Mary dusts off the bookshelves in 2011

Well, I think I managed to read half the books I said I'd try to get to last year, and many of them were ER books or rereads. This year, I'm going to aim both lower and higher - lower quantity, higher number of books from my "to read" collection that I own as of today. I'll be using the Take it or Leave it Challenge to select books from my shelf to read any given month.

Wish me luck!




As of March 12, I've decided on a few more ground rules.
1. For one complete "book off the shelf," I must read a book in my "to read collection" and decide whether or not I will continue to keep it on the shelf.
2. For half a "book of the shelf," I will count unfinished books that I decide to give away.
3. For half a "book of the shelf," I will count rereads that I subsequently decide to give away.

All books counting towards this challenge must have been on my shelf as of January 1, 2011 (in other words, I can't count half of these as ER books won in 2011).

Ah, Mary, we two will buckle down to clear those shelves this year. After all, they're full of BOOKS!

Happy New Year.

Welcome back! Cute ticker!

>2 ffortsa: Thanks, Judy! Here's to trying, anyways! :)

>3 lbradf: Thanks, Lois. A happy new year to you!

Hi Mary, just dropping by to wish you luck with this challenge.

>5 DeltaQueen50: Thanks! Good luck to you too.

And here's the first book:
1. Book Lust to Go by Nancy Pearl

This feels like cheating since I was already reading it in December and it's an ER book. BUT it still qualifies because it was on my shelves before December 31. If you're familiar with the earlier Book Lust books, then you know the format to expect - short sections with a theme as the heading and a lovely list of books and comments related to that theme. I especially love that Nancy (I feel like I can call her by her first name since she's let me see into her brain so much in her books) really enjoys the books she includes and isn't afraid to tell her readers why. I may not always agree with her choices, but it's a great insight into what she wants as a reader.

Here this was meant to be a short summary and I'm going on and on...suffice it to say, definitely a keeper (though I wouldn't say no to a finished copy instead of my uncorrected proof).

Hmm...does it count if I don't finish a book? I think I will count the books that I start reading and stop deciding to give them away as half a book. After all, it is a "book off my shelf" in another way...

1.5 Mudbound by Hillary Jordan - I'm sure many people love this, but I was struggling by page 60. I feel certain enough from looking at the quotes on the back that it is not just my particular mood, but that the book is a bit too depressing for me. Verdict: Giving away to my brother, who I think will appreciate it more than me (and probably scold me for saying "I don't like it" because it's sad - we disagree about that a lot).

a book off is a book off isn't ir? and after all, you make the rules :)

>8 Tallulah_Rose: Yup, that's why I figured I'd give myself half a book when it's unfinished and I decide to get rid of it. Though it depends on how you interpret "off the shelf" I suppose - could be either a book you've read/finished from your own bookshelves or a book taken off the shelf permanently. I'm interpreting it a little more the first way, but giving myself credit for the second with the half a point. :)

2.5 The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness
On the shelf since: November 2009
Verdict: Definitely staying there, and if the rest of the series is as good, I'm going to be adding two more books to the wishlist. Oops.

Longer review here.

Here's two more books of the shelf for February (and things look hopeful for a third being polished off by the end of the month):

3.5 East by Edith Pattou - a fantasy story retelling the Norwegian fairy tale "East of the Sun, West of the Moon" that I received through the 2009 SantaThing. I'm not sure I can be entirely fair in a review when I have not yet read the original, but here is mine, in any case. Verdict: Keeping for now.

4.5 The Seeing Stone by Arthur Crossley-Holland - another retelling, this time of Arthurian legend brought specifically to the year 1199. I thoroughly enjoyed it; here is my review. Verdict: Definitely keeping until I've finished the trilogy; after that remains to be seen.

5.5 Little Princes: One Man's Promise to Bring Home the Lost Children of Nepal by Conor Grennan - yeah, I know, the subtitle makes it sound like a Three Cups of Tea knockoff. There are some similarities, but I thought it was wonderful in its own right: more here. Verdict: Absolutely keeping, though I daresay it will not be on my shelf much as I'll be lending it out to whomever I can convince to read it!

6. The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Orczy
Half a book counted for a reread that I'm not going to keep. I liked it much better when I read it in middle school/high school, and knowing the plot ahead of time changed the experience of it entirely. Verdict: Off the shelf.

7. Measure for Measure by William Shakespeare

One of my lifetime reading goals (as fancy as that sounds, I have few) is to read all of Shakespeare's plays. I've made little, if any, progress on that since college graduation, but I finally got to this one, and it's off my shelf to boot. Here is my review. Verdict: Keep for now. It may be a library goal of mine to own a copy of each of Shakespeare's plays; I haven't decided yet.

I gave East by Edith Pattou and The Scarlet Pimpernel by my sister a few days ago. I think she will really like the former; not sure what she will think of the Pimpernel, but I loved the story at that age.

It's easier to own a Complete Works of Shakespeare. Then you only have one book on the shelf!

>15 tloeffler: True, but my particular copy of the complete works of Shakespeare does not have any notes in it, which makes it pretty hard to read, even for a former English major. :)

The following each count as half a book because I received them this year, but I'm taking them off the shelf:

7.5 Housekeeping by Marilynne Robinson - this story has little plot but lots of lovely sentences. My review is here. Verdict: Giving to my brother, who I think will like it even better than I did.

8. Mrs. Ames by E.F. Benson - an ER read that I enjoyed, but don't plan on reading again. Longer review here. Verdict: Off the shelf.

8.5 Scribbling Women by Marthe Jocelyn - another ER book that I won't reread, though a sometimes interesting look at the lives of several writing women. Longer review here. Verdict: Off the shelf; I'm shipping it to a fellow LTer.

9.5 Keeping a Princess Heart in a Not-So-Fairy-Tale World by Nicole Johnson - a book that's been on my shelves for several years, and I finally got around to it months after it was assigned on the "Go Review That Book" thread. It was so-so, but not a book I'd return to. Verdict: Off the shelf.

10.5 Love That Dog by Sharon Creech - I estimate this has been on my shelf for about 3-4 years, when I purchased four Sharon Creech books, and this was the only one I hadn't already read. It's a novel in verse about a boy who thinks writing poetry is for girls. It was a very emotional read that I enjoyed, but not one I think I'd read again. Verdict: Off the shelf.

11. I Shall Not Hate by Izzeldin Abuelaish - An Early Reviewer book that I received this year, but I'm giving myself half a point for deciding not to keep it. Here's the review: ultimately a book I'd recommend, but I can't see myself returning to it over and over.

12. If by Amy Carmichael - I'm not even sure how long I've owned this book, which I received as a gift years ago from my parents. I like it, though it's more useful for devotional reading than from cover-to-cover like I did. I'm thinking of passing it on to a friend of mine, but haven't made an ultimate decision yet.