maps were included in the book itself.) At some points, the narrative seemed almost too detailed -- especially in the accounts of the various political mechanizations going on during the years Hancock was in play for the nomination as candidate for President. At that point, my reading of the book slowed down a bit.

The book returned to its original more engaging quality in the closing chapters, especially the final chapter, "Pure Gold," which functioned as an epilogue.

The author did a good job conveying the qualities of Hancock as a soldier and a human being, and demonstrating how so many of those who knew or served with him greatly admired him. I do feel that the biographer was, perhaps, a bit too partisan in his admiration of his subject, though certainly there was much to admire about Gen. Hancock.

The books contains fairly extensive notes and an index.

Recommended to those with an interest in Gen. Hancock, and especially to those with an interest in details of both the Civil War and post-Civil-War 19th-century politics.

Book #26:
Title: Once Around the Track
Author: Sharyn McCrumb
Genre: fiction (difficult to classify genre)
Length: 306 pages plus author's note
Source: Purchased used several years ago from The Book Barn
Dates: started 6/10; finished 7/13/10
Challenges: 75 Challenge; Books off the Shelf Challenge; 1010 Challenge, "Start Your Engines" category book #4

Sharyn McCrumb is a favorite author of mine, and I love NASCAR, but it took a while for me to be drawn into this NASCAR-themed novel. The premise seemed a little contrived: a group of women investors decide to field an all-female race team. Well, not quite all. The highly-visible pit crew, crew chief, and lead engineer of the team will be women. But there aren't quite enough qualified women to fill all the behind-the-scenes slots. And they need an experienced driver that the small team can afford -- a fellow named Badger Jenkins.

Off the track, Badger is an affable good ol' boy with a fondness for animals and country life. (When we meet him, he's been in the midst of an animal-rescue effort saving an endangered turtle he found while out fishing.) And he's very nice looking. But put him in a firesuit, and he's something like Superman to his fans. Women swoon and/or try to proposition him. (There's something about a man in a firesuit . . .)

The novel follows the (often mis-)adventures of the team through much of a NASCAR season. Suffice it to say, it's not smooth sailing for the new team. As if mechanical issues and pit crew training difficulties weren't enough, throw in The Personal Manager from Hades handling Badger's business affairs, and the ribbing they take about their sponsor ("Vagenya," a Viagara-type drug for women) and life in the fast lane is far from smooth sailing.

This is NOT McCrumb's best novel, but it's an educational one for anyone curious about NASCAR and its public appeal. It's a sweet little story, but it also explores the themes of NASCAR as a sport from a variety of POVs. I touches on the intricacies of the only major sport in America to be privately owned. It studies the way people (from sponsors to crew members to various types of fans) relate to race car drivers; it explores issues of teamwork (the driver may be the "star" of the team, but it takes a lot more people to put together a racing effort); it even delves into the mechanics of the race car a bit.

Some of the NASCAR details are outdated as the sport operates now -- there have been rule changes and even title sponsorship changes (series naming) in the few years since the book was written. However, the details were reasonably accurate when McCrumb wrote the book. Her author's note indicates plenty of knowledgeable advisors who kept her "on track" in her writing.

I suppose you have to be a NASCAR fan to fully appreciate this book; but I wish a few non-NASCAR fans would read this, just to have their eyes opened as to the compexities of ths sport. It's not just one guy in a car turning left, as so many uninformed people claim. But sometimes it feels like McCrumb tried too hard to educate & enlighten -- some of the details seem a bit forced into the mix. Still, I wound up enjoying the ride.

somehow I wound up double-posting.

Book #27:
Title: The Monsters: Mary Shelley and the Curse of Frankenstein
Author: Dorothy and Thomas Hoobler
Genre: non-fiction; biography / literary analysis
Length: 323 pages plus notes, index
Source: Purchased last fall at Ollie's
Dates: started 7/15/10; finished 7/19/10
Challenges: 75 Challenge; 1010 Challenge, book #5 in"Interesting People" category; Books off the Shelf Challenge

This is the story of the famous "ghost story contest" initiated by Lord Byron in the summer of 1816, which resulted in the writing of Frankenstein by Mary Shelley. More broadly, it's the story of the people who were gathered together that fateful summer; Byron, Percy Bysshe Shelley, Mary Godwin (Shelley's lover, who would later become Mary Shelley); Mary's step-sister Claire Claremont, who was Byron's lover and had probably also been Percy Shelley's lover; Dr. John Polidori, who would write his own novel as a result of his involvement in the group --The Vampire, which introduced elements that influenced Stoker's Dracula). It also attempts to analyze how the life experiences of the group influenced their writings.

I'm not sure how to rate or review this. My knowledge of the subjects of this book is limited; however, I know just from what I've read on threads here (regarding a Percy Shelley biography) that some of the conclusions the Hooblers have drawn about Mary Shelley's life contradict what others have published. The Hooblers acknowledge that the surviving record allows for various interpretations -- many letters and pages from the journals of Mary Shelley and others have not survived.

I'm not sure how expert their interpretations are of the literature, especially the poetry -- I am not an expert on poetry.

However, it was a pretty good read. These are fascinating people living in a fascinating time, and I thought that the book gave a resonable overview of their lives and influences upon one another.

Ah, I've already surpassed my off-the shelf goal total for the year; and I've managed to meet or surpass my monthly goal each month.

Alas, my book-buying has probably surpassed my off-the-shelf reading -- and I'm headed to my all-time favorite used bookstore next month . . .

It is a losing battle.

"...Alas, my book-buying has probably surpassed my off-the-shelf reading ..."

So,what you are saying is that you are getting ready for next years challage. I think that that shows good insight and planning :)

In fact, why wait 'til next year? Set a goal for the rest of this year and stick with us. We need all the supporters we can get!

So if you've surpassed your goal (and Congratulations!), then everything you read off the shelf the rest of the year is gravy! Don't quit now!

#95 Yes, that's it. Getting ready for next year's challenge. Of course.

#96, 97 Oh, I'm not quitting! Promise! I still want to meet the monthly goal of at least 2 per month for the rest of the year!!!

Book #28:
Title: Cape May Court House
Author: Lawrence Schiller
Genre: non-fiction; real-life legal thriller
Length: 368 pages
Source: Purchased used, summer 2009
Dates: started 7/28/10; finished 7/29/10
Challenges: 75 Challenge; 1010 Challenge, book #4 in"20th Century USA" category; Books off the Shelf Challenge

I bought a used copy of this book on impulse at a library sale last year -- mainly because of the title locale, with which I am somewhat familiar. I found the book very hard to put down once I began reading it. This is the story of an accident (or was it?) that left a woman dead. Citing the Medical Examiner's report, the woman's husband (a respected dentist) sued the Ford Motor Co., claiming that a defective air bag killed his wife. Ford counterd -- with the theory that she was strangled, and the accident was used as a cover up and attempt at profiting by her death.

I can't say that I was especially impressed with how the story was told; but the events themselves kept me reading. I'm sure it took a lot of persistent research to track down all the information which is recounted here. I kind of agreed with the summary a previous owner of the volume scribbled on the inisde back cover: "VG" (presumably, Very Good), "but too long!" I felt there was more detail than necessary for a general reader like myself. However, I imagine readers in the legal profession would be fascinated by all the details recounted. It's amazing to see how much maneuvering can be done when a bunch of lawyers go to work on a high-stakes lawsuit; and how much money goes into fighting on each side.

The story's ending might be a let-down to some readers, simply because in non-fiction you can't tidy up all the loose ends; it is what it is. Sometimes there are no easy answers. But after reading this, I do know that I definitely wouldn't want to go up against a big company in court! ( )

The following pair of books by the same author are so short and "lightweight" that I'm counting them as one item:

Book #29a: Cape May Ghost Stories: Book Two
Book #29b: Atlantic County Ghost Stories

Author: Charles J. Adams, III
Genre: non-fiction; regional folklore/"true" ghost stories
Length: 109 pages, 116 pages
Source: Purchased new at the "Old Salt" shop on the Ocean City, NJ boardwalk in Summer, 2009
Dates: started 7/29/10; finished 7/30/10
Challenges: 75 Challenge; 1010 Challenge, book #4 in"Scary but True?" category; Books off the Shelf Challenge

These books aren't particularly well-written, and would benefit from some copy editing, as there are a number of grammatical & word usage errors. The format of the first seemed a bit cheesy, though the second looked a little more stylish. Both include photos of many locations, which I enjoyed. Most of the stories aren't particularly scary, though a few were a bit creepy. They are quick, fun reads filled with some regional color and history and a few chills. Having spent time at the Jersey Shore in my youth adds to my enjoyment of these little books.

This books aren't really going "off" my shelves, as I maintain a collection of regional ghost stories and spooky folklore.

Book #30:
Title: To Kill a Mockingbird
Author: Harper Lee
Length: 283 pages
Source: paperback book exchange, ages ago
Dates: finished 8/6/10
Challenges: 75 Challenge, books off the shelf challenge

Congratulations on reaching your goal!! Regardless of how many new books you've added to your shelves, that you read this many that you owned before the beginning of the year is very inspiring!! Way to go!

Thanks! I intend to keep going with at least 2 books per month off the shelf for the rest of the year. I hope we can do this challenge again next year . . . I've bought lots of books this year that will qualify for next year's challenge!

You and me, both!

If by some miracle I find I don't have enough books for next year's challenge, I'm sure I'll be able to solve that problem with a quick trip to the local book stores and a visit to abe.com!

Book #31:
Title: Disaster on the Mississippi: The Sultana Explosion, April 27, 1865
Author: Gene Eric Salecker
Genre: non-fiction
Length: 215 pages plus extensive appendix & notes
Source: purchased Frogtown Books, Toledo OH, August 2009
Dates: finished 8/10/10
Challenges: 75 Challenge; 1010 Challenge, either Civil War or Disaster category, Books off the Shelf Challenge.

The explosion of the steamship Sultana (crowded with newly-released Civil War POW's) in April 1865 killed more people than the sinking of the Titanic -- yet few people are familar with this. Why? Salecker deals with this question, and many others, as he presents a detailed account of the chaotic events leading up to, during, and after the terrible tragedy.

I admire Salecker the tremendous amount of research he must have done to compile this -- especially Appendix B, which lists (as best possible) those aboard the Sultana. There is no single reliable source for names of those on the ill-fated steamer.

Salecker is not a "great writer," but competently chronicles the complex chain of events regarding the Sultana tragedy. I found this account, filled with direct quotes from survivors, strangely compelling.

>103 tymfos: I hope we can do this challenge again next year . . .

No reason why we shouldn't!

I still have lots of unread books!

The good thing is that we know we'll be doing it next year, so we'll make sure to buy all the books we can before it starts! Then next year, maybe it will look like we made some progress.

Or Not.

we know we'll be doing it next year, so we'll make sure to buy all the books we can before it starts!

Yes, that's it! That's why I bought all those books when we were on vacation. Yessir! I knew there had to be a good reason . . .

Book #32:
Title: Murder in the Adirondacks
Author: Craig Brandon
Genre: non-fiction (scholarly true crime)
Length: 364 pages plus notes
Source: purchased years ago while in the Adirondacks
Dates: finished 8/19/10
Challenges: 75 Challenge; 1010 Challenge, 20th Century category; Books Off the Shelf challenge
Notes: The subject of this book is the crime upon which Theodore Dreiser's An American Tragedy was (rather loosely) based.

I have had this book for years, and started reading it several times. With the latest trip to Big Moose in the Adirondacks, I decided it was time to finally read it and finish it.

It is about a true crime, but it is not of the "true crime" genre as commonly understood. Part I of the book is a very scholarly -- almost too scholarly -- presentation of the facts of the murder of factory worker Grace Brown at Big Moose Lake in the Adirondacks by her lover Chester Gillette. Part 2 looks at the myths which have emerged about the crime over the years.

The reason for Brandon's meticuous attention to detail about the crime in Part 1 of the book is obvious from his comments in Part 2; between the sensational (and often false) newspaper coverage in the newspapers of the time, and the famous novelization by Dreiser, which altered many details of the events -- and the subsequent movies based on Dreiser's book -- the true story of what happened that tragic July day in 1906 has been largely lost. Brandon seeks to set the record straight and dispel the myths that have been perpetuated over the years. With his careful scholarship and reporting, I believe he accomplishes this goal quite well. But it is not always gripping reading -- which is OK. I learned a lot. I did find myself skimming sometimes.

Book #33:
Title: Plan B: Further Thoughts on Faith
Author: Anne Lamott
Genre: essays
Length: 320 pages
Source: purchased used from Frogtown Books in Toledo, OH in 2009
Dates: finished 8/19/10
Challenges: 75 Challenge, Books off the Shelf Challenge, 1010 Challenge, "Matter of Faith" category.

Anne can be a little heavy-handed with the political commentary sometimes. I'm a little to the left of center, but she can be too stridently left for me. The saving grace is that she knows it, and she tries to temper her political passion with awareness of the commandment to love your neighbor . . . even your enemies . . .

And then there are those frequent moments when Lamott offers up literary and philosophical gems, mined from the stuff of everyday life.

I generally enjoy reading Lamott, even though she occasionally drives me crazy with her poltical rants. I want to tell her what she often seems to try to tell herself; "Lighten up a bit!" But that's Anne.

Book #34
Title: Black for Remembrance
Author: Carlene Thompson
Genre: thriller/mystery/suspense
Length: 322 pages
Source: purchased used last year (at a library sale while on vacation, maybe?)
Dates: started 8/25/10; finished 8/26/10
Challenges: 75 Challenge, Books off the Shelf Challenge

This was a pretty good page turner. I kept going back to it when I got a few minutes to read. I would have stayed up late tonight to finish it if it had been necessary. The plot was pretty creepy, with lots of twists and turns.

A child disappears. Body is found, burned and beheaded. Twenty years later . . . her doll appears, her voice is heard, people start dying around town, accompanied by black silk flowers with notes in childish scrawl . . . what is going on?

The ending left me rather unsettled -- as was its intent, I believe. But it was quite creative . . . I did not figure this one out.

Book #35:
Title: The Problem of Pain
Author: C.S. Lewis
Length: 157 pages plus index
Dates: finished 9/22/10
Source: family library
Challenges: 75 challenge; 1010 challenge, "matter of faith" category; off the shelf challenge.

I decided to read this (it may be a re-read from many years ago) because a number of people in my life are dealing with issues of pain. Lewis deals with all manner of suffering -- physical, emotional, mental -- in this work.

I did not find this book terribly helpful. Perhaps it is simply that, as he stated in his preface, he was not claiming to say anything original except in the last two chapters, but simply to articulate traditional teachings of the faith, and I've read enough theology for his points to be familiar. Of those last two chapters, where he admittedly indulged in some speculation, the one on animal pain was not at all akin to my views -- I feel he does not fully appreciate the intelligence and nobility of some of God's created creatures. The one about heaven was interesting.

Book #36
Title: The Woman in Black
Author: Susan Hill
Dates: Finished 9/25/10
Genre: Ghost story / gothic
Length: 160 pages
Source: purchased last year via Amazon
Challenges: 75 Challenge, Books off the Shelf (BOTS)

A story within a story: a Christmas Eve ghost storytelling session leaves a man (the narrrator) remembering and tormented by his own true ghost story; he vows to write it in order to clear the distress from his mind. Scary tale follows.

This was a pretty good, creepy ghost story. Hill is great at setting the scene, creating atmosphere.

I've got three different books going now from off the shelf.

I'm well on my way through Best Ghost Stories of J.S. LeFanu, my current fiction read.

For devotional reading, I'm working on The Cross in Our Context: Jesus and the Suffering World by Douglas John Hall -- reading a little at a time in order to fully reflect upon the message.

One will take a long time to finish: the 800+ page first volume of Shelby Foote's Civil War trilogy, From Fort Sumter to Perryville.

Book #37:
Title: Best Ghost Stories of J.S. LeFanu
Author: J. S. LeFanu
Genre: short stories & novellas; ghost stories, horror
Length: 467 pages
Dates: finished 10/21/10
Source: purchased for $1 from Frogtown Books in Toledo, OH in August, 2009.
Challenges: 75 challenge, Books off the Shelf Challenge
Notes:

This is a creepy, interesting collection of Victorian ghost stories. Actually, some of them I would call horror more than ghost stories. LeFanu did some interesting things with elements now quite familiar to readers of horror. I gather that in his time, he was rather revolutionary in his approach. He created quite a chilling atmosphere in his stories.

It appears that he liked to connect his stories, and even re-use elements. Several are set in the same village; several are case histories from a particular doctor who delves into the supernatural; and the better part of one chapter of the novella The Haunted Baronet uses a significant portion of an earlier short story, with little change in plot -- though the names are changed (to protect the innocent?). Two of the stories seem to show the same haunting from two different points of view (one, a horror story mostly about how the haunting got started; another, the experiences of later residents of the haunted house.)

It didn't keep me on the edge of my sleep, or cause me to lose sleep (more than I normally miss, anyway), but it was a nice, creepy read for Halloween season.

Way to go for having 10 books past your target!

#117 Thanks! But when you consider that I bought 60 books in used bookstores while traveling during vacation this summer, I'm still losing ground. The TBR pile keeps growing!

Well comrade, you sure aren't alone.

#116> Your description of the LeFanu ghost stories reminded me of a collection I read recently, Ghost Stories of an Antiquary by Montague Rhodes James. Also very creepy Victorian era stories. Are you familiar with M. R. James?

#119 Just saving up for the World Wide Book Famine to come . . . ;)

#120 Hi, rocketjk! Thanks for stopping by! Yes, I've read and enjoyed several of M.R. James' ghost stories in anthologies, though I haven't read a full collection of them. He lived and wrote a bit later than LeFanu (his dates are 1862-1936, contrasted with 1814-1873 for LeFanu). According to the editor's introduction to the LeFanu collection I read, M.R. James was a great admirer of LeFanu's work.

LeFanu is awesome. I don't know why it took me so long to find him. I was at a horror convention recently and they still talk about him, and his cup of green tea.

Which brings me to the hard part of this challenge. Once I read the books, half of them are going to go back on my shelves for another day. Sigh... We'll never win.

#122 I know what you mean. Most of the books are only "off" the shelf while I'm reading them; they go back on. But at least they are not staring at me, reproachfully, as if to ask why they are just sitting there having never been read!

Book #38:
Title: The Cross in Our Context: Jesus and the Suffering World
Author: Douglas John Hall
Genre: non-fiction -- theology
Length: 230 pages plus extensive notes
Dates: finished 10/29/10
Source: Who knows? It's been on the shelf a while
Challenges: 75 challenge, Books off the Shelf Challenge

RELIGION KILLS!
The first words in the introduction of this theology book certainly get the reader's attention! Hall cites the above words as having been written on the outer wall of the Presbyterian College of Montreal in the days following Sept. 11, 2001.

This is not a long book, but it took me over a month to read as I processed what Hall said. I'm still processing. Some parts of it really resonated with me. He articulated very clearly why I am so uncomfortable with much in our culture that calls itself Christian -- not just the surface issues, but the theological underpinnings. Hall undertakes here an examination of the "theology of the cross," as opposed to a "theology of glory." These are categories first articulated by the German reformer Martin Luther. Hall isn't Lutheran by denomination, but he clearly finds Luther's thought here quite valid.

The theology of glory is triumphalistic. It is a theology of power and might. It is self-righteous and rooted in dogma. The theology of the cross focuses on a down-to-earth God; a suffering God. It is a theology of power that is made perfect in weakness. It recognizes the limitations of humanity to ever fully know the mind of God, and is rooted in love and grace. As such, it stands in contradiction to a theology of glory.

Hall notes the well-documented and subtle errors of Chrstendom which have resulted, he insists, from humanity's distortion of Christianity into a theology of glory, rather than following the true path of a theology of the Cross. This has resulted, in part, from the establishment of Christianity (officially in some countries, unofficially in others) and led to Christian triumphalism and the distortion of Christian beliefs to suit worldly power structures and the status quo. (It has also resulted, in part, from the human tendency to seek glory and certainty and to avoid pain and ambiguities.)

Hall insists that the theology of the cross is a theology where context must be taken seriously. Thus it is a "messy" faith, not a faith of simple answers. Hall studies the societal conditions which have caused many to latch onto simplistic religion. But he insists that the only theology which can carry us into the future, in a world where Christianity has been disestablished, is a theology of the cross which takes context seriously, rather than simply parroting formulas which worked centuries ago in a totally different world.

Of course, it's more complicated than this. I can't do justice to this work in a few short paragraphs. And while I agree with his diagnosis of the problems of the Church now and in the past, I'm not sure I've processed and swallowed completely his prescription for moving forward. Conservatives Christians will likely have a hard time with this book, and especially with his suggestions for the Christian community moving forward. But, read with an open mind, I think this is, at the very least, a thought-provoking critique of the pitfalls of the Church and the tendency for humans to remake God in our own image -- or, at least, the image that suits our power structures.

Thank you! I had not heard of this book, but it sounds like one I really want to read. I see it is available as a Nook book, so I believe I will be downloading it soon. Have you read Hole in Our Gospel? I have not, but from what others have said about it, it seems these books may have some mutual themes.

Laura, I haven't read Hole in Our Gospel. I will look into it.

I spent way too much of my day off finishing this book. It was very difficult to put down!

Book #39:
Title: Ghosts of Mississippi
Author: Maryanne Vollers
Genre: non-fiction
Length: 386 pages plus notes & index
Dates: finished 11/9/10
Source: On bookshelf for over a year
Challenges: 75 challenge; 1010 challenge, "20th Century USA" category; off the shelf challenge
Notes: National Book Award finalist

This is the story of Mississippi civil rights activist Medgar Evers, his murder, and the long fight to bring his murderer to justice. It's also a tale about the abysmal, institutionalized racism which existed in 1950's-1960's Mississippi and the kind of courage it took for anyone to in any way advocate for change. (During those years, there was no Klu Klux Klan in that state, of any amount, prior to the passage of the national Civil Rights Act because the state and local governments had more or less taken on the functions of the KKK for so many years.)

Author Maryanne Vollers weaves a compelling, suspenseful narrative of the events in Jackson, Mississipi in those difficult years leading up to and following Evers' assasination. She also introduces us to some amazing people. Despite the fact that I knew from history, more or less, the outcomes of the three trials, I had not known the details "how" the investigation and prosecution proceded. I was a bit startled how emotional I was as the verdicts were recounted -- especially the final one.

Thanks for the review. I'm putting Ghosts of Mississippi on my wish list.

It sounds fascinating, Terri, but sometimes those kinds of books just make me want to scream at the injustice of it all. I may have to think about that one for a while. Unless, of course, I happen to find it on a shelf...

Peculiar, but I just tried to post, and when I hit "submit" I got booted out of my account and the message disappeared. Let's try again . . .

OK, worked that time.

#128 I hope you find it as enthralling as I did. Thanks for stopping by!

#129 sometimes those kinds of books just make me want to scream at the injustice of it all.

I'm the same way, Terri. I had We Are Not Afraid out from the county library, and had to put it down because I got so agitated. I'm not sure why I got through this book so quickly. I mean, I got riled by the injustices, but I could read through it. Partly the writing, partly my mood? Dunno. I was so impressed by the courage of those who stood up for change!

I can get through books like this. After all, I finished the biography on Che Guevara. I take a few months to recover though and don't want to read at all in the meantime. & this one will be closer to home than Che. :( We need to witness the past so it doesn't happen again.

#132 Oh, dear, I don't think I could bear to take months to recover from a book, especially if I didn't want to read at all in the meantime.

I'm actually jumping back in a looking at racial issues again, from a slightly different point of view. One of my current reads is Hard Driving: The Wendell Scott story, which is about the first African-American NASCAR driver and written by a Pulitzer-Prize-winning journalist.

That one, however, won't count toward this Off The Shelf challenge, as it is an inter-library loan. My current off-the-shelf reads are the first volume of the Shelby Foote Civil War trilogy, and William James on Psychical Research.

I'll be interested to see what you think about William James. I'm always interested in Spiritualism, and seeing what people think makes the supernatural tick.

I needed to finish this in November to make my monthly quota. It was somewhat after midnight that I got to the end, but since it was still November in all the time zones west of here, I'm counting it as a November read.

Book #40:
Title: William James on Psychical Research
Author: William James; compiled & edited by Gardner Murphy and Robert O. Ballou
Dates: started 11/9/10; finished 11/30/10
Genre: non-fiction edited compilation of writings
Length: 332 pages
Source: purchased last year via Amazon.com
Challenges: Off the Shelf, 1010 (Strange but true? category); 75 challenge

Oh, what to say about this one? A while back, I had read Ghost Hunters: William James and the Search for Scientific Proof of Life after Death by Deborah Blum. It was so fascinating that it made me want to look at some "primary source" material about the principals in the origins of the Society for Psychical Research (SPR).

This book wasn't nearly so readable. It was a fascinating glimpse into the mind of a very interesting man. But it was, at times, extremely hard for me to process what he was saying. James was many things: a trained physician, a psychology professor, a philosopher, as well as a psychical researcher in his later years. He was an academic, and much of what is written here is written for fellow academics of his time period. I found the personal letters included in the volume much easier to read, for the most part.

I've heard people say casually of James, "Oh, he became a spiritualist later in life." Not quite so; he always considered himself, first and foremost, a scientist. James considered as scandalous the general scorn held by science for what we now call the "paranormal." Since these phenomena were so widely reported throughout history, he felt them worthy of study. The refusal by scientists to even look at them appeared, to him, a dogma as rigid as that of any religious cleric. The role of science, he insisted, was to investigate objectively the nature of the world -- even those parts that didn't fit current scientific theories. This (and his own search for meaning in life) was the impetus behind his psychical research. And while he clearly decided that something was going on beyond what established science at that time would accept, it's not accurate to call him a spiritualist in the classic sense. His writings indicate that he had not accepted, at least as proven fact, the existence of life after death -- though he clearly leaned toward wanting to believe in it, and refused to accept scientific claims that it was "impossible."

The most tedious section of this book, for me, was the section about the investigations into "Mrs. Piper," a medium who was extensively investigated by the Society for Psychical Research. Yet this section gives us a clear view of his investigative method. He pulls out those exchanges where the medium, in her trance, appears to be in some ways "on target" with her communications from the "beyond." He indicates what is accurate, what is not, what may have been known to the medium through "normal" channels. The thoroughness of how he dissects the communication is part of what makes it tedious, yet it demonstrates how critical he could be in analyzing his subject. Indeed, he alienated some of his spiritualist acquaintances and colleagues with his seemingly skeptical analysis.

The book also explores the development of James' religious thought, which is related to his search for the truth regarding life after death. His was a rather unconventional belief system, but he clearly wanted -- needed -- to believe that there was some higher power in the universe.

His views about the relationship of human consciousness and "psychical" phenomena are quite interesting, and seem to grow out of his intense, pioneering work in the field of psychology combined with his philosophical/religious speculations. He credits his friend and SPR colleague Frederick Myers for much of the groundwork.

I wouldn't recommend this for the casual reader who is interested in the paranormal. For someone who is seriously interested in the roots of paranormal research, this is probably a must-read. Thus I found it difficult to rate. I gave it 3 1/2 stars, which is a "guardedly recommended" kind of rating. Its historical value in its field calls for a higher rating, but it was a bit of a slog to get through.

An omen that I need to take this challenge more seriously.

One of the shelves in my main fiction bookcase collapsed under the weight of its load.

(I managed to make repairs.)

Aroo!!! Hopefully no living creatures (cat, dog, baby) were caught in the bookslide!

Mine were bending ominously, so a few weeks ago, I took the books off and flipped them upside down. Maybe they'll straighten out. I hope none break!

I think it's some kind of epidemic. I had one fail on me while I was shuffling books around on it this morning, and while I was desperately trying to hold it up and get the books safely off it, the one underneath it went, too.

I think the moral is that I need to stop buying cheap bookshelves. But I need so many of them...

It's definitely the shelves' fault. Not the weight of the words.

I've got a failing shelf too - one of the particle board type, and the shelf has come apart at one end and is resting on the books below. Repairs forthcoming.

#137 No injuries to report, either to people, creatures, nor books!

#138 I have a few shelves I need to try doing that to.

#139 An epidemic among folks like us who have too many books!

#140 Definitely!

#141 Good luck with those repairs!

I just finished an Inter-library loan book, which doesn't count toward this challenge. I have two books that I'm reading now that do count; the first volume of Shelby Foote's Civil War trilogy; and Jane Eyre, which I'm re-reading as part of a group read on the 75 challenge group.

I had planned to get some reading done, as it's my day off from work, but my son is home from school today, so I think I shall read less than planned.

Book #41:
Title: Jane Eyre
Author: Charlotte Bronte
Dates: finished 12/15/10
Length: 391 Pages
Source: this book belonged to my Mom; she handed it off to me when I was in High School
Challenges: Off the Shelf; 75 challenge
Notes: for group read

This was a favorite book in my younger years, and I enjoyed the re-read. I found that portions of the book that were less appealing to me when I was young (the portion at Marsh's End, mainly) were much more interesting to me now.

Book #42:
Title: A Night to Remember
Author: Walter Lord
Genre: non-fiction
Original Copyright: 1955
Pages: 179 pages + preface, acknowledgments & passenger list
Dates: finished 12/20/10 (early a.m.)
Challenges: 75 Challenge; 1010 category challenge (final book in "destroyed in seconds" category); off the shelf challenge

This is probably still the definitive book about the Titanic sinking; it's almost certainly the best known -- and for good reason. It is extremely readable and offers enough information about the tragedy without innundating the reader with detail. I do wish there were footnotes/endnotes; my copy, at least, does not have any, though the acknowledgments give credit to many sources.

Book #43
Title: Death Be Not Proud
Author: John Gunther
Genre: memoir
Original Copyright: 1949
Length: 161 pages
Source: My bookshelf
Challenges: 75 challenge; 1010 challenge, memoir category; off the shelf challenge
Note: This is a reread, though it has been many, many years since I read it (high school? college?)

John Gunther obviously poured his heart and soul into this heartbreaking yet inspiring account of his teenage son's fatal battle with a brain tumor -- but in a restrained, thoughtful way. He is a true wordsmith and his literary skill in combination with his emotional investment make for a truly moving, memorable read.

Well, I did it! At least two pre-2010-acquired books read "off the shelf" for each month of the challenge! I'm quite pleased.

Bravo! Well done!

Thanks, Lynn!

Way to go!!! Your last two books sound interesting. I'm tempted to put them on my growing, ever-growing wishlist. Not on Mount TBR though!!! Must avoid an avalanche!

Go for it, cammy. Those two are totally worth the shelf space.

MerryMary's right, cammy! And they don't take up much space, either -- my copies were both under 200 pages, and rather small pages at that.

They're on the wishlist now!

Way to go, Terri!

You're my hero!

#153 Good, Katie!

#154, 155 Thanks, Terri & Laura!

One more off the shelf (a big one!)

Book # 44:
Title: The Civil War: Fort Sumter to Perryville
Author: Shelby Foote
Genre: Non-fiction
Pages: 810 plus sources & index
Dates: finished 12/27/10
Source: Hard copy was on the shelf for several years (gift from hubby, I think); audio was download from Overdrive Media via district library
Challenges: 1010 Challenge ("blue vs. gray" category), Books Off the Shelf Challenge, and 75 Challenge
Notes: First volume of Foote's Civil War trilogy. I read some of it, listened to some on audio

No time to comment now. Enough has been written about Foote's Civil War narrative trilogy that I probably can't add anything that hasn't been said before.

\Book #45
Title: The Worst Hard Time
Author: Timothy Egan
Genre: Non-fiction
Pages: 312 plus sources, index, etc.
Dates: finished 12/30/10
Source: Purchased at Waldenbooks in 2009
Challenges: 1010 Challenge ("20th century USA" category), Books off the Shelf, and 75 Challenge

Wow! Certainly, I'd heard about the Dust Bowl -- even read The Grapes of Wrath -- but Timothy Egan's non-fiction account of the epic disaster really made the events come alive. Highly recommended!

I so agree. My parents were children then, and I grew up on the stories. But this story is more vivid and more dire.

157> Wow. It's going on my TBR list.

#158 Definitely a memorable read!

#159 Good! It is definitely worth reading!

I want to wish everyone here a Happy New Year. I'll be starting a thread for 2011 soon -- hopefully tomorrow!

Please join me on my 2011 off-the-shelf challenge thread:

http://www.librarything.com/topic/106328