TBR Pile Challenge 2013

The TBR Pile Challenge, hosted at Roof Beam Reader, is the fourth challenge I am joining for 2013. This is a second challenge for reading books in my To Be Read piles, but this one takes a different approach.

The differences? First, you have to plan ahead and list the twelve books from your TBR list that you plan to read (with two alternates). Second, the books have to have been on your bookshelf or “To Be Read” list for AT LEAST one full year. This means the book cannot have a publication date of 1/1/2012 or later.

There is more explanation of the rules and procedures at the sign-up post at the blog.

This is my list for this TBR challenge. Where appropriate, I will comment on how long it has been waiting to be read.

(1) Murder In Belleville by Cara Black (posted Dec. 15, 2013)

Set in France. Purchased in 2009, published in 2000. I planned to read this book in 2012 for the European Reading Challenge, but that did not happen. 

(2) Forty Words for Sorrow by Giles Blunt (posted Mar. 10, 2013)

Purchased in 2006 at my favorite annual book sale, published in 2001. Will read this for the Canadian Reading Challenge 6.

(3) The Smoke by Tony Broadbent (read Jan. 28, 2013)

Purchased in October 2011 (just made it under the wire). Published in 2002. Historical mystery, set in 1947 London, postwar, my favorite time period to read about.

(4) A Night of Long Knives by Rebecca Cantrell (posted Dec. 9, 2013)

Published in 2010. This is my husband's book and it has been on my list to borrow and read since it was published. Another historical mystery, this time in Germany between World War I and World War II.

(5) Raven Black by Ann Cleeves (posted Oct. 20, 2013)

Set in the Shetland Islands, Scotland. Purchased in 2009, published in 2007.
 

(6) Silver Pigs by Lindsey Davis (posted Dec. 8, 2013)

A historical novel set in Rome, A.D. 70. A time period I have not read about. Published in 1989, this edition purchased in 2007.

(7) The Ransom Game by Howard Engel (posted Apr. 10, 2013)

Purchased in 2006, published in 1981. Second book in a mystery series. Will read this for the Canadian Reading Challenge 6.

(8) Dark Star by Alan Furst (posted Oct. 26, 2013)

Purchased in 2009, published in 1991. Spy fiction, another favorite genre.

(9) Bones and Silence by Reginald Hill (posted Nov. 4, 2013)

Published in 1990. Purchased... a long time ago. I have all of the books in this series. This is #11 of 23. Reading my way through the series.

(10) Hard Currency  by Stuart M. Kaminsky

Same story as the Reginald Hill series. This book was published in 1995. Purchased... a long time ago. I have all of the books in this series. This is #9 of 16. Reading my way through the series.

(11) Devil in a Blue Dress by Walter Mosley (posted Feb. 13, 2013)

Published in 1990; my edition published in 1995, the same year the movie came out. Purchased... a long time ago.

(12) A Fatal Grace by Louise Penny (posted May 12, 2013)

Published 2007, purchased 2009. Second in a mystery series. Another one to read for the Canadian Reading Challenge 6.

Alternates:

(1) Child 44 by Tom Rob Smith

Another historical mystery, set in the Soviet Union at the end of the Stalin era. Published in 2008. This is my husband's book and it has been on my list to borrow and read since it was published.

(2) The Tourist by Olen Steinhauer (posted Feb. 17, 2013)

CIA thriller. Published and purchased in 2009, because I loved the author's first series.