I failed miserably in my first attempt at Roof Beam Reader’s TBR Pile Challenge this year. To meet the challenge, I had to read and review twelve books that had been on my “To Be Read” list for over a year. Two alternates are allowed in case you really hate a couple of the books.
As you can see, I failed the challenge, only reading two of the twelve older books that I’ve been meaning to read but that kept getting nudged aside by newer titles.
My 2012 TBR Pile Challenge List
Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese
Snow by Orhan Pamuk
The Master Bedroom by Tessa Hadley
An Arsonist’s Guide to Writers’ Homes in New England by Brock Clarke
The House on Fortune Street by Margot Livesey
The Whole World Over by Julia Glass
Map of Ireland by Stephanie Grant
The Air We Breathe by Andrea Barrett
All Is Vanity by Christina Schwarz
Codex by Lev Grossman
Third Girl from the Left by Martha Southgate
The Line of Beauty by Alan Hollinghurst
Two Alternates
Great House by Nicole Krauss
Family Album by Penelope Lively
Since this challenge was supposed to help me with an unofficial goal for 2012 – to read more of the Massachusetts Book Award winners and Honor books from recent years – I’m going to try again in 2013! For my new list, I’ve swapped out the first two books on the original list with two at the end that I bought to read and actually have sitting on a shelf. I have a new strategy, too – to work harder on the list at the beginning of the year because from September on, life gets too busy.
My 2013 TBR Pile Challenge List
The Master Bedroom by Tessa Hadley
An Arsonist’s Guide to Writers’ Homes in New England by Brock Clarke
The House on Fortune Street by Margot Livesey
The Whole World Over by Julia Glass
Map of Ireland by Stephanie Grant
The Air We Breathe by Andrea Barrett
All Is Vanity by Christina Schwarz
Codex by Lev Grossman
Third Girl from the Left by Martha Southgate
The Line of Beauty by Alan Hollinghurst
Wish You Were Here by Stewart O’Nan
Sacred Hunger by Barry Unsworth
Two Alternates
Great House by Nicole Krauss
Family Album by Penelope Lively
The two books I read and reviewed from my 2012 list – Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese and Snow by Orhan Pamuk – were both very good, but they didn’t make my list of favorite reads from 2012.
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