Tuesday, November 06, 2007

 

Susan's Book Talk: A New Reading Challenge

I discovered this challenge after November first, so I haven't been in a huge hurry to catch up and get my voice added.

At any rate, it's my favorite sort of challenge: catch up on Mt. TBR (that's To Be Read, and mine is not just a single mountain but an entire range these days).

The From the Stacks reading challenge encourages you to pick five books from the mountain and read them. The time frame is November 1 to January 30 -- and they'll be handing out random, small prizes along the way.

For me, getting a little more caught up is prize enough.

Thus, my five picks:
Auralia's Colors, by Jeffrey Overstreet
I'm reading this now and will review it for Front Street Reviews. Stay tuned. I'm on page 33 and so far, it's a great read.

My New-Found Land, Bunnygirl's book. I've blogged about it before. Here, in fact. Even though my copy's not autographed, I have the feeling that if you'd like me to part with my copy, it's not going to happen. Sorry. (unless an autographed copy happens to show up in my PO Box? Maybe?)

Death du Jour, Kathy Reichs. Yep, I'm WAY behind on kicking this series off.

The Hook, by Donald E. Westlake. I loved his book The Ax. Will I feel the same about The Hook? And will it inspire any Deadly Metal Hatchet adventures?

Death of a Saint Maker, by Allana Martin. This book's been here so long, I don't remember where it came from or why. Yes, I'm that far behind.

And for a bonus read, I've had The Historian, by Elizabeth Kostova here every bit as long, too. I'll admit it: I'm daunted by its size. I need to get over that, as it's one of a number of thick books awaiting me.

It'd be nice, too, if I could finally finish July 7th, Jill McCorkle's novel that's been on my nightstand for awhile now. I really like reading it, but it falls victim to exhaustion more often that not, sad to say.



One final plug: have you seen my reviews up at Front Street Reviews? Reviews for Jennifer Estep's Hot Mama are now up, as is Rebecca Drake's The Next Killing. And if you haven't seen my thoughts on Colleen Gleason's first two Gardella Vampire Chronicles, it's still there, too. Let me know what you think of this bounty of reviews!

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Comments:
Sorry, no time for reading right now - just thought I'd let you know I added you to my link list :-0
 
Hm. You're tempting me. I'm always acquiring new books.

And yeah, an autographed copy of my book might find its way to you at some point. It'll probably be after I'm ready to purchase an ISBN for it, though. I want to make sure I've satisfied any last urge to pick and tweak first. :-)
 
Okay, so I shouldn't crawl in my PO Box and wait, is that what you're telling me? *grin*
 
If it wasn't for the library the mountain next to my bed would be taller. Sounds like a doable challenge.

Any bites on your book yet?
 
I hear you on the TBR pile. It can get huge. Right now I don't have a lot of time for reading *big sigh*. I plan to catch up over the Christmas holidays--I hope. I'll be curious to hear what you think about the Kathy Reichs book. I almost picked it up this summer, but didn't. Look forward to your review.
 
Befoe I forget, Michele sent me. I think I might get in on that too. My side of the bef should collapse from the weight of all my TBR. I ahve a vacation coming up so I am hoping to put a BIG dent in it.
 
That's a challenge I am privately doing all the time. I listed all my TBR books in my blog last year and have been keeping a list since then - the ones I read get crossed out and the newly aquired ones added at the end of the list. So far I've been pretty successful this year in reducing the TBR stacks. Having absolutely no money to buy more books helps tremendously with that, of course. LOL
I loved "The Historian" by the way. Kostova does tend to go on a bit and it could have been edited down a couple of pages, but the story itself is great. And I'm not even a particular vampire fan. ;)
 
I just don't have the time for leisurely reading. I'm surprised I did the 50 books in the year.

Goodluck :)
 
The Historian is a bit daunting. It does have a story that grabs the imagination though. I sped through it much faster than I expected I would.
 
Sorry to comment on an older post, but I wanted to read your take on HOT MAMA. Very well done; you mentioned some things that I never thought of.
 
Hey, old posts never die. Comment away! Glad you liked my take on Hot Mama. I don't know how I'll be able to stand it between now and when Jinx comes out!
 
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