This timely challenge, courtesy of RoofBeamReader, is the perfect motivation to force me to read some of the wonderful books I have sitting on my Kindle or bookshelves but which never seem to get to the top of the reading pile.
The Goal: To finally read 12 books from your “to be read” pile (within 12 months).
The Rules (courtesy of RoofBeamReader):
- Each of the 12 books must have been on your bookshelf or “To Be Read” list for AT LEAST one full year. This means the book cannot have a publication date of 1/1/2017 or later (any book published in the year 2016 or earlier qualifies, as long as it has been on your TBR pile). Caveat: Two alternates are allowed, just in case one or two of the books end up in the “can’t get through” pile.
- To be eligible, you must sign-up with the Mr. Linky at RoofBeamReader. Link to your list (so create it ahead of time!) and add updated links to each book’s review. Books must be read and must be reviewed (doesn’t have to be too fancy) in order to count as completed.
- The link you post in the Mr. Linky must be to your “master list”. This is where you will keep track of your books completed, crossing them out and/or dating them as you go along, and updating the list with the links to each review (so there’s one easy, convenient way to find your list and all your reviews for the challenge). Your complete and final list must be posted by January 15th, 2018.
- Leave comments on the challenge post as you go along, to update us on your status. Come back here if/when you complete this challenge and leave a comment indicating that you CONQUERED YOUR 2018 TBR LIST! Every person who successfully reads his/her 12 books and/or alternates (and who provides a working link to their list, which has links to the review locations) will be entered to win a $50 gift card from Amazon.com or The Book Depository!
- Crossovers from other challenges are totally acceptable, as long as you have never read the book before and it was published before 2017! You can read the books on your list in any order; they do not need to be read in the order you have them listed. Audiobooks count. Graphic novels count. Poetry collections? Essay collections? All good! As you complete a book – review it, go to your original list and turn that title into a link to the review.
I love putting together this kind of challenge list (in fact, I sometimes wonder if I don’t enjoy it more than actually reading the books on the lists). Anyway, having sorted and ordered my Goodreads To-Read shelf, here is my list.
1 Elizabeth Strout, Olive Kitteridge
2 Salley Vickers, The Cleaner of Chartres
3 Laurent Binet, HHhH
4 Edith Wharton, The House of Mirth
5 Helen Simonson, Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand
6 Willa Cather, Death Comes for the Archbishop
7 David Ashton, Nor Will He Sleep
8 Chris Cleave, Everyone Brave Is Forgiven
9 Maggie O’Farrell, This Must Be The Place
10 Patricia Highsmith, Carol (The Price of Salt)
11 Philip K Dick, The Man in the High Castle
12 Harper Lee, Go Set A Watchman
Reserve 1 David Mitchell, The Bone Clocks
Reserve 2 Rosemary Sutcliff, The Flowers of Adonis
Three (4, 6 and 10) on my list are also on my Classics Club list – that’s called killing three birds with one stone. My reserves are both long ones which is to discourage me from DNF-ing any from my main list!
Wish me luck! Or, better still, why not join in and make a dent in your TBR pile….
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