Friday, November 28, 2014

Joining the 2015 TBR Pile Challenge

Recently three challenges have been announced that relate to whittling down the many books in our TBR piles. I participated in all three of them last year and I will be joining the challenges again this year.

In this post I list the books I will read for the SIXTH ANNUAL “TBR Pile Challenge!” hosted by Roof Beam Reader

One of the differences in this challenge is that each of the books must 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 1/1/2014 or later. 

There are specific rules and I will refer you to this page if you are interested in joining in.


My list:

She Shall Have Murder by Delano Ames (pub. 1948, on my TBR since 2005)

Blood Will Tell by George Bagby (pub. 1950, on my TBR since before 2005)

The Manchurian Candidate by Richard Condon (pub. 1959, on my TBR since 2005)

The Last Enemy by Grace Brophy (pub. 2007, on my TBR since 2010)

Diamond Solitaire by Peter Lovesey (pub. 1992, on my TBR since 2003)

Die With Me by Elena Forbes (pub. 2007, on my TBR since 2011)

Indemnity Only by Sara Paretsky (pub. 1982, on my TBR since 2005)

Chiefs by Stuart Woods (pub. 1981, on my TBR since 2005)

Where Memories Lie by Deborah Crombie (pub. 2008, on my TBR since 2009)

Motor City Blue by Loren D. Estleman (pub. 1980, on my TBR since 2005)

Fender Benders by Bill Fitzhugh (pub. 2001, on my TBR since 2005)

Norwegian by Night by Derek Miller (pub. in US 2013, on my TBR since 2013)

Two Alternates:

The Cold, Cold Ground  by Adrian McKinty  (pub. 2012, on my TBR since 2012)

Track of the Cat by Nevada Barr (pub. 1993, on my TBR since before 2005)

20 comments:

pattinase (abbott) said...

Good luck!

Anonymous said...

You've got some great reads there, Tracy!! I'll be looking forward to your reviews.

Cath said...

Have fun! I'll be doing Bev's again.

TracyK said...

Thanks, Patti, I look forward to getting to a lot of older books on my TBR pile this year.

TracyK said...

Thanks, Margot. It would be great if I could just cut down on adding to the TBR pile at the same rate I deplete it..

TracyK said...

Thanks, Cath. I will be doing that one too.

Anonymous said...

You know I am an avid fan of this site.
Your list looks great. All the authors are new to me!
I'll be following your reviews.

w said...

I don't join challenges publicly because I fail at them in follow thru. I think for this type of challenge, I can do this one but it will be unofficial like. Of course, I'll enjoy reading your reviews and good luck with putting a dent in that tbr pile.

As an aside: I'd have to stay off the internet and not read other people's blogs if I am to succeed in just reading what I own. Well, it seems like that sometimes but it is possible to just read what you own. If I could have a do over I wouldn't have bought so many books. I've learned to use wish lists and if I'm not reading it now that's where it goes.

TracyK said...

Thanks for your kind words, Nancy. The list is a mix of vintage mysteries and fairly recent books. Maybe some will appeal to you.

TracyK said...

Keishon, I had a problem with several challenges this year as far as actual completion (although my goals were low) but they motivate me so I still enjoy them.

I can handle three months of only TBR pile books (although it is difficult) and I just keep a list of appealing books in Jan. - Feb. Agree the wish list is best, rather than actually buying. We have gotten better at that with movies but not so much with books.

Prashant C. Trikannad said...

Tracy, most of my unread books are more than a year old, some as old as a decade. It's so easy to buy them and never read them, at least in my case. I look forward to your reviews the many eclectic novels you plan to read for this challenge.

Katrina said...

I probably won't join in the challenge but I do plan to read a lot of my own books in 2015 as I have so many in my piles. I really enjoyed the couple of Delano Ames books which I've read recently.

col2910 said...

Good luck ,but I'll steer clear. I think I signed up this year and have read 1 out of 12!

Manor Minor Press said...

I'm so delighted to see this! Delano Ames was a favorite of my late mother's and is a favorite of mine, so much so that—frustrated that none of his books are available on Kindle—our small publisher, Manor Minor Press, will be putting out all of his books we can as both Kindle and paperback. (You can find a few of them inexpensively used, with cool covers, but some are very hard to find, and I like to read in bed on Kindle after a long day editing.) She Shall Have Murder is our first, and I've annotated it with notes about some of the references that might be obscure to the modern American reader. You can find it on Amazon or find the link on our website, manorminor.com. We'll also be giving away a few copies--see our website!

TracyK said...

I am in the same boat as you, Prashant, I buy too many books and don't read the majority.

TracyK said...

Katrina, I remember enjoying Delano Ames books years ago, I hope I like them at this stage in my life.

TracyK said...

I do enjoy this challenge, Col. I am trying to cut back on challenges in general, but TBR challenges are perfect for me.

TracyK said...

It is good to hear that you will be putting out editions of Delano Ames books. I will check them out and try to pick up the ones I don't have copies of already. Thanks for letting me know about this.

Anonymous said...

I'm participating too! Happy reading! Looks some great mysteries on there! I love the original Manchurian Candidate film, I should read the book sometime. 2016 TBR Pile Challenge perhaps?

TracyK said...

Thanks, Jess. I hope to get to all 14 books in 2015. In 2014, I did not do the alternates. Looking forward to all of them.