For the past two years, I’ve taken part in RoofBeam Reader’s “TBR Challenge.”
For 2011, I posted the list of titles I intended to read here on LJ. Of the 12 (plus 2 alternates), I managed to finish 4.
For 2012, I posted the list of titles I intended to read on my website. Of the 12 (plus 2 alternates), I managed to finish two.
For 2013, I’m attempting to participate again. You’ll see some of the same titles from previous years making it onto this list, but I also tried to pick some new titles. Maybe the third year is the charm, yes? I’m once again listing the rules and titles here and will mirror this post onto my livejournal.
In Adam’s own words:
The Goal To finally read 12 books from your “to be read” pile (within 12 months).
Specifics:
1. Each of these 12 books must have been on your bookshelf or “To Be Read” list fo AT LEAST one full year. This means the book cannot have a publication date of 1/1/2012 or later (any book published in the year 2011 or earlier qualifies, as long as it has been on your TBR pile – I WILL be checking publication dates) Caveat: two (2) alternates are allowed, just in case one or two of the books end up in the “can’t get through” pile.
My choices this year are:
1. The Valley of Fear, a Sherlock Holmes novel by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.
2. Call For The Dead, the first Smiley novel by John LeCarre
3. Grifter’s Game by Lawrence Block
4. Blind Fall by Christopher Rice
5. Shockaholic by Carrie Fisher
6. Without You by Anthony Rapp
7. Poisoning For Profit: The Mafia and Toxic Waste in America by Alan A. Block and Frank R. Scarpitti
8. In Cold Blood by Truman Capote
9. Spider-Man: The Darkest Hours by Jim Butcher Completed January 7, 2013
10. Hounded, the first Atticus O’Sullivan book, by Kevin Hearne
11. Second Thoughts by Steve Berman
12. Storm of Swords, the 3rd “Song of Ice and Fire” book by George RR Martin
and the two alternates:
13. Main Street by Sinclair Lewis
14. The Mark of Zorro by Johnston McCullers
Of course, I am under no requirement to read them in this precise order. I’ll keep coming back and updating the list as I read the books, crossing them out and changing the color of the text. Four of these books will also help me with my on-going challenge to read more non-fiction.
This is the only official reading challenge I’m giving myself this year, seeing that I want to concentrate more on my own writing and also be a better contributor to my office book club. And of course, I’m proofreading the ebook editions of each issue of LIGHTSPEED magazine, which takes up some reading time each month.