November Checkpoint #TBR2019RBR

Posted on November 16, 2019 by

13 Comments

It’s November and the TBR Pile Challenge Continues!

Folks, this is a RED ALERT. We are running out of time. With just 6(?) weeks left in the 2019 calendar year, I hope you have plenty of time available to finish your challenge books and get your posts linked-up for the grand prize! 

(Should we do this again next year? Let me know in the comments!)

If you’ve completed your list or made a lot of progress, share that in the comments! We’d love to cheer you on and feel motivated too, especially those of us (cough cough) who have been stuck for a little bit. Also, as a reminder, if you did read all 12 (or 14!) books on your list but want to write a final wrap-up post for the challenge, in order to be entered once more into the grand prize giveaway when the challenge ends, please feel free! I’ll remind everyone in December.

At the moment, we have 267 posts linked-up for this challenge (soon to be 268, since I count this one! Ha!). That’s pretty darn good, although I would love to see us hit 300 pots overall. What do you think? Can we do that by year’s end? I will do my best to add to that count, despite the fact that I’ve been stuck on my list since June or July. Oh, dear. What a bad leader I am! 

Progress: 7 of 12 Completed / 7 of 12 Reviewed

My progress is exactly what it was these last two or three months. And now Big Brother goes and releases DISNEY+ and I’m like, well, wonderful! Let’s see if I can pull myself away from TaleSpin, Darkwing Duck and Moana long enough to do some reading. That’s a big ask right now, considering I’m sick (cough cough) and I’m heading into the final 4 weeks of the academic semester, when my personal time, well… wait, what’s personal time? 

Books read:

How are you doing?

index

Below, you’re going to find the infamous Mr. Linky widget. If you read and review any challenge books this month, please link-up on the widget below. This Mr. Linky will be re-posted every month so that we can compile a large list of all that we’re reading and reviewing together this year. Each review that is linked-up on this widget throughout the year may also earn you entries into future related giveaways, so don’t forget to keep this updated!

MINI-CHALLENGE #4 WINNER: 

Congratulations to Jane at Just Reading a Book, who has won a book of choice from Amazon.com or The Book Depository! ($20 USD or less). I’ve been in touch with the winner and hope to reveal to everyone which book they chose. Onward to December and the end of our challenge! 

LINK UP YOUR REVIEWS! 

 

October Checkpoint #TBR2019RBR

Posted on October 15, 2019 by

17 Comments

Happy Autumn, TBR Pile Challengers! 

Well, it’s autumn here in the United States, but I suppose it is spring elsewhere. Anyhow, those are the two best seasons, aren’t they? So, happiness all-around!  

I wonder if you might take a moment to leave a comment this month and share your favorite book from this year’s challenge? If you’ve completed your list or made a lot of progress, share that too! We’d love to cheer you on and feel motivated too, especially those of us (cough cough) who have been stuck for a little bit. 

Speaking of stuck, there have only been 9 new links added since last month’s checkpoint, and I have a feeling more reading than that has happened, but maybe not? I for one did NOT make any progress, so I can’t fault anyone else. In fact, I’ve been so busy that the last post I made on this blog was, wait for it, the September checkpoint post! (Where I lamented not making any challenge progress. Ha!) It’s time to take a look at my daily planner and see how I can start managing my time a little better. 

Progress: 7 of 12 Completed / 7 of 12 Reviewed

My progress is exactly what it was. Even my overall reading has been slowing down, as I focus on more in-depth readings of course works + grading student papers, etc. That said, I have been reading some comic books (House of X / Powers of X) and read an absolutely stunning book called Ziggy, Stardust & Me that I’ll need to review soon, or re-read again. Maybe both. I also finished Living Buddha, Living Christ, which was great, and the new long-awaited new release from Stephen Chbosky, which was fine enough (it doesn’t hold a candle to The Perks of Being A Wallflower, but what could?). Now that we are headed into the eigth week of the academic term, I hope I’ve adapted well enough to my work schedule in order to get back to an effective reading/writing and leisure schedule as well. But enough about me.

Books read:

How are you doing?

index

Below, you’re going to find the infamous Mr. Linky widget. If you read and review any challenge books this month, please link-up on the widget below. This Mr. Linky will be re-posted every month so that we can compile a large list of all that we’re reading and reviewing together this year. Each review that is linked-up on this widget throughout the year may also earn you entries into future related giveaways, so don’t forget to keep this updated!

MINI-CHALLENGE #4

To be eligible to win a book of your choice ($20USD or less from Amazon or The Book Depository), please leave a comment on this post sharing your favorite TBR Pile Challenge read of all time. If you’re new this year, it would need to be from this year’s list, but if you’ve participated many times, it can be from any challenge list in the last 8 years. (Yes, I HAVE been hosting this since 2011, can you believe it?) I can’t wait to hear what you all share, and good luck! I’ll choose and post the winner for November’s checkpoint, so be sure to comment by November 14th. 

LINK UP YOUR REVIEWS! 

 

September Checkpoint! #TBR2019RBR

Posted on September 15, 2019 by

13 Comments

Hello, TBR Pile Challengers! 

I wake this morning to find almost 250 posts linked-up for this challenge. Bravo! 

I wonder if you might take a moment to leave a comment this month and share your favorite book from this year’s challenge? If you’ve completed your list or made a lot of progress, share that too! We’d love to cheer you on and feel motivated too, especially those of us (cough cough) who have been stuck for a little bit. 

Speaking of stuck, as summer here in the world’s hottest region begins to come to an end, I will begin to find myself more often outdoors. That usually means a rapid slowing-down of my reading progress. This is a little problematic because I’ve already had two months in a row with now challenge list progress! Teaching two literature courses plus composition courses tends to whittle away at any of my free time, but especially free/pleasure reading, because I need to read so much material for lectures, reviews, and of course I need to read student work, too. All of that is to say… I swear, it’s not my fault! (Ha ha – are you convinced?)

Progress: 7 of 12 Completed / 7 of 12 Reviewed

My progress is exactly what it was. Even my overall reading has been slowing down, as I focus on more in-depth readings of course works + grading student papers, etc. That said, I have been reading some comic books (House of X / Powers of X) and read an absolutely stunning book called Ziggy, Stardust & Me that I’ll need to review soon, or re-read again. Maybe both. I’m also about to finish Living Buddha, Living Christ, and I hope to put some thoughts together for that one as well. Now that we are headed into the fourth week of the academic term, I hope I’ve adapted well enough to my work schedule in order to get back to an effective reading/writing and leisure schedule as well. But enough about me.

Books read:

How are you doing?

index

Below, you’re going to find the infamous Mr. Linky widget. If you read and review any challenge books this month, please link-up on the widget below. This Mr. Linky will be re-posted every month so that we can compile a large list of all that we’re reading and reviewing together this year. Each review that is linked-up on this widget throughout the year may also earn you entries into future related giveaways, so don’t forget to keep this updated!

MINI-CHALLENGE #3 Winner:

Constance from Staircase Wit! She chose to receive a copy of THE SUMMER HOUSE PARTY. Congratulations, Constance! 

LINK UP YOUR REVIEWS! 

 

No-No Boy by John Okada

Posted on August 19, 2019 by

3 Comments

John Okada’s No-No Boy is the story of Ichiro Yamada, a young Japanese-American man who comes of age during World War II. He and his family are forced into a Japanese internment camp for two years, after which Ichiro is ironically drafted to serve in the U.S. Army. When he refuses to serve, he is arrested and imprisoned, ultimately losing his freedom for another two years.

The story begins just after Yamada has been released from prison. The war has ended and the Japanese-Americans are coming to terms with what this means for them. Some, like Ichiro’s friends, served as “proud Americans” and now look to return home as military heroes, taking their place in a grateful society. Others, like Ichiro’s mother, refuse to believe that Japan lost. They consider any anti-Japanese sentiment, even the most clearly documented, factual evidence, as nothing more than American propaganda. And others, like Ichiro, who refused to serve, struggle to find a place at all. They are neither American nor Japanese, anymore, and they are vilified by almost everyone.

No-No Boy was a surprise for me, in two ways. First, it is not the story I expected. I went into this believing that it would be a direct and damning critique of what the United States government did to the Japanese-Americans during World War II. But, it’s not that. Ichiro’s character, and those who surround him, elucidate just how complex and convoluted the reactions to this time were, even for those whose lives and livelihoods had been robbed. It was uncomfortable to read any perspective that was at all gracious to this time period, but even more so discomfiting to read it from the perspective of a young Japanese man.

The second surprise was in the prose itself. Reading Okada had me thinking of a bizarre marriage between F. Scott Fitzgerald and J.D. Salinger. I imagined the two had a young Japanese-American child, and that child became a writer named John Okada. His style is acerbic and beautiful, pointed and meandering. He reveals, in his prose, the same complications and confusions reflected in the time and people surrounding his main character. Even the somewhat cliche ending, which felt, in the moment, like a tragic disappointment to me as a reader, developed in my mind over the ensuing twenty-four hours into something obvious and unavoidable, and painfully sad.

To put it plainly, Okada is a subtle genius, and his work is both challenging and unique. I believe Asian-American writing is on the verge of being more thoughtfully recognized and fully embraced, something that is long overdue. Okada should be a staple in this deserved renaissance.

August Checkpoint! #TBR2019RBR

Posted on August 16, 2019 by

11 Comments

Greetings, TBR Pile Challengers! 

Y’all! We have more than 230 posts linked-up for this challenge! How incredible is that?

I hear summer is coming to a close; students and teachers are returning to school, and many are eagerly awaiting the autumn season. Count me in as one of those many! It’s still very much summer in my part of the world, with temperatures hitting 105+ degrees every day (for at least a few more weeks). I’m more than ready for September to get here (or October…or November…) 

Last month’s checkpoint came with the third of four planned mini-challenges. I hope you’ll all take the opportunity to return to last month’s post and look at the few book title poems that people submitted — they were fantastic! Thanks to those who did participate, it was a lot of fun reading your poems. You made the choice very difficult. Mini-challenge #4 will be coming soon. 

Progress: 7 of 12 Completed / 7 of 12 Reviewed

Well, after a pretty good stretch of progress through June, I hit a bit of a wall this last month. There’s a reason, though! I decided to focus my reading entirely on POETRY in July but, unfortunately, I didn’t have any poetry on my TBR List. I’ll have to be sure to include even more genre diversity next year! I had done a themed reading month for June, too (LGBTQ+), but I had two titles that worked within that category.

Oh well, there’s plenty of time to catch up! If I get even one book from my list read in the month of August, that will put me back on track with 8 books in the 8th month, right? Since I’ve turned my attention heavily toward writing, I might try to make my two “on writing” books (Reading Like A Writer and Light the Dark) the next two to read and cross off my challenge list. HOW ARE YOU DOING!?

Books read:

How are you doing?

index

Below, you’re going to find the infamous Mr. Linky widget. If you read and review any challenge books this month, please link-up on the widget below. This Mr. Linky will be re-posted every month so that we can compile a large list of all that we’re reading and reviewing together this year. Each review that is linked-up on this widget throughout the year may also earn you entries into future related giveaways, so don’t forget to keep this updated!

MINI-CHALLENGE #3 Winner:

Constance from Staircase Wit! Constance will receive a book of her choice from The Book Depository ($20USD or less). I look forward to sharing her selection with everyone, once she has made her decision. Congratulations, Constance! 

LINK UP YOUR REVIEWS! 

 

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 2,545 other subscribers
Disclaimer

All original written material and images located within RoofBeamReader.com, including its pages, posts, and comment boxes, are copyright of the website author. Permission to use, reprint, or publish any material, including articles, blog posts, or book reviews from the Roof Beam Reader website, whether in print or online, must be granted by the author in writing.