Ben's Book Bonanza, 2014.

[Ben]

Ben's Brilliant Book Thread 2014 (No really, it will be this year I promise..)

 

So, once again I couldn't wait until the new year had arrived before making my thread, but it's on the horizon so that's close enough for me (plus I blame all you lot for getting me excited this time of year).

 

Firstly, some promises: I'll make a better effort to keep this thread ticking over (not abandon it half-way through the year.. *ahem*). I'm also going to be getting around everyone else's threads this year; both in the excitement of finding new delights, and to the detriment of my bank balance.

 

I'm not making total predictions (no but really this is the year I hit the big 1-0-0) but I do want to improve on 2012's eighty-one. I think it's possible, I just need to keep some consistency through the year, instead of reading in fits and starts. As this is my final few months at university *gulp* I'm not sure how kind time will be in the first half of the year, but we shall see how things even out..

 

Please, come in, find a comfy seat, recommend a book or just hover in the wings (no pressure!). You're all more than welcome to make suggestions, critique something, argue your favourites and 'Those I Should Avoid', and tell me to get off here and actually read some books, etc. In particular that last one..

 

So without further ado..

 

Quick Links
2013 Reading Review.
Tenacious TBR.
Rory Challenge.
WBL Challenge.
2013 Purchases.
Sherlock Holmes Challenge.

Previous Reading Blogs
2009: 48.
2010: 25.
2011: 52.
2012: 81.

2013: 78.

Total Read 2014: 5.

 

January

1. My Autobiography by Sir Alex Ferguson. Review.

2. The Woman Who Went to Bed for a Year by Sue Townsend. Review.

3. Anil's Ghost by Michael Ondaatje.

4. Funny Boy by Shyam Selvadurai.

5. Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte.

Edited January 20, 2014 by Ben

[Ben]

The Tenacious TBR

TBR as of 01/01/14: 194.
Current TBR: 191.

Bold indicates read (2014)
A (K) indicates it’s a Kindle e-book
Medium blue indicates a 2014 addition to TBR

Adiche, N. Chimamanda: Half of a Yellow Sun
Alderman, Naomi: Doctor Who: Borrowed Time
Andrews, Virginia: Flowers in the Attic.
Aristotle: Ethics (K)
Atkinson, Kate: One Good Turn
Austen, Jane: Mansfield Park
Austen, Jane: Northanger Abbey (K)
Bakewell, Sarah: How to Live
Barrie, M. J: Peter Pan
Bernieres, D. Louis: Captain Corelli’s Mandolin
Bowler, Tim: Starseeker
Bronte, Anne: The Tenant of Wildfell Hall
Bronte, Emily: Wuthering Heights
Brown, Derren: Confessions of a Conjurer
Carrel, L. J: The Shakespeare Secret
Cast, C. P & Kristin: Untamed (#4)
Cast, C. P & Kristin: Hunted (#5)
Chandra, Vikram: Sacred Games
Child, Lee: 61 Hours (#14) (K)
Child, Lee: Worth Dying For (#15) (K)
Clarkson, Jeremy: I Know You Got Soul
Coben, Harlan: Promise Me
Coben, Harlan: One False Move
Connelly, Michael: Angels Flight
Cooper, Susan: Over Sea, Under Stone (#1)
Cooper, Susan: The Dark Is Rising (#2)
Cooper, Susan: Greenwitch (#3)
Cooper, Susan: The Grey King (#4)
Cooper, Susan: Silver on the Tree (#5)
Cussler, Clive: Dark Watch
Dahl, Roald: Ah, Sweet Mystery of Life
Dahl, Roald: Boy
Dahl, Roald: Going Solo
Dahl, Roald: My Uncle Oswald
Dahl, Roald: The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar
Dahl, Roald: Someone Like You
Dahl, Roald: Switch ****
Dahlquist, W. G: The Glass Books of the Dream Eaters
Darwin, Emma: The Mathematics of Love
Davies, Martin: The Conjuror’s Bird
Davidson, Andrew: The Gargoyle
Dawkins, Richard: The Greatest Show on Earth (K)
Dawkins, Richard: The God Delusion
Dawkins, Richard: The Selfish Gene (K)
Dickens, Charles: A Tale of Two Cities
Dickens, Charles: Bleak House (K)
Dickens, Charles: David Copperfield (K)
Dickens, Charles: Oliver Twist (K)
Dickens, Charles: The Old Curiosity Shop
Donnelly, Jennifer: A Gathering Light
Donoghue, Emma: Room
Easterman, Daniel: Midnight Comes at Noon
Eddings, David & Leigh: The Redemption of Althalus

Eliot, George: Adam Bede

Eliot, George: 'Brother Jacob'
Eliot, George: Middlemarch (K)
Falconer, Duncan: The Protector
Farndale, Nigel: The Blasphemer
Feist, E. Raymond: Magician: Apprentice (K)
Fielding, Helen: Bridget Jones’s Diary: The First Columns
Fletcher, Charlie: Stone Heart

Fowles, John: A Maggot
Fullerton, S. George: An Introduction to Philosophy (K)
Gentle, Mary: 1610: A Sundial in a Grave

Ghosh, Amitav: The Shadow Lines
Gibbins, David: Atlantis
Golding, William: Lord of the Flies (K)
Goodkind, Terry: Debt of Bones (K)

Gosse, Edmund: Father and Son
Grisham, John: A Time to Kill (K)
Grisham, John: A Painted House (K)
Grossman, Lev: Codex
Hamilton, K. Laurell: Guilty Pleasures (K)
Hannah, Sophie: The Point of Rescue
Hardy, Thomas: Far From the Madding Crowd
Hardy, Thomas: The Woodlanders
Hardy, Thomas: Under the Greenwood Tree
Harris, Charlaine: Dead and Gone (#9) (K)
Harris, Charlaine: Dead in the Family (#10) (K)
Hawking, Stephen: The Grand Design (K)
Hawkins, Simon: Silver
Hemingway, Ernest: A Farwell to Arms (K)
Hill, Stuart: The Cry of the Icemark (#1)
Hislop, Victoria: The Island
Hobb, Robin: Dragon Keeper (#1) (K)
Hobb, Robin: Dragon Haven (#2) (K)
Hobb, Robin: Assassin’s Apprentice (#1) (K)
Hobb, Robin: Royal Assassin (#2) (K)
Hobb, Robin: Ship of Magic (#1) (K)
Hobb, Robin: Mad Ship (#2) (K)
Homer: The Iliad (K)
Hosseini, Khaled: A Thousand Splendid Suns
Hugo, Victor: Les Misérables (K)
Hurwitz, Gregg: I See You
Ishiguro, Kazuo: Never Let Me Go
Jennings, Amanda: Sworn Secret
Jones, Sadie: The Outcast

Joyce, James: The Dubliners
Joyce, James: Ulysses (K)
Kadare, Ismail: The Siege
Kant, Immanuel: The Critique of Practical Reason (K)
Kemp, Martin: An Autobiography: True
Kilworth, Garry: The Welkin Weasels: Castle Storm (#2)
King, Stephen: 11/22/63
King, Stephen: Carrie (K)
King, Stephen: Insomnia (K)
King, Stephen: It (K)
King, Stephen: Lisey’s Story
King, Stephen: Misery (K)
King, Stephen: Pet Sematary (K)
King, Stephen: The Dark Half (K)
King, Stephen: The Gunslinger (K)
King, Stephen: The Eyes of the Dragon
King, Stephen: The Shining (K)
King, Stephen: The Stand (K)
King, Stephen: Salem’s Lot (K)
King, Stephen: Under the Dome (K)
Kingsolver, Barbara: The Lacuna
Kipling, Rudyard: The Jungle Book (K)
Knowles, James Sir: The Legends of King Arthur (K)
Koontz, Dean: The Good Guy
Koontz, Dean: Intensity (K)
Koontz, Dean: Life Expectancy
Koontz, Dean: Midnight (K)
Koontz, Dean: The Taking
Koontz, Dean: Velocity (K)
Kostova, Elizabeth: The Historian
Levy, Andrea: The Long Song
Lindsey, Jeff: Darkly Dreaming Dexter (#1) (K)
Lindquist, A. John: Let the Right One in (K)
Ludlum, Robert: The Hade’s Factor (#1) (K)
Ludlum, Robert: The Bourne Identity (#1) (K)
Marshall, Ian: The Official Manchester United Book of Facts and Figures
Martel, Yann: Life of Pi (K)
Martin, R. R. George: A Dance with Dragons
Marquez, G. Gabriel: One Hundred Years of Solitude (K)
McEwan, Ian: Atonement (K)
Mill, S. John: Utilitarianism (K)
Montaigne, D. Michel: Essays (K)
Montanari, Richard: Kiss of Evil
Mosse, Kate: Labyrinth
Nesbo, Jo: Nemesis (K)
Nesbo, Jo: The Redeemer
Nesbo, Jo: The Leopard
Nimmo, Jenny: The Time Twister
Nix, Garth: The Ragwitch
Nowel, Joshua: Operation Typhoon Shore (#2)
Obama, Barack: The Audacity of Hope (K)

Ondaatje, Michael: Anil's Ghost
Patterson, James: Max (#5)
Pinter, Jason: The Fury
Plato: Laws (K)
Poe, A. Edgar: Essential Tales and Poems (K)
Pollen, Bella: The Summer of the Bear
Pratchett, Terry: Equal Rites (K)
Pratchett, Terry: Hogfather
Pratchett, Terry: Monstrous Regiment
Pratchett, Terry: The Light Fantastic (K)
Pratchett, Terry: Mort (K)
Preston, Marcia: The Butterfly House

Prince, Mary: The History of Mary Prince
Puzo, Mario: The Godfather (K)
Pyle, Howard: The Adventures of Robin Hood (K)
Rankin, Ian: Hide & Seek
Rice, Anne: Interview with a Vampire (K)

Sansom, J. C.: Winter in Madrid

Selvadurai, Shyam: Funny Boy

Sidhwa, Bapsi: Cracking India
Skelton, Matthew: Endymion Spring
Slaughter, Karin: Triptych
Slouka, Mark: The Visible World

Smith, Zadie: NW
Steinbeck, John: The Grapes of Wrath (K)
Stevenson, L. Robert: Kidnapped (K)
Suskind, Patrick: Perfume
Swift, Jonathan: Gulliver’s Travels (K)
Temple, Peter: The Broken Shore
Thackeray, M. William: Vanity Fair
Thompson, Kate: The New Policeman
Tolstoy, Leo: Anna Karenina (K)
Townsend, Sue: The Woman Who Went to Bed For a Year

Tracy, J. P: Dead Run
Tracy, J. P: Live Bait
Various: Killer Year (Edited by Lee Child)

Various: Staying Alive: Real poems for unreal times (Edited by Neil Astley)
Verne, Jules: Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea (K)
Walker, Alice: The Colour Purple
Walters, Minette: Acid Row
Winthrop, H. Elizabeth: December
Williams, Adam: The Emperor’s Bones
Womersley, Chris: Bereft
Woolf, Virginia: Orlando

Woolf, Virginia: The Waves
Zafón, Ruiz. Carlos: The Angel’s Game (K)

Edited April 17, 2014 by Ben

[Ben]

Rory's Book List
(Bold indicates already read)
(K) indicates a Kindle e-book read
(Bold and medium blue indicates read 2014)

1. Middlesex by Jeffery Eugenides
2. 1984 by George Orwell
3. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
4. The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay by Micheal Chabon
5. An American Tragedy by Theodore Dreiser
6. Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
7. Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank
8. Autobiography of a Face by Lucy Grealy
9. The Awakening by Kate Chopin
10. Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress by Dai Sijie
11. Beloved by Toni Morrison
12. The Bielski Brothers: The True Story of Three Men Who Defied the Nazis, Built a Village in the Forest, and Saved 1,200 Jews by Peter Duffy
13. Bel Canto by Ann Patchett
14. The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath
15. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
16. Brick Lane by Monica Ali
17. The Catcher in the Rye by J.D Salinger
18. The Code of the Woosters by P.G. Wodehouse
19. A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole
20. The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas
21. Cousin Bette by Honor'e de Balzac
22. Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky
23. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon
24. David Copperfield by Charles Dickens
25. Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller
26. The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America by Erik Larson
27. Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson
28. Edgar Allan Poe: Complete Tales & Poems by Edgar Allan Poe
29. Ella Minnow Pea: A Novel in Letters by Mark Dunn
30. Emma by Jane Austen
31. Empire Falls by Richard Russo
32. Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton
33. Extravagance by Gary Krist
34. Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
35. Fat Land: How Americans Became the Fattest People in the World by Greg Critser
36. The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom
37. Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes
38. The Fortress of Solitude by Jonathan Lethem
39. The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand
40. Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
41. Galapagos by Kurt Vonnegut
42. The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy
43. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
44. Hamlet by William Shakespeare
45. Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad
46. Holidays on Ice: Stories by David Sedaris
47. How to Breathe Underwater by Julie Orringer
48. How the Light Gets in by M. J. Hyland
49. The Hunchback of Notre Dame by Victor Hugo
50. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
51. The Jungle by Upton Sinclair
52. Just a Couple of Days by Tony Vigorito
53. The Kitchen Boy: A Novel of the Last Tsar by Robert Alexander
54. The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
55. Life of Pi by Yann Martel
56. Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
57. Lord of the Flies by William Golding
58. The Lottery: And Other Stories by Shirley Jackson
59. The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold
60. The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov
61. Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris
62. The Meaning of Consuelo by Judith Ortiz Cofer
63. The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka
64. A Month Of Sundays: Searching For The Spirit And My Sister by Julie Mars
65. My Life in Orange: Growing Up with the Guru by Tim Guest
66. My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult
67. The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco
68. The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri
69. The Nanny Diaries by Emma McLaughlin
70. Nervous System: Or, Losing My Mind in Literature by Jan Lars Jensen
71. Night by Elie Wiesel
72. Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
73. Old School by Tobias Wolff
74. On the Road by Jack Kerouac
75. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey
76. The Opposite of Fate: Memories of a Writing Life by Amy Tan
77. Oracle Night by Paul Auster
78. Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood
79. A Passage to India by E.M. Forster
80. The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
81. The Polysyllabic Spree by Nick Hornby
82. The Portable Dorothy Parker by Dorothy Parker
83. Property by Valerie Martin
84. Pygmalion by George Bernard Shaw
85. Quattrocento by James Mckean
86. A Quiet Storm by Rachel Howzell Hall
87. The Razor's Edge by W. Somerset Maugham
88. Reading Lolita in Tehran: A Memoir of Books by Azar Nafisi
89. The Red Tent by Anita Diamant
90. Rescuing Patty Hearst: Memories From a Decade Gone Mad by Virginia Holman
91. Sacred Time by Ursula Hegi
92. The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne
93. Seabiscuit: An American Legend by Laura Hillenbrand
94. The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd
95. Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen
96. A Separate Peace by John Knowles
97. The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón
98. Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse
99. Small Island by Andrea Levy
100.The Song of Names by Norman Lebrecht
101. Song of the Simple Truth: The Complete Poems of Julia de Burgos by Julia de Burgos
102. The Song Reader by Lisa Tucker
103. Songbook by Nick Hornby
104. The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner
105. Speak, Memory by Vladimir Nabokov
106. Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers by Mary Roach
107. The Story of My Life by Helen Keller
108. Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemmingway
109. Sybil by Flora Rheta Schreiber
110. Tender Is The Night by F. Scott Fitzgerald
111. Time and Again by Jack Finney
112. The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
113. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith
114. The True and Outstanding Adventures of the Hunt Sisters by Elisabeth Robinson
115. Truth & Beauty: A Friendship by Ann Patchett
116. Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe
117. Unless by Carol Shields
118. Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray
119. When the Emperor Was Divine by Julie Otsuka
120. Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire

24/120.

[Ben]

World Book Night Top 100 Books 2012
(Bold indicates already read)
(K) indicates a Kindle e-book read
(Bold and medium blue indicates read in 2014)

1. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
2. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
3. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
4. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
5. The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
6. The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien
7. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
8. Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte
9. Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier
10. The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
11. American Gods by Neil Gaiman
12. A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini
13. Harry Potter Adult Hardback Boxed Set by J. K. Rowling
14. The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon
15. The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien
16. One Day by David Nicholls
17. Birdsong by Sebastian Faulks
18. The Help by Kathryn Stockett
19. Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell
20. Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman
21. The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks
22. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson
23. The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
24. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
25. Little Women by Louisa M. Alcott
26. Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden
27. The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold
28. Atonement by Ian McEwan
29. Room by Emma Donoghue
30. Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
31. We Need to Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver
32. His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman
33. Captain Corelli's Mandolin by Louis De Bernieres
34. The Island by Victoria Hislop
35. Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman
36. The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver
37. The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger
38. Chocolat by Joanne Harris
39. Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro
40. The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom
41. One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
42. Animal Farm by George Orwell
43. The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett
44. The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde
45. Tess of the D'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy
46. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl
47. I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith
48. The Wasp Factory by Iain Banks
49. Life of Pi by Yann Martel
50. The Road by Cormac McCarthy
51. Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
52. Dracula by Bram Stoker
53. The Secret History by Donna Tartt
54. Small Island by Andrea Levy
55. The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett
56. Lord of the Flies by William Golding
57. Persuasion by Jane Austen
58. A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving
59. Notes from a Small Island by Bill Bryson
60. Watership Down by Richard Adams
61. Night Watch by Terry Pratchett
62. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
63. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time by Mark Haddon
64. Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke
65. The Color Purple by Alice Walker
66. My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult
67. The Stand by Stephen King
68. Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell
69. The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov
70. Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
71. Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons
72. Frankenstein by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley
73. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer
74. The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
75. Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
76. The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
77. The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins
78. The Princess Bride by William Goldman
79. A Suitable Boy by Vikram Seth
80. Perfume by Patrick Suskind
81. The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas
82. The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy
83. Middlemarch by George Eliot
84. Dune by Frank Herbert
85. Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel
86. Stardust by Neil Gaiman
87. Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov
88. Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie
89. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone by J. K. Rowling
90. Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts
91. The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro
92. Possession: A Romance by A. S. Byatt
93. Tales of the City by Armistead Maupin
94. Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami
95. The Magus by John Fowles
96. The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas by John Boyne
97. A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry
98. Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood
99. Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami
100. The Wind-up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami

39/100.

[Ben]

2014 Purchases: 0. 

 

Good start..

 

Edited December 30, 2013 by Ben

[Ben]

The Sherlock Holmes Challenge
(Bold indicates read)

(Bold and medium blue indicates read in 2014)

A Study in Scarlet (1887) (Novel)
The Sign of the Four (1890) (Novel)

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (1892)

• 'A Scandal in Bohemia'
• 'The Red-headed League'
• 'A Case of Identity'
• 'The Boscombe Valley Mystery'
• 'The Five Orange Pips'
• 'The Man with the Twisted Lip'
• 'The Blue Carbuncle'
• 'The Speckled Band'
• 'The Engineer’s Thumb'
• 'The Noble Bachelor'
• 'The Beryl Coronet'
• 'The Copper Beeches'

The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes (1894)

• 'Silver Blaze'
• 'The Yellow Face'
• 'The Stock-broker’s Clerk'
• 'The ‘Gloria Scott'
• 'The Musgrave Ritual'
• 'The Reigate Squires'
• 'The Crooked Man'
• 'The Resident Patient'
• 'The Greek Interpreter'
• 'The Naval Treaty'
• 'The Final Problem'

The Hound of the Baskervilles (1902) (Novel)

The Return of Sherlock Holmes (1905)

• 'The Empty House'
• 'The Norwood Builder'
• 'The Dancing Men'
• 'The Solitary Cyclist'
• 'The Priory School'
• 'Black Peter'
• 'Charles Augustus Milverton'
• 'The Six Napoleons'
• 'The Three Students'
• 'The Golden Pince-Nez'
• 'The Missing Three-Quarter'
• 'The Abbey Grange'
• 'The Second Stain'

The Valley of Fear (1915) (Novel)

His Last Bow (1917)

• 'Wisteria Lodge'
• 'The Cardboard Box'
• 'The Red Circle'
• 'The Bruce-Partington Plans'
• 'The Dying Detective'
• 'Lady Frances Carfax'
• 'The Devil’s Foot'
• 'His Last Bow'

The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes (1927)*

• 'The Illustrious Client'
• 'The Blanched Soldier'
• 'The Mazarin Stone'
• 'The Three Gables'
• 'The Sussex Vampire'
• 'The Three Garridebs'
• 'Thor Bridge'
• 'The Creeping Man'
• 'The Lion’s Mane'
• 'The Veiled Lodger'
• 'Shoscombe Old Place'
• 'The Retired Colourman'

*I posted these in the order which is in the majority of the newer copies of this anthology, not the chronological order.

Total: 14/60.

[Ben]

Reserved.

 

You never know..

 

[Ben]

There we have it, book thread ready and open for business.. gather round, gather round.

 

I've talked a bit more in general on my first post about what I've got planned for this year, but I mainly just want to just read and see where the totals end up. I feel like I'll have more time in the latter half of the year after university has finished, so I suspect that's when my reading will pick up. Other than that I'd like to do a bit more from some of the challenges I've got posted in this thread, I guess.

 

But in all fairness, whatever happens, happens. It's one of those years for me where I'm not sure what's going to be happening in my life after May, so as normal I'll just read when I can and hope I get some wonderful books. I'll probably try post thoughts/reviews a bit more than I did last year, but again: no promises, I'll just do it when I have the time. Also, now my TBR is below 200 (hurrah!) if it just keeps going downwards I'll be happy.

 

So, I guess that's that, make yourselves at home and I hope to be in this thread and everyone else's much more than I have been in the past..

 

Happy 2014 reading everyone!

[Signor Finzione]

Wow, great lists! This is one seriously organised reading thread.   

 

Had a quick look at your TBR - I really enjoyed the Kate Atkinson, Raymond E Feist and Jonathan Swift, as well as most of the Pratchetts (Hogfather in particular is brilliant).

 

Good luck with your final semester at uni. I'm sure it'll fly by. I read TONNES of books in the months after finishing uni, so hopefully you will too! Happy reading in 2014!

[julie]

Howdy Ben

 Congrats on almost getting your schooling completed . Good job ! What an exciting time .

 

You've got some great books ahead between your TBR and your lists ,so you should be well entertained by them . Best wishes for the new year 
 

[Alexi]

Hi Ben,

 

Long time no see! I'd like to read all the Sherlocks - I have three novels to go, but in terms of the short story collections just one to go - The Casebook of Sherlock Holmes. I think I'll be quite sad when I get to the end - I really like reading them!

 

No doubt this thread will have a negative effect on my bank balance too!

[Ben]

Wow, great lists! This is one seriously organised reading thread.  

 

Had a quick look at your TBR - I really enjoyed the Kate Atkinson, Raymond E Feist and Jonathan Swift, as well as most of the Pratchetts (Hogfather in particular is brilliant).

 

Good luck with your final semester at uni. I'm sure it'll fly by. I read TONNES of books in the months after finishing uni, so hopefully you will too! Happy reading in 2014!

 

Thank you! I did most of the hard work building a TBR towards the end of last year (2011) so admittedly this was a bit of a copy and paste job. It is good to see that it appears much more organised than I think it actually is, though..

 

I have a feeling I'll be the exact same. I mean, I do manage to mostly keep my reading ticking over during university (to the surprise of many of my fellow students!) but the opportunity to sit down and collect myself for a little while (well, before I start looking for a job, I suppose) will be such a relief. I imagine I'll get through a lot in a short period of time.

 

As for the authors you mentioned, Raymond E Feist comes highly recommended by a friend that likes his fantasy, so I suspect I'll get around to him sooner rather than later. Would you recommend anywhere to start? If I remember rightly he seems to have a few different overlapping series' to choose from. I presume the initial Riftwar series is probably the best place to get my appetite whetted?

 

Terry Pratchett has already gone way too long without a good dipping into - the Discworld novels couldn't be further up my street they always just seem to get put off. Gulliver's Travels also seems very likely, so it looks like good things ahead for sure!

 

Happy reading to you too! I hope 2014 is excellent for you.

 

Howdy Ben

 Congrats on almost getting your schooling completed . Good job ! What an exciting time .

 

You've got some great books ahead between your TBR and your lists ,so you should be well entertained by them . Best wishes for the new year 

 

 

Thank you Julie! Incredibly just one final semester to go. Strange to think three years and a significant period in my life will be over in mere months, but like joining university itself it fills me with both nerves and excitement. Who knows what will happen next?

 

I certainly do - some that have stayed there too long in all fairness.. but that's a feeling we're all used to I guess! Fingers crossed this is an entertaining year and a real chance to get stuck into my - very interesting looking - lists. The best of wishes to you, too - I hope your 2014 is a wonderful one.

 

Hi Ben,

 

Long time no see! I'd like to read all the Sherlocks - I have three novels to go, but in terms of the short story collections just one to go - The Casebook of Sherlock Holmes. I think I'll be quite sad when I get to the end - I really like reading them!

 

No doubt this thread will have a negative effect on my bank balance too!

 

Hi Alexi,

 

I know right? Sorry about that - I've been really quiet on here in the past six months. Hopefully we'll 'see' more of each other around the boards and have chance to discuss some books. Doyle is someone I'm certain to get around to reading to this year - I've enjoyed everything I've read so far. Although that admittedly isn't much, the Sherlock books are ear-marked as down for some exploration this year..

 

As for the bank balance thing, I do hope not. We've enough of that going on at BCF.

Edited December 30, 2013 by Ben

[Vimes]

Some good books in your lists. The

Redemption of Althalus happens to be a firm favorite of mine as are all the Discworld books they are the book version of comfort food! If you are interested I would suggest you try the Riyria Revelations series by Michael J Sullivan, they were great books.

[Signor Finzione]

Thank you! I did most of the hard work building a TBR towards the end of last year (2011) so admittedly this was a bit of a copy and paste job. It is good to see that it appears much more organised than I think it actually is, though..

 

I have a feeling I'll be the exact same. I mean, I do manage to mostly keep my reading ticking over during university (to the surprise of many of my fellow students!) but the opportunity to sit down and collect myself for a little while (well, before I start looking for a job, I suppose) will be such a relief. I imagine I'll get through a lot in a short period of time.

 

As for the authors you mentioned, Raymond E Feist comes highly recommended by a friend that likes his fantasy, so I suspect I'll get around to him sooner rather than later. Would you recommend anywhere to start? If I remember rightly he seems to have a few different overlapping series' to choose from. I presume the initial Riftwar series is probably the best place to get my appetite whetted?

 

Terry Pratchett has already gone way too long without a good dipping into - the Discworld novels couldn't be further up my street they always just seem to get put off. Gulliver's Travels also seems very likely, so it looks like good things ahead for sure!

 

Happy reading to you too! I hope 2014 is excellent for you.

 

Thanks Ben, the same to you!

 

Unlike you, I struggled to read for fun whilst at uni. All the books I had to read for the course (Literature) seemed to take up too much time, especially as I had a part-time job alongside. It was great to be able to read for fun again after 4 years of proscribed reading, which is why I devoured so many books! Depending on what job you get, hopefully you'll still be able to read a lot - hopefully it's not one where you have to take too much work home with you (I never got anything read while I was teaching, for instance).

 

Raymond E Feist was one of the first 'adult' fantasy authors I read (I think I was 17) and I started with the original Riftwar saga (Magician, Silverthorn, A Darkness at Sethanon). Magician is a great book, while the other two are not as good. Another one I'd recommend starting with is his Empire trilogy (Daughter of the Empire, Servant of the Empire, Mistress of the Empire) which he co-wrote with Janny Wurts. It's set kind of alongside the Riftwar saga, but in a different world (the world they're at war with in Magician), and there are several elements which cross over in a brilliant way. The Empire books are one of my favourite trilogies ever written.

 

I think nearly all of Feist's books are set in the same world, and several of the series' can probably be read on their own (like the Serpentwar Saga, or the Conclave of Shadows). For myself, I read a lot of them in the wrong order, but still enjoyed them. I own a lot of his books, but am steadily collecting them all. Now that his entire Riftwar cycle is finally finished, I'm going to do a massive Feist read/re-read within the next couple of years.

 

I do the same as you with the Discworld novels - I always enjoy reading them, but I somehow have to really be in the mood to start one. Hogfather and Going Postal are the best I've read so far, and I've just finished Good Omens, which was very good too.

[chesilbeach]

Good luck with your reading in 2014, Ben.  Hope you manage to find time in amongst your studies for some frivolous books.

[Athena]

I hope you have a great reading year in 2014, Ben . Your university life should be over soon, I hope you'll enjoy the time off!

 

You have some great books on the TBR! Like you, I also haven't read many Discworld books lately, I seem to have to be in a certain mood for them (but then I really enjoy them once I read them).

[Little Pixie]

Good luck with your 2014 Reads !

 

I got CJ Sansom`s Winter in Madrid as a present a couple of years ago and liked it ; it gives a good overview of life under Franco, iirc.

[frankie]

What a fantastically long and diverse TBR! I hope you have a great reading year ahead of you

[Chrissy]

Happy Reading (and writing) in 2014 Ben.

[Marie H]

Wow, some wonderful TBR lists you have there! I've recently started a Sherlock Holmes collection (Study in Scarlet & The Sign of Four read so far) 

Happy reading in 2014   

[Ben]

Some good books in your lists. The

Redemption of Althalus happens to be a firm favorite of mine as are all the Discworld books they are the book version of comfort food! If you are interested I would suggest you try the Riyria Revelations series by Michael J Sullivan, they were great books.

 

Thanks for the suggestions Vimes - will definitely take a look at the Sullivan books! Whereas the Discworld novels are a must.

 

Thanks Ben, the same to you!

 

Unlike you, I struggled to read for fun whilst at uni. All the books I had to read for the course (Literature) seemed to take up too much time, especially as I had a part-time job alongside. It was great to be able to read for fun again after 4 years of proscribed reading, which is why I devoured so many books! Depending on what job you get, hopefully you'll still be able to read a lot - hopefully it's not one where you have to take too much work home with you (I never got anything read while I was teaching, for instance).

 

Raymond E Feist was one of the first 'adult' fantasy authors I read (I think I was 17) and I started with the original Riftwar saga (Magician, Silverthorn, A Darkness at Sethanon). Magician is a great book, while the other two are not as good. Another one I'd recommend starting with is his Empire trilogy (Daughter of the Empire, Servant of the Empire, Mistress of the Empire) which he co-wrote with Janny Wurts. It's set kind of alongside the Riftwar saga, but in a different world (the world they're at war with in Magician), and there are several elements which cross over in a brilliant way. The Empire books are one of my favourite trilogies ever written.

 

I think nearly all of Feist's books are set in the same world, and several of the series' can probably be read on their own (like the Serpentwar Saga, or the Conclave of Shadows). For myself, I read a lot of them in the wrong order, but still enjoyed them. I own a lot of his books, but am steadily collecting them all. Now that his entire Riftwar cycle is finally finished, I'm going to do a massive Feist read/re-read within the next couple of years.

 

I do the same as you with the Discworld novels - I always enjoy reading them, but I somehow have to really be in the mood to start one. Hogfather and Going Postal are the best I've read so far, and I've just finished Good Omens, which was very good too.

 

I think I needed to keep reading recreationally just so I didn't feel like all my reading was a chore - but you're right, it's certainly not easy to juggle all the outside factors and still find extra time to read for yourself (there were certainly a lot of times I didn't manage it). As for the job, if I'm lucky and get in the field I want (journalism) then it'll definitely be one of those jobs I can read around - but we'll see, I guess.

 

Re: Riftwar Saga. I appreciate the information - it's good that they can act as standalone series' and don't have to be read in any particular order. I'll definitely look into exploring his world further if I enjoy Magician. It really does look like something I'll enjoy, but either way I'll be sure to pop back here with my thoughts when I'm finished.

 

Good luck with your reading in 2014, Ben.  Hope you manage to find time in amongst your studies for some frivolous books.

 

Thanks Claire, and the same to you! I really hope 2014 brings you some real treats.

 

I hope you have a great reading year in 2014, Ben. Your university life should be over soon, I hope you'll enjoy the time off!

 

You have some great books on the TBR! Like you, I also haven't read many Discworld books lately, I seem to have to be in a certain mood for them (but then I really enjoy them once I read them).

 

Thanks Athena, fingers crossed. Hopefully 2014 is great for us both. Don't worry about me enjoying the time off - I'm sure I will.

 

Yes, the Discworld books I think are the same for a lot of people, actually - Pratchett is of course, a genius, but it's a style that I can't gobble up book after book (like Lee Child, say). Instead I've got to read one and have a bit of a break. Although admittedly not this long of a break!

 

Good luck with your 2014 Reads !

 

I got CJ Sansom`s Winter in Madrid as a present a couple of years ago and liked it ; it gives a good overview of life under Franco, iirc.

 

Thanks LP, to you too! I'm glad you enjoyed Winter in Madrid actually, picked it up on a complete whim and knew nothing about it.

 

What a fantastically long and diverse TBR! I hope you have a great reading year ahead of you

 

Fantastically long TBR.. surely an oxymoron? But in all seriousness, I hope it does give me the range it certainly promises. Thanks for the well wishes, Frankie, I hope the next twelve months of reading offer you some real delights.

 

Happy Reading (and writing) in 2014 Ben.

 

Thank you Chrissy. I hope you have a wonderful 2014.

 

Wow, some wonderful TBR lists you have there! I've recently started a Sherlock Holmes collection (Study in Scarlet & The Sign of Four read so far) 

Happy reading in 2014   

 

Thank you Marie, my lists certainly do make for some promising reads! I love the Holmes collections, truly wonderfully clever and witty writing - really hope I can take the time to get through some more collections this time around. As for 2014 - thank you. I hope yours is excellent too, and brings you many fantastic reads.

[poppyshake]

Fabulous lists Ben   

Hope you're able to get around to One Hundred Years of Solitude soon and, more importantly, that you enjoy it   .. not everybody does. I can't see that you've got any to avoid, though one or two are bound to be stinkers .. law of averages and all that   Still .. luckily they're not advertising the fact so there's nothing to fear.

Happy Reading in 2014 Ben! and Happy Last Few Months at University!  .. what comes after? .. life?    .. well good luck with that as well. I highly recommend life   Hope time is kind to you   

[BSchultz19]

Good luck on reading this year!!

 

I am also working my way through the Sherlock Holmes collection. I am not nearly as far as you are, but I look forward to see what you have to say about what you read

[Signor Finzione]

I look forward to hearing your thoughts on Magician, and I wish you all the luck in the world with your journalism career and your writing in general.

[Ben]

Fabulous lists Ben

Hope you're able to get around to One Hundred Years of Solitude soon and, more importantly, that you enjoy it   .. not everybody does. I can't see that you've got any to avoid, though one or two are bound to be stinkers .. law of averages and all that   Still .. luckily they're not advertising the fact so there's nothing to fear.

Happy Reading in 2014 Ben! and Happy Last Few Months at University! .. what comes after? .. life?    .. well good luck with that as well. I highly recommend life   Hope time is kind to you 

 

Thank you, Kay! One Hundred Years of Solitude is near the top of the list, don't you worry about that. As for the stinkers, well, that can't be helped - bound to have some in there to appreciate the brilliant reads even more. Let's just hope there's not that many of them though.

 

Life sounds about right. In all seriousness, I'm still not sure.. debating doing a Masters but the cost puts me off - I guess it depends on whether I've got enough experience to be successful with job applications. *shrugs* But I'll definitely be doing a bit of life-enjoying in the meantime.

 

I hope 2014 is great for you, both in reading and everything else you do.

 

Good luck on reading this year!!

 

I am also working my way through the Sherlock Holmes collection. I am not nearly as far as you are, but I look forward to see what you have to say about what you read

 

Thanks BShultz, you too! I'm not that far through the Holmes books, in fairness, but I hope to change that quickly. I hope you enjoy them too!

 

I look forward to hearing your thoughts on Magician, and I wish you all the luck in the world with your journalism career and your writing in general.

 

I appreciate the kind words. Hopefully 2014 is kind to us both..