Witchyrichy: What's On the Shelf

Buying books is a pleasure but my shelves are full! I did my last binge the day after Christmas and am now determined to read the books I own whether they are analog or digital. I'm focusing a bit more on analog as I need to also do some culling.

One way I'm doing this is by joining some challenges. I started with the British author challenge (http://www.librarything.com/topic/185351) since Ishiguro is one of the January authors and The Remains of the Day has been on the shelf for awhile.

Here's my ticker. I posted it on the ticker page but forgot to bring it over to my thread!

The ticker isn't working: I'm up to 26.




>10 connie53: Thanks for asking! I am part of the 75 Books Challenge but am planning to make at least 30 of those ROOTS, both analog and digital. I'm working on two right now.

Welcome! Good luck with your challenge. :)

Welcome and good luck with your rooting! The Remains of the Day has also been on my shelf for awhile!

I'm adding Sweet Thunder to the list for January. I finished Doig's Work Song late last night and this is the third book in the series. And...it is already on the shelf. I could do a whole month of just Ivan Doig.

Good luck and Happy ROOTing, Karen.

Finished Super Boys: The Amazing Adventures of Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster--the Creators of Superman. I like to add in some non-fiction and this was an interesting look at the beginning of comic books even if I don't think we can really call their adventures "amazing." They lost out on monies and led pretty sad lives. Not sorry I read it but don't think I'm enough of a comic book fan to appreciate it. The first half that told the story of their beginnings in high school was much better pace; I lost interest but hate to leave a book unread.

Welcome & good luck this year! And Congrats on success so far!

January 2015 ROOTS

The Remains of the Day
Sweet Thunder
Super Boys: The Amazing Adventures of Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster--the Creators of Superman
Gould's Book of Fish
Riven Rock
Small Steps

Snuck in one more last night...Louis Sachar's Small Steps was on the headboard book shelf. OK...definitely more for an upper elementary reader than me.

And what is your goal for 2015, Karen? You did not include a ticker or a number of books you want to read. 6 books is a good way to start!

>10 connie53: Thanks, Connie...I just added my ticker to the first post. I had put it on the ticker page but not here.

I'm working on two ROOTS right now:

On the Kindle, I'm reading Dancing at the Rascal Fair and A Confederacy of Dunces is on the bedstead.

Ivan Doig is just a master story teller with a huge love for his setting and nowhere is that more evident in Dancing At the Rascal Fair. In this novel, we watch Montana change from wilderness to homestead and we meet some of those early agents of change who built the first cabins and ran the first sheep. At a macro level, Doig tracks the beginning of the US Forest Service and its early attempts at conservation. There are historical references to Montana statehood and the great fire of 1910.

But at its core, this is the story of two men who brave the new world together. It is richly drawn with sudden sadness and grief even in the midst of great joy. The ending came as a surprise, a shock really, but written in love and care so melodrama doesn't overwhelm. Doig can be understated but can also write drama that rises from the page.

February ROOTS

Dancing at the Rascal Fair
A Confederacy of Dunces
When Books Went to War: The Stories That Helped Us Win World War II
The Abolition of Man
Bohemians
Two Years Before the Mast
A Salty Piece of Land
No Strange Fire

I noticed the ticker! Nice!

Great work in February and it's only half over!

Great job on your ROOT'ing! 5 down in Feb already! I really want to read Confederacy of Dunces one of these days........

Thanks...I did take a break to read the new Flavia De Luce mystery As Chimney Sweepers Come to Dust. But now I'm back to the ROOTs. I liked Confederacy of Dunces as it was just crazy. Truly a picaresque novel with an anti-hero. He really took advantage of the setting as well.

>17 witchyrichy: Good to hear! Looking forward to reading it.... :)

Why did I put off reading Two Years Before the Mast? It was such an adventure story! Dana wrote a rousing tale of the sea but also showed his education with some literature and philosophy. We also get a glimpse of his burgeoning sense of social justice. Perhaps the most poignant part of the book was the last section added when he returned to the California coast 25 years after his trip and marveled at how the world had changed. It's a nostalgia we have all felt, meeting a few old friends, discovering that others had passed on, and mostly feeling as though the world had moved on in a way that was not altogether positive. I will admit to skimming some of the sections with details about sails but they served to really put you before the mast along with Dana.

>19 witchyrichy: That one's on my to-read-eventually list! I'll have to keep it in mind the next time I want some adventure reading. :)

>20 rabbitprincess: It was fun! He wrote the whole thing mostly from memory and letters as his journals and souvenirs were lost the day he returned. The original lost luggage story. And be sure to get an edition that includes his report of his return to the West Coast after 25 years. The gold rush had happened in between and San Francisco was suddenly a city and the wilderness he experienced was only a memory. It as nostalgic and pragmatic at the same time.

No Strange Fire was the last book on my TIOLI challenges for February and I had only about 36 hours to read it. For some reason, I wasn't sure I wanted to read it. The opening evokes the horror of animals being burned alive and a young boy is killed. This fictional account of the Amish barn fires in Big Valley, Pennsylvania, in 1992, was sad, but it also provided a window into the world of a conservative Amish sect, helping to understand why they choose the path they do and how it influences them even when they think they have moved into the English world. I agree with one of the Amazon reviewers: this is not a great literary tour de force nor a successful thriller. But it is an in depth portrait of a people and what they believe about the lives they lead.

I live in Amish country, so that book is going on my wish list!

>22 witchyrichy: so sad (animals burning) ! But still, it definitely sounds very interesting!

March ROOTS:

The Things They Carried
The Winter King
The Sea is My Brother
Murder in the Raw

The Things They Carried has been on the shelf for a long time. I wasn't sure if it was fiction or non-fiction and it turns out it is a bit of both. It's billed as fiction but the narrator eventually reveals himself to be Tim O'Brien. A powerful book about Vietnam but also about story telling in life and fiction.

>26 witchyrichy: I use the first and last chapters of this book when I teach the Vietnam War. Tis indeed very powerful. I like how O'Brien ended the book, "This is Tim trying to save Timmy's life with a story."

>27 Tess_W: O'Brien's writing about story telling has stuck with me and it seems suddenly as though every book I read has some lesson to tell about story telling.

April ROOTS:

Phi Beta Murder
Murder on the Moor
Murder of the Bride
Mountain Time

I bought a set of the Challinor mysteries from Bas Bleu and decided to go through them all quickly. They are short but thoughtfully written with interesting settings that reflect the author's love of travel. There is usually a twist and the most despicable character isn't always guilty.

I've read some Kindle books that have been lurking around for awhile but I think I'm using the rule that ROOTS are analog.

I've got a long shelf of Doig to get through and Mountain Time was of interest since it is loosely part of the Montana Trilogy. Just so-so...always great nature writing but this time the characters just seemed a bit overwritten.

May ROOTS

Not much to report: I read Murder at Midnight to finish out that series. The rest of my May reading was either on the Kindle or books acquired in 2015. They haven't been around long enough to grow roots.

I do have a couple on the list for June: The Old Patagonian Express and The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. I may have read the latter in college but I only remember the parts that have entered pop culture. Plus, I have a collection of the full series so may make a summer project out of it.

June ROOTS

The Old Patagonian Express

July ROOTS:

Flight
The Memory of Running

You are doing very good, Karen!

>33 connie53: Thanks! I have been having a good reading year. I am committed to reading ROOTS for the next month at least so will probably go over the goal.

August ROOTS:

A River Town
As Always, Julia
The Distant Hours

January 2015 ROOTS (7)

The Remains of the Day
Sweet Thunder
Super Boys: The Amazing Adventures of Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster--the Creators of Superman
Gould's Book of Fish
Riven Rock
Small Steps

February 2015 ROOTS (8)

Dancing at the Rascal Fair
A Confederacy of Dunces
When Books Went to War: The Stories That Helped Us Win World War II
The Abolition of Man
Bohemians
Two Years Before the Mast
A Salty Piece of Land
No Strange Fire

March 2015 ROOTS (4)

The Things They Carried
The Winter King
The Sea is My Brother
Murder in the Raw

April 2015 ROOTS (4)

Phi Beta Murder
Murder on the Moor
Murder of the Bride
Mountain Time

May 2015 ROOTS (1)

Murder At Midnight

June 2015 ROOTS (1)

The Old Patagonian Express

July 2015 ROOTS (2)

Flight
The Memory of Running

August 2015 ROOTS (4)

A River Town
As Always, Julia
The Distant Hours
Thursday Next: First Among Sequels
Jitterburg Perfume

September 2015 ROOTS (6)

Half Asleep in Frog Pajamas
Sleeping Murder and Murder at the Vicarage
The Bartender's Tale
Twelve Steps To A Compassionate Life
The Dive From Clausen's Pier
The Novel

October 2015 ROOTS (4)
The Technologists
Seraphina
The Lost Summer of Louisa May Alcott
Ten Little Bloodhounds
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

November 2015 ROOTS (3)
The Intelligencer
The Charlemagne Pursuit
The Problem of the Surly Servant

I reached my goal of 35 ROOTS! Most of them ended up in the donation pile as well so the shelves area a little more cleaned off.

It seems fitting that Karen Armstrong's book is the goal setter: Twelve Steps To A Compassionate Life is powerful with its challenge to us to put the ego aside and love ourselves and others. I'll be going back to study each chapter, completing the activities and reading some of the suggested books.

Congratulations!

Hurray, congrats!

Congrats!

>37 witchyrichy: Congrats!

Thanks, everyone! I actually added one more today: The Dive From Clausen's Pier has been on the shelf for a very long time. It was a well written story about a young woman who faces impossible choices but finally finds her place in some surprising ways. At the end, we have a sense that she will be just fine.

Just finished The Novel by James Michener. Wrote a short review on my 75 Book Challenge thread...not the greatest book I've read by this author. The good news is that another ROOT is off the shelf.

>43 witchyrichy: I read The Novel this year, too. I did not find it satisfying as I have found Michener's other works. The last third was out of place and dragged on for too long.

>44 Tess_W: Agreed! I grew up in Pennsylvania Dutch County so enjoyed the regional aspect but the only reason I finished it is because I am one of "those" people who have to finish a book once I start it.

I am on a roll! I used the TIOLI list for October to pull another big pile of books off the shelf, most of them qualifying as ROOTS. Guess it's OK to go over my original goal ;-)

I loved Seraphina! Just ordered the sequel for my Kindle. I am going to donate a stack of YA books to a friend with a little library.

Congrats on reaching you goal and even more!

Congrats!