klarusu ROOTs in 2016

I fell short of my ROOT total last year but I'm aiming for 24 again this year ... second time lucky!

My usual rules apply - physical books acquired before 2016, no eBooks or audiobooks.

Bring on the ROOTing!

My Progress So Far




Currently ROOTing

Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes (2009)
A Storm of Swords: Steel and Snow by George R.R. Martin (2010)
War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy (2014)
London: The Biography by Peter Ackroyd (2009)

Ambitious start or 2016! I've read Don Quixote - it should count as 2!

Wow, that is a big book to start with. Enjoy!

>2 cyderry: & >3 MissWatson: It's still ongoing from this year ... I'm about halfway through. I'll finish in 2016 if it kills me ;-)

Happy ROOTing, Claire!

Welcome back and good luck!

Happy 2016 Rooting!

I tackled Don Quixote in 2014, it nearly killed me, but I doubled down on it and finally got it done. Yep, it should count as two!

Good luck with your ROOT reading - I loved Don Quixote!

>9 lkernagh: & >10 connie53: Thank you! I'm actually enjoying Don Quixote but I do find that I have to drop in and out of it. It lends itself to that very well though.

Happy Rooting. Don Quixote is on my to be read list!

I have The Golem on my list, too...bought it about two years ago, and it just sank without a trace in my piles. This is the year! Good luck.

January ROOT Progress

ROOTs Completed: 0
ROOTs to Go: 24
ROOTs on the Go: 8

January's been a bad month for completing ROOTs but I have a lot of chunksters on-the-go so not a bad month for ROOT reading. Onwards to February where I play catch up!

You can do it!

Don Quixote and War and Peace at the same time, you are a brave woman!

1. The Peripheral by William Gibson (Owned since 2014)


First one down!

Good job, Claire!

>19 klarusu: oooooh I bought that recently (a shallow ROOT :)), and I'm super excited about it!
Congrats on your first ROOT!

Your goal is twice mine. So, I will admire your progress from afar -- behind.

Onward!

>21 avanders: Hope you enjoy it!

>22 Limelite: Aha, don't count on it! Last year I only achieved half my goal ;-)

Congrats on #1!

2. The Line of Beauty by Alan Hollinghurst (Owned since 2008)


Second ROOT down ... and it's a chunkster! Really worthwhile read too.

Wow 5 stars! It's always so nice to find those :)
And congrats on finishing a chunkster root!

February ROOT Progress

ROOTs Completed: 2
ROOTs to Go: 22
ROOTs on the Go: 7

February saw 2 ROOTs down. I'm off the starting blocks! One of those was a chunkster too. Onwards to March!

3. The Golem by Gustav Meyrink (Owned since 2011)



I think I'd have rated this higher if I'd been in the right mood to read with the cultural subtext in mind. Nonetheless, a satisfying ROOT that I'll probably return to for a reread one day.

4. Irrationality by Stuart Sutherland (Owned since 2015)



That's 2 for March! Still need to catch up on my January reads but at least March is done!

>1 klarusu: That is an ambitious list! Don Q and W&P should count as 5 total!

March ROOT Progress

ROOTs Completed (March): 2
ROOTs Completed (Total): 4
ROOTs to Go: 20
ROOTs on the Go: 7

Still ROOTing away at some chunksters but I'm calling it for March now. On to April where I must catch up on at least one from my January black hole and where I predict a chunkster will bite the dust!

Seven ROOTs on the go! Wow! Good luck with those chunksters!

Good luck with 7 books on the go!

>34 connie53: Thank you! Just keep reading ;-)

5. Hyperion by Dan Simmons (Owned since 2015)



This one was so good it bumped everything off my reading list until I finished it. Good job I have the sequel lined up next. A very worthwhile ROOT.

>36 klarusu: I loved that series, I read them all in a row because I couldn't stop reading! Enjoy the next one :)

6. Ms Marvel, Crushed, Vol 3 by G. Willow Wilson (Owned since 2015)



First comic book ROOT of the year under my belt and that takes me to 6 so far. Only 2 more by the end of the month and I'm back on track!

7. Ms Marvel, Last Days, Vol 4 by G. Willow Wilson (Owned since 2015)



Another comic book takes me to 7!

8. The Madman of Freedom Square by Hassan Blasim (Owned since 2015)



I've caught up with where I should be! Number 8 is another brilliant, haunting collection of short stories. I read The Iraqi Christ last year and was most impressed. I think Blasim is on my favourite authors list after another hit.

Congrats on keeping on track!

>41 MissWatson: Thank you!

9. East of West, Volume 1 by Jonathan Hickman (Owned since 2015)



I'm in bed with a cold ... what better time to concentrate on ROOTing!

10. Low, Volume 1, The Delirium of Hope by Rick Remender (Owned since 2015)



I'm on a roll! Into double figures already.

Hope you're better soon, although that might interfere with this rate of reading!

I hope you are feeling better, Claire!

Hope you're feeling better. You are chugging right along with the Rooting!

Although it's nice to have time to concentrate on reading, hope you're feeling better!
And congrats on your progress!

>45 ipsoivan:, >46 connie53:, >47 Tess_W:, >48 avanders: Thanks for the kind wishes - feeling much better now!

I'm calling it for April as there won't be any more ROOTs sneaking through.

April ROOT Progress

ROOTs Completed (April): 6
ROOTs Completed (Total): 10
ROOTs to Go: 14
ROOTs on the Go: 6

It's very satisfying getting to all these resident tomes. Also helping to free up shelf space!

So you are on track, Claire.

11. The Man in the High Castle by Philip K Dick (Owned since 2015)



Just finished the lovely Folio Society edition of this one. A great edition of a really good book. Gave it 4 stars but I may up that to 5 on a second reading as there's much more to take away from this than the first pass.

12. Time of Contempt by Andrzej Sapkowski (Owned since 2013)



Been saving the Wiedźmin books up to read in translation this summer. Having started them in Polish a while back, I find there are pros & cons to the translations. I read them much more fluidly, especially as there are so many invented words which means I'm forever unsure whether I just haven't come across a word in Polish yet or whether it's a book-specific term. That said, good though this translation was, the real humour in a lot of the idiom & language usage only comes from reading it in the original. I think I'll eventually return to the Polish for a reread. I do so love this series though so a great ROOT.

I'm also halfway to my total ... I reached this in December last year so definitely an improvement!

Congrats on being at the half-way point, early! Also kudos to attempting to read in a 2nd language!

>52 klarusu: I'm really impressed that you can read/speak Polish - I studied in a Central & East European Studies dept (my language speciality is Romanian) and Polish always looked quite incomprehensible to me!

Earlier this year I read a Romanian book alongside the English book (actually it was an English book, and the Romanian was the translation), a chapter of the English followed by the same chapter in Romanian. It made for a much quicker process, and I think I picked up more of the nuance in the Romanian for already having an idea what was there!

>54 Jackie_K: I lived in Poland for a number of years and my family by marriage are Polish so I had an incentive to learn ... that and that teaching classes of teenagers is much better if you can understand what they're saying ;-)

13. Nailbiter, Volume 1, There Will be Blood by Joshua Williamson (Owned since 2015)



Reserving one star off the five for this one until I read the next volume and see where this story goes but a very good ROOT read nonetheless.

May ROOT Progress

ROOTs Completed (May): 3
ROOTs Completed (Total): 13
ROOTs to Go: 11
ROOTs on the Go: 6

June here I come!

Congrats on your ROOTs success so far - you're more than halfway done!

>58 avanders: Thanks! I feel good about cracking the total this year. *famous last words*

Congrats on reaching the halfway point, Claire!

14. The Colour of Magic by Terry Pratchett (Owned since 2015)



I love this book! I have such a fondness for Terry Pratchett's humour and view of life. This one is the lovely Gollancz edition of the book, so strictly speaking a re-read but I'm making a concerted effort to read all of these in the new editions so I'm counting this as a ROOT as it's been on my 'Tomes' shelf since last year.

15. The Drowned World by J.G. Ballard (Owned since 2015)


Errs on the side of 'classic' rather than 'dated' but it is, nonetheless, old speculative fiction so it's not without its flaws from a modern viewpoint. Glad I've finally got to this lovely Folio Society edition I bought last year.

July's still up-and-kicking so hopefully I'll be back with more ROOTs!

16. I Think You'll Find It's a Bit More Complicated Than That by Ben Goldacre (Owned since 2015)


Finally a ROOT under my belt! It's been hard to get much reading time in with my work right now but this one's been well worth the effort!

>63 klarusu: Hurray for Ben Goldacre! :D

17. The Fall by Garth Nix (Owned since 2008)


Not exceptional in any way by children's/YA standards but that's an 8-year-old ROOT down and I finally know I don't have to commit to the series!

1 down & 7 to go!

18. The Return of the Soldier by Rebecca West (Owned since 2008)


Another oldie on the shelves - this one was so good! Glad I ROOTed it out.

Another down, 6 to go!

Only 6 to go - awesome! You can do it!

19. The Call of the Wild by Jack London (Owned since 2015)


I acquired this lovely Folio Society edition in 2015 and the story is just as captivating as I remember it being when I read it all those years ago at school.

5 to go!

Only 5 more! Go girl!!

>69 connie53: So close but not quite there!

20. The Return of the Soldier
21. Elizabeth and her German Garden
22. Comet in Moominland

Nearly made it but I'm not going to squeeze in two more before midnight. Much better than last year though! I feel 2017 is going to be my year.

Great work on your goal this year and I hope you have another excellent reading year in 2017!