BJ's 2010 attempt at the TBR Twelve

Well, I only finished 11 books from the two lists last year. I will carry over the old titles and try to add some shorter ones for the second list so that maybe I can finish this year. The first 12 are:

Age of Innocence (Read 2011)
On the Origin of Species (Read 2016)
Alias Grace (Read 4/22/10)
Oliver Twist (Read 2012)
Invisible Man (Read 9/9/10)
The Count of Monte Cristo (Read 2012)
The Voyage of the HMS Beagle (Read 2017)
The Three Musketeers (Read 3/20/10)
Sarum
The Demon in the Freezer (Read 2012)
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (Read 6/20/10)
The Bear and the Dragon

I will list the next twelve in another post.
--BJ

Here is the alternate list:

1535820::Prayer-Walking: A Simple Path to Body-and-Soul Fitness (Read 4/26/10)
4865::Death of a Salesman (Read 1/11/10)
1130926::A Separate Peace (Read 5/25/10)
18169::Swann's Way (Read 8/11/10)
4649397::Paradiso (Read 10/31/10)
675::Freakonomics (Read 2011)
10649::The Hollow Chocolate Bunnies of the Apocalypse (Read 11/18/10)
18415::Solaris (Read 7/2/10)
3687::New York Trilogy (Read 2016)
6252::Peter Pan and Wendy (Read 2/20/10)
607::Labyrinths (Read 2012)
7244::Never Let Me Go (Read 2/11/10)

Here's to more tbr's read in 2010!
--BJ

Here, here!

Hi billiejean,
I'm trying this challenge this year as well. Good Luck!

annekiwi

Hi, annekiwi!
Thanks for the luck! I have started on my first book -- a short one -- Death of a Salesman. I hope to finish is soon.
--BJ

1. Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller. I started with one from my alternate list. Maybe I need to rethink the way I create my lists. I just keep the ones not read on my main list. Anyway, this is one of the books that my girls read in high school. I have a personal goal of reading all of them, too. They all have turned out to be terrific books!
--BJ

Well done BJ! You've started!

Good job! You've got me beat. I think I'm 20 pages into my first book. And it's not blowing my socks off so that makes it that much harder to motivate myself to read.

annekiwi

It's hard when you stare at a book for weeks, (months, years) and it's not gripping you when you finally read it.

Hey,
I sent you an invite to the group read of THREE MUSKETEERS. I don't know if there's another one out there, but this is the one I joined.

annekiwi

It's pretty disheartening to finally pick up the book (especially one that is pretty and feels good to hold) and then not be excited by the content.

annekiwi

Hi, judylou, cal8769, and annekiwi!
How nice to see everyone! It's funny how this challenge is not that many books, but sometimes it is hard to finish just because the books are named in advance. However, I have heard so many wonderful things about The Three Musketeers, I know that I will like it. The only reason I had not started it was the length. Thanks so much for the group read invite. That is just the thing to motivate me. :) Have a great day, everyone!
--BJ

I just read Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro off of my alternates list. Wow. It is quite thought-provoking. I am starting both The Three Musketeers and The Count of Monte-Cristo by Alexandre Dumas, both off of the primary list. They will probably take a while. :)
--BJ

I just read Peter Pan and Wendy by J. M. Barrie, off of my alternate list. This is the sequel to Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens. It has been on my tbr for 3 years or so. I am still reading The Three Musketeers and The Count of Monte Cristo, and I am enjoying them both. They are more different than I thought they would be. TTM is quite humorous.
--BJ

Keep up the good work!

Thanks!

I finally finished a book off of my first list: The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas. It was great fun, and I am really glad that I finally read it. My girls have been wanting me to read it for years!

Next month I am planning to read Alias Grace, also off of the first list. And I am slowly reading through The Count of Monte Cristo with a group read.
--BJ

I have The Three Musketeers on my neverending TBR pile. I'm glad you liked it. It makes me want to push it toward the top of the pile.

Although it is kind of a long book, it really is a quick read. My girls and I between us also have the sequels, so I want to read those, too. Maybe next year. :) I am still hoping to read one extra book off my lists this year since I fell short by a book last year. Hope springs eternal.
--BJ

I read another book from my first list: Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood. I thought it was a pretty good book, and it was interesting that it was based on an actual double murder. This is one of those books that my kids read in school that I had never read, so I wanted to read it.
--BJ

Doing well BJ! I read Alias Grace last year (I think) and thought it was wondderful.

Thanks, JudyLou! I remember that I kind of ran out of steam last year so I want to get ahead some this year. Plus I added in some shorter books. I started one of the shorter ones today Prayer-Walking: A Simple Path to Body-and-Soul Fitness by Linus Mundy that I have had around the house for 20 years! I thought it would be a good choice for Spring.
--BJ
Edited to put in entire title to get the right touchstone.

I finally read Prayer-Walking: A Simple Path to Body-and-Soul Fitness by Linus Mundy. This book has been sitting around my house for over 20 years. (Actually sitting around several homes through all my moves!) It was a terrific little gem and perfect for Spring.

I am planning to read On the Origin of Species with bfertig. Yea! This has been on my list every single year. The other book that has been on my list every year that I have done this challenge is Age of Innocence, which I hear is terrific. So I definitely want to read both of those this year.
--BJ

I read A Separate Peace by John Knowles, which I really liked. This is one of those books that my girls read in school that I also wanted to read. It seems like I read nothing in school that they read!

I have started, but not read much of, The Count of Monte Cristo and On the Origin of Species. And I was kind of hoping to start on Swann's Way in June (again!).
--BJ

I finally read Harry Potter and the Socerer's Stone from my first list. What on earth took me so long to pick this fun, fast read up? My daughter said, "I know where the second book is!" (That is always an issue in this house -- finding where the books are located.)

I am still just barely starting on The Count of Monte Cristo and On the Origin of Species. And starting Swann's Way in July. Not sure what I will finish next.
--BJ

Another book read off of the alternate list: Solaris by Stanislaw Lem. I liked this SciFi classic. I have now read twice as many alternates as main list books. Hmmm. I need to work on that.
--BJ

I finally finished Swann's Way by Marcel Proust. This is the first book of In Search of Lost Time. This was on the alternate list only because I was a book short last year and had 13 books to carry over. I am so glad that I finally got this one read. I need to read some on the first list! I guess I will try to return to The Count of Monte Cristo, which I was enjoying but just happened to put down one day. I also need to return to On the Origin of Species, which was harder than I thought it was going to be.
--BJ

I finished a book from the original list, Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison. This is a book that my girls had in school that I had never read. It is also on the 1001 Books list. I thought it was a great read.
--BJ

My 12th book comes from my alternates list. I did better with that list this year for some reason. I read Paradiso by Dante. Although some reviewers did not like this part of The Divine Comedy, I enjoyed it quite a bit. I hope to read one more this year if possible to make up for being one book short last year. :)
--BJ

Book #13 also comes from the alternates list: The Hollow Chocolate Bunnies of the Apocalypse by Robert Rankin. At the beginning of the book, I did not think I was going to like this fantasy spoof on the whodunnit, but as the book progressed I liked it more and more. There were some rather crude parts, but overall it was as funny as. I got this book based on an LT recommendation.

I am still reading The Count of Monte Cristo, and I hope that this will be my final book of the year.
--BJ

BJ - I have The Hollow Chocolate Bunnies of the Apocalypse on my tbr list for next year once I find it. Actually, it was on one of my challenges for this year but I didn't get to it. It is good to know you thought it was at least a little funny!

I actually found parts of it lol funny! There were also some parts of it that I did not like. But the parts I liked more than made up for the parts I did not like. By the way, I forgot to mention that this book involving Toy City and Nursery Rhyme characters is definitely not for kids. I hope you like it when you read it.
--BJ

I'll let you know :-)

Good on you BJ. you made it past 12 already!

Thanks! My goal for this year was 13 because I only read 11 last year. I would like to read one more, but the holidays are always so busy I don't know if I will.
--BJ