Michelle over at Overdue Books has issued a From the Stacks reading challenge that fits right in with my current moans and groans about my TBR (To Be Read) pile teetering, crashing, and burning! With a time frame of November 1st to January 30th, her instructions read:
My chosen titles in no particular order are:
The Story of Lucy Gault - William Trevor
Lent to me by a friend a year ago, and I still haven't read it - it's now or never!
Desperate Spring - Fettouma Touati
Nearly as bad - another friend lent me this six months ago - I simply must.
The Making of a Marchioness - Frances Hodgson Burnett
Because I love Persephone Books; need there be another reason?!
The Book of Not - Tsitsi Dangarembga
It is glaring reproachfully at me.
Half of a Yellow Sun - Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
The glare off this one is positively blistering! I so loved her first and am expecting great things.
Perhaps, come February, the Valentine's Day challenge will be to read 5 more books off my TBR pile - will I ever get through all of them?!
If you are anything like me your stack of purchased to-be-read books is teetering over. So for this challenge we would be reading 5 books that we have already purchased, have been meaning to get to, have been sitting on the nightstand and haven't read before. No going out and buying new books. No getting sidetracked by the lure of the holiday bookstore displays.Definitely yes from me; I have so many books I keep meaning to get to and just don't, for no apparent reason. Can anyone explain the strange compulsion to acquire more books when there are enough in the house already to keep one going for years anyway?! I could run a lending library from here!
My chosen titles in no particular order are:
The Story of Lucy Gault - William Trevor
Lent to me by a friend a year ago, and I still haven't read it - it's now or never!
Desperate Spring - Fettouma Touati
Nearly as bad - another friend lent me this six months ago - I simply must.
The Making of a Marchioness - Frances Hodgson Burnett
Because I love Persephone Books; need there be another reason?!
The Book of Not - Tsitsi Dangarembga
It is glaring reproachfully at me.
Half of a Yellow Sun - Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
The glare off this one is positively blistering! I so loved her first and am expecting great things.
Perhaps, come February, the Valentine's Day challenge will be to read 5 more books off my TBR pile - will I ever get through all of them?!
Labels: African Fiction, From the Stacks Challenge, general fiction
posted by equiano at 8:15 am
9 Comments:
Thanks for joining in.
Michelle
Overdue Books
It's so hard to resist the thought that I AM going to read this new book soon, whatever it is, even though I have tons of "new books" waiting for me at home. That's why I keep buying new ones.
Well thanks Michelle, it is a genius idea, as I am convinced that absolutely no booklover could argue that they had read every book in the house! Looking forward to it.
Dorothy, that sounds so familiar! I have tried to restrain myself on some occasions, hoping to find the book in the library or a second-hand shop, but there's something about having it NOW! Oh dear, I sense an addiction, but I suppose it could be worse...
Looking forward to your comments on Half of a Yellow Sun. I bought it recently (loved Purple Hibiscus) but am afraid it will be awhile before I can get to it. All those unread books I have lying around, you know!
Very excited to have discovered your blog! I read "Half of a Yellow Sun" recently and enjoyed it immensely. I will be waiting to see what you think of it. I put "Beasts of No Nation" on my Stacks Challenge list and I also intend reading Hisham Mattar's "A COuntry of Men".
Welcome to you both! I am a great fan of Adichie's - an interesting and intelligent woman. I adored her first book and all of her short stories which are available on various websites - I do recommend them. Not sure why I haven't got around to HALF OF A YELLOW SUN, but finally it is here top of my pile (amazing, how we collect all those books, isn't it, Ex Libris?!)and I'll keep you posted! Lotus Reads, I've been battling a bit with BEASTS OF NO NATION (just because of the subject matter rather than anything else, so I keep putting it down again), and funnily enough I nearly put the Matar on my challenge list, but traded it with the Adichie instead! I look forward to hearing your thoughts on both...
That is a seriously impressive collection of books!
I'm interested to know what you think of the William Trevor. He's an author I keep meaning to read more of, but I did enjoy his short stories (although they are almost unbearably melancholy).
Welcome litlove - the Trevor sounds most interesting and I'm not sure what has kept me from it for so long, except that perhaps that melancholy you refer to does exude from the book and that can be hard to overcome when selecting a new book, if you're not in the mood. I'll keep you posted.
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