LittleTaiko's (Stacy) - 2021 TBR Challenge

Primary List

Nonfiction
1. A River in Darkness by Masaji Ishikawa - February
2. Playing in the Dark by Toni Morrison
3. Prairie Fires by Caroline Fraser

Fiction
4. Fried Green Tomatoes by Fannie Flagg - February
5. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak - May
6. Harry's Trees by Jon Cohen - January

Historical Fiction
7. Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry
8. Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett
9. Shogun by James Clavell

Classic
10. Little Dorrit by Charles Dickens - December
11. The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner - June
12. The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck

Alternative List

Nonfiction:
1. American Creation by Joseph J. Ellis - June
2. Code Girls by Liza Mundy - April
3. Paul Revere's Ride by David Hackett Fischer

Fiction
4. The Ninth Hour by Alice McDermott - January
5. Lily and the Octopus by Steven Rowley - June
6. The Last Days of Cafe Leila by Donia Bijan

Historical Fiction
7. To the Bright Edge of the World by Eowyn Ivey
8. The Price of Paradise by Susana Lopez Rubio - January
9. Texas: The Great Theft by Carmen Boullosa

Classic
10. Villette by Charlotte Bronte
11. North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell - Aug
12. Wings of the Dove by Henry James

Read: 12
Remaining: 12

I probably spent too much time analyzing this list. I wanted to make sure that several areas were represented and that there was an equal number of male and female authors. Once again no mysteries since that would make my life way too easy.

I'm a bit concerned about the rather long books in the historical fiction category but I've wanting to read them for years now and I'm determined to do it in 2021.

I read all of Clavell by the time I graduated university, you'll be able to tell me if he's aged well or not. I read Pillars of the Earth before it was an Oprah thing, tried a sequel and it wasn't as good. Faulkner is a bit challenging, at least through the first couple of parts and then it gets easier. The Good Earth isn't bad, but North and South is fantastic!

I still need to sample Toni Morrison, and Lonesome Dove is on my someday list. Villette almost made it onto my last couple of lists, I've got it slotted for 2022 now. I like the easy Henry James works I've read and that's as far as I've ventured; you're going to the head of the class with picking that one, whew! Someone on here once said it's like eating flour from the sack, lol.

I like the way you themed your list. You have several items I'm interested to see your reviews on. Happy reading in 2021!

>3 Cecrow: - Oh dear, so apparently I picked the wrong Henry James is what you're saying. Eating flour from the sack, sounds grim. Maybe that explains why there were a few of his novels at the library sale where I picked them up. On the bright side, if I go in with low expectations it might work out okay.

The Faulkner choice is for my book club. There's one member who has tried to read it about three different times - maybe she'll finally succeed. I'll keep what you said in mind about it getting easier.

>4 Narilka: - Thanks! Breaking it out this way helped me feel like it was a balanced list.

The Portrait of a Lady is the one I read, not too difficult and its a good story. I think next step up for me is The Ambassadors. Wings and Bowl are the toughest.

Happy to say I'm off to a good start for 2021 with two books read. I decided to purposely schedule the books into my plans this year instead of just hoping to read them like I have lately. So far so good. It also helps that I started with a couple of books that I thought I'd enjoy that weren't too long.

1. The Price of Paradise by Susana Lopez Rubio (3 stars)

Not only was this a love story about Patricio, an emigrant to Cuba from Spain, and Gloria, the beautiful wife of a Havana gangster, it's also a love story about Havana, the city. Patricio and Gloria were both strong characters and the story is told from both of their points of view. Equally entreating are Patricio's best friends who are as loyal as can be. Gloria's husband is truly cruel and vicious and the book maybe spends a bit too much time showing us exactly how cruel he can be. The story moves into soap opera territory with incredible coincidences and problems popping up left and right towards the end. However I really did enjoy the characters as well as learning more about Cuba before Castro came to power.

2. The Ninth Hour by Alice McDermott (3 stars)

This book was oh so good for the first two thirds and then it somehow became less engaging towards the end. It starts with the suicide of a young man in Brooklyn. He leaves behind his wife and their unborn child. Fortunately a nun from the Little Nursing Sisters of the Sick Poor is there to help and the widow and child are taken care of the nuns. I truly loved the nuns in this story and found them to be the most interesting. As the story turned more to Sally I lost interest. The writing while beautiful also tended to be a bit repetitive and sometimes hard to follow. Oh, I loved those nuns though.

Next up should be Harry's Trees and Fried Green Tomatoes.

I got a good dose of Cuba when I read Che Guavara's bio a couple years ago. That pre revolution glimpse would be interesting.

It did make me realize how much I don't know about Cuba. Havana in particular sounded like a wonderful glamorous place to be at that time.

3. Harry's Trees by Jon Cohen (3 stars)

As a general rule there are two things that I don't enjoy in books: magical realism and precocious children. So it's an achievement that I actually rated this book 3 stars given my preferences. Harry is a widower who loves trees and feels guilty about his wife's death. Amanda is a widow and her young daughter Oriana is dealing with her grief with an obsessive interest in fairy tales. The first few chapters had me rolling my eyes but then I wrapped my ahead around the fact that it was supposed to a kind of fairy tale and went with it. The "bad" characters are ridiculous and the "good" characters are almost too good to be true. Loved Amanda as she was pretty much the only voice of reason in this book. Oh Olive and Ronnie won places in my heart as well. Happy that I read it mainly for a really lovely scene at the end involving the local library.

>10 LittleTaiko:, I don't mind those elements myself, but I'm drawn to the same kinds of characters as you, sounds like, and this sounds a bit thin on those.

>11 Cecrow: - I think I can be okay with precocious children if they are somewhat grounded in reality. When they're off in fantasy land it's a bit harder to take for me.

4. Fried Green Tomatoes by Fannie Flagg (3 stars)

Hard to judge the book since I was already familiar with the movie. Granted it's been years since I've last seen it but I remember really enjoying it when it came out. Not sure the book has aged particularly well but it was still enjoyable enough.

Next up should be: Code Girls and A River in Darkness.

>13 LittleTaiko:, I'll encounter that next year when I read Different Seasons, a book that came before movies I've seen. I know it's hard to get those visuals out of your head, but maybe it's still ok when you can't.

5. A River in Darkness by Masaji Ishikawa (4 stars)

One of my all-time favorite books is Nothing to Envy which is about several different peoples experiences in North Korea and their escape. Since then I've been interested in hearing of other experiences. Ishikawa was born in Japan to a Japanese mother and Korean father. Since he wasn't fully Japanese he was bullied at school and his father had a difficult time finding work. When the government decided it would be in everyone's best interests to send the Koreans back to Korea - specifically the newly formed North Korea, his father believes the stories of the wealth awaiting him and decides to move the whole family there. Needless to say the promises were empty and their life was incredibly hard. Ishikawa's strong spirit helped him survive and eventually escape - but at what cost?

Currently reading Code Girls for my next challenge book and then will take a deep breath and start on Wings of the Dove.

>14 Cecrow: - It sort of helped to picture Kathy Bates and Jessica Tandy while reading it but at the same time it sort of hurt as I then wanted the characters to be as feisty as they were on the screen.

wow! you've already ticked of a lot in your list! I'm jealous :)

the book thief was one of my favorites pre-LibraryThing. I hope you eventually get around to reading it and that you enjoy it too :)

river in darkness and code girls sounds very interesting!

I'm planning on reading The Book Thief in May and am quite looking forward to it - I've heard so many wonderful things about it.

I'm currently reading Code Girls and am finding it fascinating. Hard to go wrong with a book about smart women breaking barriers.

6. Code Girls by Liza Mundy (3 stars)

Fascinating and yet at times slow book about the women in the US who helped break codes during WWII. You get the history of the formation of the navy and army code breaking units as well as bits of history of the women who helped win the war. I loved knowing more about the women and what life was like during that time. The narration sometimes didn't flow as well as it could have and jumped around in time but there is no denying these were some super smart and determined women.

I've now started Wings of the Dove and American Creation. So far so good, but then again I'm only a chapter into each so how bad could they be at that point?

>19 LittleTaiko: That sounds like an interesting subject. Too bad it seems like it was an uneven read.

>19 LittleTaiko: im very interested in cryptology, especially women's role in it! i'll keep my eye out for this book.

i recently got digital copies of Hidden Figures and The Calculating Stars (a sci-fi story)...i wonder how these three would compare

7. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak (4 stars)

After a couple of bumps along the way, including buying the wrong book a few years ago, I finally read this book. It's a possibility that I'm one of the last bookish people to have read it as I know it was all the rage several years ago and a movie version was released in 2013.

For some reason I find I like books narrated by Death or with interesting takes on Death, so right off the bat this book hit me in all the right ways. Throw in a young girl who discovers the wonders of books and I'm definitely there. The author tackled a serious subject with sad events (Germany in WWII) but offset them just enough with humor and compassion.

>22 LittleTaiko: I remember enjoying that one a lot too.

> I dismissed it as YA when I first heard about it, but it's still being talked of these many years later so it must be something lasting. In other words, I'm still later getting to it than you.

>24 Cecrow: - It is YA without feeling too overly YA if that makes sense.

8. Lily and the Octopus by Steven Rowley (3 stars)

There are times when I start reading a book that I wish I could go back in time and see what triggered my interest in the book. If I had known what this was about specifically I might not have bought it, but overall I"m glad that I did.

Lily is a sweet dachshund owned by Ted, whose social life for the most part seems to revolve around his time with Lily. The octopus in question is what Ted calls the tumor that has appeared on Lily's head. What follows is at times an amusing look at a man in denial but overall it's a heart tugging look at saying goodbye to a beloved pet.

The octopus metaphor was a bit much but Ted's love for Lily was quite sweet.

9. American Creation by Joseph J. Ellis (4 stars)

I've read several of Joseph J. Ellis's books and always learn something new. This time he focused on six events that helped shape the direction the US took in the early stages. Included was the forming of a two-party system and the Louisiana Purchase. He focuses on the successes as well as the failures of which there were many. Definitely gave me food for thought about directions I wish they had pursued and a better understanding of why some things ended up the way that they did.

Read an interesting Internet mention of the Louisiana purchase. America took a loan from England to pay for it, and Napolean was using the proceeds to fund an invasion of England. Which he never carried out, but still ...

10. The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner (3 stars)

Finished the first classic in my list.

Well, what can I say about this book. It’s a classic and notoriously hard to read. I confess that I used Cliff Notes to help me along in my understanding of the book. This is a fascinating look at different writing styles. The first section is a hard core stream of consciousness in the head of Benjy, a mentally challenged man. His thoughts jump around in time and were hard to follow. The second section slows down a bit in with the thoughts of Quentin, one of Benjy’s brothers. The third section slows down even more as we are exposed to the thoughts of Jason, another brother, who is one of the most unpleasant characters. Finally we get the last section that is clear, concise and a more typical method of story telling.

I can appreciate what Faulkner was trying to do, but it really hurts that it is so difficult to read. I’m also not convinced that this has aged well. So much of the dialogue made me uncomfortable and didn’t always strike a realistic chord with me.

Apparently Faulkner intended for Benjy's section to be printed with multi-coloured ink, to distinguish the different points in time he was jumping between. I think there's some editions that do provide this (but not mine either). I actually found the second part the toughest to wade through ... although after Proust and Durrell this year I feel like I might manage it better, lol. Anyway, it hasn't made me want to run out and read more Faulkner any time soon.

Multi-colored ink would have been really helpful so I’m sad that neither version that I read had it. I had a print and ebook version. Agree with you - not in a huge hurry to read more Faulkner soon.

11. North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell (3 stars)

A classic that I really thought I would like more. It had a Dickensian feel to it but without the things that make Dickens novels fun. No character was really completely horrible or good really. Margaret's parents were manipulative yet weak which made it hard to understand her devotion to them. There were way too many description of Margaret and her beauty, grace, etc...I much preferred the sections about John Thornton though he was a bit of an ass for most of the book. As expected he did come around in the end and I enjoyed seeing him slowly understanding other points of view. My favorite characters were Mr. Higgins and Mr. Bell - both were funny and rather straight forward. Disappointed that the big romance finally came through in a total of two pages at the end.

So, I'm still chugging along with my challenge and have the following books in various states of completion. Hoping to finish a couple this month.

Wings of the Dove
The Last Days of Cafe Leila
Little Dorrit
Lonesome Dove

>32 LittleTaiko:, bummer, I really liked that one but I can't argue much with any of your points.

>33 LittleTaiko:, impressive, that's a lot of plots and characters to keep straight!

hiya! interesting review of north and south...i'm keen on trying out elizabeth gaskell at some point, having enjoyed some of her contemporaries before (dickens and wilkie collins...they are from the same period, no?)

i have little dorrit in my tbr but i'm kind of scared of its heft ^_^

>35 riida:, yes, Gaskell published that the same year as Dickens' Hard Times (in his journal, no less), and those two novels have overlapping themes.

I just finished Little Dorrit, I made myself read 30 pages a day and most days that was easy to do.

>36 Cecrow: oh wow...30 pages a day, now why didnt I think of that! i have little dorrit, and other titles, that intimidate me but i've always wanted to read. this sounds like a battle plan ^_^

12. Little Dorritt by Charles Dickens (3 stars)

I did it - I finally finished this book! It's Dickens so of course I liked it, but it will never be one of my favorites, it was just too hard to engage with the story and care about any of the characters that I was supposed to like. They were a tad too bland. Now the "villains" were fun and I usually enjoyed it when they were on the page, though some of them were just nuts.

At least I finished 12 books and can consider myself done for the year. Not quite the 24 I would have liked to have read, but I'll take it. There's still a chance I'll sneak one more end but that will just be a nice surprise if it happens.

On to next year and a fresh selection of books.

>38 LittleTaiko:, I was really taken by it either. I especially couldn't find much to care about through the first half.

Good job on achieving your goal, bring on 2022!