Simon at Stuck in a Book has guided me to a youtube channel on books. I do follow some from time to time. I had not heard about Rick's The BookTube Spin, and am still to check it out. Nevertheless, the cause is worthy, read books from your TBR shelves. Choose twenty of them and on 31 January Rick will spin a number and you have two months to read it.
Seems to go very well with my other challenges this year, aiming at lowering the number of books on my shelves. So here I am, making another list of twenty books. Most of them will probably appear also on other lists. I am a little bit limited since I am now in Austria and my bookshelves are in Sweden. I did prepare though and brought around 35-40 books, so a list of twenty is definitely all right. Here we go.
- eleven minutes by Paulo Coelho
- Brida by Paulo Coelho
- An Ice-Cream War by William Boyd
- The Moon and Sixpence by William Somerset Maugham
- Sarum by Edward Rutherfurd
- Kingdom of Shadows by Barbara Erskine
- The Lodger by Charles Nicholl
- The Children's Book by A.S. Byatt
- Ernest Hemingway by Carlos Baker
- Eleanor Marx by Rachel Holmes
- The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
- The Sibyl by Pär Lagerkvist
- Barabbas by Pär Lagerkvist
- Through Belgian Eyes by Helen MacEwan
- Natasha's Dance, a Cultural History of Russia by Orlando Figes
- Plum by Maurice Gee
- Nine Parts of Desire by Geraldine Brooks
- The Garden Party and Other Stories by Katherine Mansfield
- The New Countess by Fay Weldon
- Long Live the King by Fay Weldon
A mixture of fiction and nonfiction, long and short books. Looking forward to having someone decide which book I will read.
I see some familiar friends here. I especially loved "Sarum." I've not read that particular Geraldine Brooks but I really loved her "People of the Book," and I'd like to read more by her.
ReplyDeleteGood to hear. I have had both books on my shelves for ever, so I think it is time to get into them.
DeleteWhat a wonderful idea. I will have to participate the next time.
ReplyDeleteFrom your list, I have read #s 2, 5 and 11. I wasn't too happy with "Brida" though it's alright. The two others are fantastic. Will have to explore #14 and see what those "Belgian Eyes" say.
Happy Reading.
I generally love Coelho's books, but some are more interesting than others. I got them really cheap, second hand, so that is why I have a lot of his books now. As you know Sarum has been on my shelves for quite some time. Seems to be the year of reading it.
ReplyDeleteI did start the Book Thief once but could not stand the writing. I will give it another try though, since most people seem to like it a lot.
I know Helen, she is the person who started the Brussels Brontë Group. She writes very well and engaging and it is quite interesting. Charlotte was not so much loved by the Belgians for various reasons. Therefore the more interesting to read what they have to say about her.
Oh, that sounds exciting. I've found it on amazon but even in a used edition it is pretty expensive. Maybe one day ... I would love to read it because it interests me what the Belgians have to say.
DeleteMaybe "The Book Thief" is not for you. I remember reading it with my book club and whilst most members loved it, there were a few who couldn't get into it. You don't have to like every book that everyone loves. I have that problem with "The Time Traveller's Wife", for example, the book club members loved it, I couldn't stand it.
You are right, there are so many different views on books, which is really good. I loved The Time Traveller's Wife, although I thought I would not, read what it was all about. We read Robert MacFarlane's Underland in my book group. Everybody seemed to like it. I could not bear reading it. Could not get into it and did not like the writing. When this happens book discussions tend to be very interesting.
Delete