Saturday, January 5, 2019

2019 TBR Pile Challenge!


Roof Beam Reader’s Official TBR Pile Challenge is back for its EIGHTH YEAR! And this will be my 5th year participating.


The idea is:
1) Read 12 books that have been sitting on your TBR shelf for at least a year.
2) The books must be listed in advance and the post up by January 15, 2019. Two extra alternate titles are allowed in case you run into a title that you cannot read or finish for any reason.
3) Books must be read and must be reviewed (doesn’t have to be too fancy) in order to count as completed.

Last year I did not do so well with the challenge. Of the total of fourteen books, I read 11 of them, which is not bad. But of those 11, I only reviewed 4 of them.

So here is my list and we will see how well I do with it this year.

  • Deadly Nightshade (1940) by Elizabeth Daly
  • The Iron Gates (1945) by Margaret Millar
  • The Long November (1946) by James Benson Nablo
  • Perfect Gallows (1988) by Peter Dickinson 
  • A Chill Rain In January (1990) by L.R. Wright
  • The Axeman's Jazz (1991) by Julie Smith
  • The Summons (1995) by Peter Lovesey
  • Tarnished Icons (1997) by Stuart Kaminsky
  • What Never Happens (2004) by Anne Holt
  • The Secret in Their Eyes (2005) by Eduardo Sacheri
  • City of Shadows (2006) by Ariana Franklin
  • The Shanghai Factor (2013) by Charles McCarry

Alternates:

  • Death in Amsterdam (1962) by Nicolas Freeling
  • Murder in Mykonos (2009) by Jeffrey Siger


24 comments:

col2910 said...

Good luck, Tracy. I joined this challenge in 2014 and still have it on my sidebar! I think I'll endeavour to clear it this year. I probably have the McCarry book and a slight possibility of the LR Wright, though it may have been culled. Nothing else is familiar.

Cath said...

I think 11 out of 14 is not at all bad. Good luck with it this year.

Anonymous said...

I wish you well with your challenge, Tracy. You've got some very interesting books there! I'm especially interested in what you think of the Wright. I like her work.

TracyK said...

Col, I cannot believe I have let the McCarry book sit there since 2013. I look forward to reading it.

TracyK said...

It was good to read those 11, Cath, but I was disappointed about the ones I did not review. Some of them were so good, I would like to share my thoughts on them.

TracyK said...

I loved the first book in L.R. Wright's series, Margot, and the second one was good also. I am assuming I will like this one too.

Bill Selnes said...

TracyK: Not familiar with any of the books though I equally have enjoyed L.R. Wright's books.

Mathew Anderson said...

I don't know about any other author but am familiar with L.R Wright only and I loved reading those.

TracyK said...

I do look forward to L. R. Wright's novel, Bill, and I hope I can find the next ones in the series. That will be one for the Canadian Book Challenge plus two of my vintage books are also by Canadian authors.

TracyK said...

I am glad to hear that, Mathew. I like the setting especially in those books.

Mathew Anderson said...

I loved reading the L.R Wright so therefore dont know about anyother. Keep up the hard work.

Rick Robinson said...

Looks like everyone is a fan of L. R. Wright, whom I have not read. I will give a strong thumbs up for one of your alternates, the Siger. That's a series I like a lot. The Lovesey is a good one too. Good luck on the challenge.

I recently shuffled some things around, and try to keep my TBR list short (since the whole house is a TBR, really, so all but three of the books on it are newer than a year. I've starting one, received for Christmas, today.

TracyK said...

L. R. Wright is a Canadian author whose first book in this series won the Edgar for Best Novel in 1986. The series is set on the Sunshine Coast of British Columbia.

I have read lots of good things about Jeffrey Siger's books and I found the first three at a book sale a couple of years ago so I am looking forward to trying his books. Very glad to hear that you like the series.

Rick Robinson said...

I'll try the first Wright.

Rick Robinson said...

Interesting that none of the three library systems here in Portland, OR have her books. Seems odd. I'll have to look for a used copy.

TracyK said...

I have also had problems finding copies of her books, Rick. The first book she wrote was an inverted mystery, which I like a lots but some people don't.

Howard said...

I just have to say: The Axeman's Jazz. I love this title! Now I'll have to hunt down this book and read it.

TracyK said...

I hope you like it, Howard. Set in New Orleans.

Peggy Ann said...

Great list, Tracy! Especially interested in the L.R. Wright book. Haven’t read that one yet.

TracyK said...

Me too, Peggy. I am looking forward to that one, and hope I can find more in the series.

Prashant C. Trikannad said...

Tracy, I need a challenge like this to clear my tottering TBR pile. I have not read most of the authors in your list, and they're such fine writers too. Good luck to you!

TracyK said...

Thanks, Prashant. I think these will all be good reads, I just have to keep my focus.

CLM said...

It is funny that your list has a lot of books on it that I have considered but not read - except for City of Shadows which I thought was amazing, albeit dark. I persuaded my book group to read it several years ago and we had a great discussion.
I should give Laurali Wright another try!

Good luck!

TracyK said...

I am looking forward to reading City of Shadows, Constance. And I hope I can keep tracking down more of L. R. Wright's books.