Vestafan's TBR bedroom pile must go (down at least)
CharlasROOT - 2014 Read Our Own Tomes
Únete a LibraryThing para publicar.
Este tema está marcado actualmente como "inactivo"—el último mensaje es de hace más de 90 días. Puedes reactivarlo escribiendo una respuesta.
1vestafan
I'm going to try and read mainly from my TBR pile this year. I had to bring piles of my books into my bedroom so I didn't worry that guests would be concussed by piles of falling books while sleeping. It is therefore impossible to deny that serious inroads need to be made into my accumulated book collection. I must stop putting off reading books until the "ideal time". My aim this year is 50 books bought before the end of 2012. The first (just completed) is The Wedding Group by Elizabeth Taylor.
3rabbitprincess
Welcome and good luck whittling down the pile!
4rainpebble
Happy New Year Sue and good luck with your challenge.
5MissWatson
One ROOT finished already? Good for you!
6Caramellunacy
Good luck with your challenge! Looking forward to seeing what you think of your ROOTS!
7vestafan
Thanks to all - I must confess that I've already added to my collection this year! But I've finished The Wedding Group and have now moved on to Nothing to Envy by Barbara Demick - a book I've been meaning to read for some time.
9vestafan
Thanks, and I've just finished the Barbara Demick book about North Korea. I think my next ROOT will be The Priory by Dorothy Whipple.
11vestafan
ROOT number 3, The Priory is now finished and I've begun my 4th, Gone Girl - a race against time to avoid accidentally finding out the plot and reading the book before the film comes out later this year.
13vestafan
I finished it today, and was gripped. I disliked both the main characters and found myself feeling quite depressed by the mindset of both of them. Sympathy was quite cleverly switched between both of them, but I was, at the end, pleased to leave their company.
14Caramellunacy
vestafan - I haven't read Gone Girl because a) someone has spoiled at least some of it and b) it seemed a bit like it was about nasty people behaving nastily. I do have Flynn's Dark Places on my TBR pile to see how I like her writing style, though...
15vestafan
Another Elizabeth Taylor novel from my TBR pile completed today - it's The Sleeping Beauty. Hopefully I'll read the other three novels that I have by this author in the months to come.
16connie53
You might want to check out my ratings, Caramellunacy. I've read all three of her translated books.
Donker Hart, Duisternis en Teerbemind
Donker Hart, Duisternis en Teerbemind
17vestafan
My 6th ROOT book this year - The Locked Room by Sjowall & Wahloo - 8th in a series of 10 books written in the 60s and 70s - one of the earliest Scandicrime series.
18MissWatson
>17 vestafan: I remember reading those, years back. How do they stand up?
19vestafan
My next ROOT book has been completed - High Wages by Dorothy Whipple. Possibly my least favourite of hers so far, although as other posters have commented, the social detail about retail in the early 20th century is fascinating.
22vestafan
Thanks to everyone for their encouragement. I've just finished another from the TBR pile - The Soul of Kindness by Elizabeth Taylor.
23vestafan
Two more from my TBR pile read:
The Red House by Mark Haddon - rather a disappointment after his previous two books
and
Cop Killer by Sjowall & Wahloo - the penultimate in an excellent series of police procedurals (plus so much more)
The Red House by Mark Haddon - rather a disappointment after his previous two books
and
Cop Killer by Sjowall & Wahloo - the penultimate in an excellent series of police procedurals (plus so much more)
24connie53
>23 vestafan: I can see where you are coming from concerning Het rode huis but I liked it good enough to give a 7.
26vestafan
Another Elizabeth Taylor ROOT-ed: Mrs Palfrey at the Claremont
29ipsoivan
>28 vestafan: I've known about her for a while but only just finished my first by her, Angel. It was wonderful. I need to find more.
30vestafan
Angel is the only novel of hers I haven't read and I hope to read it this month. I've enjoyed all of hers, but Blaming, her last novel I think, is particularly good. Then I shall move on to the short stories, and hopefully finish with Nicola Beauman's biography. Plenty of good reading to look forward to.
31vestafan
I've been on holiday and improved my ROOT score while away. My reads include:
Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins
Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins
A Question of Identity by Susan Hill
and
The Terrorists by Maj Sjowall & Per Wahloo
Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins
Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins
A Question of Identity by Susan Hill
and
The Terrorists by Maj Sjowall & Per Wahloo
32MissWatson
Nice progress!
33vestafan
Two more books from my ROOT pile read:
Family Roundabout by Richmal Crompton
and
Cambridge Blue by Alison Bruce
The Crompton is an examination of family relationships between the wars. We see the five children of two widowed mothers and follow their adult lives. How have their mothers' approaches to parenting affected their lives? Some of the characters are rather stereotypical but it was an enjoyable read.
Family Roundabout by Richmal Crompton
and
Cambridge Blue by Alison Bruce
The Crompton is an examination of family relationships between the wars. We see the five children of two widowed mothers and follow their adult lives. How have their mothers' approaches to parenting affected their lives? Some of the characters are rather stereotypical but it was an enjoyable read.
38vestafan
One more from the ROOT pile read - Angel by Elizabeth Taylor. The subject matter is quite different from her other novels and I'd been putting it off, thinking I might not enjoy it, but the elegant and perceptive writing was still in evidence.
40vestafan
I've just finished A Week in December by Sebastian Faulks. It covers a week in the life of seven people living in London at the end of 2007. It examines the state of the nation with the two biggest preoccupations being terrorism and banking. It suffers from the same problem as many novels dealing with the banking crisis - how to include in the novel some of the details of the complex activities that led to the crisis in 2008 without letting them unbalance a work of fiction. I don't think this is altogether successfully done. The more engaging characters are the young Muslim drawn into fundamentalism and his parents; a literary critic is also drawn with some relish I think.
44vestafan
Two more read this month:
The Man Who Forgot His Wife by John O'Farrell
and
Minnie's Room by Mollie Panter-Downes
The Man Who Forgot His Wife by John O'Farrell
and
Minnie's Room by Mollie Panter-Downes
45vestafan
I've just finished Blow Your House Down by Pat Barker. It's set in a Northern town where a serial killer is targeting prostitutes. I'm guessing this was inspired by the Yorkshire Ripper case, but it comes from the angle of womens' experiences. The subject matter ensures this is not an enjoyable read, but I found it involving.
47vestafan
Yes - the Barker was an impulse read really, I picked it up at random. I've just finished The Devastating Boys, a collection of short stories by Elizabeth Taylor. This is a continuation of a project I've set myself this year to read everything by her. One more VMC of her short stories to go, plus the stories in the collected short story volume that I've not read elsewhere.
48vestafan
I've just finished reading Midsummer Night in the Workhouse by Diana Athill. Having previously avoided short stories, I'm reading more than usual this year, partly because I've read all Elizabeth Taylor's novels and have moved on to her short story collections. The Taylor stories are my favourites so far, but I enjoyed some of the Athill stories, particularly the title story of this collection
49vestafan
One more book ROOT-ed out - The Calling by Alison Bruce
50vestafan
Since my last post I've read two more ROOT books:
My Lady Ludlow and other tales by Mrs Gaskell
and
For Richer for Poorer: A Love Affair with Poker by Victoria Coren
My Lady Ludlow and other tales by Mrs Gaskell
and
For Richer for Poorer: A Love Affair with Poker by Victoria Coren
53vestafan
Sorry for the delay in replying - it's been a hectic month! I found it a compelling read, although I was less gripped by the part of the story set in the 1970s. I couldn't read too much of the trench and tunnel scenes at once as the tension of waiting for military action was very well conveyed and the horror of the warfare itself difficult to take.
54vestafan
I got 3 more from my ROOT pile read in September:
Captain Corelli's Mandolin by Louis de Bernieres
William - an Englishman by Cicely Hamilton
and
Austerity Britain by David Kynaston
Captain Corelli's Mandolin by Louis de Bernieres
William - an Englishman by Cicely Hamilton
and
Austerity Britain by David Kynaston
55Jackie_K
Captain Corelli's Mandolin is one of my all-time favourite books. I know some people think it's a bit naff, but I thought it was wonderful. I refused to see the film as soon as I heard that they had cast Nicolas Cage, as he was so unlike the Captain Corelli in my head (from what I hear about the film I gather I didn't miss much!).
56vestafan
I never saw the film either, but was slightly haunted by the image of Nic Cage as Corelli while I was reading the book - I could imagine the over the top performance that he would probably give!
57vestafan
One from my ROOT pile so far in October - Absolute Beginners by Colin MacInnes. This had been on my bookshelves for ages, but I was prompted to read it by Andy Miller naming it as his favourite book in The Year of Reading Dangerously. I would say that it is one of my five favourite reads of the year so far. The style is quite individual and might not be to everyone's taste, but I thought the energy and immediacy of the novel was fantastic.
59vestafan
By the end of October I'd read three more ROOTs:
The Talented Mr Ripley by Patricia Highsmith
The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton
and
Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil by John Berendt
The Talented Mr Ripley by Patricia Highsmith
The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton
and
Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil by John Berendt
60Tess_W
Wow, Vesta....I have all 3 you mentioned in post #59 on my TBR pile! I've started theAge of Innocence about 3 times but can't seem to make it past the first two chapters, I might pitch it.
61vestafan
Yes, all these books had been lingering at home for a while. I had to make myself persist with the Wharton - the social niceties she describes were infuriating to me - but I got more involved as the book went on. I don't think I could read any more of her books for a while though. Both the others are worth a try as well.
62vestafan
Only a couple of ROOTs in November:
Heartstone and Revelation by C J Sansom. Now I'm up to date and ready for his latest Shardlake book.
Heartstone and Revelation by C J Sansom. Now I'm up to date and ready for his latest Shardlake book.
63connie53
Just keep on reading!
Ahh, C. J. Sansom! I have read one of his books Winter in Madrid and loved it.
Ahh, C. J. Sansom! I have read one of his books Winter in Madrid and loved it.
64vestafan
One more ROOT read - Brideshead Abbreviated by John Crace - a collection of summaries of classic novels of the 20th century written as parodies. It's certainly put me off reading some of the books he describes.
67vestafan
Reporting my final ROOT read of the year - yes, I have toiled through The Mandarins at last. It was noticeable that the chapter length grew shorter towards the end of the novel as if the author herself was tiring of the in-depth discussions of French left wing politics after WWII.
I haven't quite reached my target of 50 ROOT books this year (I read 41), but I shall press on and try for the same number in 2015.
I haven't quite reached my target of 50 ROOT books this year (I read 41), but I shall press on and try for the same number in 2015.