Sunday, September 09, 2012

Tackling my TBR pile

Have you set yourself a reading goal on GoodReads? Do you check your progress as obsessively as I check mine? Currently (and as I schedule most posts in advance, this number will have changed!), I am a whopping 12 books behind my target of 225 books read this year.  And what's worse, I have eleventy billion books waiting patiently to be read on my shelves.  My bookcases are absolutely teeming with wonderful books. 

As for my reading goal, I was on target until the beginning of the summer where everything went a bit downhill with a university assignment, my birthday, a holiday, Olympics madness, etc.  My lowest point was being 16 books behind target, but I have managed to slowly ease my way out of that over the last week or so. While sometimes I enjoy reading a longer book over the summer holidays where I have more time to sink into a story and really appreciate a longer story, other summers, like this one, my concentration levels are at zero.  My mind wanders, I pick up a book, read a few pages and then feel restless and wonder what else I could be reading instead. 

So what I've done to tackle both issues is that I've picked this massive pile of books, all of which I'm quite interested in reading.  And as a bonus, they are all around about 250 pages or a book that I think I will get through get quickly. 


Fly on the Wall by E Lockhart
Mockingbird by Kathyn Erskine
Silenced by Simon Packham
Never Fall Down by Patricia McCormick
Paparazzi Princess by Cathy Hopkins
Shooting Stars by Allison Rushby
Dash and Lily's Book of Dares by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan
The Alchemy of Forever by Avery Williams
A Little Wanting Song by Cath Crowley
Invincible Summer by Hannah Moskowitz
Shut Out by Kody Keplinger
The Swan Kingdom by Zoe Marriott

Blackwatch by Jenna Burtenshaw
Scars by Cheryl Rainfield
The Hostage by Sophie McKenzie
Airhead: Runaway by Meg Cabot
There Is No Dog by Meg Rosoff
Lottie Biggs Is Not Tragic by Hayley Long
Prom and Prejudice by Elizabeth Eulberg
My Sister Lives on the Mantelpiece by Annabel Pitcher
Saving Zoe by Alyson Noel
The Lone-Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven by Sherman Alexie
Love and other Drama-ramas by Sarah Webb

Do you have this same problem?  Have you read any of these books? Where should I start?

24 comments:

  1. WOW! Literally every book you have there I am dying to read! The Airhead books are really good! :)

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    1. It is a great pile of books! I'm looking forward to ploughing my way through them :)

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  2. You've got some of my favourite books there! Fly on the Wall, Airhead, Dash & Lily... That's where I'd start, seeing as I've read those three more than once. ;)
    Oh, and Silenced is brilliant, and so is A Little Wanting Song, and so many others on your list.
    Happy reading! I can't wait to hear your thoughts on the books you choose.

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    1. I'll keep that in mind! E Lockhart, Meg Cabot, Rachel Cohn/David Levithan - you can't really go wrong there, can you? I was leaning towards Fly on the Wall first actually! :)

      Thanks!

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  3. Wow!!! You have some great books that I'm dying to read! The only one I have three out of that long list of books: Mockingbird by Kathryn Erskine, My Sister Lives on the Mantelpiece by Annabel Pitcher and The Hostage by Sophie McKenzie..They were all good but I have to admit that Fly On The Wall captured my attention as soon as I read the blurb on Goodreads..lol..I would gravitate towards that one first or maybe Shooting Stars?...I like photography though so that might explain why.! If you hop over to my Showcase Sunday today you'll see how many books I am behind on but not as many as you I don't think!
    Happy Reading!
    http://ebonyblacklines.blogspot.co.uk/2012/09/showcase-sunday-1-i-requested-too-many.html

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    1. Thanks :) After so many people commented that I should read Fly on the Wall, I started and finished it yesterday afternoon! It was brilliant.

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  4. From thos that I've read & for good and quick reads, I'd recommend My Sister Lives On the Mantelpiece or Silenced. Never Fall Down might be a longer read than you think: you might have to keep breaking from it to collect yourself! (but it is very good). Little M loves Sophie McKenzie and she's been whizzing through the Medusa Project series this past week - so they're very quick. Enjoy your deliberating before your reading :)

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    1. Thanks M :) I'm considering reading all three (or four?) Medusa Project books I have on possibly reviewing them altogether. Thanks for the heads up on Never Fall Down!

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  5. The only one I've read is 'Dash and Lily's Book of Dares' which is really sweet and lovely. I think that's a good one to read in the winter or around Christmas as it is set then.

    My Sister Lives on the Mantelpiece is supposed to be really good too, 'tissues at the ready' I've been told - it's also on TBR pile. Hope you enjoy these books! :)

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    1. I'm really, really looking forward to Dash and Lily but I'm not sure if maybe I'm putting it off until closer to Christmas? There must be a reason that I haven't yet read it!

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  6. I'm about 2 books ahead of my target at the moment, but that's down from being about 10 ahead, a couple of months ago...

    Dash and Lily's Book of Dares, & My Sister Lives on the Mantlepiece should definitely be pushed up your reading pile.

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    1. 2 ahead is still really good! I'd love to be 2 ahead instead of 12 behind. I will definitely push those two towards the top :)

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  7. I highly recommend starting with Fly on the Wall, Runaway, There is No Dog or Shooting Stars. They're all fantastic.

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    1. Thanks Sophie :) I've already finished Fly on the Wall (Brilliant!) and now I'm ready for my next choice..

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  8. Silenced is really, really good. Haven't read Shut Out but was thought the DUFF was great so I'd bump that up your list as well.

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    1. I have both of Kody Keplinger's other books here, both of which I'm really excited about!

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  9. Wow! This is a great challenge, Clover! I have There Is No Dog on my TBR pile too, so it will be great to see what you think of it. :) Mockingbird, Saving Zoe, Airhead, Prom and Prejudice and My Sister Lives on the Mantlepeice all look amazing. I have read The Hostage and loved it, Sophie McKenzie is great :)
    Good luck, and happy reading!

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    1. I've only discovered Sophie McKenzie recently and I can agree, I've loved all of her books so far :)

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  10. I'm about two behind at the moment - but my reading target is also considerably lower than the 200 mark let alone 225! :D

    And what an excellent pile of books to choose from, Blackwatch is particularly good :D

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    1. I started Blackwatch awhile back and I was really enjoying it! But new shiny books arrived into the house and I got completely distracted and never finished.. I really should!

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  11. I never set myself any goals! I don't think I could keep up with it. I have weeks I barely manage 50 pages between work and uni work! Good luck getting caught up :D

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    1. No goals, ever? Wow. I like to work towards things. Which is why I used to do a lot of themed months, it put a little pressure on me to read a certain amount and type of book!

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  12. Great to read in the comments that you've already read Fly on the Wall - I read it a couple of weeks ago and I can't wait to find out what you thought of it!

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