Monday, November 14, 2011

2012 TBR Challenge.

Challenge season is in the air!

This is one of the challenges I was waiting for, so I am excited to announce that I am joining in on Adam's (Roof Beam Reader) TBR Challenge for 2012! I am currently participating in the 2011 Challenge, and while I am slightly behind (I am currently reading book 7 of 12), I know I want to join in for another year. You can go to the link above to see the specific instructions. I love that Adam motivates his participants with prizes (even though I won't qualify this year if I don't get my butt in gear!).

Participants are allowed to choose 12 books and 2 alternates (just in case). Like my 2011 list, I wanted to include a mix of titles-challenging reads and books I am looking forward to (all are classics). I think my list reflects that.

Here it is.

Allie's 2012 TBR Challenge List-12 Books:
  1. Volpone by Ben Johnson
  2. Pilgrim's Progress by John Bunyon
  3. Tom Jones by Henry Fielding
  4. Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
  5. Main Street by Sinclair Lewis
  6. The Voyage Out by Virginia Woolf
  7. Clarissa by Samuel Richardson
  8. David Copperfield by Charles Dickens
  9. A Passage to India by E.M. Forster
  10. Brighton Rock by Graham Greene
  11. The Hunchback of Notre Dame by Victor Hugo
  12. Doctor Zhivago by Boris Pasternak
Two Alternates (just in case):
  1. The Scarlet Pimpernel by Emmuska Orczy
  2. I Know why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou


I think I created a fairly challenging list, but I am excited to get started! Who else is participating?

11 comments:

  1. Tom Jones is a wonderful book and it doesn't feel like it's 1000 page, 18th C self... I'm so tempted to re-read it again next year.

    You have some interesting choices here to read, many of which I want to read myself at some point.

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  2. Awesome picks! I tweeted you about Hunchback and Clarissa - I'm also reading them! I just ordered Tom Jones. VERY curious to read your thoughts.

    I'm all excited about 2012! I feel like it's going to be my best Classics year. Because I have enough under my belt not to be intimidated, and little enough read that I've plenty to look forward to. :D

    Oh! I'm reading David Copperfield in February.

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  3. Wow - this is a hefty list! I had to add some lighter reads to mine, this year, because I'm so behind in the 2011 challenge.

    Tom Jones and Clarissa are great, though I need to re-read them at some point. David Copperfield was really good, too. Good luck with Volpone (FYI - It's "Jonson") - I'm not a fan. I've tried to read Pilgrim's Progress, since it's so, so often referenced in other early literary works, but I haven't made it yet.

    I could have included Brighton Rock, Catch-22, and The Scarlet Pimpernel to mine as well (and I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings!)

    Maybe I'll go back and make some changes. Or maybe not. Lol

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  4. Can't wait to see your thoughts on Catch-22!!!

    I'm not joining the challenge, because as I said to Adam, I don't have a TBR anymore! I have one unread book on my shelves and one in my virtual list that I'm on the hold list for at the library, and I fully plan to have read both by the end of 2011. I LOVE not having a TBR anymore. It makes reading so much more wonderful for me!

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  5. Emmuska Orczy is one of those authors whom I love to read. There's a rereadathon going on this weekend, and I believe I will at least try to reread The Scarlet Pimpernel. It's been so long since I've read an adventure of that demmed elusive Pimpernel!

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  6. I'm participating too! A little concerned because I haven't done a year long challenge like this before. I put together my list but I think I'll take a closer look at it to make sure I won't be overwhelmed before I send it in to Adam.
    Looking forward to your posts! I have several from your list on my shelf too.

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  7. Clarissa is marvelous! I'm pretty close to the end now, about 400 pages away. It really is gripping, and I do not understand why it is so under read. It annoys me, in fact. Ok, I get that it is long, and that puts people off, but my original plan was to read a few letters every day and let it see me through the rest of the year and 2012, but I honestly cannot put it down. It really is fantastic.

    (I suppose the price of it is slightly prohibitive, too, but the sheer size of it - it's never going to be cheap).

    Anyway, I really hope you love it as much as I'm loving it. Absolutely wonderful book.

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  8. I'm still working on making my own list, but I'm pretty sure Catch-22 will be on it. I don't anticipate getting to it before the end of the year.

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  9. I'm joining this one too. I have The Scarlet Pimpernel in my list as well. David Copperfield and Catch-22 are both fantastic!

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  10. Oh wow, you have some thick books in that list! Some I really want to read too. The TBR is probably one challenge I should participate in, given the state of my shelves. Hmm...if I can come up with an appropriate list, maybe I will.

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  11. David Copperfield is fantastic. I was weary of reading it at first, because it has so many mixed reviews, but it became one of my all-time favorites.
    Good luck with this year's challenge!

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