Shearon keeps at it in 2014

I am glad to be back here for 2014. It is helpful to have a focus to keep after those oldies lingering on my shelves and even better to hear about treasures others discover on theirs.

My goal for 2014 will be the same as 2013: 25 ROOTs, half of which should be Member Giveaways. I didn't quite meet my 2013 goal (got to 25, but only 6 were Member Giveaways), but this is a new year, a new start.

Best new year wishes to all.

Welcome and Happy New Year!

Welcome back and good luck! :)

Happy Reading!!

Hello Shearon & good luck with your 2014 challenge.

2014 ROOT #1: When Will there Be Good News by Kate Atkinson. This was a perfect ROOT start for 2014. This is the third in the Jackson Brodie series and definitely in the same class as the first, Case Histories. Atkinson tells a tale of many characters and plot lines which never fully intersect, but which all fit together at the end -- not necessarily with a happy ending, in fact there were several unhappy endings here, but with at least temporary resolution for everyone involved. I am not usually a big mystery fan, but these Atkinson books are very enjoyable.

plot lines which never fully intersect, but which all fit together at the end

Oh, that's a perfect way of describing Atkinson's style! Having just read Case Histories, I'm wondering why I let it sit on my shelf for a year and a half before reading it. I must get my hands on the next one.

WOW! I was able to able to create a ticker. I knew "even a kid can do it" but it had stymied me before. Not quite sure how to update it, but I will figure that out at the end of the month.

Ain't technology grand!!!!!!

Did you put your ticker in the tickerthread, Shearon?

Just copy the 'html code' in there! The thread is here: http://www.librarything.nl/topic/162053

Nice ticker, shearon! You'll find it super-easy to update. Just click on it and that will take you to the update screen. Put in your password, change your number, click 'next' at the bottom of each page until it tells you it's been updated, and when you come back to Library Thing your turtle will have crawled ahead. :)

Great turtle ticker!

2014 ROOT # 2: The Accidental Tourist by Anne Tyler. You can't go wrong with Anne Tyler, although I think I have enjoyed her more recent work better than this classic. And you can always count on Tyler for characters with odd personalities, but too many of the ones in this book got on my nerves.

2014 ROOT #3: Major Pettigrew's Last Stand by Helen Simonson. I started this one with low expectations anticipating a fluffy, sweet middle age romance. And it was that, but it was also warm and touching, unafraid to address generational tensions and stupid racial/ethnic prejudices. The Major Pettigrew character is irritating and obtuse throughout much of the novel, but eventually "does the right thing" -- and there's really nothing wrong with a happy ending once in a while.

Congratulations on another ROOT!

Don't forget to update your ticker! :)

Major Pettigrew is on my TBR, so I'm glad you enjoyed it. I look forward to it even more, now!

2014 ROOT #4: The Namesake byJhumpa Lahiri. First the 2013 and now the 2014 ROOT project have introduced me to this fine author, whose name I knew, whose books I had picked up, but who I never read. The Namesake was a great follow-up to Interpreter of Maladies I read last year. I find stories about, at least in part, the imigrant experience, typically very heartbreaking, but always very thoughtful and thought provoking.

2014 ROOT #5: Fences by August Wilson. This is a sad family drama about a man's hopes unfulfilled and how it eats away at him and eventually destroys his family. I can't help the comparison to Death of a Salesman.

I have been out of touch for awhile and have several ROOTs to catch up on.

2014 ROOT #6: Brooklyn by Colm Toibin. This is a basic immigrant experience story told in a very spare, sometimes flat manner. I found the main character alternately appealing because of her "bravery" and ambition in coming to America, getting a job, going to school, etc., but then also frustrating because of her subservience to her boyfriend/husband and later her odd indecision with regard to another man. While these contradictions in personality may have made for an interesting character elsewhere, they did not here and just left me with a vague dislike for the main character. But this book does paint an interesting picture of the immigrant experience.

2014 ROOT #7: Thank You for Smoking by Christopher Buckley. This is a great satire on the business and politics of the tobacco industry and its public relations machine. Very enjoyable and great characters.

2014 ROOT #8: About a Boy by Nick Hornby. I don't think I have ever read anything by Nick Hornby before and based on this, while I will not rush out to read everything he has ever written, I will pick him up again when I want a light, enjoyable read.

2014 ROOT #9: Lean In by Sheryl Sandberg. I have been in the workforce for about 35 years and it was interesting reading about the challenges Sandberg identifies for women, remembering them from my early career days, and noting (with disappointment) that many of these same challenges still exist. Sandberg is hardly your average working woman: brilliant, Ivy educated, well connected, plenty of money, always at the right place at the right time, and she recognizes this. While her particular career trajectory makes some of her experiences harder to transfer to every working woman's life, if you can get past that you see the universality of many of the problems she describes. I won't say it is a must-read, but I do recommend it for younger women new to the workforce (including my own 20-something daughters).

2014 ROOT #10: Transatlantic by Colum McCann. There is little to say except that this is an outstanding collection of inter-related, inter-generational and literally transatlantic stories addressing themes of culture, politics, history, war and peace and human relationships. THIS is a must-read.

2014 ROOT #11: Call Me Zelda by Erika Robuck. Last year I was on a kick reading fiction by and about the Fitzgerald's and the Hemingway's. There is some kind of very satisfying voyeurism about it.

2014 ROOT #12: The Dinner by Herman Koch. This is a very disturbing story dealing with family dysfunction, violence and mental illness. The answer of how far parents will go to protect their children, even when the children are clearly culpable is answered here, at least in part, and that is, very far. The long term and cross generational impact of mental illness is also apparent in these families. A truly sad, unpleasant and eerie story.

2014 ROOT #13 and #14: Catching Fire and Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins. Concluding the Hunger Games trilogy, these two novels continue where Hunger Games left off with plenty more violence, hatred and death and the continued love triangle, but with more intrigue and suspense over who was really on what side and the true motives behind various actions and alliances. I think these two books could have been combined into one, as Mockingjay really drug on. Enough young adult for me for a while though -- a good reminder why I never read the Twilight or Divergent series.

2014 ROOT #15: Arlo's Epiphany by Jane Oldaker. This is a cute little story about a cat who is a member of a network of animal covert operatives. A silly, but charming concept, although I am not sure it has much lasting power beyond this "Book One".

A Library Thing Member Giveaway.

2014 ROOT #16: Happy by Maria Braziel. This is another animal story about a happy little kitten and his first weeks of life, up through and including him being euthanized. Yes, that is correct.

A Library Member Giveaway

edited to correct typo

Glad to see you back posting again! You've done some good reading.

#25--I also read The Dinner (because of rave reviews) and I was quite disappointed. It was hailed as a moral dilemma. To me, it was a no-brainer and it dragged on .

>25 shearon: and >30 Tess_W:

I read Het diner too. And I'm with you on the eerie story side.

Here I am during the last week of the year posting my ROOTs. I met my numerical goal of 25, but once again did not read as many Member Giveaways as I had hoped.

2014 ROOT #17: Great Neck, Mass by Ryan Coons. This was a Member Giveaway with a lot of potential, but it was as if the author had a couple different themes in mind and tried to combine them. I wish he had done individual short stories.

2014 ROOT #18: Wise Men and other Stories by Mike O'Mary. This was a Member Giveaway collection of essays and short stories. Not very memorable.

2014 ROOT #19: The Reading Group by Elizabeth Noble. For no good reason this novel took me ages to finish. Over the course of a year, an ensemble cast of women read some interesting books and have the array of life experiences: one member's daughter gets pregnant by another member's husband, another member loses her mother and reunites with her estranged sister, affairs, an abortion, etc., etc. The group kind of grew on me over time, but I was not sorry to see December. Their very abbreviated book discussions were interesting; I would have enjoyed more of that.

2014 ROOT #20: The Painted Veil by Somerset Maugham. This may be my top pick for 2014. The emotions communicated in this story are incredible. And these emotions drive the characters to the worst and the best of themselves. Excellent.

2014 ROOT #21: Darcy and Anne by Judith Brocklehurst. I admit it: I am a sucker for these Austen, particularly Pride and Prejudice fake sequels. I love them. This one was not too good; but that will not discourage me.

2014 ROOT #22: The Burgess Boys by Elizabeth Strout. Strout and Maugham are neck and neck. This is an excellent family drama. Another reader said they did not get the purpose of the Somali subplot and found it distracting. Quite the opposite for me. I thought that part of the story effectively demonstrated the interconnectedness of humans and that a family, and its troubles, are just part of a larger community.

2014 ROOT #23: To Have or Have Not by Ernest Hemingway. I have not read too much by Hemingway, but I have had mixed reactions. In the last couple years I have read a little about Hemingway, most of it not very flattering. Did that color my view of this, in his attitude towards the very few women in this book? I don't know, but this one does not encourage towards more Papa Hemingway.

2014. ROOT #24: The Matisse Stories by A.S. Byatt. Three excellent stories that prompted me to look up the referenced Matisse paintings. Whether you do that or not, these stories will not disappoint.

2014 ROOT #25: Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan. At first I thought I was too old for this book because I didn't appreciate all the high tech or Dungeons and Dragons fantasy references, but then I just relaxed and soon the high tech/fantasy elements seemed less central and I could just appreciate a good story with a quirky cast of characters.

Reached your goal! Congrats.

Congrats on reaching your goal! I have Mr. Penumbra in my TBR pile!