Roof Beam Reader
Adam Burgess
Friends Recommending Reads
New Year, New Challenges.
I mean that in a good way, this time.
Actually, this year, I’m determined to only participate in one reading challenge, which is my tenth anniversary edition of the TBR Pile Challenge, hosted right here at the Roof Beam Reader blog! There’s still time to sign-up, by the way, but not much!
I did also jump on the “Recommend Me a Book” meme that was floating around social media. The gist is to ask friends/family to recommend you one book to read in 2023, to collect a total of twelve titles (ideally, one per month.) I made the request back on January 2nd and received a total of thirteen different suggestions.
I’m going to do my best to read all thirteen, but I’m listing them here as the core twelve (in keeping spirit with the original challenge) plus one alternate. Below, listed in no particular order, are the titles my friends and family recommended that I’ll be adding to my TBR for 2023. What do you think!?
- True Biz by Sara Novic (recommended by Sara S.)
- Kitchen by Banana Yoshimoto (recommended by Andrew B.)
- Black Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse (recommended by Bev H.)
- Legends and Lattes by Travis Baldree (recommended by Allie D.) (Completed Feb. 17)
- The Lure by Felice Picano (recommended by Ryan G.)
- The Year of the Horses by Courtney Maum (recommended by Lori W.)
- A Brief History of Seven Killings by Marlon James (recommended by Tracy S.)
- Dark Matter by Blake Crouch (Recommended by Darlene O.) (Completed May 2)
- The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton (Recommended by Laurie)
- Spring Snow by Yukio Mishima (Recommended by Esther H.) (Completed Jan. 21)
- Pied Piper by Nevil Shute (Recommended by Nany H.)
- The Winds of War by Herman Wouk (Recommended by Janet)
Alternate/Bonus: A Stolen Life by Jaycee Dugard (Recommended by Gretchen A.)
Thanks to my friends who sent in their suggestions! I have only read three of these authors so far (Picano, Wharton, and Mishima), but not the ones recommended, here. I’m looking forward to the whole list, to be honest, perhaps especially Dark Matter, which has been on my radar for a long time, and The Sea of Fertility, as I have a bunch of Mishima on my shelves, but somehow, I missed this particular tetralogy (and it sounds perfect for me!)
What are you reading this week?
See you on Jan. 15th for our first #TBRYear10 check-in!
Roof Beam Reader 
I admire that you’re doing this challenge. Because I struggle enough to follow through with what I set out to read for myself, I passed on this challenge (and so didn’t make recommendations to others). It is a lovely idea.
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A very daring challenge!
If you’ve asked me, I would’ve suggested Zola’s L’Assommoir! :))
My current read are Rural Hours (naturalist journal of Susan Fenimore Cooper-refreshing) and Bradbury’s Dandelion Wine (beautifully written).
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I love Bradbury!
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Bradbury is one of my all-time favorite authors. I reread some his regularly.
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Of the books on the list the only one I have read is The House of Mirth which I read many years ago and it came as a suprise to me how much I liked it because in high school we were asked to read Ethan Fromme which I didn’t like and decided no need to read anything further by Edith Wharton. But then years later I decided to give Wharton another try and so I picked up House of Mirth and was stunned by how good it was. I highly recommend this novel.
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I start most years declaring I’ll participate in fewer challenges, and look where it’s got me – I’ve scheduled a post listing books lingering on my TBR piles for yet another challenge… 😁 I’ll link it when it gets published in a couple of days.
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I think I’ve got to get on with my TBR list, pretty quick! But I loved The House of Mirth, happy reading!
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I really loved Age of Innocence, and I liked Ethan Fromme, so I have high hopes!
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THE HOUSE OF MIRTH! ❤
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The only one of these I have read is Pied Piper by Nevil Shute. It is a favorite of mine, a story of a stranded British pensioner helping some children to escape from France in the early days of WW2.
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That’s good to hear!
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I’ve only read two of these (well, three, but one was so long ago it hardly counts), but I know I disliked one extremely, and that’s A Brief History of Seven Killings.
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Uh oh!
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It is extremely violent.
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Ah okay. I don’t mind that, but I’ll be sure to read it in the right state of mind/mood. Thanks for the warning!
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Good plan!
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I’m currently reading Banana Yoshimoto’s new short story collection – Dead-end Memories. Very good so far. My copy of Kitchen also contained another short story, Moonlight Shadow. I was enchanted!
I’ve read 2 Shute’s in the past – A Town Like Alice and On the Beach. Both fascinating stories, but somewhat dated as well.
I’m also reading Adam Bede for an Eliot Readalong, so yeah, I’ve been drawn into several challenges too.
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I love this idea! I loved House of Mirth, and Black Sun is fantastic. Legends & Lattes will be a great break for you among the seriousness of some of these others. It’s a book that still makes me smile thinking about it.
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Enjoy! Yoshimoto and Mishima are great!
I have read Crouch’s latest book, and really want to read this one as well
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