TLoeffler Gets Back to the Shelves

"Bombs" sounds so violent that I have chosen a gentler ticker for this year. We'll see how many bubbles I can burst in 2012. My goal is 50, which I barely met in 2011, so I'll just keep it the same. Lucky for me, I have plenty of books to choose from.

I'm starting the year with 665 unread books on my shelf. I forgot to put this in at the beginning...

List of Owned Books Read in 2012:
(no touchstones; '*' means it's off the shelf, but it was acquired in 2012 and doesn't count for this challenge)

January:
1. S Is For Silence--Sue Grafton
2. 100 Unique Eats and Eateries in Missouri--Ann Hazelwood
3. The Cat Who Went Back in Time--Kim Day
4. A Society Gone Forever--Kimberly Day
5. Michael in Foreverland--Kim Kay Day
6. A Family History Embedded in Her Soul--Kimberly Kay Day
7. The Interrogation Chair--Scott L. Miller
8. The Chronicles of Harris Burdick--Chris Van Allsburg
9. War Horse--Michael Morpurgo
10. The Autobiography of Mother Jones--Mary Harris Jones

February:
1. *Fundamentals of Project Management--Joseph Heagney
2. Speak and Get Results--Sandy Linver
3. Catherine the Great--Robert Massie
4. The Ghost in the Little House--William Holtz
5. The Case of the Gilded Fly-Edmund Crispin
6. We All Wore Stars--Theo Coster
7. *William Henry Harrison--Gail Collins

March:
1. Come In and Cover Me--Gin Phillips
2. Wealth Happens One Day at a Time--Brooke Stephens
3. The Commodore's Palace New Orleans
4. Unseen Treasures: Russia & the New World
5. The Invention of Hugo Cabret--Brian Selznick
6. *Wonderstruck--Brian Selznick
7. St. Joseph Church History--Lawrence Lovasik
8. Singled Out--Virginia Nicholson
9. *What the Dog Saw--Malcolm Gladwell
10. The Waste Land and Other Poems--T. S. Eliot
11. Lunatics: A Novel--Dave Barry & Alan Zweibel
12. The Kitchen Boy--Robert Alexander

April:
1. Wobble to Death--Peter Lovesey
2. *Woe to Live On--Daniel Woodrell
3. *Life: The 60s--Doris O'Neil
4. Ruined by Reading--Lynne Sharon Schwartz
5. *The Homecoming of Samuel Lake--Jenny Wingfield
6. Dog On It--Spencer Quinn
7. *Alone in the Kitchen with an Eggplant--Jenni Ferrari-Adler
8. The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher--Kate Summerscale

May:
1. *Wonder-R. J. Palacio
2. Lysistrata--Aristophanes
3. The Warden--Anthony Trollope
4. A Handbook of American Prayer--Lucius Shepard
5. *Making Mischief: A Maurice Sendak Appreciation--Gregory Maguire
6. *Started Early, Took My Dog--Kate Atkinson
7. Floyd and the Future Frog--Paul Cook
8. The Shape of Water--Andrea Camilleri
9. The Remains of Company D--James Carl Nelson
10. A Tour Guide to Missouri's Civil War--Gregory Wolk
11.*Being Perfect--Anna Quindlen
12.*Clair de Lune--Jetta Carleton
13.*River of Darkness--Rennie Airth
14. Mobs, Mayhem & Murder--Tim O'Neil

June:
1. *Elizabeth the Queen--Sally Bedell Smith
2. *The Crime Doggs Stories--Brad Meyer
3. The Inspector and Mrs. Jeffries--Emily Brightwell
4. * Cutting for Stone--Abraham Verghese
5. Corelli's Mandolin--Louis de Bernieres
6. Jefferson Barracks--Sandie Grassino

July:
1. *Round Mountain--Castle Freeman Jr.
2. *Development First--David B. Peterson
3. Missouri Wine Country--Don & Dianna Graveman
4. Howards End is on the Landing--Susan Hill
5. *Juliet in August--Dianne Warren
6. *My Name is Mary Sutter--Robin Oliveira
7. The Naked Chef Takes Off--Jamie Oliver
8. Confederates in the Attic--Tony Horwitz
9. Truman--David McCullough
10. The Lady--Emily James Putnam
11. Edward VIII--Frances Donaldson

August:
1. *Windsor Castle: Official Guide--John Martin Robinson
2. *The Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge.
3. The Intellectual Devotional--David Kidder
4. The Common Reader--Virginia Woolf
5. Doomsday Book--Connie Willis
6. Forest Park: The Jewel of St. Louis--Sally Altman
7. Molly Brown: Unraveling the Myth--Kristen Iversen
8. *A Song in the Night--Bob Massie

September:
1. Pissing in the Snow--Vance Randolph
2. *The Beautiful Mystery--Louise Penny
3. *Gone Girl--Gillian Flynn
4. Zachary Taylor: Soldier, Planter, Statesman of the Old Southwest--K. Jack Bauer
5. Wicked Joplin--Larry Wood
6. Atonement--Ian McEwan
7. *True Believers--Kurt Andersen
8. Mary Poppins Comes Back--P. L. Travers
9. The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo--Stieg Larsson
10. A Family of Poems--Caroline Kennedy

October:
1. Mary Poppins Opens the Door--P. L. Travers
2. *Destiny of the Republic--Candice Millard
3. Stone Age Present--William Allman
4. Travels With Charley--John Steinbeck
5. Bess W. Truman--Margaret Truman
6. Crippen--John Boyne

November:
1. *Stoner--John Williams
2. *The Bear--Ryan Sohmer
3. *Pyg: the Memoirs of Toby the Learned Pig--Russell Potter
4. The Murders of Richard III--Elizabeth Peters
5. To End All Wars--Adam Hochschild

December:
1. *Weird Missouri--James Strait
2. *More Book Lust--Nancy Pearl
3. The Giant's House--Elizabeth McCracken
4. *Butch Cassidy-Beyond the Grave--W. C. Jameson
5. *High Rising--Angela Thirkell
6. A Practical Guide to Yoga--James Hewitt
7. Three by Heinlein--Robert Heinlein
8. The Rescue of Miss Yaskell & Other Pipe Dreams--Russell Baker
9. *Pogo: Through the Wild Blue Wonder--Walt Kelly

hi Terri
I am joining you in clearing the shelfs this year, good luck!
Anita

Terri, you can do it!!!!!

I'm off to a great start, even though several of them were small. 2 were Christmas gifts, 1 was from Joplin, and 1 was a very old one.

1. S Is For Silence by Sue Grafton. One of my very favorite series. I dole them out carefully, reading no more than one a year because I don't want to run out!

2. 100 Unique Eats and Eateries in Missouri by Ann Hazelwood. Just what it says. Between some of these restaurants and the 85 wineries I have left to visit in the state, I could have a field day!

3. The Cat Who Went Back in Time by Kim Day. Oh. My. The self-publishing business has gotten completely out of hand. There is a long story behind this book (and the next). Suffice it to say, they were given to me by my son as an inside joke.

4. A Society Gone Forever by Kimberly Kay Day. A "novel where science fiction and history come together." See above note.

I think January will be my most productive month. (A) I haven't bought any new books yet; and (B) I'm not teaching this month, so instead of spending my evenings doing lesson planning, I'll ignore my list of things to do around the house and read more. Maybe I can get far enough ahead to coast the rest of the year.....

Okay, two more short ones out of the way. Expect more time to elapse before I post again...

5. Michael in Foreverland by Kim Kay Day.

6. A Family History Embedded in Her Soul by Kimberly Kay Day.

that is a great start Terri!

Kimberly Kay Day done now?

Excellent start Terri, and a great incentive to carry through the rest of the month.

Thanks, Anita & Judy! It will be nice to start reading...something else.

And yes, Anita, I am SO done with Kimberly Kay Day! A Society Gone Forever had me rolling on the floor (it's not supposed to be funny, but it was pretty ridiculous), but the others were just painful to read. Really, very bad writing. You can't imagine...

You're really making tracks. I've just started the thick Isaacson bio of Steve Jobs, so I'm going to have a hard time making my January quota. Kind of makes me wish we could express our goals in pages rather than volumes.

Meredy, it's your challenge. Make it what you want!

7. The Interrogation Chair by Scott L. Miller. A very good psychological thriller from a local author.

You're off to a great start on this challenge, Terri!

8. The Chronicles of Harris Burdick by Chris Van Allsburg and others. Excellent read!

So what happened to make the Society Gone Forever so ridiculous? You have me intrigued now.

It tried to be a dystopian story, ostensibly about "the last human who survived the destruction on Earth in 2020 to awake in the year 2500." The Earth is run by robots. But somehow, she finds 20 teenagers. They go to the planet Titerium, run by Zod, "a very wise old man who was 200 years old...(and) had been known as Kris Kringle on Earth...who had once visited Virginia Woolf, who still believed in the impossible and made glad the time of childhood." At one point, describing how we ruined the earth, the Grand Canyon disappears. Really?

I'm sorry, I really don't try to make fun of people, but this was really a bad, bad book with no discernible plot line, that veered off into descriptions of movies. There are five pages of dedications, my favorite being "To George Miller for making an important movie for our society called "Happy Feet" on the fate of the Penguins." And she is completely serious. The other books were ridiculous, too, but didn't make me laugh out loud like this one did. I sound like a horrible person, but I'm not. These were just too bizarre for words.

9. War Horse by Michael Morpurgo. A touching book, that the current movie was based on (also the Broadway play, if I'm not mistaken).

tloeffler, that is hilarious! Thanks for the laugh. Let me guess: self-published?

Publish America. Probably the same difference.

I should probably also tell you that last summer, she sat next to me on the plane from Chicago to NYC. It was an....interesting ride. She told us she was going to NYC to be on The Bill Cunningham Show. Later research showed us that the show didn't start till September. My son recorded every episode waiting to see what she would be doing on that show. The title of the show she was finally on: "Reality Star Wannabes." Apparently her sister was doing an intervention to get her back to some semblance of reality. It didn't work.

10. The Autobiography of Mother Jones by Mary Harris Jones (aka, Mother Jones). Interesting piece of history, although I'm anxious now to read the biography, which I expect will be easier to follow.

January Recap:

Original TBR: 665

Current TBR: 657 + Currently Reading: 9 =

666

Dang. I thought I was really doing good. I guess I bought more books this month that I thought I did. In fairness, one was for work, so I didn't really "buy" it.

Oh, well. Carry on...

11. Fundamentals of Project Management by Joseph Heagney. Actually a book for class, but I own it, and I read it. Although it doesn't count for the challenge.

12. Speak and Get Results by Sandy Linver. How to create a speech or presentation.

13. Catherine the Great: Portrait of a Woman by Robert K. Massie. A chunkster off the shelf. But a really, really good one!

14. The Ghost in the Little House by William Holtz. A biography of Rose Wilder Lane. Another chunkster off the shelf!

15. The Case of the Gilded Fly by Edmund Crispin

16. We All Wore Stars by Theo Coster

17. William Henry Harrison: American Presidents Series by Gail Collins, but I bought it this year, so it doesn't count.

February Recap:

Original TBR: 665

Current TBR: 655 + Currently Reading: 11 =

666

I guess it's okay that I held my own this month.

18. Come In and Cover Me by Gin Phillips.

19. Unseen Treasures: Imperial Russia and the New World. An exhibition catalog.
20. The Commodore's Palace New Orleans. A cookbook with great stories about each recipe.
21. Wealth Happens One Day at a Time by Brooke Stephens. Financial advice
22. The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick. Fabulous.
23. Wonderstruck by Brian Selznick. Also Fabulous, and the only one of these that doesn't count!

24. Saint Joseph Church History by Lawrence Lovasik. A disappointment. It covered all the years, but brushed over a lot of the controversial times, blaming problems on everyone else, or skipping controversy entirely. I was hoping for something a little more detailed and even-handed.

25. Singled Out: How Two Million British Women Survived Without Men after the First World War by Virginia Nicholson. Fabulous book!

26. What the Dog Saw: And Other Adventures by Malcolm Gladwell. Also a great book, but a recent addition to the shelf.

27. The Kitchen Boy by Robert Alexander. Excellent novel of the Romanovs!

28. Lunatics: A Novel by Dave Barry and Alan Zweibel.

29. The Waste Land And Other Poems by T. S. Eliot.

March Recap:

Original TBR: 665

Current TBR: 649 + Currently Reading: 8 =

657

A good month! I got 9 books off my shelf this month, so for once, I'm making progress! Until, of course, I have the time to catalog the books I got tonight...

Still, I'm half way through my challenge and it's only April!

You are doing very well with this challenge, tloeffler!

I really am, Judy! Not sure how long it will last though--I really am trying not to buy too many new books, but I'm just not very good at convincing myself of that! The good thing about the early part of the year: Almost ALL of the books I read count as off the shelf!

30. Woe to Live On by Daniel Woodrell. It doesn't count, because I bought a copy for myself just last month, so it never even made it ON the shelf.

31. Wobble to Death by Peter Lovesey. THIS one counts. Even though reading it sent me to BookMooch, where I mooched the next 3 in the series....this will never do.

32. Ruined by Reading by Lynne Sharon Schwartz.

33. Life: The 60s by Doris C. O'Neil. Doesn't count...but still good!

34. The Homecoming of Samuel Lake by Jenny Wingfield. If every book I read went as quickly as this one, my shelves would be cleared in...well, in 2 years if I never bought another book. This was a keeper, even though I just got it last week, so it doesn't count.

35. Dog On It by Spencer Quinn. First in a series of mysteries narrated by Chet the Dog. Done well, enjoyed, off the shelf!

Dog on it sounds good, and there is a Dutch translation!
I will look for it at the library.

It's great fun, Anita--I think you'll like it!

36. Alone in the Kitchen With An Eggplant edited by Jenni Ferrari-Adler. It doesn't count for OTS, because I bought it this year, and read it before it even landed on the shelf!

I already have Dog On It on my wishlist and I just added Alone in the Kitchen with an Eggplant. Sounds great.

Hi, Betty! I hope you like them. I have the second one in the series after Dog On It and I'm looking forward to getting around to reading it someday! (Thereby Hangs a Tail)

My last off the shelf book for April:

37. The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher, or Murder at Road Hill House by Kate Summerscale. A true story of the murder of a child in 1860 in England. An interesting tale, but in the end, kind of anticlimactic. The detective accuses someone early in the investigation, but they are let off, and his reputation is tarnished. This really wasn't as much a mystery story as it was a comparison to the new genre of detective novels introduced at this time.

April Recap:

Original TBR: 665

Current TBR: 663 + Currently Reading: 11 =

674

Okay, I went to a book fair this month. Plus I used some of my Amazon gift card balance. We'll see what happens in May.

38. Wonder by R. J. Palacio. Another one that didn't even make it onto the shelf. August (Auggie) Pullman is going to school for the first time ever, into fifth grade. Auggie was born with a deformed face, and because of all the surgeries he has needed, his mother home-schooled him up till now. This was a great book, told alternately from the points of view of Auggie, his sister, her friend, and several of the friends that he makes at school. It was great to read one person's narrative of an event, then read the others and find out how easy it is to misinterpret things, especially when you're a child or a teenager. A very quick read and highly recommended.

Three that count!

39. Lysistrata by Aristophanes.
40. The Warden by Anthony Trollope.
41. A Handbook of American Prayer by Lucius Shepard.

And one new one, in memory of Maurice Sendak:

42. Making Mischief: A Maurice Sendak Appreciation by Gregory Maguire

Another new one:

43. Started Early, Took My Dog by Kate Atkinson.

44. Floyd and the Future Frog by Paul Cook. A thin pre-teen book, but it's off the shelf!

45. The Shape of Water by Andrea Camilleri. Good start to a series.

46. The Remains of Company D by James Carl Nelson. Story of the WWI soldiers in this company, their lives, their war, sometimes, their deaths. A great read.

I know I shouldn't be looking to add to my TBR, but The Remains of Company D sounds like a book I would really enjoy so I will be on the lookout for that one.

Judy, it was really good. He just took the company that his grandfather was in, and researched the members of it, describing what he could find of their lives before the war, during the war, and, if they survived, after the war. Extremely well-researched, and he has many of their pictures, so you can visualize them (which is sometimes good and sometimes very sad--I found myself attached to several of them, and actually cried).

And I guess to stay on the "war" theme:

47. A Tour Guide to Missouri's Civil War: Friend and Foe Alike by Gregory Wolk. A terrific history of the Civil War in Missouri, along with five detailed tour loops, maps, directions, biographies, and great stories. Recommended even if you've never set foot in the state.

Oops, forgot one more that is a recent acquisition:

48. Being Perfect by Anna Quindlen. A short guide to life, with great pictures!

49. Clair de Lune by Jetta Carleton. Not as good as Moonflower Vine. And one that never made it on to the shelf.

50. River of Darkness by Rennie Airth. Great start to a series. But it's too new for Off the Shelf. :(

51. Mobs, Mayhem & Murder: Tales From the St. Louis Police Beat by Tim O'Neil. Fascinating stuff! Off the shelf, and onto the coffee table!

May Recap:

Original TBR: 665

Current TBR: 656 + Currently Reading: 9 =

665

Not bad. Back to my original number at the first of the year. It won't last, though. I expect the Johnson County Book Fair this month will tilt the scales in the wrong direction. Still, it's good to know that I haven't accumulated any books this year, in spite of those I have bought...

51. Elizabeth the Queen: The Life of a Modern Monarch by Sally Bedell Smith. A great biography! It's an Early Reviewer that I received this year, so it doesn't count, but I'm glad to not have the 3 inches on my TBR shelf!

52. The Crime Doggs Stories by Brad Meyer. A new one, off the shelf before it went on....

53. The Inspector and Mrs Jeffries by Emily Brightwell. Off the shelf!

54. Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese. I just bought it last week because I had to have it read by today for Book Club.

59: How did you like that last one? You must have done some fast reading to finish it in a week.

I liked it a lot! I did have to read it fast, and I finished it with an hour to spare. Luckily, it was hard to put down! It's been on my "To Read" list for ages, and I only got word of the book club meeting a week ahead of time, so I really had to haul it. But I enjoyed it quite a bit, as did most of the others in the group.

55. Corelli's Mandolin by Louis De Bernieres. Why do all the touchstones say Captain Corelli's Mandolin? That's not the name on my book. Regardless. Very good, and off the shelf!

56. Jefferson Barracks by Sandie Grassino and Art Schuermann. An Images of America book about Jefferson Barracks in St. Louis, from its founding in 1826 to its current various uses. Off the shelf!

June Recap:

Original TBR: 665

Current TBR: 679 + Currently Reading: 10 =

689

Pretty much what I expected. Most of my reading this month was having to buy a book and read it right away, and the Kansas City meet-up (one day at a book fair and one at used book stores) did me in. But, I'm only 10 short of my goal for the year!

57. Round Mountain by Castle Freeman Jr.. A collection of twelve stories, all of which take place in a small northeastern town near Round Mountain. Each story had previously been published separately between 1993 and 2005. The characters are all connected, although the stories are not in any particular order. There is nothing monumental about any of them. I have simultaneously been reading John Steinbeck's "Cannery Row," and these stories bring that to mind. Quiet, uneventful, but full of meaning.

This is a Concord Free Press book, so I will be making a donation to a Hurricane Irene relief organization. If you would be interested in reading this book, and you are willing to make a donation & pass it on when you're finished, let me know and I will send it to you!

58. Development First by David B. Peterson. Received from a class at work, read for work.

59. Missouri Wine Country: St. Charles to Hermann by Dianna Graveman and Don Graveman. A small Images of America book, but off the shelf!

Hey, a book off the shelf is a book off the shelf! Congrats, you're kicking butt on this challenge!

Wow, you've knocked off 59 shelf books? I'm impressed!

Thanks, Laura! I think I made up for the little one by pulling Truman off the shelf (which I'm reading now). Amazing how much room I have on THAT shelf now!

Thanks, Terri! 59 total shelf books, but only 41 of them were on the shelf at the beginning of the year, which is my criteria for the challenge. But I'm still keeping track of the others here, and if 59 of the 93 books I've read this year were books I owned, well, then, I don't feel nearly as bad about the ones I've bought!

Ooh, one more!

60. Howards End is on the Landing: A Year of Reading From Home by Susan Hill. Speaking of reading books I own...I could never spend a year ONLY reading books I own (well, theoretically, I could--I just wouldn't be able to make that rule for myself!), but she has put together a fun little book about the books she owns and choosing what to read, and I enjoyed it immensely. And it counts!

I've got this one on my shelf too, and I agree with you. That was my plan at the beginning of this year, to read only books I already own, but I think I broke that rule on January 2nd. Oh well, as long as I read over half from my own shelves every year, I think I'm doing alright.

I'm with you, Laura! It's hard for me to make rules for myself--the very fact of a rule makes me want to break it! As long as I'm making some kind of effort, I'm okay. I keep telling myself, "I bought these books for a reason!" But I'm doing okay, I think.

61. Juliet in August by Dianne Warren. An LT Early Reviewers book, it didn't even go on the shelf.

62. My Name is Mary Sutter by Robin Oliveira. I bought it at a book fair in Kansas last month, and started reading it right away, so it doesn't count, but still...

You're right, if I set a rule I want to break it right away too - but, I always try to remind myself nicely "see? all those other books up there? they want to be read too" and then I go to pick up 6 more from the library. *sigh* I think all of my "current" reads are my own, but they're all not getting read b/c two books came in from the library and I can't renew them. Crap. AND, tonight I'm going to B&N for an author reading/signing (Deborah Harkness, I can't wait!) and I've been talking very sternly to myself about not buying anything while I'm in there. I may have to give my wallet to my friends so I'm safe.

Ooh, are you going to get your new book signed??? Fun--I love book-signings, but I always end up buying too many books. I don't even know how much I spent last time Gregory Maguire was here--I must have made his house payment for that month!

63. The Naked Chef Takes Off by Jamie Oliver. "Just" a cookbook, but it was a fun read, because his recipes are a hoot to read. AND it was on the shelf, and now it's not! (Plus, it's signed, Laura!)

Yay for autographed books! Yes, she signed both the new book and my copy of A Discovery of Witches. She was very nice, funny, smart - I want to be her friend! I'll have to post a couple of pictures on my thread tomorrow, it was a great time. And, I successfully avoided buying anything else at the bookstore (well, aside from a bottle of water) so that's a good thing! Just ignore the 2 books I got from PaperbackSwap in the mail today. :)

Good for you! I don't know that I could have been that restrained.

And I knocked out another one:

64. Confederates in the Attic by Tony Horwitz. I've wanted to read this for years, so I just took it off the shelf & read it!

65. Truman by David McCullough. Getting this one off the shelf made room for about 3 more books! And what a great read. Highly, highly recommended.

And just in time, I managed to finish off two more OTS books for the month!

66. The Lady: Studies of Certain Significant Phases of Her History by Emily James Putnam.

67. Edward VIII by Frances Donaldson. Another 3 inches cleared away!

68. Windsor Castle: Official Guide by John Martin Robinson. Okay, I read it as soon as I got home from the Book Fair, so it doesn't count, and it's really thin.

Book Fair, you ask? Yes, I went to the Friends of the Library Book Fair this weekend. Three times. Came home with a total of 53 books.

*pretends to hang head in shame, but secretly doing a happy dance*

Wow!!! An impressive total indeed!

AND I spent less than $25.

69. The Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge. Very dull, and it doesn't count, but I had to read it so I can take a test.

Wow, that kicks ass! You're doing such a great job on the challenge, and your book haul is certainly happy dance-worthy!!!!!

@81: Also wow! How were the books priced?

That's a great haul for the $. Except for children's books, library sales around here seem to have gotten a little more expensive over the last couple of years. Sounds like yours are still a great deal.

I volunteered for 3 hours on the first day of the Book Fair, and I got a free bag of books for that. The second day, they were priced at $2 for hardcover, $1 for oversized paperback (although I think the young man checking me out only charged $.50 for all of the paperbacks), and $.50 for regular paperback, and $.25 for children/teen books. The third day, they were $5/bag, so I got two bags that were as full as I could get them! I paid $4 for a collectible graphic novel for my son, and I spent $25 all total. Not too shabby, I didn't think!

70. The Intellectual Devotional: Revive Your Mind, Complete Your Education, and Roam Confidently with the Cultured Class by David S. Kidder and Noah D. Oppenheim. I could probably have finished this in less than a week, but I followed the rules & read one page per day for a year. Monday History, Tuesday Literature, Wednesday Visual Arts, Thursday Science, Friday Music, Saturday Philosophy, and Sunday Religion. Great fun!

71. The Common Reader by Virginia Woolf. This was my purse book for the last month. I have to admit, I skimmed a lot of it. But, it's off the shelf!

Ooh, one more book before I reach my goal! Which one will get finished first??? Only The Shadow knows!

Drum Roll for my 50th book off the shelf that was there at the beginning of the year:

72. Doomsday Book by Connie Willis. I picked a great one--I was up till 2 a.m. finishing it!

And another:

73. Forest Park: The Jewel of St. Louis by Sally J. Altman. Coffee table book about, well, Forest Park in St. Louis.

I don't think I'll set a goal for the rest of the year. I'll just keep reading and use that number as next year's goal!

Yay! Congrats! :) Also it's nice to have a really good book to meet your goal with!

53 books for under $25 and some volunteer time? Great going!

*big crash of symbols to follow your drumroll for the 50th pre-2012 book* Congrats!

I agree, RP, you've got to have a good one for the important numbers! Thanks!

Thanks, Terri! And I keep rolling along....

74. Molly Brown: Unraveling the Myth by Kristen Iversen. Major disappointment. But, it's off the shelf now.

Congratulations on your 50th pre 2012 book read! I'm waiting to see how high you go before the end of the year.

Thank you, Velma! I'm also curious to see how high I can get. I seem to fill my shelves up as quickly as I deplete them, but regardless, I'm at least moving the merchandise!

75. A Song in the Night by Bob Massie. A LibraryThing Early Reviewer, so not really off the shelf, but owned & read!

Amazing progress!!! Way to go, TLo!

Wow, 75 just on this challenge! (This is the BOMBS challenge, not the 75 Challenge, right?;)

Great work, Terri!

Thanks, Laura! Now if I'd just stop buying books... (which is SO not going to happen!)

Thanks, Terri! Aren't you proud that of the 120+ books I have listed on the 75 Challenge, I owned 75 of them? Credit, I'm looking for credit, because:

August Recap:

Original TBR: 665

Current TBR: 720 + Currently Reading: 16 =

736

Oops.

Plus I just realized I didn't do a July recap, which I should have done. But, I did bring 53 books home from the Book Fair in August, and frankly, it's been a good reading month for me. Guess I'll just carry on!

76. Pissing in the Snow & Other Ozark Folktales by Vance Randolph. A collection of bawdy Ozark stories (funny) with annotations by some scholar (distracting).

77. The Beautiful Mystery by Louise Penny. Doesn't really count. I started reading it before I left the bookstore Thursday, and I would have finished it Friday if I hadn't been driving all day. Excellent.

Re The Beautiful Mystery, that's very good news indeed! Looking forward to it. I still have to read A Trick of the Light first though.

I wish I still had two of her books to read. Someday I may just go back to the first and read them all right in a row!

78. Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn. Now that I've hit my goal, I feel less guilty about reading newer books off my shelf!

Congratulations! Yay to no more guilt!!!

79. Zachary Taylor: Soldier, Planter, Statesman of the Old Southwest by K. Jack Bauer. Boring, but off the shelf!

80. Wicked Joplin by Larry Wood. Fun little book about the racy past of Joplin, MO. OTS!

81. Atonement by Ian McEwan. Off the shelf!

82. True Believers by Kurt Andersen. Off the shelf, but doesn't count cause it wasn't added till this year.

83. Mary Poppins Comes Back by P. L. Travers. Second in the series.

84. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson. Fabulous book! And off the shelf!

and a chunkster too!

Yeah, Laura, and I did that one in just two nights. Good stuff.

85. A Family of Poems: My Favorite Poetry for Children by Caroline Kennedy. Off the shelf!

Impressive reading! You rule.

Thanks, Velma!

September Recap:

Original TBR: 665

Current TBR: 711 + Currently Reading: 17 =

728

Well, at least it's lower than it was at the beginning of the month.....So if I read 63 more books this year, and don't accumulate any more, I can be where I was when the year started.

*eye roll*

Good thing my livelihood doesn't depend on that number going down....

86. Mary Poppins Opens the Door by P. L. Travers. One more off the shelf.

87. Destiny of the Republic: A Tale of Madness, Medicine and the Murder of a President by Candice Millard. I read this almost as soon as I bought it, so it doesn't count, but highly recommended!

You take my breath away, tloeffler, 87 BOMBS is amazing. What president was that book about anyway?

112: It was James Garfield, according to the linked page. I know next to nothing about him, but the first two reviews on the page sold me on it. I've just requested it from the library.

I love the way LT introduces me to new reading matter and lets me gauge my probable interest from seeing what else the recommender reads and likes.

Thanks. I'll see if my library has it or can get it. Yes, LT is good and bad that way.

Meredy is right, Velma, it was about James Garfield. I'm sorry, I guess I should have said that. I also knew next to nothing about James Garfield, but someone on LT raved about the book, and shortly after, the author came for a book-signing, and so I went to listen. She was so fascinating, and so enthusiastic about her topic, that, even though I'm only up to Millard Fillmore in my presidential reading, I read this one out of order. It really was a great book, and I'd highly recommend it. I'd love to know what you two think about it if you end up reading it.

88. Stone Age Present: How Evolution Has Shaped Modern Life -- From Sex, Violence and Language to Emotions, Morals and Communities by William F. Allman. Another fascinating book, well-researched and easy to read.

I've been very lucky in my reading lately....

89. Travels With Charley by John Steinbeck. An excellent book, and off the shelf!

Ooh, do I have the potential to read 100 books that I actually owned this year? How exciting!

Hey, Terri, you're closing in on that 100 books-off-the-shelf mark! Just keep going at the rate you've been reading . That is just amazing.

Great reading, Terri! 100 books this year? Definitely!

Terri and Velma, that 100 books would be a lot more impressive if I hadn't purchased more than that this year! Oh well. I'm never bored!

90. Bess W.Truman byMargaret Truman. A biography of her mother by President Truman's daughter. It's a rather thick one off the shelf!

91. Crippen by John Boyne. Another thick one that I've wanted to read for a long time, and it's off the shelf too!

It's just amazing what you can do when you only have one job....

lol

Crippen has been sitting on my shelf for a while. Maybe I should get to it . . .

You should, Terri. It's fairly quick, and although it's a novel, most of it is based on the true story, which I've found to be a fascinating story.

92. The Girl Who Played With Fire by Stieg Larsson. The good news? A thick book off the shelf that counts. The bad news? Now I have to buy the third one, because if there are only 3 books in a series and I own 2, I have to own them all. But I'll probably read it from the library right away, and wait until I can find it cheap to buy it!

O yes, you do need to read the third book! Thats really a 'must'

And I did, Connie! I didn't like it as well as the first 2, but I had to read it to get the story to a fairly tidy end while I could still remember the characters!

October Recap:

Original TBR: 665

Current TBR: 712 + Currently Reading: 12 =

724

Well, down from last month (a little), and "only" 59 higher than I was at the first of the year. And Joplin is at the end of this month, which will bump my TBR pile up quite a bit.

Oh, well. Two months till the new year and I can start over again!

Okay, very rough month. Here's what I've got so far:

Newer books:

93. Stoner by John Williams. Bought & read for the MO Readers November discussion

94. The Bear by Ryan Sohmer. A wonderful, short book that should be read by anyone who is a father, or anyone who has a father. My youngest son gave it to me ("Well, you've been kind of a dad too"). Many young men will be getting this for Christmas from me this year...

95. Pyg: The Memoirs of Toby the Learned Pig by Russell Potter. LT Early Reviewers book. Meh. Not awful, but not particularly special.

And ONE older book:

96. The Murders of Richard III by Elizabeth Peters. A fascinating mystery by one of my favorite authors.

You're rolling right along, Terri!

97. To End All Wars by Adam Hochschild. Too new to count. Once I hit my goal, I've been reading more of my newer books. Guess I'm just getting a head start on next year!

November Recap:

Original TBR: 665

Current TBR: 730 + Currently Reading: 16 =

756

No surprises here. I didn't get much reading in this month, and of course, it's never a good month when I spend a day at Changing Hands Book Shop in Joplin, and I don't expect to accomplish much in December, so we'll just see what next year brings. At least I don't have to worry about the World Wide Book Famine...

I polished off a couple of newer books that don't count:

98. Weird Missouri by James Strait. Not nearly as good as I expected. Yes, there is plenty of weird stuff in Missouri, but they missed a lot, and included puzzling choices.

99. More Book Lust by Nancy Pearl. I never should have read this book. An unbelievable number of titles found their way on to my TBR...

100. The Giant's House by Elizabeth McCracken. I'm glad that the hundredth of my own books that I read this year was one that counts as off the shelf!

Wow, 100 of your own books read! Way to go, Terri!

Thanks, Terri! Although I'd be prouder if I hadn't already replaced them, and then some!

101. Butch Cassidy: Beyond the Grave by W. C. Jameson. LT ER book, so it's too new to count.

I did a New Years Eve Readathon to try and finish some of the books I was in the middle of.

These counted:
102. A Practical Guide to Yoga by James Hewitt
103. Three by Heinlein by Robert A. Heinlein
104. The Rescue of Miss Yaskell & Other Pipe Dreams by Russell Baker

These came off the shelf, but were added in 2012:
105. High Rising by Angela Thirkell
106. Pogo: Through the Wild Blue Wonder by Walt Kelly

December Recap:

Original TBR: 665

Current TBR: 738 + Currently Reading: 9 =

747

82 books more at the end than at the beginning. I think that, considering all the books I accumulated this year (205), this is a pretty good number. Out of about 177 total books read, 106 were ones I owned. That's over half, and considering all the audio books I listen to, I think I've done a pretty good job.

Welcome 2013!

WOW! Terri, you did such a great job!!!!!!