ADVENT
2 Days to Christmas!
Monday, December 23, 2024
Sunday, December 22, 2024
The TBR 24 in '24 & Mt. TBR Challenges -- MY WRAP UP POST
THE TBR 24 IN '24 CHALLENGE
My Wrap Up Post
I have completed the TBR 24 in '24 Challenge! I read the 24 books off my TBR shelves that I picked for the challenge.
MY TBR 24 IN '24 BOOKS
I like to pick my books ahead of time for this annual challenge. I keep them stacked by my bedside to motivate me through the year. This year, I picked 12 fiction and 12 nonfiction.
I like to pick my books ahead of time for this annual challenge. I keep them stacked by my bedside to motivate me through the year. This year, I picked 12 fiction and 12 nonfiction.
Here's a list of what is in the picture. Do any look good to you?
FICTION
Quentins by Maeve Binchy. I went on a Binchy jag years ago and read most of her books, including several that involve the fictional Dublin restaurant Quentins. But this one slipped past me.
Rates of Exchange by Malcolm Bradbury. I loved Eating People is Wrong and The History Man and this one made me a confirmed Bradbury fan.
The Horse's Mouth by Joyce Cary. This one is on Anthony Burgess's list of his 99 favorite novels, one of my favorite lists, but it fell flat for me.
A Paris Apartment by Michelle Gable was as fun as it looked to be.
J by Howard Jacobson. I like his books but this one is speculative, dystopian fiction, so I did not enjoy it as much as other things by him.
Out of the Shelter by David Lodge. He is one of my favorite authors. This is his autobiographical first novel. It was very good, but not as rich as his later novels.
The Nice and the Good by Iris Murdoch. So is she! This one was excellent, and a good example of Murdoch's fiction.
The New Men by C. P. Snow. I've been plodding my way through his Strangers and Brothers series and am determine to get through the whole thing. This one was particularly dry.
A Patchwork Planet by Anne Tyler. As with Binchy, I went on an Anne Tyler tear several years ago. Then I just stopped. I'm trying to read the ones I missed. This one was charming.
Come Fill the Cup by Harlan Ware. I bought this for the cool vintage cover and did not expect such a clever and exciting gangster story with a hard boiled newspaper journalist as the protagonist.
Chess Story by Stefan Zweig, which also counts as my Austria book for the 2024 European Reading Challenge.
NONFICTION
My Almost Cashmere Life by Margy Adams. I ripped through this memoir.
Cancel Your Own Goddam Subscription: Notes & Asides from National Review by William F. Buckley, Jr. This is one of my favorite titles ever. I grew up reading his Notes & Asides column and loved revisiting the columns in this collection.
Political Woman: The Big Little Life of Jeane Kirkpatrick by Peter Collier. My husband gave this to me several years ago and I'm glad I finally read it. What a fascinating woman!
An Omelette and a Glass of Wine by Elizabeth David. I love food writing and David is new to me. I will read more by her.
Menagerie Manor by Gerald Durrell. I've read Lawrence Durrell books but never Gerald's. I love the TV show, The Durrells of Corfu, so was happy to finally read one of his books. I'll read more.
Lost in Thought: The Hidden Pleasures of an Intellectual Life by Zena Hitz. I bought this on a whim when it came out and am so glad I did. It was excellent.
Songbook by Nick Hornby. Another favorite author, but I missed this one.
The Four Loves by C. S. Lewis. I'm chipping away at reading all his books.
Provenance: How a Con Man and a Forger Rewrote the History of Modern Art by Laney Salisbury and Aly Sujo. I found this at a library book sale and it was terrific!
The Old Patagonian Express: By Train Through the Americas by Paul Theroux. I expected to like this classic book of travel writing more than I did. There are a lot of descriptions of train rides on awful trains. It wasn't bad, just not as interesting as I anticipated.
Almost French: Love and a New Life in Paris by Sarah Turnbull. I missed this when it came out and love ex-pat memoirs. This one was very good.
I'll Take the Back Road by Marguerite Hurrey Wolf, a 1975 memoir about living on a farm in Vermont. Fantastic!
THE MT. TBR CHALLENGE
This TBR 24 in '24 Challenge dovetails nicely with the Mt TBR Challenge that Bev at My Reader's Block hosts every year. Like I've done for the past couple of years, I signed up for the "Mt. Kilimanjaro" Level in 2024 to read a total of 60 books off my TBR shelves.
I climbed much higher this year! In addition to the 24 book I read for the TBR 24 in '24 Challenge, I read 68 books off my TBR shelves, for a total of 92 TBR books. That's a record for me.
MY MT. TBR BOOKS
MY MT. TBR BOOKS
Need Blind Ambition by Kevin Myers
The Loved One by Evelyn Waugh
Can You Forgive Her? by Anthony Trollope
Jamaica Inn by Daphne du Maurier
Moonflower Murders by Anthony Horowitz
Mary Anne by Daphne du Maurier
The Year I Stopped to Notice by Miranda Keeling
Tom Jones by Henry Fielding
Hamnet by Maggie O'Farrell
Slow Horses by Mick Herron
My Kind of Place: Travel Stories from a Woman Who's Been Everywhere by Susan Orlean
Phineas Finn by Anthony Trollope
The Vintage Caper by Peter Mayle
The Curmudgeon's Guide to Getting Ahead: Dos and Don'ts of Right Behavior, Tough Thinking, Clear Writing, and Living a Good Life by Charles Murray
The Way We Lived Then: Recollections of a Well-Known Name Dropper by Dominick Dunne
Habits of the House by Fay Weldon
Long Live the King by Fay Weldon
The New Countess by Fay Weldon
His Last Bow by Arthur Conan Doyle
Silverview by John le Carre
The Reivers by William Faulkner
Dead Lions by Mick Herron
Pocket Full of Poseys by Thomas Reed
Ivanhoe by Sir Walter Scott
The Millionaires by Brad Meltzer
After All These Years by Susan Isaacs
Put Out More Flags by Evelyn Waugh
The Light of Day by Eric Ambler
With No One as Witness by Elizabeth George
Loser Takes All by Graham Greene
The Third Man by Graham Greene
The Fallen Idol by Graham Greene
The Messenger by Megan Davis
The Stranger House by Reginald Hill
Angel Falls by Kristin Hannah
The Vacationers by Emma Stroud
Hanging the Devil by Tim Maleeny
Castle Dor by Daphne du Maurier
Brighton Rock by Graham Greene
God in the Dock by C. S. Lewis
Men at Arms by Evelyn Waugh
Phineas Redux by Anthony Trollope
The Dark Vineyard by Martin Walker
The Uncommon Reader by Alan Bennett
Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thakeray
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
The Cost of Living by Deborah Levy
In Five Years by Rebecca Serle
The Return of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle
Officers and Gentlemen by Evelyn Waugh
The Prime Minister by Anthony Trollope
Scalia Speaks: Reflections on Law, Faith, and Life Well Lived by Anton Scalia
Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons
What Came Before He Shot Her by Elizabeth George
The Pickwick Papers by Charles Dickens
Don't Look Now by Daphne du Maurier
Living Color A Designer Works Magic with Traditional Interiors by Gary McBournie
The Girl on the Boat by P G. Wodehouse
The Unsuspected by Charlotte Armstrong
A Dram of Poison by Charlotte Armstrong
Cavedweller by Dorothy Allison
The Turret Room by Charlotte Armstrong
The Duke's Children by Anthony Trollope
Lipstick Jungle by Candace Bushnell
Leaves of Grass, Vol. 1, and Democratic Vistas by Walt Whitman
Saint Maybe by Anne Tyler
Joe Country by Mick Herron
Christmas Holiday by W. Somerset Maugham
The Loved One by Evelyn Waugh
Can You Forgive Her? by Anthony Trollope
Jamaica Inn by Daphne du Maurier
Moonflower Murders by Anthony Horowitz
Mary Anne by Daphne du Maurier
The Year I Stopped to Notice by Miranda Keeling
Tom Jones by Henry Fielding
Hamnet by Maggie O'Farrell
Slow Horses by Mick Herron
My Kind of Place: Travel Stories from a Woman Who's Been Everywhere by Susan Orlean
Phineas Finn by Anthony Trollope
The Vintage Caper by Peter Mayle
The Curmudgeon's Guide to Getting Ahead: Dos and Don'ts of Right Behavior, Tough Thinking, Clear Writing, and Living a Good Life by Charles Murray
The Way We Lived Then: Recollections of a Well-Known Name Dropper by Dominick Dunne
Habits of the House by Fay Weldon
Long Live the King by Fay Weldon
The New Countess by Fay Weldon
His Last Bow by Arthur Conan Doyle
Silverview by John le Carre
The Reivers by William Faulkner
Dead Lions by Mick Herron
Pocket Full of Poseys by Thomas Reed
Ivanhoe by Sir Walter Scott
The Millionaires by Brad Meltzer
After All These Years by Susan Isaacs
Put Out More Flags by Evelyn Waugh
The Light of Day by Eric Ambler
With No One as Witness by Elizabeth George
Loser Takes All by Graham Greene
The Third Man by Graham Greene
The Fallen Idol by Graham Greene
The Messenger by Megan Davis
The Stranger House by Reginald Hill
Angel Falls by Kristin Hannah
The Vacationers by Emma Stroud
Hanging the Devil by Tim Maleeny
Castle Dor by Daphne du Maurier
Brighton Rock by Graham Greene
God in the Dock by C. S. Lewis
Men at Arms by Evelyn Waugh
Phineas Redux by Anthony Trollope
The Dark Vineyard by Martin Walker
The Uncommon Reader by Alan Bennett
Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thakeray
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
The Cost of Living by Deborah Levy
In Five Years by Rebecca Serle
The Return of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle
Officers and Gentlemen by Evelyn Waugh
The Prime Minister by Anthony Trollope
Scalia Speaks: Reflections on Law, Faith, and Life Well Lived by Anton Scalia
Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons
What Came Before He Shot Her by Elizabeth George
The Pickwick Papers by Charles Dickens
Don't Look Now by Daphne du Maurier
Living Color A Designer Works Magic with Traditional Interiors by Gary McBournie
The Girl on the Boat by P G. Wodehouse
The Unsuspected by Charlotte Armstrong
A Dram of Poison by Charlotte Armstrong
Cavedweller by Dorothy Allison
The Turret Room by Charlotte Armstrong
The Duke's Children by Anthony Trollope
Lipstick Jungle by Candace Bushnell
Leaves of Grass, Vol. 1, and Democratic Vistas by Walt Whitman
Saint Maybe by Anne Tyler
Joe Country by Mick Herron
Christmas Holiday by W. Somerset Maugham
NOTE: Updated September 21, 2024.
Saturday, December 21, 2024
The TBR 25 in '25 Challenge -- WRAP UP PAGE
WRAP UP PAGE
FOR THE TBR 25 IN '25 CHALLENGE
January 1, 2025 to December 31, 2025
THIS IS THE PAGE TO LINK YOUR WRAP UP POSTS
TO LINK A REVIEW, GO TO THIS PAGE
TO SIGN UP FOR THE CHALLENGE, GO TO THE MAIN CHALLENGE PAGE OR CLICK THE CHALLENGE BUTTON ABOVE
LINK YOUR WRAP UP POSTS HERE
Mister Linky's Magical Widgets -- Thumb-Linky widget will appear right here!
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WRAP UP LINKS
If you complete the challenge, please link some kind of wrap up post in the Linky box above. That way, I know who finished the challenge. If you just update your original post and do not do a wrap up post separate from your sign up post that's fine! Please still add the link to the updated post in the box above.
If you have trouble adding your link, leave it in a comment and I will add it or email me your link at gilion (at) dumasandvaughn (dot) com and I will add it for you. Please put your name and the name of the your blog or your social media handle and the platform in the comment or email so I can find you. Thanks!
REVIEWS
If you review a book for the TBR 25 in '25 Challenge, please add the link to your review on the review page. Please link to your review post, not the main page of your blog or social media account.
You do not have to have a blog to participate in this challenge. If you review books on Instagram, goodreads, or some other social media, use the link from your social media review post in the Linky box on the review page. Please link to the review, not your profile page. If you have questions about how to find the URL for a social media review post, leave a comment, email me at gilion (at) dumasandvaughn (dot) com, or DM me on Instagram @gilioncdumas.
The TBR 25 in '25 Challenge -- REVIEW PAGE
REVIEW PAGE
FOR THE TBR 25 IN '25 CHALLENGE
January 1, 2025 to December 31, 2025
THIS IS THE PAGE TO LIST YOUR REVIEWS
IF YOU HAVE FINISHED, WRAP UP POSTS GO ON THIS PAGE
LINK YOUR REVIEWS HERE
Please put your name and/or the name of your blog or social media handle and the name of the book you reviewed. (EX: Rose City Reader, War & Peace or @gilioncdumas, Pride & Prejudice.) Please link to your review post and not your blog home page or main social media profile page.
Mister Linky's Magical Widgets -- Thumb-Linky widget will appear right here!
This preview will disappear when the widget is displayed on your site.
If this widget does not appear, click here to display it.
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LINKS
If you review a book for the TBR 25 in '25 Challenge, please add the link to your review in the Linky box above. Please link to your review post, not the main page of your blog or social media account.
You do not have to have a blog to participate in this challenge. If you review books on Instagram, goodreads, or some other social media, use the link from your social media review post in the Linky box above. Please link to the review, not your profile page. If you have questions about how to find the URL for a social media review post, leave a comment, email me at gilion (at) dumasandvaughn (dot) com, or DM me on Instagram @gilioncdumas.
If you have trouble adding your link, leave it in a comment and I will add it or email me your link at gilion (at) dumasandvaughn (dot) com and I will add it for you. Please put your name and the name of the book you reviewed in the comment or email. Thanks!
BOOKS AND REVIEWS
You do not have to review books to complete the TBR 25 in '25 Challenge.
The only point of the challenge is to clear 25 books off your TBR shelf in 2025. You can pick all of them them ahead of time, some of them, or none of them. If you pick them, you can change your mind later and switch books. The only "rule" is that you must own the book before January 1, 2025.
Your TBR shelf can include a virtual shelf of ebooks or audiobooks, as long as you owned them prior to January 1, 2025. It does not include library books.
This is supposed to be fun!
WRAP UP
If you complete the challenge, please link some kind of wrap up post on the wrap up page. That way, I know who finished the challenge. If you just update your original post and do not do a wrap up post separate from your sign up post that's fine too! But please still add the link to the updated post on the wrap up page.
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