Mount TBR Challenge 2024 discussion

I'm going to try to block myself from buying a ridiculous amount of books again. I succeeded in 2022 for EIGHT MONTHS! That's a feat and a huge win because I used to purchase books almost every month. However, it seems that I've done some damage in 2023 (approximately a hundred books??!!) and now my mountain is steep again. It is very challenging when the library has $1 sales, and old-fashioned bookstores carry some delicious old books I've been keeping an eye on. Starting point 389 books. Lets goooo!!

Strategizing for 2024 to increase reading time and reading volume by:

i) being more disciplined with limiting daily time limit on social media

ii) imposing temporary book buying ban due to excessive purchase in 2023

iii) paying more attention to books I have by picking themed month titles eg. Valentine's, Victober, winter feels, from TBR list

I usually start the new year with classics but I also know I have to read a couple of books for bookclub. I am going to make a list so I don't forget some of the books I have been thinking of lately for some of the months in 2024.

January:
The Island of Sea Women by Lisa See (main bookclub)
Rules of Civility by Amor Towles (bedtime bookclub)
All The Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr (because I want to watch the movie but must read book first) - FAIL
Middlemarch by George Eliot - FAIL
On the Road by Jack Kerouac - FAIL

February:
The Painted Veil by W. Somerset Maugham - FAIL
The Memoirs of Casanova - not sure how much of the 6 tomes I can cover - READ Book #1

March:
Alice in Wonderland? It's been too long. - FAIL
Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer (bookclub)

March-June: FAIL
I really want to get in some non-fiction I've been dying to read like
Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain
A Piece of Cake by Cupcake Brown
Crowds & Power by Elias Canetti
Atomic Accidents
American Mother by Gregg Olsen
Tribe (SEAL) by Sebastian Junger

July - read some of the books I bought as souvenir from Memphis & Huntsville in July'23:
A Summons to Memphis by Peter Taylor
The Reivers by William Faulkner
1984 by George Orwell (bookclub)

September:
The Grotesque by Patrick McGrath
Asylum by Patrick McGrath
A Stephen King book from my shelf

October:
The House of the Seven Gables by Nathaniel Hawthorne
Tales of Mystery & the Macabre by Elizabeth Gaskell
continue with Edgar Allan Poe collection
Queen of the Damned by Anne Rice

November:
Wives & Daughters by Elizabeth Gaskell
E.M Forster

Update 10/7: Looks like I didn't get to many of the titles I had listed for the year back in January!

Book #1 - The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton. Undoubtedly a phenomenal read, and beyond 5 stars. So delighted to usher the new year in with such a good book.

Book #2 - Rules of Civility by Amor Towles. One of the books I wanted to cover in January. It was a perfect accompaniment to Wharton's The House of Mirth and even referenced Lily Bart very subtly in the first few pages. My first Towles book and I'm in love. Very Fitzgerald vibe and beautiful.

Book #3 - The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro. A delightful surprise to be transported to Mr Stevens' world of butlers, and English countryside. The lyrical prose, beauty in surroundings, philosophical and reflective thoughts, and the final surprise - oh, it's like a box of chocolates.

Book #4 - The Memoirs of Jacques Casanova de Seingalt - Venetian Years (1 of 30): The First Complete and Unabridged English Translation - Illustrated with Old Engravings by Giacomo Casanova, translated by Arthur Machen. He is hilarious, bold, and quite the escape artist!

Book #5 - A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki. I don't know what it is but I cannot seem to like any of the books I have read that is a finalist or a winner of the Man Booker Prize. This one was a 2013 finalist; The Luminaries won, I haven't read that one. I managed to crawl my way to 100 pages as per my rule. I really cannot find any interest in the story, or character. When this happens I end up avoiding the book and wasting my precious time on social media or in this instance, re-watching episodes of The Crown season 1 & 2 because Claire Foy is magnificent.

Book #6 - Tiger Shrimp Tango by Tim Dorsey. Very comedic, interesting, and a pleasant surprise because I was ready to toss it. Six years almost on my shelf and I had been reluctant to pick it up for fear of being disappointed. Husband bought it on one of his random walks in town during lunch break from work and said he thought it sounded interesting for me. It's about scam artists targeting the rich in Florida and the characters are hilarious and realistic. This book took me out of my reading slump and got me excited again. Maybe I need to collect a couple more of his books for slump days!

Book #7 - Prison Ramen: Recipes and Stories from Behind Bars was a gift from Christmas two years ago. I enjoyed reading bits and pieces over the months whenever I have a moment in the kitchen between cooking or mealtime with kids. Interesting stories, recipes that make my skin crawl because I cannot imagine ramen with all the weird ingredients.

Book #8 - Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mount Everest Disaster by Jon Krakauer. What a riveting, fascinating, nail bitingly intense, and memorable read!

Book #9 - Spooky New Orleans: Tales of Hauntings, Strange Happenings, and Other Local Lore by Schlosser. She may have been writing since she was a child, but all kids write, and most wouldn't dare to publish mediocre work, which is why I didn't publish anything I wrote. Disappointing because I was really looking for some good spooky tales of New Orleans.

Book #10 - The Island of Sea Women by Lisa See. It was considerably better than her Shanghai Sisters but she is still not as good as Lee Min-Jin (with Pachinko), or Adeline Yen Mah. It was alright in terms of storyline but I do not feel any connection with the characters. Nothing exquisite about her writing.

Book #11 - Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr. My first time reading his work and was a bit hesitant because of the premise but it is going pretty good. I like when books surprise my expectations. However, it is incredibly slow and only picks up pace at the last two hundred pages. In the end I didn't learn very much, and nothing much sticks to make it memorable because it is too many stories and not enough connection.

Book #12 - Room by Emma Donoghue. It is a quick read because it is disturbing, interesting, full of suspense - things that make it hard to put down and go to bed!

Book #13 - The Man in My Basement by Walter Mosley is a quick and considerably short read compared to all the novels I've been reading but it explores so many moral topics. Pretty good.

Book #14 - Luster by Raven Leilani. Sigh. Suffice to say that Luster was lacklustre.

Book #15 - The Myth of Mental Illness: Foundations of a Theory of Personal Conduct by Thomas Szazz. Very thought provoking, and interesting.

This strategy that I set in December:
i) being more disciplined with limiting daily time limit on social media
- is proving to be a huge fail so far. In fact I've even watched more shows/movies it seems like this year compared to last year. I'm pretty sure that when I try harder at something, things always seem to go in the opposite direction. Similar to dating - when I try to find a match, it is all disappointing, but when I absolutely do not care, then I meet interesting men.

Book #16 - Portnoy's Complaint by Philip Roth. My first experience of Roth and I believe it must be good if he successfully created a highly unlikeable character!

Book #17 - 1984 by George Orwell. I have no idea why I only read it now but I suspect that I may not have grasped it with so much clarity if I had read it even a decade ago.

Book #18 - The Radleys by Matt Haig. I think his style is simple but not cringe and amateur, which is a good thing. However, this story is not as original and interesting as The Midnight Library.

Book #19 - The Midnight Palace by Carlos Ruiz Zafon. I might have enjoyed it better had I read it as a teenager.

Book #20 - Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro. Very different and unexpected!

Book #21 - Hyperbole and a Half: Unfortunate Situations, Flawed Coping Mechanisms, Mayhem, and Other Things That Happened by Allie Brosh. Boring!

Book #22 - The Covenant of Water by Abraham Verghese. So beautiful, so poignant!

Book #23 - Straight Man by Richard Russo. So cosy. Now I want to read Empire Falls.

Book #24 - Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro. Totally unexpected! Love his work.

Book #25 - Tiger, Tiger: A Memoir by Margaux Fragoso. It's very interesting so far and reminds me of All the Ugly and Wonderful Things by Brynn Greenwood (which was just fiction).

Book #26 - The Foundling by Georgette Heyer was superbly fun! I have to read more of her books. They would make lovely palate cleansers.

Book #27 - The Eustace Diamonds by Anthony Trollope, an author that somehow never fails to charm. I am always so glad that I found him.

It was a bad half of the year for reading. Too many things happened and it took all peace, and ability to focus away for months. I bought books to make myself happy and it sort of worked but I could not get to any of them. I have found peace again finally in the new year and will get back to reading.