Roof Beam Reader
Adam Burgess
TBR Pile Checkpoint #6 – June Progress!
Hello, TBR Pile Challengers!
It is June 15th and, ready or not, we are now officially HALF-WAY through 2013 and half-way through our 2013 TBR Pile Challenge! I have been very impressed by all the progress being made through these challenge lists – the monthly updates have been so much fun. I hope you all agree!
Where I’m At: I have read 9 of my required 12 books. I have made absolutely ZERO progress since last month’s check-in, but that’s largely due to the semester finishing up, teaching summer classes, starting the Beats of Summer event, and also reading Don Quixote for my Classics Club challenge. I know I will get at least one more book (Persuasion by Jane Austen) read for this challenge during the summer, thanks to Austen in August, but I hope to also read one more before the new semester starts in September.
Progress:
Book #1: O Pioneers! by Willa Cather
Book #2: The Alchemyst by Michael Scott
Book #3: Orlando by Virginia Woolf
Book #4: The Gunslinger by Stephen King
Book #5: The End of the Affair by Graham Greene
Book #6: Sodom on the Thames: Sex, Love, and Scandal in Wilde Times by Morris Kaplan
Book #7: A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams
Book #8: Shine by Lauren Myracle
Book #9: Gods and Monsters by Christopher Bram
My favorites so far have been Orlando, A Streetcar Named Desire, and O Pioneers! What have been YOUR favorites, so far? Any surprises or major failures?
Below, you’re going to find the infamous Mr. Linky widget. IF you have completed any reviews for books on your challenge list, please feel free to link them up here so that we can easily find your posts, encourage one another, see what progress is being made on all these piles, etc. Also, feel free to link-up to your own checkpoint post, should you decide to write one (not required – but feel free!)
Giveaway!: Since we are officially at the half-way mark, this month’s checkpoint comes with TWO GIVEAWAYS! Be sure to link-up your reviews (or a checkpoint post) by the deadline. Every link you post (provided it is new to this month – no posts/reviews used previously!) will earn you one entry into a random drawing. The prize is a book of your choice, up to $15 USD, from The Book Depository!
Link-up Your Reviews for May 21st – June 20th:
Roof Beam Reader 
I finally have some reviews to link up! Unfortunately, one was a DNF, so now I’m looking at my alternates. I’m not on pace to finish the challenge, but I’m not giving up without a fight!
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Yes, you can do it! Half a year is still plenty of time.
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In May I finished Nella Last’s War, from my alternates list, and I just finished Lady Chatterley’s Lover this morning!! However, I’m going to save that review for July 1 since it was my Classics Club Spin selection. I’ll write up a checkpoint post in the next couple of days, though. I’m hoping to finish one of my shorter selections by the end of the month so I’ll have finished six in six months.
So far I’ve finished five from my list including one of the alternates. My favorite so far was The Makioka Sisters but I was pleasantly surprised by Lady Chatterley — I’ve seen a lot of negative comments about it but I mostly enjoyed it.
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Reading one book per month off the challenge list is working really well for me and keeping me at a great pace! This month I read Under the Banner of Heaven by one of my favorite authors, Jon Krakauer. His impetus for writing this one was the 1984 murders of a young Mormon woman and her baby, but it evolves into a history of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and it’s breakoff sects of Mormon Fundamentalism. Really interesting read. So for the challenge I am 6/12 right now! Next month I’ll read a fiction off the list, I have mostly been reading nonfiction on my TBR.
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Great job! Krakauer wrote Into the Wild, right? I bought that book YEARS ago and have always wanted to read it… but it’s been sitting in a storage unit on the other side of the country, since 2008. With so many more of my books. I really have to go get my stuff, soon! lol
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Yes, he did! Into the Wild is pretty short, and I read it in just a day or two. Although I think that Into Thin Air is my favorite of Krakauer’s (that I’ve read so far). Eventually I’ll have to check out Eiger Dreams. Great job yourself! I’m really impressed with your list—several of those titles are intimidating to me 🙂
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Finally, I have a review to link up! I read (and hosted a readalong for) Villette this past month and enjoyed it. Hopefully this is the start of something good.
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Yes! I really need to read that one.
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I read two books of my list, and I am now exactly half-way! I read The house of the Mosque by Kader Abdolah, an Iranian writer who lives here in The Netherlands now, and I read a book with the letters of Queen Sophie of The Netherlands. Both books were amazing, so I am glad I finally read them!
Good luck to everyone with their challenge.
Kind regards,
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Those sound really interesting!
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Yay! I finally have a book to checkpoint with! I’ve finished Making Time: Lillian Moller Gilbreth, a Life Beyond “Cheaper by the Dozen”, by Jane Lancaster. Loved it! And I’m currently (also finally!) reading Sense and Sensibility.
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I have read five of them, but I have only blogged about four of them.
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Somehow I’ve managed three finishes since the last check-in. . . how did that happen? So I’m at 8/12 + 1 alternate. My kindle tells me I’m about 65% of the way through Les Mis too, which has been utterly great. Montaillou is my favourite recent finish, absolutely fascinating. Anyone with any interest in medieval history, French history, microhistory, sociology or the Catholic church should put it straight on their to-read list.
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I’ve now read 7 books, but the remaining titles are all pretty long and heavy. I’d better pick one up soon! Though you and o pretty much derailed my relaxing June.
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I’m doing terribly. Haven’t read a single one yet. Maybe over the summer.
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I’m doing well! I’ve read and reviewed 7, finished one more (The Remains of the Day) and now I’m working on #9, which is my really long one (Daniel Deronda). So I’m confident I’ll actually finish this year. My most recent review was The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, which was amazing and really bizarre.
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Doin’ a snail pace … only read 1 or 2 (so badly that I don’t even remember!). 😦 ..hoping in Sept. I’ll get on the right gear and start reading for fun again…
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I pretty sure one of my twelve is a DNF, so I read one of my alternates instead… and didn’t like it either. I can’t win for losin’! I’m still sitting at only 3 titles finished, but I do have big plans to get caught up in August and September, so those will be the months for me.
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Woo hoo, I’ve finished my seventh book, so I think I’ve got a good pace.
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That’s awesome!
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I read the books I had in my pile by Gil McNiel which happened to be books 1 and 2 of A Beach Street Knitting Society series. I didn’t know there was a third one until I had finished the second one!
These books mark 5 and 6 completed.
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I keep missing the check-in posts! I have one from back in March that I haven’t linked up, so I guess I’ll wait until the July check-in is up.
Right now, I’m reading #5 for the challenge. So, nearly halfway there.
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