Trying to make Mount TBR into a molehill.

My current TBR mountain is listed at 367 books, and my goal is to whittle away 50 of those. I've yet to reach a goal I've set here, but I'd rather shoot for the moon (and if I miss, I can land among the stars!)



Whee! a ticker!

Book Total:
1. 84, Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff
2. Penelope by Marilyn Kaye
3. Of Love and Other Demons by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
4. The Mystery of the Ghostly Galleon by Kathryn Kenny
5. The Kitchen God's Wife by Amy Tan
6. Practical Demonkeeping by Christopher Moore
7. The Lord of the Flies by William Golding
8. Persepolis 2 by Marjane Satrapi
9. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
10. The Restaurant at the End of the Universe by Douglas Adams
11. Life, the Universe and Everything by Douglas Adams
12. Bill Bryson's African Diary by Bill Bryson
13. Trixie Belden and the Hudson River Mystery by Katherine Kenny
14. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

Best of luck, reflexandresolve!

Starting with 84, Charing Cross Road is a lovely idea - nice and short, and puts you in the mood to read!

Gotten through two more:

Penelope by Marilyn Kaye.
This one was cute, and I can picture reading this to a daughter or son, someday. A charming story about self acceptance, a novelization of the movie. I don't think the movie suffers too badly from being an adaptation from a screenplay, and overall enjoyable. Result: Keep

Of Love and Other Demons by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
I keep hoping I'll like Marquez, but I just can't seem to find a novel of his that I enjoy. While there were certainly elements of Of Love and Other Demons that I enjoyed, I overall found it to be a rather passive and self involved story. I found every character to be loathesome (except, perhaps, Martina) and I felt that certain literary devices could have been used to better effect (such as the dream of the snowy field and the grapes, or quoting from poetry). Result: Off to the used bookstore.

...Oh, and the sad thing is, I hadn't entered Of Love and Other Demons into LibraryThing. So -- it only barely counts as whittling away the molehill. Woe is me!

:)

The Mystery of the Ghostly Galleon by Kathryn Kenny
The Bob-Whites are off on another adventure. This time with pirates! I've loved the Trixie Belden series since I was little, and I'm just getting around to the later books. I have to say, this may be one of my favorites so far. Result: Keep

The Kitchen God's Wife by Amy Tan

I have yet to be disappointed by Amy Tan's work. Her characters are easily related to, her stories are interesting, and her prose is lively. Another win on this one. I didn't particularly like the stark contrast between Winnie's story and her daughter's, I feel it made light of Pearl's illness. Overall, completely enjoyable. Result: Keep

The Tan sounds interesting. I loved The Bonesetter's Daughter and it has the distinction of being one of the very few favourites of mine that my mother enjoyed*, too -- so I'll keep this doubly in mind.

(The only other one I can think of right now being The Memory of Running but there may have been one or two more.)

I haven't read Bonesetter's Daughter yet, though I believe it will be the next up. I've read both the Joy Luck Club and The Hundred Secret Senses and for a long time, The Kitchen God's Wife was the only Amy Tan left. I loved her work too much to read it. A bit twisted, I know.

Two more down:

Practical Demonkeeping by Christopher Moore: Chris Moore's first book. Enjoyable, irreverant, and hilarious, in my opinion. Moore has yet to disappoint me. Result: Keep

The Lord of the Flies by William Golding: I can see why so many high school English / literature classes make this required reading. The themes are easily accessible (and even go so far as to hit the reader over the head) and guide the reader in an introduction to literary analysis. For me, personally, I think my time has passed where I would have enjoyed this book (if I ever would have -- I'm not one for violence). It was an interesting foray into the category of "I was supposed to read this in high school, but I BSed my way through, so I'll go back and read it anyway, because I feel kind of guilty."

Well, I feel less guilty now.

Result: Recycled (had this since high school, and both covers have come off, and several pages were ripped. I do not do this lightly!)

Revisited an old favorite: The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams: I read this book when I was in middle school, and returned to it because I would like to finish the series, but I didn't remember all the intricate details of the adventures of Arthur Dent, Ford Prefect, Trillian, and Zaphod Beeblebrox. As I remembered, highly enjoyable. Now on to the rest of the series.

(I'm considering just starting at the A's and continuing through alphabetically. It pleases my want for order, but puts Virginia Woolf very far away indeed.

Completely forgot that I had finished Persepolis 2! It's a graphic novel about an Iranian-born woman while she is in school in Europe. I had mooched 1, and unbeknownst to me, I had mooched the set. I found the second to be enjoyable, and I think I would like to see the movie now. Though, I'll have to check to see if there are more, first. Can't possibly see the movie without reading the book first!

Glad to hear that The Hitchhiker's Guide held up. I read 10+ years ago and loved it so much that I've been afraid to go back to it and be disappointed the second time around.

Me too. Especially since I'm planning on reading the whole series again. (Well, sort of again. I didn't get through the whole thing the first time around, just Hitchhiker's and Restaurant.

Speaking of which ...

Restaurant at the End of the Universe by Douglas Adams. This one was also quite good, but may have started me on the path to existential crisis. The bit at the end is a little depressing, and the end left me confused (as it was an odd note, and didn't seem quite finished.

Onward and upward!

>This one was also quite good, but may have started me on the path to existential crisis.

Oh dear, I hope it's nothing some good chocolate won't fix...;)

A little chocolate and a little wine (or chocolate wine!) can fix anything, including book-inspired existential crises. :)

Next up:

Life, the Universe and Everything by Douglas Adams: While this one did in fact have more of a plot than the others, I'm not sure if I like it as much. I feel like Adams may be trying to make a point with this, and I'm either 1. not sure what it is, or 2. if I agree with it. Zaphod, Arthur, Ford, and Trillian are back, this time trying to save the Earth. I'm also trying to decide if I need a break from Adams in general. Of course, I want to go back (must...finish...series!), but I may need a break from the off the wall sci-fi gobledeegook.

I find that I am in need of a break. And for that, I went super-short, but still stayed in travel, only this time it's terrestrial, and totally true.

I'm speaking of Bill Bryson's African Diary by Bill Bryson. I love Bill Bryson more than words, and his trip to Africa was no exception. He traveled to Kenya with CARE International, and brought light to the work that CARE does, as well as the squalor in which many of these people are forced to live. Of course, he manages to find hope in the individuals, and the tone is true Bryson -- light, but able to drive some very serious points home.

Seems like a bunch of good books, really!

Thanks, mmignano!

Two more:
Trixie Belden and the Hudson River Mystery by Katherine Kenny: Generally, I love the Trixie Belden series, but this one just didn't rate with me. Perhaps there just wasn't enough of the other Bob-Whites, focusing primarily on Trixie, Honey and Brian, with (comparatively) little interaction with the Mart and Jim. Trixie "learning not to jump to conclusions" also felt too -- harsh, especially in her inner monologue. (This is a kid's book, for goodness sake!) Overall, I'll keep it, but more out of my compulsive need to keep my set as full as possible.

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen: Love. Absolutely loved it. I listened to this one through Librivox.org, which has an app now for android. Karen Savage (version 3) had a perfect reading voice, and gave different characters various voices without cariacture-izing them. I finally understand why women swoon at the name of Mr. Darcy, and it was just overall enjoyable light reading. Keeping my physical version, as well.

Chocolate wine???? Tell me more!

(I only found out about chocolate martinis last year.... oohh, delicious...)