Saturday, October 1, 2011

2011 - 4th Quarter TBR Shelf


Now that the 4th quarter of 2011 is upon us, I felt it was more important for me to end 2011 by reading some books that really called out to me for one reason or another.  I tried to keep in mind the fact that I'm trying to complete and/or make progress on several challenges, and have been reading about 8 or 9 books a month lately.  I came up with a list of 20 books, hopefully that will allow me the freedom of adding a few unplanned ones to this list as well.

All of my selections are in my possession now, except for The Marriage Plot, which releases on October 11th.  So here's what books called out to me for my year end TBR choices:

Would you please tell me which ones you may have read and enjoyed?  How about the ones to read and didn't enjoy?  (Thanks for humoring me)
Posted by at
Labels:

31 comments:

  1. AthiraOctober 1, 2011 at 10:43 PM

    I have Cross Currents on my shelf and might be tackling it some time. Of the others, I really want to read Anatomy of a Disappearance, The Days of Abandonment, Ghost Lights, The Marriage Plot and The White Woman on the Green Bicycle! You do have some fabulous books lined up!

    ReplyDelete
  2. MeganOctober 1, 2011 at 10:57 PM

    Looks like you've got some excellent reading lined up. Everything Beautiful Began After and The Hottest Dishes of the Tartar Cuisine are both excellent. I'm eager to hear what you think of them!

    ReplyDelete
  3. AnonymousOctober 1, 2011 at 11:14 PM

    Ooh...Tartar Cuisine! A horribly awful main character and dark, dark humor but a fabulous read.

    ReplyDelete
  4. AnonymousOctober 2, 2011 at 12:36 AM

    I loveed Cold Spring Harbor and The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo - both absolute must reads!

    ReplyDelete
  5. RaineOctober 2, 2011 at 12:37 AM

    *scratches head* Honestly, I haven't come across these books you've posted yet. Good luck! This looks an interesting TBR pile. :D

    ReplyDelete
  6. TracyOctober 2, 2011 at 3:27 AM

    I'm in the minority of readers who really disliked The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo - because of the extreme sexual violence and rape. The White Girl on the Green Bicycle is one that appeals.

    ReplyDelete
  7. KayeOctober 2, 2011 at 8:04 AM

    The only one I've read is McMahon. You can never go wrong with Louise Penny. That is one that is on my wish list for sure. Have you read the rest in the series? She's one author whose books need to be read in order, I think. Each books seems to build on the previous. Happy reading in the 4th quarter.

    ReplyDelete
  8. bermudaonionOctober 2, 2011 at 8:43 AM

    I haven't read any of them but I did see a lot of titles I want to read in there.

    ReplyDelete
  9. AnonymousOctober 2, 2011 at 9:02 AM

    I admire you for being able to plan what you read because I never can and find it hard to stick to my reading plans! :)

    I hope you find Hisham Matar's book wonderful like I do. I do love his quiet prose, very haunting and unsettling. Enjoy!

    ReplyDelete
  10. rhapsodyinbooksOctober 2, 2011 at 9:56 AM

    Most of those I didn't read, so have not much to say except that I thought The Language of Flowers was wonderful, and the van Booy was a DNF for me - it seemed like he was trying too hard to be poetic, and I didn't know what the %$#% he was talking about! :--)

    ReplyDelete
  11. AnonymousOctober 2, 2011 at 10:01 AM

    That photo is exactly what I looked like when I saw how many days left this year!

    I hope you get to polish off that impressive list you have. I was just taking stock of how many books I've read so far this year and it looks like my list will be shorter than last.

    ReplyDelete
  12. NanOctober 2, 2011 at 10:15 AM

    Will it surprise you if I say I've only even heard of three authors on this list? I am the only reader I know of who isn't fond of the Inspector Gamache books. Too bad, because I like the author and her blog. I've heard of course of the Dragon Tattoo book but I'll never read it. Not for me. So, coming to the other author I've heard of, Richard Yates. His is the book I would read. I've read one short story of his

    http://lettersfromahillfarm.blogspot.com/2010/01/short-story-mondaya-really-good-jazz.html

    and only quit his book Revolutionary Road because it didn't live up to the movie! Ha! How often does that happen? I wrote about the experience:

    http://lettersfromahillfarm.blogspot.com/2009/06/movie-before-book.html

    ReplyDelete
  13. MysticaOctober 2, 2011 at 10:40 AM

    The Marriage Plot and Anatomy of a Disapearance are the two I am particularly interested in.

    ReplyDelete
  14. ZibileeOctober 2, 2011 at 1:43 PM

    I haven't read any of these yet, but a lot of them are on my list as well. The two that I am particularly excited about are The Hottest Dishes of the Tartar Cuisine and The Language of Flowers. I do hope that you get the chance to read a few of these before the year is out!

    ReplyDelete
  15. TamiOctober 2, 2011 at 3:10 PM

    I'm not much help except that I really enjoyed The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo and The Girl Who Played with Fire. Haven't read #3 in the series yet, but it's on my list.

    I am eagerly checking my mailbox daily for the arrival of The Language of Flowers. Can't wait to get started.

    ReplyDelete
  16. bookmagicOctober 2, 2011 at 5:48 PM

    I loved Rules of Civility, Everything Beautiful Began After (though I could see how this would not be liked by many) Don't Breathe a Word was very good also, as well as The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. Enjoy!

    ReplyDelete
  17. UnknownOctober 2, 2011 at 6:25 PM

    I love this idea, Diane and I may copy you...if that's okay! I have some scheduled review books coming up but other than those I think I'm going to read quite a few books from my tbr. I know part of my slump is not reading books I look at every day or every few days and have no time for.

    Many of the books on your list are books I want to read...The Louise Penny Inspector Gamache books, The Language of Flowers, The Rules of Civility, Cold Spring Harbor (I'm dying to read the Yates I won from you!), Northwest, The Marriage plot...

    Everything Beautiful Began After is wonderful, I cannot wait to read your thoughts about it. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is riveting! The names of people, buildings, streets etc. are a little tough to pronounce and get used to but the book's great!

    I'm going to look up some of the books on your list that aren't familiar to me since you have such great taste in books!

    Enjoy your 4th quarter reading!

    ReplyDelete
  18. Nise' October 2, 2011 at 7:17 PM

    I loved The Girl books and am in the middle of listening to Darkness My Old Friend. I know I'll be adding a few books to my TBR list from the ones you choose.

    ReplyDelete
  19. StaciOctober 2, 2011 at 7:46 PM

    I read NW corner and loved it! There's so many on your list that I own and want to read. I think your 4th quarter is going to be great!

    ReplyDelete
  20. Laurel-Rain SnowOctober 2, 2011 at 8:15 PM

    Oh, wow, another Richard Yates book! That's going on my list, too.

    I enjoyed Northwest Corner; Darkness, My Old Friend; and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo was pretty good once I got into it.

    I've also ordered The Language of Flowers. That's one I've been drooling over.

    Enjoy!

    ReplyDelete
  21. JennersOctober 2, 2011 at 8:31 PM

    If you read Dragon Tattoo, I suspect you'll want to read the other two.

    And I totally want to see that Awkward Family Pet Photos. I saw that they have Awkward Family Photos as greeting cards as Target. Could you imagine if that was your family!!????

    ReplyDelete
  22. ErinOctober 2, 2011 at 9:57 PM

    The only one on your list I've read is Everything Beautiful Began After. I liked it, but not as much as Van Booy's short stories. Some of the titles on your list are on mine as well, so I look forward to seeing what you pick!

    ReplyDelete
  23. JoAnnOctober 2, 2011 at 10:27 PM

    Well, you know I'm going to say read Richard Yates! I loved Cold Spring Harbor. Looking back through my posts, I realized the Yates novels I read early this year were never reviewed (it was during my 'blogging block'). The Yates bio by Blake Bailey is my favorite nonfiction of the year, too.

    ReplyDelete
  24. Jess - A Book HoarderOctober 2, 2011 at 11:42 PM

    What if I kindly ask you to remove the first line in this post? It is stressing me out and making it difficult to breathe.

    Not so much? Okay, I will allow it because I am a fan of your list. Now...I'm off to try and focus for the next few months...I feel like I said that in January...

    ReplyDelete
  25. Brian's Home BlogOctober 3, 2011 at 7:51 AM

    You always have the coolest books!

    ReplyDelete
  26. AlyceOctober 3, 2011 at 1:02 PM

    The only book on your list that I've read part of is Everything Beautiful Began After. So many people have been gushing over it that I bought it a few weeks ago, and still haven't made it past page 14. The writing just seems very pretentious to me, it's one of those books that makes me feel less intelligent for not liking it. (As if the book itself were saying to me "You would appreciate the writing if you were truly cultured and high-brow." Did I mention that the book has a very snooty accent while saying this?)

    ReplyDelete
  27. Jo @ Booklover Book ReviewsOctober 3, 2011 at 10:16 PM

    We sure do have similar reading tastes Diane. What a great TBR shelf you have organised for yourself. I have been window-shopping the titles by Matar, Booy, Diffenbaugh, Penny and Roffey. Am sure you will enjoy Larsson, and Rules of Civility is wonderful.

    ReplyDelete
  28. quirky girlsOctober 3, 2011 at 10:28 PM

    I think The Language of Flowers sounds really good.

    -jehara

    ReplyDelete
  29. AnonymousOctober 4, 2011 at 5:50 PM

    I read Everything beautiful Began After [http://wordsandpeace.wordpress.com/2011/08/12/review-62-everything-beautiful-began-after/ ] and The Language of Flowers, to my opinion they are both beautiful books, must read. Here is my September wrap up: http://wordsandpeace.wordpress.com/2011/10/04/september-2011-wrap-up/
    Emma @ Words And Peace

    ReplyDelete
  30. AnonymousOctober 4, 2011 at 10:17 PM

    Don't Breathe A Word and The Language of Flowers are both excellent - I hop eyou enjoy them!

    Shelleyrae @ Book'd Out

    ReplyDelete
  31. nomadreaderOctober 5, 2011 at 10:44 AM

    I have many of those on my towering TBR shelf this fall too! I'll eagerly await your reviews to see which I should move around. I've only read one of them--The White Woman on the Green Bicycle, which I absolutely loved. Happy fall reading!

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for taking the time to visit and double thanks for any comments. If you ask a question in your comments, I will try to reply to it here, or by email if your settings allow me to do so. Thanks again for visiting.


Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)