Sunday 1 December 2013

To Be Read Pile Challenge 2014


I am down to my final book for the TBR Pile Challenge 2013 but already we are signing up for next year, pop over to Roof Beam Reader for rules and regulations and the signup linky. The format is: pick a dozen books, or fourteen because you are allowed a couple of substitutes in case you regret your choices, that have been waiting in the wings for over a year, and the aim is to read them all over the next twelve months. That's it really, you don't have to do one a month or anything like that, just read them as and when you like, mixed up with whatever new books come your way. 
Here is my list for 2014:

  1. Vindication of the Rights of Woman by Mary Wollstonecraft - because we like to mix it up with a bit of non-fiction.
  2. The Love of a Good Woman by Alice Munro - to celebrate her becoming the thirteenth woman to win the Nobel Literature prize.
  3. Nocturnes by Kazuo Ishiguro - passed on to me by mum.
  4. The First Century After Beatrice by Amin Maalouf - bought after reading a review.
  5. Lady Oracle by Margaret Atwood - of the two of hers I have waiting I picked this one, partly because her book on last year year's list is one left unread.
  6. The Last Nude by Ellis Avery - won in a giveaway about two years ago.
  7. The Schopenhauer Cure by Irvin D. Yalom - philosophy, psychology and literature combined (apparently).
  8. To The Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf - I started a Woolf challenge a couple of years ago and only managed Mrs Dalloway so this is my 'serious' reading for this year.
  9. Hunting Unicorns by Bella Pollen - picked up at random in a charity shop.
  10. Fasting, Feasting by Anita Desai -  I realised I have read both her daughter Kiran's books but never one of hers.
  11. Perfume by Patrick Süskind - I read The Pigeon several years ago and loved it, definitely a writer to read again.
  12. Death at Intervals by José Saramago -  I read Blindness many years ago, before bloggy days so no review, so he is another on the long list of people to read again. A second Nobel Prize winner.
  13. Small Ceremonies by Carol Shields - of the two books waiting by Carol I picked this one.
  14. The Bride's Farewell by Meg Rosoff - for the fun of it, a bit of YA fiction, because we love Meg Rosoff and I picked this up at a charity shop.
Here was me thinking that there were a lot of male writers, and I find there are only five, compared with seven last year, but on the other hand I am pleased with the more international flavour of the list: one Portugese, one Indian, one German, two Canadians, five Americans, one Lebanese born and one Japanese born writer, leaving only two who are British. As with last year the author link goes to the author web page or Wiki page, and then completed the title will link to my review of the book.

4 comments:

  1. OMG, spam, I feel quite flattered that you bothered to call and write this lengthy diatribe that is so irrelevant to my post, it has happened to me so rarely that I am just going to leave it for posterity. thanks.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That's quite funny in a bizarre, verging on tragic kind of way!
      I've had some weird sales spam over the years, but never a religious one before!!

      I can't believe there's an Amin Maalouf out there that I haven't read - I loved his other works...I'll have to look out for this one....to add to my TBR pile for 2015!!

      Good luck with your challenge

      Delete
  2. what a lovely pile Martine - I want to do this challenge and my tbr pile is about 2 metres high - so I've got plenty to choose from !!
    I hand in my poetry dissertation tomorrow and then I'll be freeeeeeeeeeee!!
    xx

    ReplyDelete
  3. I quite enjoyed Nocturnes, and I LOVED Perfume. It's grotesque and strange and beautifully written and I'm sure I'm going to end up rereading it sometime soon! If you haven't already seen it, I highly recommend giving the Ben Whishaw/Alan Rickman movie a go AFTER you've read the book - it's sumptuous and the music's gorgeous, but I was glad I'd read the book first to explain the extra details!

    P.S. That spam is hilarious! I love the "YOU ARE INVITED TO FOLLOW MY BLOG" at the end - that's a nice touch. :P

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for stopping by. Thoughts, opinions and suggestions (reading or otherwise) always most welcome.