Roof Beam Reader
Adam Burgess
TBR Pile Checkpoint #10 – October Progress!
Congrats to last month’s winner, Sarah of The Everyday Reader!
Hi, There, TBR Pile Challengers! And Welcome to Another Checkpoint!
It is October 15th, which means we are now officially in the final quarter our 2013 TBR Pile Challenge! I continue to be impressed and excited by the participation in this challenge – it’s enough to make me want to bring it back again in 2014!
Where I’m At: I have read 11 of my required 12 books – almost done! This might be the first year in the last couple where I manage to complete all 12 books on my list AND possibly the alternates, too. I keep getting distracted by some fabulous new releases (such as the Salinger biography that I just read/reviewed, as well as the new Rick Riordan and Stephen King books), so I don’t know if I’ll get to all 14 books on my list, but I will definitely read the main goal of 12!
My 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
Book #10: Persuasion by Jane Austen
Book #11: The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (review to come)
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: This month’s challenge once again comes with a giveaway! You can win any book of your choice, up to $20 USD, as long as it is available at The Book Depository (and as long as TBD ships to your location).
To be eligible, you need to do these things:
1. Use the Mister Linky widget below to link-up an eligible review post for this month OR a link to a check-in post for this month. Each eligible review = one entry.
2. Leave a comment sharing with us which book from your 2013 TBR Pile list has been your favorite, so far (or your least favorite, most surprising, etc.). Plus anything else you want to share. =-)
3. Make sure I can reach you by email – so if your email isn’t posted in an obvious place on your blog, then leave it in the comment, here (in a non-spamable format!).
Good luck!
Link-up Your Reviews for September 21st – October 20th:
Roof Beam Reader 
What a great challenge. I’m sorry I’m just learning about it now. I hope you do this again next year so I can participate.
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It will be back in 2014 – for year #5!
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I have done 10 to 12 by this month (yay to me!). My most favorite so far is Zola’s La Bete Humaine, which is no surprise, as I have already a feeling that I might love it, from the beginning. Nothing surprised me from the list, as I have selected them according to my taste. But one disappointment is perhaps Matilda. Maybe I should read it when I was still a child anyway… Now, two to go, one of them is Moby Dick, which I am currently reading. The other one is David Copperfield, which I am keeping for Nov-Dec Sync Read with The Classics Club!
my email: joviemaria at yahoo dot com
And thanks for the giveaway! 🙂
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Oh, wow, two giant chunksters remain! Good for you on your progress, though. Moby Dick and David Copperfield are both incredible books, too, so that’s a nice way to end out the year.
I’ve only read one book by Zola, but I loved it. I think O (delaisse) is about to finish her very last Zola… incredible!
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Sorry, I was wrong, I checked at the wrong list. I have actually done 12 of 14, and the two remainings are John Banville’s The Sea and David Copperfield… 😀
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La Bete Humaine is BRILLIANT — one of my favorites by Zola. So happy to see someone else reading it, Zola is really underappreciated. Those who’ve actually read his works have only tried Therese Raquin or Germinal, so it’s nice to hear that people are trying more of the Rougon Macquart series.
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Yes, please do it again next year! I already have my list made. I’m actually participating this year too but I didn’t officially register. I’m almost done with #11! Haroun and the Sea of Stories.
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No worries – I have every intention of bringing this back next year. It will be Year #5!
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just linked my 3rd review, though I’m not sure I ever linked reviews 1 and 2.
I actually read 5/12, so 2 reviews are upcoming soon, hopefully.
The Madonnas of Leningrad could well be my favorite so far in this challenge, though I also liked a lot Dissolution, my 1st read.
Emma
ehc16e at yahoo dot com
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Great – almost half way!
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I think my favorite so far has been One of our Thursdays is Missing. I love the Thursday Next series! I just finished Galapagos and enjoyed it, Vonnegut is always good.
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Yes! I have only read The Eyre Affair, but I liked it a lot. And I absolutely loved Vonnegut.
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I’ve read 9 of 12, and I’m on number 10 now. I need to speed it up a little to be done by the end of the year, but I’m mostly on track.
My favorite so far is The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms by N.K. Jemisin. I didn’t expect to enjoy it as much as I did. First-person perspective in an epic fantasy, with a lot of elements I like. I’m looking forward to reading the second book, which may be in my 2014 TBR Challenge pile. Assuming you’re doing one. 🙂
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Oh, good! I love when these books that have been sitting, neglected, end up being surprisingly good/enjoyable. It actually seems to happen a lot with the books I choose each year.
And, yes, I’m definitely doing the challenge again next year. 🙂
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I wound up enjoying a lot of the books a lot more than I thought I would. There were some disappointments, but, for the most part, I was glad to have had the excuse to read books I’d left moldering on the shelves.
Consider me signed up for 2014. 😀
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Well, I’ve read ten of my books, so far and just started book 11, The Testament of Mariam, about one of the sisters of Jesus, by Ann Swinfen. I’ve really read some wonderful books via this challenge–I think my favorite so far was one I recently read, Katherine, by Anya Seton. It’s been on my TBR shelf for years, but I can see myself rereading it again within a few years. It’s about Katherine Swynford, John of Gaunt’s mistress, and is a classic love story from medieval times.
The biggest disappointment was The Whiskey Rebels. I think I’m going to tackle both alternates instead of The Leopard, which I started but just wasn’t enjoying. 1876 by Gore Vidal and The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie are both much more promising.
BTW, I accidentally left two links to Madame Tussaud, so please delete one.
Should I be lucky enough to win this month: janegs05-at-gmail-dot-com
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I just finished my first backup title, so that’s #13. I’ve started the very last book, Barbara Tuchman’s “Bible and Sword,” and so far I’m loving it. I think I will pick “Making Their Own Peace” as my favorite of the list. Last of the Mohicans wins the booby prize for worst book.
jean at roadq dot com
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I’m on #9, which includes two of my alternates. It’s The Collected Novellas by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, which is by far the book I’ve owned the longest that is still unread. Sadly, one of the novellas is really dragging. But some of the books on my list have been wonderful surprises — I really enjoyed Lady Chatterley’s Lover, which I was absolutely dreading. My other favorites so far have been The Makioka Sisters and My Name Is Asher Lev, both of which were just wonderful.
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Unfortunately this month brought me my biggest disappointment till now. I was really disappointed by The Taker and I expected more. Sadly. I still have only one book to review but good news is that one of my fave books ever was also my last month read :))
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PS. I’m happy to see that you’ll complete the challenge! *high fives* And I’ll be on time for the next update 😉
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Totally unconnected and random comment, but I love the new look of your blog.
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I was very keen to take part in this challenge but I hadn’t progressed very well at all for a lot of the year! I am a bit happier now as I’ve read four of my twelve books and I think I’ll get through at least a couple more, even if not them all. Thanks for running it though and giving me a focus!
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I’m still stuck halfway at 6 of 12. Bummer! Not that I haven’t been reading… just like you I’ve been distracted by new releases. I also kind of hit a major slump starting in August, when I had to move apartments and took several long trips and school/orchestra started up. Oh well. I am hesitant to “officially” quit yet… but I think I’d like to try again next year. If I don’t finish, I think the ones I didn’t read on my TBR list will get donated/sold. That to me is a signal not to keep those books around anymore (more room for new stuff too, right?!)
Also, the new design for you blog is fab! 🙂
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Here’s the post for my second to last book for the challenge, Mansfield Park: http://thebookstop.wordpress.com/2013/09/25/mansfield-park-by-jane-austen/. I’m afraid it was my least favorite Austen.
Now I’m reading my LAST TBR Pile book, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Looking for folks who might be interested in reading it with me!
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And my favorite book from this year’s TBR Challenge is A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness. Closely followed by The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle and A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. This challenge has been a great way to catch up on books I’ve missed.
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Oh, A Monster Calls is SUCH an interesting, beautiful book.
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