My TBR must get smaller!

Hi,

I think this is my first post ever on LibraryThing, but I just found this group and want to take part! My TBR is currently 121!!! So far, this year was the worst reading year I have had for many, many years... I am currently doing a training (last stage of my uni education) and have very little time at hand, moreover there was the football (soccer) European cup and now the Olympics! But after that I really want to start reading again, and hope that this thread and reading your threads will help me :-)

I don't have a plan of how many books I want to read in the remainder of 2012, but I definitely don't want to buy any new books this year. My challenge is just to get as many books off my shelf as I can.
I so far read 26 books this year, so will count from 27 when I finished the book I am currently reading.

Welcome and good luck with your reading quest!

I suspect that your 26 books read to date this year are far more than the average adult reads. I'm at 77 for the year -- but that's only because I have a LONG bus ride to and from work every day.

Thanks for your welcome!

The bus ride is a good point - until the end of 2011 I spent an hour each day on the train and always used to read, and then I wanted to know how the story continues and read almost each evening... Now I'm working close to my home (I can go there on foot) and am not using the train anymore, and this makes reading much more difficult!

77 is great, though, even if you read on the bus :-)

My TBR is now one more (122) because today I took a book from a change box where I had previously dropped three and thus still had "credit" - but that's it now! I took two more, but fortunately these are not TBR because they are reference books :-)

Off my shelf - 27.: The Accidental Adventurer by Ben Fogle
Acquired: I bought this last month in York at the train station - I had planned not to buy any books, but made an exception because it really appealed to me and how I felt during that trip.
My rating: Four stars

I really enjoyed reading this book, apart from a small stretch in the middle of the book it was an exciting story and an easy, fun read. In the middle it got a little boring and I started wondering if this guy was a little insane and self-regarding, but then it got a lot better, and I loved the last quarter. I had not heard about Ben Fogle before, but I am sure I will read more of his books one day.

My TBR is now 121!

Off my shelf - 28.: Dreams From My Father by Barack Obama
Acquired: I took this from a book swap/exchange box in a B&B in Bournemouth where I stayed in March 2012
My rating: Five stars

I was very impressed and moved by this book. I did not really know what to expect from it, but found it very interesting and learned a lot from it. It was interesting to read about Obama's growing up as a black boy in the US, but I was even more captivated by the second part of the book, where he explains how he tried to make sense of his past and his life, of his family and who he is - I could relate to these thoughts and problems, and admire how he put his thoughts into words.

My TBR is now 120!

Alas, my Mount TBR has become 121 again after my mom gave a book to me she had found in the swap box and I just couldn't refuse... And no progress this week on the book I am currently reading!

I am reading "Villette" by Charlotte Bronte which I started a few weeks ago, but it is definitely the wrong book for my current situation because it requires a lot of time and concentration, and I don't have either of them. A short, easy read would be so much better now, but I don't want to start another one and put "Villette" down because then it will take me months before I get around to picking it up again... Oh my oh my!!!

Hi and welcome! Good luck with your challenge -- you are in good company here! :)

Re: #7 - that would be hard for me to do, but there are so many other good books out there, I say pick another from your TBR stack that is lighter and less 'brain-y' and save Villette for another time in your life when you might enjoy it more!

Ha, I finally finished "Villette"!!!

Re: #8 - thank you for your comment, Tina! I think what you proposed would really have been the right thing to do, but I just could not do it! I really wanted to and even had chosen another novel, but somehow I just could not because I had so much set my heart on finishing "Villette". It took me three more weeks, but today I finally did it :-)

Off my shelf - 29.: Villette by Charlotte Bronte
Acquired: I bought this book in May this year because I wanted to read it before my summer trip to Haworth (where the Bronte sisters lived). Unfortunately, as you can see, I did not manage to read it before the trip.
My rating: Five stars

I did not have a good start with this novel. I started reading just after I went to Haworth and I enjoyed the beginning, but then it got a little lengthy (as novels from this period do), and because I had so much else going on and a really stressful time during August and September, I did not really get into it. Although I liked most of it, it was so hard to keep up with it. What made it a little harder for me were also the many French expressions and the setting, I enjoy the English settings of such novels so much, so this took a little of the fun of it for me.
This weekend I took the time to read the last 150 pages nearly in one go, and I must say that I enjoyed them immensely! I think this novel gets better and better the further the end approaches. That is why I still give it five stars.

My TBR is now 120!

Congrats on finishing! I must admit I had the same problem with Villette at some point and did exactly what you didn't do -- put it down and haven't picked it up since! Your review makes me want to try again, however.

#10: It is good to hear that you had the same feelings about the novel and that I am not the only one! I can say that it is worth continuing, so if you can pick a day or two to read it through, you should do that! I liked the second half much, much better than the first half.

Off my shelf - 30.: Das weite Land (Australien-Saga 6) by William Stuart Long (Original title: The Colonists)
Acquired: June 2009
My rating: Three and a half

This is the sixth part of a series and I found the first half of the novel very boring... It seemed that all the stories were just repeating themselves, and that this book was merely a repetition of events that had already happened several times before. The second half was much better though, introducing new characters I liked, and some fresh aspects. I am now half way through this series, and I hope that the following books will be as good as the second half of this one.

My TBR is now 119!

Off my shelf - 31.: Enchanted Cornwall by Daphne du Maurier
Acquired: During a trip to Penzance in March 2012
My rating: Four

The author Daphne du Maurier writes about her life in Cornwall in this book, so it is an autobiography, but tied to one place. I loved the beginning when she describes her arrival in Cornwall, how she felt there and how she wanted to stay, how she discovered the region and how she loved it. Unfortunately, it then becomes more and more boring, her novels get into the focus more and more, and the last third is rather like an interpretation of all of her books, with only small notes about her life or Cornwall.
What I still loved were all the beautiful photos which so much make me want to go back there!

My TBR is now 118!

Off my shelf - 32.: Die Verfolgung und Ermordung Jean Paul Marats dargestellt durch die Schauspielgruppe des Hospizes zu Charenton unter Anleitung des Herrn de Sade by Peter Weiss (English title: The Persecution and Assassination of Jean-Paul Marat as Performed by the Inmates of the Asylum of Charenton under the Direction of the Marquis de Sade)
Acquired: Got it as a present in summer 2010
My rating: Five

I never read anything by this author before, and I was fascinated and impressed by this play! So much food for thought, every line like a knife thrust!

My TBR is now 117!