Stacy's 2016 TBR Challenge

This year I'm taking a more random approach to my challenge. I used random.org to help me decide what to read. I entered in the number of books on my TBR shelf, hit select and matched the number to the TBR list. This could have gone very badly and in the spirit of honesty, if I hadn't liked the selections I may have taken another approach. However, this time I was lucky and most of the selections made me happy with only a couple who are giving me concern. Also love how it represents a variety of types of books - mysteries, non-fiction, classics, poetry, short books, and a couple of really long books.

Anyway, on to my random list!

MAIN LIST:

1. Dino: Living High in the Dirty Business of Dreams by Nick Tosches DNF
2. Exiles in the Garden by Ward Just (August)
3. 1Q84 by Haruki Murakami
4. History of the World in 10 1/2 Chapters by Julian Barnes (November)
5. Otter Country by Miriam Darlington DNF
6. Anatomy of a Murder by Robert Traver DNF
7. White Egrets by Derek Walcott (February)
8. The Odyssey by Homer
9. Right Ho, Jeeves by P.G. Wodehouse (February)
10. Impossible Things by Connie Willis (October)
11. Stone Cold by C.J. Box (March)
12. Zoo Station by David Downing

ALTERNATES LIST:

1. Elements of Style by William Strunk Jr. (January)
2. The Burglar Who Counted Spoons by Lawrence Block (July)
3. Savage Season by Joe Lansdale (March)
4. Arabian Nights
5. Poetics by Aristotle
6. Faust by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
7. Keeper of Lost Causes by Jussi Adler-Olsen (July)
8. Madame Secretary by Madeleine Albright
9. America America by Ethan Canin (July)
10. Capital Dames by Cokie Roberts
11. Serena by Ron Rash
12. Walden by Henry David Thoreau

Faust is on my shelves as well, but it's not for this year! I think no TBR Challenge list is complete without a few that are bound to require a bit more work, so yay RNG for giving you just the right amount of those! ;)

I have a Murakami on my list as well. I LOVE Arabian Nights, it is one of the few books that I go back to over and over again.

I look forward to hearing what you think of Capital Dames. I have read Founding Mothers by Cokie Roberts, but haven't delved into any of her other books.

Given your randomizer approach, that's a pretty interesting list. I'll have a different Murakami on mine, but I have IQ84 as a future read. We'll both be reading the Odyssey in 2016, yay us! I read Goethe's Werther and a bit of his autobiography, but settled on reading a summary of Faust. Walden was a bit slow to get through, but not too bad. You're right, it gave you a good mix.

>2 .Monkey.: - Faust is one of the ones that makes me nervous for some reason. Watch it will end up being one of my favorites.

>3 abergsman: - I'm reading my first Murakami right now, Colorless Tsukuri Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage, but I get the impression it's quite different than 1Q84.

Happy to hear the postive thoughts on Arabian Nights as that is another one I'm a bit apprehensive about.

I usually like Cokie Rober's books so have high hopes for Capital Dames.

>4 Cecrow: - I was very pleasantly surprised by the variety the randomizer churned out. Guess the whole random theory really does work. It's probably the best representation of what I like to read - basically everything.

Oh! How'd I miss Arabian Nights in your list? There are SO many versions of the Arabian Nights tales. I have a very large volume (800pgs) with very dense font and at least two dozen stories that took me forever to read back in the day, but I loved most of it. There were several examples of nested stories and this wasn't made clear in the table of contents, so I had to read them in the order presented rather than sampling from the collection otherwise I would have been totally lost. It's a very different set of repeating motifs and symbols than the western cannon, that you begin to pick up on after reading a few. Watch for the character Caliph Haroun Alrashid (spelling?), he appears in more than one story - I once scored a trivia question about him thanks to reading this that earned me some looks I've never forgotten, and he's based on a real person in history.

Looks like a few of us are going to be tackling the Odyssey - I'll be interested to see how we all get on! I've used random.org loads of times to decide my reading for me, it can be good to have the choice taken out of your hands.

All the best for your 2016 reading year!

>1 LittleTaiko:

I love Nick Tosches! Haven't read Dino, though. That is all. (Oh! Agreed that the Cokie Roberts book sounds interesting (Okay, I'm done now. Really.).)

I think your random list looks great. I don't think I am brave enough to do it, plus my library is not caught up. But I look forward to seeing what you think of it at the end of the year.

>1 LittleTaiko:

I just realized there's a Joe Lansdale story ("In the Mad Mountains") in the Early Reviewers book I'm reading now (The Gods of H.P. Lovecraft).

I've read a couple of his other books and have enjoyed them - mainly because they were set in East Texas near where I grew up, so I can appreciate his sense of place and the characters. You'll have to tell me what you think of the one you are currently reading.

>11 LittleTaiko:

Okay, will do. :)

Finally had a chance to post a picture of my challenge books. Right clicking on an ipad just doesn't work so I had to wait until I actually turned on my computer to do this. Only two books aren't included in the photo since they are e-books: 1Q84 and Impossible Things.

>13 LittleTaiko:

Looks like you've got some nice, sturdy editions there. I have a weakness for mass-market paperbacks myself, which means a good chunk of my collection will probably be falling apart by the time my grandchildren are born. :(

>14 artturnerjr: Pff, I have lots of paperbacks from the 50s/60s in practically pristine shape. As long as you treat them well, most ought to be just fine!

>14 artturnerjr: - Yes, there are quite a few of the Easton Press leather bound books in that pile. They are back from when I was collecting the top 100 books. Pulling Arabian Nights off of the shelf gave me pause. That book is huge!

>11 LittleTaiko:

Finished that Lansdale story we were talking about above. It's a good one - one of the better stories in that collection, I think. It's basically his riff on Lovecraft's At the Mountains of Madness, but it manages to be both darker and more phantasmagoric than the earlier work, which is a pretty neat trick. Read it, but read the HPL tale* first to get the full effect.

*Which is freely available on numerous websites; e.g.:
http://www.feedbooks.com/book/26/at-the-mountains-of-madness
https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/At_the_Mountains_of_Madness
etc.

I'm seriously struggling with my first TBR book - Dino by Nick Tosches. So far I've learned way more about the mob in Ohio than I have about Dean Martin. Also, I don't know if the author is really this much of a racist and misogynist or if he's just trying to create a mood, but his descriptions of non-white males and other cultures is really starting to get on my nerves.

I'm sorry that your first one of the year is a struggle. I had a few books on my list last year that I put aside after the first 50 pages or so. It's harder when it's a book you have been meaning to read for a while....but then, I tell myself, occasionally there is a reason a book languishes on a TBR pile for ages!

Part of my problem is that I really, really want to finish it as I love Dean Martin's music. I keep hoping he'll finally get to more inforamation about him. However, it does seem that there might not be much known about him and the book will end up being primarily conjecture.

Finally finished one! I put Dino on hold for a bit until I feel up to trying to finish it. In the meantime I switched to one from the alternate list.

The Elements of Style Illustrated by William Strunk Jr. - This was an informative yet slightly dated reference book. It's full of helpful information for those of us who might not remember all of the specific grammar rules.

However there were a few rules that stuck me as dated, specifically the rule about nouns used as verbs. The examples included criticisms of using hosted and debuted which are quite common verbs today. Also, I didn't agree with the rule saying that instead of using they we should all commit to using he as that was the most practical usage.

Overall this is a book I'll keep on hand for quick reference. I also find I'm a bit paranoid about writing now. What if I'm breaking one of the rules? :)

I've read "Strunk and White" as it's colloquially called, even keep it in my car for when I'm stuck for anything to read so I can refresh myself - but I don't count myself very fresh. It's still pointed to and referenced quite often, so it's a handy aid, but I do think you're right that some of the advice has aged a bit. They set themselves against many trends they didn't like, and some of those trends have since won the day. If you can recognize that then you're doing pretty good!

So, I finally just pulled the plug on Dino. There are too many other books out there to read and this one just irritated me too much. Oh well, at least I found out now as opposed to several years from now.

I'm also inching my way through White Egrets which considering it's the shortest book on my list, inching through it is worrisome. I can safely say that this volume of poetry is over my head but I will keep plugging along.

However, it's not all doom and gloom here. I did finish Right Ho, Jeeves which may be the funniest Wodehouse book I've ever read. That is saying quite a bit as I generally love his books. This one was full of the usual romantic misunderstandings and scrapes but the duo of Wooster & Jeeves is just so good. Bertie was in fine form in this one.

>23 LittleTaiko:, Dino seems like a love it/hate it book, judging from reviews.

All poetry is over my head, lol. Except Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner and Ozymandias, I sorta get those.

I also love the Wodehouse books. I got my daughter the complete works. I hope she will let me borrow it when I finish all the ones I have. :)

Finally finished White Egrets and can safely say I really didn't understand most of the poems. It's probably more of a reflection on me as a poetry reader than anything else. I do love Mary Oliver's poems usually but those seem to be more simple and direct which works better for me.

Next up is Savage Season - really looking forward to that one.

>21 LittleTaiko:

Too bad about Dino. Tosches is a fitfully brilliant writer and a very smart guy to boot, but sometimes the "bad boy" persona he likes to cultivate gets to be a bit much, which probably accounts for all the politically incorrect stuff that you mentioned in >18 LittleTaiko:. I hope you'll consider trying him again at some point; his Hellfire (about early rock & roll great Jerry Lee Lewis) is probably the best biography of a musician I've ever read (and I've read a lot).

>27 artturnerjr: - Since you recommend it, I would definitely consider giving him another try with Hellfire. Maybe not right away, but someday.

Book #5 is complete!

Savage Season by Joe Lansdale (2 stars)

Not sure how exactly to rate this one. Part of the low rating is that I've read a later book of his and know he can be so much better. Plus, with this being the first in a series and I believe his first book ever it suffers from quite a bit of unevenness. The first half felt like he was trying to hard with the Hap and Leonard characters but by the end they seemed to have settled down and he was starting to find his groove. Definitely lots of potential and I will try more in the series. Also interested in checking out the TV series based on his Hap & Leonard books - they might be the sort that work better on screen then in print.

I'm noticing that so far I'm picking all the shorter books and leaving the longer books for later. Does not bode well for my end of year. :)

#6. Stone Cold by C. J. Box (3 stars)

Another entry in the Joe Pickett series that finds Joe getting into all sorts of trouble - some of it is is own fault. For once, I found Joe to be a bit too impulsive and bullheaded. The situation with his daughter just seemed to be a bit over the top, especially how it ended. Overall, spending time with the Picketts is always a nice way to spend the time.

For those not familiar with this series, Joe is a game warden in Wyoming who inevitably gets drawn into solving murders and other crimes. What Box does so well is bring a balanced approach to various environemental issues that are the backdrop for each of these stories. It's fun to spend time in a part of the US that I don't know that well. Though having grown up around farms, I do understand some of the outdoor, country mentality.

>29 LittleTaiko:

I'm noticing that so far I'm picking all the shorter books and leaving the longer books for later. Does not bode well for my end of year. :)

Lol - same here. :)

>29 LittleTaiko: Same here. :-) That might be because I just finished an incredibly dense 600-page book that was not on my TBR challenge list, and I am kicking myself for not putting it on there!

I'm still here - just haven't read any of these challenge books lately. Finally started reading Otter Country recently with plans to tackle Faust and Anatomy of a Murder shortly after that.

I've seen your topic in the other forum and can back up that statement, you are DEFINITELY getting some serious reading done.

Woo hoo!! Finally finished another one.

7. Keeper of Lost Causes by Jussi Adler-Olsen (4 stars)

This book has been languishing on my shelves for the past three years. I didn't really know what it was about only that someone had given it to me thinking I might like it. Very happy to discover a detective series of sorts. The newly established Dept Q solves two problems, it helps close cold cases and it allows the head of the police to relegate his most disliked detective to head up the department in exchange for a nice amount of government funding. I loved the interaction between Carl and Assad. This hit the right amount of humor and mystery for my taste. Now I have another series to read.

I'm about 2/3 through with America America which is another of my challenge books so should have that finished in the next couple of days. Now, if only I can get through three of the others that I've started but just can't seem to finish - Otter Country, Anatomy of a Murder, and Faust. Actually, with Faust I think I'll get through it fairly easily but need to find a few hours where I'm not distracted.

Oh yeah, I have also started Arabian Nights with the intent of reading one story each night. Fortunately, the edition I have only has 64 of the stories so I should be able to finish it sometime this year.

I've been meaning to read The Arabian Nights, so I look forward to seeing what you think of it.

8. America America by Ethan Canin (3 stars)

Interesting book set in the 70's that follows Corey a young teenager who has learned the value of hard work from his father. His attention to details and willingness to work impresses a local wealthy businessman with an interest in politics. He hires Corey to do work around the house. Corey gets to know all the members of the family, especially the two daughters while working and is even invited to take part in some of their family activities. As he goes off to school, he also becomes involved in a presidential campaign that has shades of Ted Kennedy to it. Overall I liked this book, but it jumped around so much that it was hard to stay invested sometimes.

I read Arabian Nights in my school days and loved it, although it took a few years of chipping away at my massive edition. Couldn't tell you offhand how many stories are in mine, but 64 does sound about right. So I'm struck by the "only", lol.

Lol well, there's supposed to be stories for all 1001 nights, but many translations don't include the majority of them. Apparently it gets pretty tedious, so, it's a judgement call on their part to slim it down, lol. I can understand, too, since I already was annoyed with the monotony in Vathek (a Gothic story fashioned after it) and it's even a novella or longer short story (I have it as an omnibus with two others, the whole book being only like 260p). I think I'd go nuts trying to read 1001 versions of that! XD

I always thought several of the stories required several nights' telling, some of them are pretty long. An interesting fact: some of the stories are of dubious origin, e.g. the story of Aladdin and the Lamp which is the only one taking place in China but not very Chinese in content and may have been written in France.

So far the stories have been short - the thing that is making my copy so long is that there are four different interpretations listed at the back for each of them. Interesting to see the different translations.

9. The Burglar Who Counted Spoons by Lawrence Block (4 stars)

Finally, another entry in the Burglar series. Okay, I've had this book for two years so maybe finally is too strong of a word, but I did enjoy catching up on Bernie's antics. Bernie is having to balance his normal job as a bookseller, his after hours job of burgling, as well as help the police with a suspicious death. Lots of fun as usual.

Up next should be Exiles in the Garden by Ward Just, unless I actually finish a couple of the others that I've started and stalled on.

>39 Cecrow: Well I know in mine (which has around 34?) at least some of them are part of the same story but they're split individually. I actually just started reading it the other day (but as it turns out I'm focusing well enough on the pogrom transcript that I've not yet picked it back up) and the first story starts with one guy and then another guy he meets tells his own story (which is as far as I got, was just reading while waiting for the furballs to eat) and they're listed separately in the contents.

>42 .Monkey.:, yup, mine too. Some of those get nested four, maybe five levels deep. A story told by a guy in a story told by a guy in a story told by a guy in a story told by a guy in a story .... Makes it a difficult collection to just jump around in, you have to read the Arabian Nights start to finish because you don't know what level of nest any given story is in.

I wouldn't be jumping around anyway, lol.
It does rather irritate me that so much was removed (or rather, so little was plucked out for use) in this edition, as the preface that was meant to be all, woo look how great we are only selecting the best parts of the best stories for you! only served to make me rather more piqued to know what "the Arabian authors thought funny, though it seems wearisome to us," and what "omissions are made of pieces only suitable for Arabs and old gentlemen." Let ME decide that, tyvm! hmph. I want to read it but I'm conflicted, whether I should read this and read a full edition later, or just wait till I have a more complete one. Blahhhh. lol

I'm not even sure you'd ever be able to pin down one authoritative has-everything version anyway. Seems like there's ongoing debate over which one that is.

Yeah, but there's plenty that have a ton more than mine, lol.

The Burglar books looks good to me. More on my wishlist.

10. Exiles in the Garden by Ward Just (2 stars)

This ended up being a bit of a slog to finish. For some reason I had it in my head that this was a spy novel so was surprised to find out it was instead a political based fiction novel instead. I was fine with that as an inside look at Washington can be fascinating. However, that isn't what it turned out to be either. Instead it was a lot of navel gazing from a few characters. Lucia in particular was hard to spend any amount of time with as she was so immature and selfish. The lack of quotation marks completely drove me batty. I'm okay with that in some books but it just didn't work here with long passages that drifted in between conversation and thoughts.

Really crawling along this year with the challenge. There have ended up being some books on this list that I just can't get into for whatever reason so I have stalled on them. Not ready to abandon them just yet though. Next up is Capital Dames by Cokie Roberts.

Ick yeah, does not sound good! Ah well, at least you can cross it off now!

So, I never started Capital Dames but instead started Impossible Things by Connie Willis which has been good so far. It's a collection of short stories, so I've been reading it off and on and am about halfway through. Hope to finish in the next couple of weeks.

I like short story collections but tend to read them on the side, a story or two between novels. I'm beginning to believe I need at least one such collection in each year's challenge to leaven it.

11. Impossible Things by Connie Willis (3 stars)

A collection of short stories by one of my favorite authors. My favorites were "Even the Queen" where women and science have turned a basic part of being a female upside down, "Spice Program" - with a nod to the screwball comedies of early Hollywood, and "At the Rialto" with more screwball Hollywood fun with a dash of quantum physics thrown in.

Did end up DNF's a couple of other books on the list as they were just way too boring or irritating - Anatomy of a Murder and Otter Country. At least now they are no longer crowding my shelves.

Not sure which book I'll try for next as none of them are jumping out at me. Maybe Zoo Station as I've heard nothing but good things about it.

I haven't reached the point yet where I can drop a book I'm not enjoying - I finish everything I start - but I think I can see the turn coming on the road ahead.

I used to be that way but there are just way too many books that I want to read to waste time finishing something I'm just not enjoying. I usually give it a good 50-100 pages depending on the number of pages in the book. Plus, if I'm not enjoying it, I end up picking up one of the hundreds of other books waiting to be read instead and never get back to it. This way, it just ends up in the library donation pile and off of my shelves.

So, during some downtime over the weekend, I put together my 2017 plan. Won't share it yet since it could possibly change, but I did pull all the books from the shelf and put them in their own special spot so most likely it won't change.

Now I need to get back to focusing on finishing up what I can for 2016.

How do you feel in retrospect about your random.org approach for 2016?

Overall I'm satisfied with the random approach, though it ended up with too many large classics in one year for my taste. While I liked the titles initially that were selected, there may be something to be said for specifically picking a title and feeling a bit more invested in reading it.

There were some titles I was really excited to see on the list but ironically enough those ended up being books I hated and didn't finish.

Next years list is more specific and is targeting some areas and topics that I want to read more. There will stil be some classics, but ones that I'm more interested in reading at this point.

I was curious because I don't think I could do the random approach. I'm such a slow reader that my 24 titles are just about all I get to in a year, so I work at choosing the ones I most want to read next. Granted, seven or eight months later I'm not always as confident I agree with my Dec/January opinion, but ... At least I can do what you're saying, make sure I'll make some kind of progress on multiple reading goals and not go too far in any one direction.

12. A History of the World in 10 1/2 Chapters by Julian Barnes (3 stars)

This is an amusing look at the world and how we are all linked together somehow. It starts with the tale of Noah's Ark from the perspective of a woodworm who was on the ship whether you believe it or not. The remaining stories tie back in some way to the ark or the wormwood though it might be in a small way. It sounds nuts but it was interesting and though-provoking at times.

At least with this one finished I can say that I hit the 12 book target of books actually read. Helps me feel less guilty about three other books on the list being DNF's.

I'm still hoping to finish Zoo Station and Serena by the end of the year.

Congrats on finishing the 12 and reaching the TBR goal!