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Alex's Reading - 2017


Alexi

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Hello! Welcome to another reading log. I was ready for another to be honest, 2016 rather got away from me. I have put some reviews of the English counties books in the relevant forum, but other than that I intend to start afresh and do better with updating this year. 

 

It was a brilliant year for me away from reading, but that did rather impact both on reading and BCF time! 2017 should be a little quieter. NewJob means less commuting time, good, but that also means less time for reading, bad. So let's see. Now we have made the decision not to move abroad (for the time being, at least, California will still be there in a few years!) I should be more stable in life and work. 

 

AIMS FOR 2017

 

I'm playing fast and loose with these, they may change. My TBR stands today at 325 books, which is ridiculous. I did however, successfully reduce the pile by THREE in 2016!  :angel_not:   :harhar:  But really, it needs to get to below 300 because this is ridiculous. 

 

I would like to finish the English Counties Challenge if possible, even though I am 18 away from that, so we shall see, and I need to get a few books off the list that have been languishing on the kindle or physical bookshelves for years now. 

 

Other than that, simply enjoy! 

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BOOKS READ 2016

JANUARY

The First Phone Call From Heaven by Mitch Albom 3/5
Roman Holiday by Jodi Taylor 4/5
The Turn of the Screw by Henry James 2/5
Football and Gangsters by Graham Johnson 2/5
NW by Zadie Smith 3/5
Trainspotting by Irvine Welsh 4/5

FEBRUARY

Cider with Rosie by Laurie Lee 3/5
A Kestrel for a Knave by Barry Hines 4/5
El Narco by Ioan Grillo 4/5
Cockroaches by Jo Nesbo 4/5
Cranford by Elizabeth Gaskell 3/5
At Bertram's Hotel by Agatha Christie 3/5

MARCH

 

It Can't Happen Here by Sinclair Lewis 4/5

Tales from the Secret Footballer by Anonymous 2/5

Ashenden by W Somerset Maugham 3/5

The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame 5/5

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child by J K Rowling 4/5

Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret by Judy Blume 4/5

 

APRIL

 

When the Grey Beetles Took Over Baghdad by Mona Yahia 5/5

London by Tube by David Revill 3.5/5

The Go-Between by L P Hartley 3/5

Turbo Twenty Three by Janet Evanovich 2/5

Barchester Towers by Anthony Trollope 3/5

MAY

No Hunger in Paradise by Michael Calvin 4/5

The Mill on the Floss by George Eliot 4/5

The Vanquished by Robert Gerwarth 4/5 

Pure by Andrew Miller 3/5


JUNE

 

Frozen in Time by Ali Sparkes 3/5

Ready Player One by Ernest Cline 4/5

Career of Evil by Robert Galbraith 4/5 

On the Black Hill by Bruce Chatwin 3.5/5

The Football Men by Simon Kuper 3/5

JULY

 

A History of Britain I by Simon Schama 4/5

Tom Brown's School Days by Thomas Hughes 3/5

Angus, Thongs and Full Frontal Snogging by Louise Rennison 3.5/5

The Day of the Triffids by John Wyndham 5/5

The Thirteen Problems by Agatha Christie 4/5

All the President's Men by Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward 4/5 

AUGUST

 

American Gods by Neil Gaiman 2/5

The Dirt by Motley Crue 3/5

Family by Michael Calvin 4/5 

SEPTEMBER

 

A Trail Through Time by Jodi Taylor 4/5

Mr Holmes by Mitch Cullin 2/5

The North by Paul Morley 3/5

Lorna Doone by R D Blackmore 3/5

Winnie the Pooh by A A Milne 5/5

Nina is Not Ok by Shappi Khorsandi 4/5

The Darling Buds of May by H E Bates 3/5


OCTOBER

 

I'm in Heaven by Terry Ravenscroft 3/5

The Right to An Answer by Anthony Burgess 4/5 

Eskimo Folk Tales by Knud Rasmussen 2/5

Ordinary Thunderstorms by William Boyd 3/5 

Talking as Fast As I Can by Lauren Graham 4/5 

The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides 4/5 

NOVEMBER

 

Big Little Lies by Lianne Moriarty 5/5

The Watchmaker of Filigree Street by Natasha Pulley 2/5

One Summer: America 1927 by Bill Bryson 5/5 
The Misses Mallett by EH Young 2/5

The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd 4/5
 

DECEMBER

 

Mansfield Park by Jane Austen 5/5

The Little Match Girl by Hans Christian Anderson 3/5

The Greatest Gift by Philip van Doren Stern 5/5

Hercule Poirot's Christmas by Agatha Christie 4/5

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TBR A-K

Ben Aaronovitch - Rivers of London
Douglas Adams - Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy
Cecilia Ahern - The Marble Collector
Mitch Albom – The first phone call from heaven
Uwem Akpan – Say You’re One of Them
Maria Angels Anglada - The Auschwitz Violin


Fredrick Backman – A Man Called Ove
David Baldacci - Absolute Power
Sam Baldwin - For Fukui's Sake

JG Ballard - Empire of the Sun
Nonna Bannister - The Holocaust Diaries

Anthony Beevor - Stalingrad
Jeff Benedict and Armen Keteyian – The System
Dennis Bergkamp - Stillness and Speed
H G Bissinger - Friday Night Lights
Tracy Bloom - No one Ever Has Sex on a Tuesday

Judy Blume - Tiger Eyes
Judy Blume - Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret
Attilio Bolzoni - White Shotgun
Kathryn Bonella- Hotel K
Anthony Bourdain - Kitchen Confidential
Anthony Bourdain - A Cook's Tour
Mark Bowden - Killing Pablo
Tom Bower - No Angel: The Secret Life of Bernie Ecclestone

William Boyd - Ordinary Thunderstorms
Ray Bradbury - Farenheit 451
Rodric Braithwaite - Moscow 1941: A City and it's People at War
Anne Bronte - The Tenant of Wildfell Hall

Max Brooks - World War
Bill Browder – Red Notice
Helen Bryan - War Brides
Edward Bunker - Mr Blue: Memoirs of a Renegade
Jimmy Burns - La Roja

Jessie Burton – The Miniaturist

Luca Caioli - Messi
Michael Calvin – Family

Michael Calvin - The Nowhere Men
Mark Cappell - Run Run Run
Lewis Carroll - Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
Noel Cawthorne - Witch Hunt: History of a Persecution

Michael Chabon - The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Klay
Tracy Chevalier - Falling Angels
Lee Child - Killing Floor
Lee Child - The Affair
Noam Chomsky – Occupy

Susanna Clarke - Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell
Ernest Cline - Ready Player One
David Cohen - Bringing them up Royal
Suzanne Collins - The Hunger Games
Suzanne Collins - Catching Fire
Suzanne Collins - Mockingjay
David Conn - Richer Than God

Thomas H Cook - The Last Talk with Lola Faye
Susan Coolidge - What Katy Did
George Cooper - The Origin of Financial Crises

Mitch Cullin – Mr Holmes

Robert Dallek - John F Kennedy: An Unfinished Life
James Dashner –The Maze Runner
Robert Davies - The Man Who Lived at the End of the World
John Deering - Bradley Wiggins: Tour de Force

Barbara Demick – Nothing to Envy
Diana Dempsey - Falling Star
Becky Dennington - Me and the Ugly C

David James Duncan - The Brothers K
Mark Dunn - Ella Minnow Pea
Steven Dunne - The Reaper

Sam Eastland - Siberian Red

Damien Echols - Life After Death: Eighteen years on Death Row
Helen Edwards and Jenny Lee Smith - My Secret Sister
Nick Edwards - In Stitches
Ben Elton - Two Brothers

Ben Elton – Time and Time Again
Tan Twan Eng - The Gift of Rain
Eskimo Folk Tales
Jeffrey Eugenidies - The Virgin Suicides


Michel Faber – The Hundred and Ninety Nine Steps
Charles Fernyhough - Pieces of Light
Joseph Finder - Paranoia
Helen FitzGerald - The Cry
Jonathan Safran Foer - Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close
Ken Follett - Pillars of the Earth
Eric Foner - Give Me Liberty
John Foot - Calcio
Michael Frayn - Skios
Barbara Freethy - Ryan's Return
Dawn French - A Tiny Bit Marvellous

Francis Fukuyama - Political Order and Political Decay

Neil Gaiman - Stardust
Robert Galbraith – Career of Evil
Alex Garland - The Beach
Antonio Garrido - The Corpse Reader
Lisa Genova - Still Alice
Tess Gerritsen - The Silent Girl
Tess Gerritsen - Bloodstream
George Gissing - The Unclassed

David Goldblatt - The Game of Our Lives
Alex Grecian - The Black Country
Graham Greene – Brighton Rock
Phillippa Gregory - The Kingmaker's Daughter

Ioan Grillo – El Narco
George Grossmith - Diary of a Nobody
Richard Guard - Lost London
Heather Gudenkauf - These Things Hidden
Carla Guelfenbein - The Rest Is Silence
Romesh Gunesekera - Reef


Matt Haig – The Humans
Duncan Hamilton - Provided You Don't Kiss Me
Dashiell Hammett - The Maltese Falcon

Chad Harbach - The Art of Fielding
Robert Harris - Imperium

Thomas Harris - Red Dragon

Jonathan Harvey – The Secrets We Keep
Nadia Hashimi - The Pearl that Broke its Shell
Ben Hatch - The P45 Diaries

Noah Hawley - The Good Father
Terry Hayes - I am Pilgrim

John Heilemann and Mark Halperin - Double Down
Richard Herley - The Penal Colony

Jason Hewitt – The Dynamite Room
Howard Hockin - High Stakes

Andrew Hodges – Alan Turing: The Enigma
Steena Holmes - Finding Emma
Ninni Holmqvist - The Unit

A M Homes – May We Be Forgiven

Rafael Honigstein – Das Reboot
Anthony Horowitz- Moriarty
Anthony Horowitz - The House of Silk
John Hoskison – Inside

Thomas Hughes – Tom Brown’s Schooldays
Victor Hugo - Notre Dame de Paris
Victor Hugo - Les Miserables
Graham Hunter – Barca



Christopher Isherwood – Goodbye to Berlin
Eowyn Ivey - The Snow Child

Quintin Jardine - Lethal Intent
Liz Jensen - War Crimes for the Home
Lisa Jewell - The House We Grew Up In

Graham Johnson - Football and Gangsters
Jonas Jonasson - The Hundred Year Old Man Who Climbed Out of the Window and Disappeared

Andy Jones – The Two of Us
Owen Jones - The Establishment
Rachel Joyce - Perfect

Ben Judah - This is London

M R C Kasasian - The Secrets of Gaslight Lane
Andrew Kaufman – Born Weird
Carolyn Keene - The Secret of the Old Clock
Lindsey Kelk - I Heart Hollywood
Lindsey Kelk - I Heart London

Hannah Kent - Burial Rites
Simon Kernick – Relentless

Simon Kernick - The Business of Dying
Judith Kerr- When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit
Yasmina Khadra – What the Day Owes the Night
Sue Monk Kidd – The Invention of Wings
Stephen King – Joyland
Stephen King – Mr Mercedes
Stephen King – The Stand
Stephen King - IT
Barbara Kingsolver - Flight Behaviour
Ayse Kulin - Last Train to Istanbul

Simon Kuper – The Football Men

Chris Kyle – American Sniper

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TBR L-Z

Camilla Lackberg - The Ice Princess
Paul Lake - I'm Not Really Here
Erik Larsen – In the Garden of Beasts
Doreen Lawrence - And Still I Rise
Valerie Lawson - Mary Poppins, She Wrote
Debra Lee – Taken

Harper Lee – Go Set a Watchman
Sheri Leigh - Graveyard Games
Eric Lomax - The Railway Man

Karen Lord - Redemption in Indigo


Samantha Mackintosh - Kisses for Lula
Kevin Maher - The Fields

Emily St John Mandel – Station Eleven
Nelson Mandela - Long Walk to Freedom
Hilary Mantel - Wolf Hall
Scott Mariani - The Alchemist's Secret
Howard Marks - Mr Nice
Andrew Marr - History of Modern Britain
Andrew Marr - My Trade
Ian Marshall - The Class of 92
Ann M Martin - Kristy's Great Idea
Daniel Martin - Black Tie, White Noise

George R R Martin – A Clash of Kings
George R R Martin – A Storm of Swords: Steel and Snow
George R R Martin – A Storm of Swords: Blood and Gold
George R R Martin – A Feast for Crows
George R R Martin – A Dance with Dragons: Dreams and Dust
George R R Martin - A Dance with Dragons: After the Feast
Robert K Massie - Nicholas and Alexandra
Kimberly McCreight - Reconstructing Amelia
Bob McElwain - Free to Die
Katie McGarry - Pushing the Limits
Brian McGilloway - Little Girl Lost
Reg McKay - The Last Godfather

Christina McKenna - The Disenchanted Widow
Philipp Meyer - American Rust

Candy Miller - Kalahari Passage
Kimberley Rae Miller - Coming Clean
Brian Moore - Beware of the Dog
Liane Moriarty - What Alice Forgot
Roger Mortimer and Charlie Mortimer - Dear Lupin: Letters to a Wayward Son
Motley Crue – The Dirt
Haruki Murakami - 1Q84
Urzula Muskus - Long Bridge out of the Gulags



Jo Nesbo - Nemesis
Jo Nesbo - The Redeemer
Jo Nesbo - Phantom
Jo Nesbo - The Snowman
Jo nesbo - The Devil's Star
Jo Nesbo - The Leopard
Patrick Ness - A Monster Calls

Patrick Ness - The Crane Wife
David Nicholls - Starter for Ten

John Niven – Kill Your Friends
Solomon Northup - 12 Years A Slave

Sean O’Connor - Handsome Brute
Joseph O'Neill - Crime City
Louise O’Neill – Only Ever Yours
Michael Ondaatje - The English Patient

S J Parris - Heresy
S J Parris - Treachery
James Patterson - Kiss the Girls
James Patterson - Cat and Mouse
Chris Pavone - The Expats

Chris Pavone – The Accident
Stef Penney - The Tenderness of Wolves
Karen Perry – The Boy That Never Was
Sylvia Plath – The Bell Jar
Oliver Potzsch - The Hangman's Daughter

Jeff Ragsdale, David Shields and Michael Logan - Jeff, One Lonely Guy
Ian Rankin - Fleshmarket Close
Louise Rennison - Angus, Thongs and Full Frontal Snogging
Lexi Revellian - Replica
David Revill - London by Tube
Tom Reynolds - Blood Sweat and Tea

Kate Riordan – The Girl in the Photograph
Graham Robb - Parisians: An Adventure History of Paris
Trevor Roberts – Caught by Cameras
Veronica Roth – Divergent
Angus Roxburgh - Strongman: Vladimir Putin and the struggle for Russia
Edward Rutherfurd – Sarum


Dorothy L Sayers – Whose Body
Victor Sebesteyen – 1946: The Making of the Modern World
Tina Seskis - One Step Too Far

Anna Sewell - Black Beauty

Georges Simenon – Pietr the Latvian
Martin Sixsmith - Philomena
Karin Slaughter - Indelible
Christopher Smith - Fifth Avenue
Tom Rob Smith - Child 44

Zadie Smith - NW
Bradley Somer – Fishbowl
Diana Souhami - Murder at Wrotham Hill
Ali Sparkes - Frozen in Time
Dana Stabenow - A Cold Day for Murder
Kathryn Stockett - The Help
Harriet Beecher Stowe – Uncle Tom’s Cabin
Mari Strachan - The Earth Hums in B Flat
William Styron - Sophie's Choice
Antal Szerb - Journey by Moonlight


Donna Tartt - The Goldfinch

Daniel Taylor – I Believe in Miracles
Jodi Taylor – A Trail Through Time
Hunter S Thompson - Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
Georgie Thompson and Imogen Lloyd Webber - The Twitter Diaries
Lesley Thomson - The Detective's Daughter
Rosy Thornton - Ninepins
Peter Thurgood - The Stories behind London's Streets

Scott Turow - Reversible Errors
Anne Tyler – A Spool of Blue Thread


Kurt Vonnegut - Slaughterhouse Five

David Wailing - Fake Kate
Karen Thompson Walker - The Age of Miracles

Sam Warburton - Refuse to be Denied
Mark Ward - Hammered
Mike Ward - Gullhanger
Heather Wardell - Seven Exes is Eight too Many

Sarah Waters - Tipping the Velvet
Sarah Waters – The Paying Guests
Sarah Waters - Fingersmith

S J Watson – Second Life
Katherine Webb - The Misbegotten
Andy Weir – The Martian
Irvine Welsh - Trainspotting
Irvine Welsh - Skagboys
Scott Westerfeld – Uglies
Kate Williams – The Storms of War
Barry Wilner and Ken Rappoport – On the Clock
Sarah Winman - When God was a Rabbit
David Winner - Brilliant Orange
Scott Wittenberg - The May Day Murders
Christian Wolmar - The Great Railway Revolution
Jennifer Worth - Call the Midwife

Mona Yahia - When the Grey Beetles Took Over Baghdad
Nathan Yates - Beyond Evil
A B Yehoshua - Friendly Fire


Carlos Ruiz Zafon - The Angel's Game
Markus Zusak – I Am the Messenger
Stefan Zweig - The Post Office Girl

Anonymous - Tales from the Secret Footballer

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BOOKS ACQUIRED 2017


Roman Holiday by Jodi Taylor
A Kestral for a Knave by Barry Hines
Harry Potter and the Cursed Child by JK Rowling
The Turn of the Screw by Henry James
The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame

It Can't Happen Here by Sinclair Lewis

Barchester Towers by Anthony Trollope

The Vanquished by Robert Gerwarth

Nina is Not Ok by Shappi Khoorsandi 

A God in Ruins by Kate Atkinson

No Hunger in Paradise by Michael Calvin

Forever Young by Oliver Kay

The Mill on the Floss by George Eliot

A History of Britain Volume 1 by Simon Schama 

All the President's Men by Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein 

Lorna Doone by R D Blackmore

The Essex Serpent by Sarah Perry

American Gods by Neil Gaiman

The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes 

One Summer: America 1927 by Bill Bryson

The North by Paul Morley

Not in Your Lifetime by Anthony Summers

Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman 

The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman

Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman

Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty

The Thirteen Problems by Agatha Christie

2 Sides by Rio Ferdinand

Winnie the Pooh by A A Milne

The Right to an Answer by Anthony Burgess

The Watchmaker of Filigree Street by Natasha Pulley

The Darling Buds of May by H E Bates

The Dry by Jane Harper

The Misses Mallett by E H Young

Only Yesterday by Frederick Lewis Allen

Since Yesterday by Frederick Lewis Allen

The Lords of Creation by Frederick Lewis Allen

Mansfield Park by Jane Austen

Age of Anger by Pankaj Mishra

The Five Giants by Nicholas Timmins

Rock and Roll Soccer by Ian Plenderleith

Noughts and Crosses by Malorie Blackman

Swallowdale by Arthur Ransome

The Accidental Billionaires by Ben Mezrich

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THE ENGLISH COUNTIES CHALLENGE - ALEX'S VERSION

 

Two substitutions for books I had already read before the challenge started (Greater London and Leicestershire)

 

Books in RED are ones I've read.

 

1. Bedfordshire - My Uncle Silas by H. E. Bates

2. Berkshire - The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame

3. Bristol - The Misses Mallett by E. H. Young

4. Buckinghamshire - The Dark Is Rising by Susan Cooper

5. Cambridgeshire - The Nine Tailors by Dorothy Sayers

6. Cheshire - Cranford by Elizabeth Gaskell

7. City of London - A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens

8. Cornwall - Jamaica Inn by Daphne Du Maurier

9. Cumbria - Swallows and Amazons by Arthur Ransome

10. Derbyshire - Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks

11. Devon - And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie

12. Dorset - Far From The Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy

13. County Durham - Nicholas Nickleby by Charles Dickens

14. East Riding of Yorkshire - South Riding by Winifred Holtby

15. East Sussex - Winnie-The-Pooh by A. A. Milne

16. Essex - The Turn Of The Screw by Henry James

17. Gloucestershire - Cider With Rosie by Laurie Lee

18. Greater London* - Mrs Dalloway by Virginia Woolf

19. Greater Manchester - North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell

20. Hampshire - Watership Down by Richard Adams

21. Herefordshire - On The Black Hill by Bruce Chatwin

22. Hertfordshire - Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

23. Isle of Wight - The Day of the Triffids by John Wyndham 

24. Kent - The Darling Buds of May by H. E. Bates

25. Lancashire - Oranges are Not the Only Fruit by Jeanette Winterson

26. Leicestershire - The Right to an Answer by Anthony Burgess

27. Lincolnshire - The Mill on the Floss by George Eliot

28. Merseyside - An Awfully Big Adventure by Beryl Bainbridge

29. Norfolk - The Go-Between by L. P. Hartley

30. North Yorkshire - Dracula by Bram Stoker

31. Northamptonshire - Mansfield Park by Jane Austen

32. Northumberland - The Stars Look Down by A. J. Cronin

33. Nottinghamshire - Lady Chatterley's Lover by D. H. Lawrence

34. Oxfordshire - The Pursuit of Love by Nancy Mitford

35. Rutland - Set In Stone by Robert Goddard

36. Shropshire - Summer Lightning by P. G. Wodehouse

37. Somerset - Lorna Doone by R. D. Blackmore

38. South Yorkshire - A Kestral For A Knave by Barry Hines

39. Staffordshire - The Old Wives' Tale by Arnold Bennett

40. Suffolk - The Bookshop by Penelope Fitzgerald

41. Surrey - Emma by Jane Austen

42. Tyne and Wear - Another World by Pat Barker

43. Warwickshire - Tom Brown's School Days by Thomas Hughes

44. West Midlands - Middlemarch by George Eliot

45. West Sussex - Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons

46. West Yorkshire - Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë

47. Wiltshire - Barchester Towers by Anthony Trollope

48. Worcestershire - The Well of Loneliness by Radclyffe Hall

 

45/48 completed

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US STATES CHALLENGE

 

Another list! Books in RED are ones I have read. 

01. To Kill a Mockingbird- Harper Lee (Alabama)
02. White Fang - Jack London (Alaska)
03. The Bean Trees - Barbara Kingsolver (Arizona)
04. True Grit - Charles Portis (Arkansas)
05. East of Eden - John Steinbeck (California)
06. Plainsong - Kent Haruf (Colorado)
07. Revolutionary Road - Richard Yates (Connecticut)
08. The Saint of Lost Things - Christopher Castellani (Delaware)
09. To Have and Have Not - Ernest Hemingway (Florida)
10. Gone With the Wind - Margaret Mitchell (Georgia)
11. From Here To Eternity - James Jones (Hawaii)
12. Housekeeping - Marilynne Robinson (Idaho)
13. The Adventures of Augie March - Saul Bellow (Illinois)
14. The Magnificent Ambersons - Booth Tarkington (Indiana)
15. A Thousand Acres - Jane Smiley (Iowa)
16. In Cold Blood - Truman Capote (Kansas)
17. Uncle Tom's Cabin - Harriet Beecher Stowe (Kentucky)
18: Interview with the Vampire - Anne Rice (Louisiana)
19. The Cider House Rules - John Irving (Maine)
20. Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant - Anne Tyler (Maryland)
21: Walden - Henry David Thoreau (Massachusetts)
22. Middlesex - Jeffrey Eugenides (Michigan)
23. Main Street - Sinclair Lewis (Minnesota)
24. As I Lay Dying - William Faulkner (Mississippi)
25. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer - Mark Twain (Missouri)
26. A River Runs Through It - Norman Maclean (Montana)
27. My Antonia - Willa Cather (Nebraska)
28: Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas - Hunter S. Thompson (Nevada)
29. Peyton Place - Grace Metalious (New Hampshire)
30. Independence Day - Richard Ford (New Jersey)
31. Red Sky at Morning - Richard Bradford (New Mexico)
32. The Great Gatsby - F.Scott Fitzgerald (New York)
33. Cold Mountain - Charles Frazier (North Carolina)
34. The Round House - Louise Eldrich (North Dakota)
35. The Broom of the System - David Foster Wallace (Ohio)
36. Paradise - Toni Morrison (Oklahoma)
37. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest - Ken Kesey (Oregon)
38. Rabbit, Run - John Updike (Pennsylvania)
39. The Witches of Eastwick - John Updike (Rhode Island)
40. The Secret Life of Bees - Sue Monk Kidd (South Carolina)
41. Welcome to Hard Times - EL Doctorow (South Dakota)
42. A Death in the Family - James Agee (Tennessee)
43. No Country for Old Men - Cormac McCarthy (Texas)
44. The 19th Wife - David Ebershoff (Utah)
45. Pollyanna - Eleanor H. Porter (Vermont)
46. Prodigal Summer - Barbara Kingsolver (Virginia)
47. Snow Falling on Cedars- David Guterson (Washington)
48. Washington DC - Gore Vidal (Washington DC)
49. Shiloh - Phillis Reynolds Naylor (West Virginia)
50. The Art of Fielding - Chad Harbach (Wisconsin)
51. Close Range: Wyoming Stories - E. Annie Proulx (Wyoming)

 

8/51 completed

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I see you have already acquired 2 books in 2017 and we are only on day one. :giggle2:

 

Congratulations on reducing your pile by 3. I know it's only 3, but at least it's a downward movement (unlike mine!).

 

My TBR pile is up around the 300 mark as well, and I really need to work hard at reducing it.

 

Some stand-out books from your TBR list:

 

Judy Blume - Tiger Eyes
Judy Blume - Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret

These are nice and easy reads, and I have fond memories of Judy Blume from my childhood.

 

Mark Dunn - Ella Minnow Pea. This is very original and quirky.

 

Ken Follett - Pillars of the Earth. Love this book; read it a couple of times but really want to read it again.

 

Alex Garland - The Beach. Same as above.

 

Matt Haig – The Humans. A funny read; read it last year (or 2015) and liked it a lot.

 

Terry Hayes - I am Pilgrim. The best thriller I have read in years. Absolutely loved it.

 

Stephen King – The Stand

Stephen King - IT

Two of my favourite books of all time. Both hefty books but they fly by because the story is so good.

 

Haruki Murakami - 1Q84. I just finished Books 1 & 2. Very good read but not the best II have read by him.

 

Stef Penney - The Tenderness of Wolves.  I love this book, and have read it a couple of times.

 

Donna Tartt - The Goldfinch. Another solid read, probably as good as The Secret History.

 

I hope you have a great reading year, Alex! :boogie:

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Can I join the out-of-control, 300+ TBR pile club please? :P

 

In all seriousness, I hope you have an excellent 2017 year (both reading and otherwise). Looking forward to hearing your reviews and general thoughts over the next 12 months. :friends0:

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Hello, old friend.   :friends3:  

 

I'm looking forward to discussing some more English Counties books with you.  It's a great challenge - I'm really enjoying it!  I'm on 30/48 too and I'm currently reading Norfolk's offering.   I need to sort out the rest - I wasn't going to re-read any books, but I've got quite a few alternatives to find as a result.

 

Happy reading in 2017.  :)

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I see you have already acquired 2 books in 2017 and we are only on day one. :giggle2:

 

Congratulations on reducing your pile by 3. I know it's only 3, but at least it's a downward movement (unlike mine!).

 

My TBR pile is up around the 300 mark as well, and I really need to work hard at reducing it.

 

Some stand-out books from your TBR list:

 

Judy Blume - Tiger Eyes

Judy Blume - Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret

These are nice and easy reads, and I have fond memories of Judy Blume from my childhood.

 

Mark Dunn - Ella Minnow Pea. This is very original and quirky.

 

Ken Follett - Pillars of the Earth. Love this book; read it a couple of times but really want to read it again.

 

Alex Garland - The Beach. Same as above.

 

Matt Haig – The Humans. A funny read; read it last year (or 2015) and liked it a lot.

 

Terry Hayes - I am Pilgrim. The best thriller I have read in years. Absolutely loved it.

 

Stephen King – The Stand

Stephen King - IT

Two of my favourite books of all time. Both hefty books but they fly by because the story is so good.

 

Haruki Murakami - 1Q84. I just finished Books 1 & 2. Very good read but not the best II have read by him.

 

Stef Penney - The Tenderness of Wolves.  I love this book, and have read it a couple of times.

 

Donna Tartt - The Goldfinch. Another solid read, probably as good as The Secret History.

 

I hope you have a great reading year, Alex! :boogie:

 

 

Thank you! I will try and get round to the books you mention this year. I really want to read some more King, only three read so far yet several on the TBR!

 

 

*gasp* You haven't read The Humans yet?? :)

I dunno, the U.S. Might not be here in four years :P California would love to have you!

 

 

It's certainly an odd time in the US! Not the right time for us, but hopefully we will get to move there at some point in the future.

 

I can't even remember the synopsis of The Humans now! Will have to look it up.

 

Can I join the out-of-control, 300+ TBR pile club please? :P

 

In all seriousness, I hope you have an excellent 2017 year (both reading and otherwise). Looking forward to hearing your reviews and general thoughts over the next 12 months. :friends0:

You can! Good to see you around again :) Sure I will be getting some recs off you this year.

 

  

I hope you have a great reading year in 2017 :)!

 

 

Thanks Gaia!

 

 

Looking forward to continuing the English Counties challenge with you this year, Alex - hope we have many more great books ahead of us. :)

 

The challenge has been good to us so far, let's hope that continues!

 

 

I'd like to join the out of control tbr gang too!  Happy reading to everyone in that group!

 

 

Our numbers are ever expanding :giggle2:

 

 

Hello, old friend.   :friends3:  

 

I'm looking forward to discussing some more English Counties books with you.  It's a great challenge - I'm really enjoying it!  I'm on 30/48 too and I'm currently reading Norfolk's offering.   I need to sort out the rest - I wasn't going to re-read any books, but I've got quite a few alternatives to find as a result.

 

Happy reading in 2017.  :)

Hi J :friends3:

 

I'm embarrassed to say I haven't needed to find too many alternatives because most are totally new! I have only reread one (Swallows and Amazons) and replaced a Sherlock and Adrian Mole due to having already read them. No question there are many I feel I should have already read!

 

Here's to a positive 2017 in books and out :D

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I wish you the most excellent reading year in 2017, Alexi! Especially since your reading in 2016 wasn't that great, in your own words. At least you had a smashing year in other personal ways, so it was a winner year in that way! :smile2:

 

 

TBR A-Z
 

Fredrick Backman – A Man Called Ove

Michael Chabon - The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Klay

Susanna Clarke - Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell 

Alex Garland - The Beach

Motley Crue – The Dirt 

Stef Penney - The Tenderness of Wolves

Kathryn Stockett - The Help

Kurt Vonnegut - Slaughterhouse Five
Sarah Waters - Fingersmith

Irvine Welsh - Trainspotting

 

Oh wow, you have so many great books to read! :wub: I'm jealous you get to read these for the first time! :blush: 

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Oh wow, you have so many great books to read! :wub: I'm jealous you get to read these for the first time! :blush:

 

Thanks Frankie! I'm actually about to start Trainspotting, so I hope it goes as well for me as it did for you :)

  

Happy Reading in 2017. :)

 

Hurray for the Jonathan Strange and 1Q84 books - I loved those. :D

Thank you! For some reason, I keep looking at Jonathan Strange and then putting it down... must give it a chance soon.

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Happy Reading in 2017 Alex, hope it's an enjoyable reading year for you :hug:  Don't stress too much about the TBR.

I highly recommend Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell .. fab book but it is huge so I can totally understand why people might be reluctant. Hope you give it a go this year and love it! You'll know pretty soon whether it's for you or not (though give it a good few chapters .. it does take a little while to get into the swing of it :smile: ) Good luck!!   

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