I think this is a fantastic challenge! It was cooked up by Adam at Roof Beam Reader (go check out the details). This year has been my year of subsisting on giveaways, which has opened me up to some fantastic and current reads, as well as introduce me to some new authors. Sadly, my TBR has just been growing (ok, understatement -- it's becoming uncontrollable) and I am not really getting around to any of them! Hopefully this will be the much-needed push for me.
The Goal: To finally read 12 books from my “to be read” pile (within 12 months).
My 2013 TBR Pile Challenge List:
- The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga [Man Booker winner]
- The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald [classic]
- A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess [classic]
- The Woman Who Had Two Navels by Nick Joaquín [fiction, Filipino author]
- Wonderstruck by Brian Selznick [children's, graphic novel]
- The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern [fiction] (first one!)
- Sophie's World by Jostein Gaarder [fiction]
- Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami [fiction, Japanese author]
- Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri [Pulitzer Prize winner]
- Shades of Grey by Jasper Fforde [fiction]
- Guns, Germs and Steel by Jared Diamond [non-fiction]
- The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals by Michael Pollan [non-fiction]
Alternates:
- Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury [fiction]
- A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens [classic]
Oooh! Nice list! The Great Gatsby, The Night Circus & Fahrenheit 451 are personal favorites. I also loved A Clockwork Orange. The Omnivore's Dilemma and Wonderstruck have been on my to read list for a while, too!
ReplyDeleteThanks for taking a peek Adam! So glad to know my TBR is good reading, if you recommend quite a few of them :) Good luck to us!
Deletewait--The Night Circus was non-fiction? Didn't seem like it...
ReplyDeleteI really liked The White Tiger.
Amber, that was clearly a mistake :) I did a copy-paste and it was nearing midnight. Good to know you liked The White Tiger - I'll go see if you have a review on your blog :)
Deletegood luck with the challenge Aloi! you have some interesting titles there on your list. by the way, i have some trivia for you. the father of someone i know was a good buddy of Nick Joaquin. when Nick was still alive, he was a constant visitor in my friend's home.
ReplyDeletehave a wonderful weekend!
Cool! I keep vowing read more Filipino literature and I figured I should read something by Joaquin!
DeleteYour list has more contemporary books, than mine. It's interesting, and I'm looking forward to your reviews! Of course I wish you good luck with your basic list, but some part of me wishes that you turn to one of your alternatives =) Especially Fahrenheit 451 - because it's great!
ReplyDeleteI guess I do lean more to the contemporary. I do need to get more classics in but I am so daunted. I don't know what it is! I usually target 30-50 books per year so getting Fahrenheit 45 in there for the year may not be such a stretch! Thanks for the recommendation!
DeleteYour list looks great! Norwegian Wood is beautiful and one of the more 'solid' Murakami works (not my favourite but it's great). Have you read Murakami before?
ReplyDeleteI was very close to putting Fahrenheit 451 and The Night Circus on my list too.
Also I must thank you for your comment. It made me check out your blog and I love it! I'm going to keep following you for sure!
What's your favourite Murakami? I've read a few Murakamis (After the Quake, Wind-up Bird, Kafka on the Shore) and I honestly got a little tired of him because the latter 2 seemed very similar. I've had is books on my TBR for such a long time now since I haven't picked up any of his work in years. Someone recommended Norwegian Wood to me, but I was contemplating Sputnik Sweetheart or Hard-Boiled Wonderland.
DeleteI'm following you back, Carola :) Lovely to meet you! :)
That's a difficult question. I have an obsession with Murakami for whatever reason but I have only ever given Sputnik Sweetheart 5 stars. I really liked A Wild Sheep Chase too. Looks like you've read exactly the books I haven't read yet! I understand how you feel by the way. As much as I love the books, I probably couldn't read more than one Murakami book in a row, simply because they have so much in common.
DeleteReally nice to meet you too :D
There are some great books on your list--I look forward to reading your reviews!
ReplyDeletethanks for your encouragement! i'm really looking forward to getting around to these, finally!
DeleteThis is a great list! I really liked The Great Gatsby and The Night Circus. Enjoy!
ReplyDeleteYay! Looks like I've picked some winners!
Deleteit sure won't be because i am lacking encouragement. thanks :)
ReplyDeleteGood luck, a great selection =) It took me two reads to really get A Clockwork Orange completely, but it's a fantastic book.
ReplyDeleteEeek. Really? I am up to the challenge though Rinn!
DeleteA Clockwork Orange was a very interesting read for me. I had to both listen to the audio and read the book so I could understand what it was saying (it has lots of slang). It's very dark but a very good book. Good luck with that!
ReplyDeleteVonnie's Reading Corner
I have Wonderstruck on my shelf but haven't read it yet. I loved The Invention of Hugo Cabret by him though so I'll be interested to hear your thoughts! The Great Gatsby I read years ago and remember it being great so it might be time for a reread!
ReplyDelete