Sarah's Pile of Books

I hope that joining this group will finally inspire me to read some of the books on my shelves (and piled up on the floor) that have been patiently waiting to be read.

I'm going to go for two a month and see how I do, maybe I'll do better (but probably not!).




1. The Sign of Four by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (4/1/10)
2. Wilful Murder: The Sinking of the Lusitania by Diana Preston (17/1/10)
3. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (28/1/10)
4. The Six Sacred Stones by Matthew Reilly (5/2/10)
5. The Bourne Trilogy by Robert Ludlum (16/3/10)
6. The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (23/3/10)
7. Thunderstruck by Erik Larson (28/3/10)
8. The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon (11/4/10)
9. The Last Oracle by James Rollins (15/4/10)
10. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson (29/4/10)
11. The Hound of the Baskervilles by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (2/5/10)
12. The Girl Who Played with Fire by Stieg Larsson (3/6/10)
13. The Return of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (11/8/10)
14. Cimarron Rose by James Lee Burke (23/8/10)
15. The Valley of Fear by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (24/8/10)
16. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak (3/10/10)
17. The Library of Shadows by Mikkel Birkegaard (12/10/10)
18. Sleepyhead by Mark Billingham (17/10/10)
19. His Last Bow by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (21/10/10)
20. Scaredy Cat by Mark Billingham (28/10/10)
21. Lazybones by Mark Billingham (29/10/10)
22. The Burning Girl by Mark Billingham (1/11/10)
23. Lifeless by Mark Billingham (3/11/10)
24. Buried by Mark Billingham (9/11/10)
25. The Casebook of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (23/11/10)
26. The Charlemagne Pursuit by Steve Berry (7/12/10)
27. Millennium: The End of the World and the Forging of Christendom by Tom Holland (30/12/10)

Welcome Sarah...so, what is your first book? I'm loving this group. The only down side is that I'm finding a LOT of books that I now want to read!!!

Book #1 The Sign of Four by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

I've decided to reread all of the Sherlock Holmes books and short stories as it has been a few years since I read them last.

Thanks for the welcome, and I'm sure I'll find plenty more books to go on my TBR pile from this group.

I've never read Sherlock Holmes but it is something I would like to give a try. What would you recommend for a first time Sherlock Holmes reader?

I've read the "Holmes" canon several times and have enjoyed them all each time.
So welcome Sarah and enjoy.

I'd suggest starting at the very beginning with A Study in Scarlet, it introduces you both to the characters and the style, also it's quite short (less than 150 pages).

I'm planning on reading them in the order they were published, I've read about two thirds of them before but for some of them it will be for the very first time.

What are you reading right now?

Welcome to the group. I read a whole bunch of Sherlock Holmes via the World's Best Reading club from Reader's Digest. I was frankly surprised by how much I enjoyed them.

Book #2 Wilful Murder The Sinking of the Lusitania by Diana Preston.

I've had this sitting on a shelf for about six years and never got round to reading it. I was inspired to buy this after a particularly memorable lesson during A-Level History.

Thanks for the nice welcomes, guys.

6> Thanks for the recommendation...I'll pick it up and give it a try.

I'm currently reading Jonathan Edwards: A Life by George M. Marsden for the book club I belong to. It's a very weighty volume so I'm glad I got a jump start on this challenge. I won't count it as part of this challenge since I received the book after I started this challenge.

>8 sarahbradshaw: I should read that one this year. It's on my list of books to read about WWI. Did you like it?

This is the book I'm currently reading. I'm only about 60 pages into it at the moment, but so far so good. I now know a hell of a lot more about the history of submarines and cruise liners than I did before!

Finished my second book of this challenge, Wilful Murder: The Sinking of the Lusitania.

The book is not only a moving account of the final voyage and eventual sinking of the Cunard passenger liner by a German U-boat off the Old Head of Kinsale in WWI but also an attempt to understand the motives of the attack and the consequent 'blame game' and propaganda campaigns of the British, German and American governments. Well researched, well written and it made me cry.

Gee...thanks for the review. Now I have ANOTHER book to add to my list.

This sounds like a book my husband would love. Thanks.

You're welcome and I'm sorry. It is well worth reading but, like I said, it brought tears to my eyes several times so be prepared!

Have just finished reading Nocturnes by Kazuo Ishiguro for my book club, which unfortunately doesn't count for this challenge as I only bought it earlier this month. But now I can continue in my ongoing mission to reread the Sherlock Holmes canon this year.

Book #3 The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

Finished The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, which I loved. I especially enjoyed 'A Scandal in Bohemia', 'The Speckled Band' & 'The Red-Headed League', but all the stories are an entertaining & amusing read.

Book #4 The Six Sacred Stones by Matthew Reilly.

I usually read Reilly's books right away, they're easy to read and very fast paced, but I knew this one ended on a rather large cliffhanger & didn't want to have wait two years before the next book came out (which arrived today!).

Just finished The Six Sacred Stones and like all of Matthew Reilly's books it's a thrill a minute, edge of your seat, action-packed adventure. Well, half an adventure. The other half is picked up in the next book, The Five Greatest Warriors which I'm going to read now, although it won't count for the challenge.

The last couple of books I've read, The Five Greatest Warriors and The New York Trilogy, haven't counted towards this challenge but I'm getting back on track with my next book.

Book #5 The Bourne Trilogy by Robert Ludlum.

This is a 3-in-1 containing the three original Bourne books but I have decided to count it as only one book off the shelf rather than three. It is about 1400 pages though, so it may take me a while to get through it. Wish me luck.

I LOVED the Bourne movies but have never read the books. I have found that if I loved the moive, I don't care for the book and if I loved the book, the movie pales in comparision. I would be interested in knowing if you find the books better than the movies. Good luck!!!

I loved the movies too, if I remember right I bought the book after seeing the first one and didn't get around to reading for the reason you mentioned above, if i loved a movie I usually don't like the book. I'm nowhere near finished (haven't even finished the first book yet) but it's so different that it's almost a totally different story. I am enjoying it so far though.

Well, it took me three weeks, but I finally finished The Bourne Trilogy. The movies seem to be very loosly based on the first book (key word being 'very') and even so is almost unrecognizable as the same story. That being said I enjoyed the trilogy, although it was let down somewhat by a multitude of typos and punctuation errors, and I'd be interested in reading some of Robert Ludlum's non-Bourne books.

My next read, The White Lioness by Henning Mankell is for my book club and won't count for the BOTS challenge.

Book #6 The Memoirs Of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

I'm returning to the company of Holmes and Watson for my next BOTS challenge book. I'm really enjoying rereading these stories and getting to know the characters again.

Finished book number six, The Memoirs Of Sherlock Holmes and wasn't disappointed. This is an excellent 'series of sketches', in Watson's words, including the classic 'Silver Blaze', 'The Greek Interpreter' which introduces Mycroft Holmes and, of course 'The Final Problem'.

Book #7 Thunderstruck by Erik Larson.

I bought this along with The Devil In The White City just over a year ago and I really liked the other book so I'm hoping this will live up to my expectations.

Thunderstruck by Erik Larson is a fascinating read on two counts, the story of Dr. Crippen and the murder of his wife and the story of Marconi's invention of 'wireless telegraphy'. I was impressed with the weaving together of the two stories, and with the attention to detail to the Edwardian era in which it is set. My expectations were met.

Book #8 The Shadow Of The Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon.

This was passed on to me by my mum several years ago and, as I bought The Angel's Game recently, I thought I'd better get around to reading it.

Finished The Shadow Of The Wind and found it a wonderful and enchanting read.

Book #9 The Last Oracle by James Rollins.

Finished The Last Oracle which is full of non-stop action and intrigue, sometimes dizzying twists and turns and an unexpectedly moving ending.

Book #10 The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larrson.

I am rereading this before moving on to the other two books in the trilogy. I first read it just over a year ago and would like to re-familiarise myself with the story and characters.

Finished The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.

I found it a bit slow to start off with, but once it got going it was an engaging and intriguing mystery with an equally engaging and intriguing heroine. Instead of jumping straight into the sequel however, I'm going to round up the month with Sherlock Holmes.

Book #11 The Hound of the Baskervilles by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

This is one of the Holmes stories that I've never read before, although I have seen several television/movie adaptions, and I'm looking forward to finally experiencing the original.

Finished The Hound of the Baskervilles which was an eerie, suspensful mystery that focused more on Watson than Holmes, who was absent for perhaps half of the book. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this classic.

Book #12 The Girl Who Played with Fire by Stieg Larsson.

Heading back to Sweden with the second book in the Millennium trilogy, which I bought sometime last year. The third part, The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest won't count for this challenge and I'm probably going to read it straight after this one.

Finished The Girl Who Played with Fire and am halfway to my target. Next is The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest and as I've said before, won't count toward my challenge. Hopefully I won't get distracted and it won't take me a month to read this one.

Haven't read any books off the shelf recently. Actually I haven't been doing a lot of reading at all in the past month as I've been picking up extra hours at work. However, I have six weeks of holidays coming up and I hope to catch up then.

After two months I'm finally getting back on track with this challenge.

Book #13 The Return Of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

I've recently been captivated by the BBC's modern adaption 'Sherlock' and have loved the references to and twists on the original canon that have been included in the series. It's made me want to return to the books, especially as these are a set of stories I haven't read before.

Congratulations on passing the halfway the mark of your challenge.

Finished The Return of Sherlock Holmes, which welcomes Holmes back from the dead and contains a set of entertaining stories including, 'The Empty House', 'The Solitary Cyclist' and 'The Second Stain'.

>33 usnmm2: Thanks for the congrats. I am a little behind, but I hope to catch up while I'm not in work.

Book #14 Cimarron Rose by James Lee Burke.

Another book passed on to me and recommended by my mum, I've read some of Burke's books but this one has been sitting on my shelves waiting to be read for quite a while now.

Finished Cimarron Rose and I'm glad my mum gave me this book to read, it was a real pleasure.

Book #15 The Valley of Fear by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

The last of the four Holmes novels, which I've never read before and know very little about, so I'm looking forward to this one.

Finished The Valley of Fear and it's an excellent addition to the series, I'm so pleased to have finally got round to it.

Book #16 The Book Thief by Markus Zusak.

I bought this a couple of years ago after looking at it several times and putting it back, not sure if it was for me. But I kept hearing good things about it, so decided to give it a go.

Finished The Book Thief and all I can say is, wow! This is an awesome book. Beautifully written, amazing characters and both humorous and heartbreaking (if I'd read the last few chapters on the bus I would have totally embarrassed myself). I can't recommend this enough.

Also read two books that don't count for this challenge, Fatal Embrace by Cris Barrish and Gallows View by Peter Robinson.

Book #17 The Library of Shadows by Mikkel Birkegaard.

I don't really know why I'm picking this one up now over all the others, maybe because books about books and/or libraries always intrigue me (which is probably why I bought it in the first place).

Finished The Library of Shadows and I really enjoyed it. It is a rather unique idea and an enjoyable tale following the main characters on their journey of discovery.

Book #18 Sleepyhead by Mark Billingham.

This is another case of television influencing my choice of reading material. I watched the first part of the Sky 1 adaptation of this book the other night and from what I can remember from my first reading (which was more than five years ago) they've done a pretty good job of it. Of course, it also made me want to read it again.

Finished Sleepyhead and I think I liked it better than I did the first time around. I remember not liking the main character very much and sympathising more with one or two of the secondary characters. That's still true but I think the story itself is original and compelling enough to make me want to read more of the series.

Book #19 His Last Bow by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

It's been a couple of months so I'm going back to Sherlock Holmes, the second to last book and eight short stories that I've never read before.

Finished His Last Bow, another enjoyable collection of short stories by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle featuring Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson, my favourite being 'The Adventure of the Devil's Foot'.

Book #20 Scaredy Cat by Mark Billingham.

This is another reread. I vaguely remember thinking this was better than the first book in the series and that I enjoyed it more (which is usually the case when reading a series anyway).

Sadly, it isn't on my shelf, but I'm going to have to read The Book Thief.

Finished Scaredy Cat, which I thought was better than the first book. I also didn't find the main character, Tom Thorne as unlikeable as I did in Sleepyhead.

Book #21 Lazybones by Mark Billingham.

I have four more books in this series that will count for the BOTS challenge and I may just have to read them all one after the other.

Hey Sarah, I read Sleepyhead, also I think about 5 years ago, and really enjoyed it. I'd read that it was now in TV form, but haven't seen it. It's good to know that they did a good job of the adaptation, so thanks for the opinion.

Sorry to say I haven't read any of his other books. I should rectify that.

>43 QuestingA: The adaptation is good, but they have changed a lot of the story (as they often do for TV) and it was interesting to see how they used the original idea and characters and put a slightly different twist on it. I enjoyed both the book and the TV show, and am looking forward to the apaptation of the next book which starts tomorrow.

Finished Lazybones and this series gets better with each new book.

Book #22 The Burning Girl by Mark Billingham.

Only three more books to go until I reach my target and they might all be Mark Billingham books!

I've read the first two in Mark Billingham's Tom Thorne series, I have at least one more sitting on my shelves, and certainly plan on continuing on with the series as well. These will probably become part of my next year's "Books Off My Shelves" Challenge!

Finished The Burning Girl and am moving swiftly on to the next one, which I haven't read before but has been patiently sitting on my shelves for a few years.

Book #23 Lifeless by Mark Billingham.

Finished Lifeless and I enjoyed it more than the last one. I think that this is one of my favourites in this series and Tom Thorne has definitely grown on me since Sleepyhead.

Book #24 Buried by Mark Billingham.

The last Thorne book that will count for this challenge, and once I've read it I will have reached my target with two months still to go.

Congratulations!

Finished Buried and reached my target! Another enjoyable read from Mark Billingham and this time around I didn't even figure out who the murderer was.

>49 staffordcastle: Thanks for the congratulations, I think I'm going to take a little break from this challenge and read some new books but I'll probably add more BOTS to this thread before the end of the year.

Finished Book #25 The Casebook of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

The last twelve Holmes stories written by Doyle, my favourites were 'The Adventure of the Mazarin Stone' and 'The Problem of Thor Bridge'.

Oh noes! Are you all done with Sherlock Holmes then? No more new ones?

>52 cammykitty: Yep, all done with Sherlock Holmes! Now I only have those not written by Doyle to look forward to, but some of those can be pretty good too.

That's true, but it's making me think of a Red Dwarf episode where the ship's computer requested that his memory of Agatha Christie's books would be erased so he could read them all again.

>54 cammykitty:. That is awesome.

Finished Book #26 The Charlemagne Pursuit by Steve Berry.

More action-packed, fast paced fun from Steve Berry, but I still don't know the story behind 'Cotton' Malone's nickname. Damn.

Finished Book #27 Millennium by Tom Holland.

The last book of the year and this thread. This is a fascinating and enlightening account of the end of the first millennium and the beginning of the second, and I thoroughly enjoyed being swept along into the dark ages!