karenmarie's 2010 Books on the Shelf Challenge

I have over 900 books on my shelves that I could pick up and start right now that fit into this category. We'll see how many of them I actually read by the end of 2010. Unfortunately there are always new books to acquire!

Here's my 75 book challenge thread: karenmarie's 75 book challenge

And, the second thread! karenmarie's 75 book challenge - chapter 2

1. The Devil's Oasis by Bartle Bull 12/11/09 12/20/09 ***1/2 The Third of the African Trilogy, it follows Anton and Gwenn Rider, their son Wellington, Ernst von Decken, and one of the most interesting characters I've ever had the pleasure of meeting, the dwarf Olivio Fonseca Alavedo, as they deal with their own personal demons and the German battle for North Africa in the early days of WWII.

I found this book a little less stunning than the first two, but still miles ahead of most historical fiction - beautifully written characters, accurate and interesting descriptions of life in Africa and Egypt in the 1940s, and horrific and historically accurate descriptions of battles in North Africa. I cared for the characters; cheered their victories and was saddened by the bad things that happened to them. A wonderful book. 336 pages.

2. Sunstroke by Jesse Kellerman 12/10/09 12/22/09 **1/2 An adequate mystery that has quite a bit of good reaction to the death of someone - the grief is very well portrayed. All in all, though a very strange book. 322 pages.

3. The Dark Lantern by Gerri Brightwell 12/22/09 12/25/09 *** An interesting "mystery" set in Victorian times in London. Mr. and Mrs. Robert Bentley have returned to London to be with his mother as she is dying. A new servant enters the household with a forged reference, and the elder brother's widow shows up. All three women, Mrs. Bentley, Jane the housemaid, and Mrs. Henry Bentley have secrets. This book evoked the times quite well, alternating among the three stories, upstairs and downstairs, as it were. The ending was somewhat unsatisfactory, but that is how life is. 319 pages.

4. The Hundredth Man by Richard Kerley 1/2/10 1/3/10 *** 1/2 A very good psychological mystery with well written characters and an interesting ending. I like the hero Carson Ryder and his partner Harry Nautilus of the Mobile PD and look forward to other books in the series. 416 pages.

5. The City and The City by China Mieville 1/3/10 1/10/10 *** A strange book that was very hard for me to get into. I read it, and liked it, but the basic premise of the book - that two cities would occupy the same turf, house by house, block by block, and be declared one or the other or crosshatched - shared by both - I found very hard to digest. Mieville does a good job of keeping the characters consistent in their cities, and the Breach looms over it all - a supercop organization to keep people in their own cities. There is a mystery and it gets solved, yet I found the characters curiously two dimensional. The vividness of the book came in trying to imagine "unseeing" and "unhearing" something right in front of you that was of the other city. I really liked the ending and should have seen it coming about 80 pages before the end. 336 pages.

6. Cranford by Elizabeth Gaskell 01/10/10 1/30/10 ***1/2 review here: Cranford 300 pages.

7. The Death Collectors by Jack Kerley 01/16/10 1/22/10 ***1/2 Macabre theme, people who collect objects used by serial killers. A very well done book. Continues the story of Carson Ryder and partner Harry Natilus. We learn more about Carson and his relationship with his mass-murderer brother. 382 pages.

8. The Little Friend by Donna Tartt 02/01/10 *** Here's my review: The Little Friend 555 pages.

9. The Conjurer's Bird by Martin Davies 02/13/10 02/18/10 **** Excellent book. Good characters, interesting plot twists, lots of good information on The Mysterious Bird of Ulieta, lovely ending. This book was for my March bookclub meeting and I'm glad Jacque recommended it. I might never have heard of it otherwise.

10. The Anubis Gates by Tim Powers 02/21/10 02/25/10 **** This one was a super rollercoaster ride. Time travel, powerful magic, amazing monsters, an ending that is the only one possible but hard to believe until you get there. 464 pages.

11. Legacy of the Dead by Charles Todd 03/13/10 03/15/10 **** Ah, they just keep getting better and better. This 4th mystery of the Ian Rutledge series has Rutledge searching for a missing woman and trying to save another woman from sacrificing herself to save a friend and a child. The remembrances of the Great War are heart-wrenching. The life evoked in England and Scotland of 1919 is detailed and marvelous to read about. This is a well-written intelligent mystery with a deeply psychological component.

12. The Great Roxhythe by Georgette Heyer 03/15/10 03/19/10 *** Here's my review: The Great Roxhythe 418 pages.

13. Mister Roberts by Thomas Heggen 03/22/10 03/23/10 ***1/2 Here's my review: Mister Roberts

14. A Fearsome Doubt by Charles Todd 03/26/10 03/27/10 ***1/2 Another excellent Ian Rutledge mystery although the ending seemed a bit contrived.

15. The Devil's Cub by Georgette Heyer 03/27/10 03/28/10 **** This is a re-read, but I'm going to count it. Here's my review: The Devil's Cub

16. Cousin Kate by Georgette Heyer 03/28/10 03/29/10 **1/2 Here's my review: Cousin Kate

17. The Talisman Ring 03/29/10 03/30/10 ****

18. Black Sheep by Georgette Heyer 03/30/10 03/31/10 ***1/2 232 pages.

19. The Nonesuch by Georgette Heyer 04/17/10 04/18/10 **** A re-read of one of my favorites. Ancila Trent has become a governess to avoid being a burden on her family. Sir Waldo Hawkridge has come to the small village she lives in to evaluate an estate left to him. She's accused of setting her cap at him. A wonderful romance. I particularly like a couple of scenes where Ancila's charge, Tiffany Wield, shows her hysterical and spiteful true colors.

20. The Unknown Ajax by Georgette Heyer 04/24/10 04/25/10 **** I think this is in my top 5 Heyers. Laugh-out loud humor, beautiful dialog, wonderful situations. A joy.

21. The Book of Air and Shadows by Michael Gruber 06/02/10 06/13/10 **1/2 A very unengaging book about an unknown Shakespeare play with lots of bad guys, kidnappings, self-evaluation. I kept reading it because I thought it would get better, but it really didn't.

900 books - I am so jealous! Good Luck!

Hi readitandweep: It's a combination of books I've inherited and books that I've bought over the years. And, in the last year, I've gotten over 200 bookmooch books and haven't read more than 40 or so at the most.

It's a nice problem to have, I admit!

Welcome to the group!

Hi Karenmarie, wow, 900 books, I'm jealous. I have slightly over 200 on my TBR shelves, but even though I am hoping to read 4 a month, I will probably still buy more than I read.

I can't imagine ever reading all of them, but I love to have choice and love to just see them sitting on my shelves.

I hope that my daughter wants to keep at least some of them after I'm gone.

Good to see you here, Karenmarie.

I think I learned about Michael Malone and Peter Robinson from reading your threads so I look forward to seeing what else you will be reading! Oh, and then I will try not to look them up on BM, lol!

Thanks, jonesli - my biggest find lately is Bartle Bull. I've read the first two of his African Trilogy, The White Rhino Hotel and A Cafe on the Nile and I just got Devil's Oasis yesterday in the mail.

I'm finishing up my blech November ER book, The Silent Governess and will dive into the final book.

I'm glad you've enjoyed Malone and Robinson - I found Malone on my own but Robinson is definitely an LT recommendation.

I've got all three of the above-mentioned Bartle Bulls on my TBR shelves. I can hardly wait to get to them!

I sure hope you enjoy them, DeltaQueen50! I'm on about page 70 or so of the 3rd book and it is very good.

900 books?! And here I thought I was a big shot with my paltry 500!

Hello Rebecca Ann! 500 is a pretty serious commitment to tbr-dom too.

The newest wonderful-problem-to-have is that I've gotten 3 gift cards for Christmas: $20 each to Borders, Amazon, and a local used paperbacks store Paperbacks Plus. None of what I buy with these will count towards this challenge of course. And I certainly don't have to spend them right away.... heck. I've even still got a $10 gift certificate from 2001 from a local indie - Quailridge Books. It won't ever expire... just have to find it again. It keeps getting lost and I keep having to remember that I have it. It's on this desk somewhere.....

I got a $50 gift card to Barnes and Noble. I've already been telling myself that I am going to spend it on CDs and bookmarks and games and coffee...anything but books! Enjoy your gift cards!

Thanks, lbradf!

That's the beauty of B&N (among others) - you don't have to spend it on books, but personally, I'd find it hard not to.

Enjoy yours too!

Any purchases could be set aside for the 2011 challenge!

You're a strategist, mamzel! I can do that, especially since LT records the date added. I almost always add my books the day I receive them (after my initial cataloging effort), so that's a great idea.

my problem is that I usually spend 3 to 4 times the amount on the gift card!

There is always that, LynnB, but our finances are so awful right now (husband's business is going bankrupt, sigh) that I'll probably only spend enough more to use the card entirely. A fun challenge, though.

Right now the only books I want are The Stand by Stephen King and books by Jack Kerley and Bartle Bull, so I'm not rushing into anything. Anticipation is half the pleasure.

Actually, I didn't go nuts this Christmas. I had $100 in gift cards ($50 each from my brother and sister) and spent $109. My son then wanted to know if his aunt and uncle each owed me $4.50! I like the way he thinks.

I still haven't spent any of my gift cards or certificates and have no major urge to do so yet..... very strange. I feel like I should spend them, but nothing is calling out to be purchased.

#20 No need for you to hurry -- I imagine sooner or later something will call out to be purchased! ;)

Hi tymfos - You're right. What will actually happen is that one of the books on my wishlist will demand to be read and since I haven't had much luck on BookMooch lately, I'll get impatient and buy it.

I've decided to post mini-reviews as new messages in addition to posting them in my first message, so here's book #5

5. The City & The City by China Mieville 1/3/10 1/10/10 *** A strange book that was very hard for me to get into. I read it, and liked it, but the basic premise of the book - that two cities would occupy the same turf, house by house, block by block, and be declared one or the other or crosshatched - shared by both - I found very hard to digest. Mieville does a good job of keeping the characters consistent in their cities, and the Breach looms over it all - a supercop organization to keep people in their own cities. There is a mystery and it gets solved, yet I found the characters curiously two dimensional. The vividness of the book came in trying to imagine "unseeing" and "unhearing" something right in front of you that was of the other city. I really liked the ending and should have seen it coming about 80 pages before the end.

#23 - Thanks for the mini-review! I've heard lots of interesting things about that one ...of course now I'm really really tempted to add it to my TBR mountain... :)

I just finished Cranford by Elizabeth Gaskell recently. Here's my review: Cranford

I really liked it but don't intend to read any more by her soon. This is the only one I actually own, courtesy of my husband's grandmother's collection.

Good review, Karenmarie. I haven't read Cranford yet, but have seen the TV production on PBS. It was very well done. I am now watching the equally well done sequel "Return to Cranford".

Thanks, DeltaQueen50. I haven't seen the PBS production but would enjoy it if I had the opportunity.

This was the book I chose for my RL bookclub - we're meeting February 7th to discuss it. I'll have some information about Elizabeth Gaskell and the book, we'll eat and drink and make merry. Fun bookclub.

Our March read is The Conjurer's Bird by Martin Davies. I'll be getting to it soon, but right now I'm engrossed in The Little Friend by Donna Tartt.

I just finished and wrote a review of The Little Friend by Donna Tartt. Here it is: The Little Friend I gave it 3 stars. I suspect I might up it to 3 1/2 if I really think about it, but the ending was so abrupt!

I'm off to start The Conjurer's Bird by Martin Davies.

I liked The Little Friend and had the same reaction as you did. Donna Tartt's other book The Secret History is, I think, much better. I know we are trying to get books OFF the shelf, so apologies for telling you this. Maybe I'm just trying to tempt people since I joined another book club yesterday, and bought a book for that one AND another book this morning. Backsliders love company, I guess!!

Hi LynnB:

I already have The Secret History on my shelves waiting.... so it can count for this challenge. I don't know why I read Little Friend first, just caught my eye, I guess.

I am a serious backslider, though - I have 16 books in various stages of being mooched by me on BookMooch. They will only count for the 75 book challenge.....

Legacy of the Dead by Charles Todd 03/13/10 03/15/10 **** Ah, they just keep getting better and better. This 4th mystery of the Ian Rutledge series has Rutledge searching for a missing woman and trying to save another woman from sacrificing herself to save a friend and a child. The remembrances of the Great War are heart-wrenching. The life evoked in England and Scotland of 1919 is detailed and marvelous to read about. This is a well-written intelligent mystery with a deeply psychological component.

The Great Roxhythe by Georgette Heyer. 03/15/10 03/19/10 *** Here's my review: The Great Roxhythe

Mister Roberts by Thomas Heggen 03/22/10 03/23/10 ***1/2 Here's my review: Mister Roberts

I never knew that there was a book version of Mister Roberts. I love that movie!

I know I'm going to be looking up that Charles Todd series eventually! It sounds wonderful.

The Book of Air and Shadows by Michael Gruber 06/02/10 06/13/10 **1/2 A very unengaging book about an unknown Shakespeare play with lots of bad guys, kidnappings, self-evaluation. I kept reading it because I thought it would get better, but it really didn't.

Gak! I hate it when a book lets me down.. I think that one is on my shelf too..

That's a good way to put it - when a book lets you down. Yes, this one let me down.

Karen, you're neglecting this poor little thread!

Guilty as charged. It's just that I've been getting new and exciting books - either from a gift card The Passage, sheer greediness of buying a new book from Amazon The Red Door, or for $1.50 at the Thrift Store So Cold the River.

I'll try to make my next book one off the shelf.

Note: Fixed the touchstones problem. I was using brackets within parentheses. It should have worked, don't you think?

>40 karenmarie: Brackets, love, brackets....

But.... I did brackets within parentheses. Obviously I didn't look at the result before moving off my thread.

I actually hate this numbers stuff.

>43 karenmarie: Me too. I just use the old method, and then when I go back to edit something, it stays sticky anyway. Good enough for me.