#TBR Update 21.08.2019 FINISHED 39/39
TBR:
- This is what I look like when I think of my TBR.
- When will I ever manage to read all these books?
- My first plan of action:
- List: books bought 2019 (e-book, paper, audio)
- Goal: READ these books in 2019. (no new books!)
- Start challenge: 08 July 2019
- End challenge: 31 December 2019
BOOKS BOUGHT IN 2019…. READ 39/39
- James Tiptree, jr. The Double Life Alice Sheldon – J. Phillips – READ
- Ghosts of the Tsunami – R. L. Parry – READ
- We Can Make a Life – C. Henry – READ
- The Coddling of the American Mind – G. Lukianoff, J. Haidt – READ
- The First Casualty – Peter Greste – READ
- 100 Essays I Don’t Have Time to Write – S. Ruhl – READ
- Indecent (play) – Paula Vogel – READ
- Astonished Dice – G. Cochrane (short stories) – READ
- From a Low and Quiet Sea – Donal Ryan- READ (…waste of time)
- The Heart’s Invisible Furies – John Boyne – READ
- The Best of NZ Poems – READ ( …just too many poems to reveiw…just read)
UPDATE: 21.08.2019
- Parang – Omar Musa – READ (27 poems)
Parang – with a name like this (knife)
I expected blood, gore, guts.
I got insight, openness, much humanity,
at times a palpable joy.
No ‘Hippa to Da Hoppa’ rap beat
…only the beating of a true poet’s heart.
#EXCEPTIONALLY GOOD!
UPDATE: 20.08.2019.
- Lemons in the Chicken Wire – READ
- Finished: 20.08.2019
Genre: potry
Rating: C-
#TBR list 2109
Conclusion:What can I say…poems are very personal.
You like this one and I like that one.
Collection: 50 poems and I like just 13 = 26%
Blakwork ….is Whittaker’s a great, inpired collection of poems.
Lemons in the Chicken Wire pales in comparison.
C’est la vie.These were: very good
Growing Soon -…loved the structure/symmetry
Carry the One – …young girl’s thoughts at school
AH -..young girl’s observations + “ I go by Koori time”
Cinnamon Eggs – …young girl’s unexpected bike accidentThese were: goodEXT.INT. title = “ exterior” interior” thoughts as stage directions
A Funeral …family around grandfather’s grave….
Insider Knowledge …family knows more than you think!
Preface: Another Funeral …family memories Great Nan’s death
Whatcha glimpse in a of a young girl’s life
The Sticking Place …time…, a limp carcass…soundless bubble
Epilogue: A Funeral
Do Ya?
Chicken Wire Lemons
UPDATE: 19.08.2019
- Fast Talking PI – Selina T. Marsh (NZ poet) – READING
- Winner, 2010 NZSA Jessie Mackay Award for Best First Book of Poetry
UPDATE: 18.08.2019
- Cambridge Guide Irish Poets – READ
- Finished: 19.08.2019
Genre: non-fiction
Rating: D
#TBR list 2019
Conclusion:
This book is targeted for an
audience who has a basic knowledge of
Irish poets and wants to know just a little bit more.
It is NOT a book for a poetry novice ….like me.
I struggled with some of the first 10 poets
(Goldmith, Moore, Mangan, Yeats, Ledwidge, Clarke….)
to find some clear basic info.
These essays are a forest of academic jargon.
Read this book if you feel adventurous
…otherwise basic info is better on Wikipedia.
This is my LAST Cambridge Companion book…ever!
UPDATE: 17.08.2019
- Cane – Jean Toomer – READ
Genre: stories, poems
Rating: C
#TBR list 2019
Conclusion:Fifteen poems, (good)
Six brief prose vignettes, (very good)
Seven stories (average)
a play (…not the best part of the book…skimmed it)—all about black life in the 1920’s.
The book is divided into three parts:
Part 1 and 3 set in rural Georgia
Part 2 takes place in Chicago and in Washington, D.C.
Women, particularly in the first part, are depicted as sex objects.
They manage not only to endure
…but also to prevail.
#HarlemRenaissance
UPDATE: 17.08.2019
- Milkman – Anna Burns – READ
- Finished: 17.08.2019
Genre: novel
Rating: D-
#TBR list 2019
Conclusion:
I’m taking the high road with the author Anna Burns and her
prize winning Milkman.
I realize that no one really will remember
or care what I think.
Let me just say…it did not make my 10 best books of the year
….not by a long shot. - This book is in a class all of its own….
just not the class I enjoy.
But more power to Anna Burns for writing
an opaque yet an unique book.
UPDATE: 17.08.2019
-
- My Name is Revenge – A. K. Blunt – READ
UPDATE: 16.08.2019
- Show Them a Good Time (8 short stories) – N. Flattery – READ
UPDATE:06.08.2019
- The Barracks – J. McGahern – READ
- Finished: 06.08.2019
Genre: novella ( pg 232)
Rating: D –
#TBR list 2019
Conclusion:
Sorry, this book was not what I expected.
Swept away by J. McGahern’s breathtaking
“All Will Be Well: A Memoir” (read this one!)
….I hoped his novel could reach the
same level of excellence….unfortunately it did not.
#Disappointment
UPDATE: 28.07.2019
- Wake in Fright – K. Cook – READ (…disappointment)
UPDATE: 03.08.2019
- The Hate U Give – A. Thomas – READ
-
Finished: 03.08.2019
Genre: novel
Rating: A+++
#TBR List 2019
Conclusion:Books may seem like small comfort.
But in a time like this, when it’s hard to understand
how American culture became so hate-filled,
reading is probably the best possible option…
…to get off the internet,
…pick up a book, and
…think about how the country has gotten here.
#TheHateUGive is a good place to start!
UPDATE: 02.08.2019
- Tin Man – Sarah Winman – READ (..mèh)
Finished: 03.08.2019
Genre: novel
Rating: C –
Conclusion
This book is about loneliness.
I found the book to be an attempt to
paint loneliness with landscapes….
(sunflowers fill the frame,
swallows soar with heat on their wings (pg 210)
and not describe
the deep feeling of loneliness
…like a mould growing slowly around you.
Yes there are cries of the heart that evoke your emotions
…but all in all the book was too lyrical, too sugar-spin sweet
and just seemed to scratch the surface of the ache of loss.
I read both the winner of Costa Award 2017 and this shortlisted book for the same prize back-to-back. Then I compared the impact of both books on the subject of loneliness. The stark difference in approaching loss….probably was an big factor
that influenced my review of Tin Man.
After reading Gail Honeyman’s book “Eleanor Oliphant is Compelety Fine’ (winner Costa Award 2017)….Tin Man felt “tinny”.
#Disappointed
UPDATE: 01.08.2019
- Driving Into the Sun – Marcella Polain – READ
UPDATE: 10.08.2019
- Exit West – M. Hamid – READ
- Finished: 10.08.2019
Genre: novella/allegory
Rating: D-
#TBR list 2019
Conclusion:
Two lovers Saeed and Nadia meet in nameless Middle East City.
They decide to leave and seek a better life.
The couple manages to hold onto their love throughout moving to Mykonos, London, Marin California…..always hoping for salvation….always Exiting West.
It took me a little while to realise that they were actually going from country to country by these doors. It felt very “Narnia’ -like to be honest!
Conclusion: not an entertaining read but it’s not dark either
…it was exhausting b/c Hamid’s writing style is characterized by long convoluted sentences.
Sometimes I just lost interest
UPDATE: 04.08.2019
- Brother – David Chariandy – READ
- Finished: 04.08.2019
Genre: novel
Rating: C-
# TBR List 2019
Conclusion:
This is a very short read.
Two brothers (immigrant backround) dealing
with their place in society.
Staying streetwise means survival.
I never found it riveting.
That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t read it
because it does have a powerful message.
Score is based on my personal reaction…just not for me.
UPDATE: 31.07.2019
- Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine – G. Honeyman – READ STUNNING !!
UPDATE: 01.08.2019
- The Shepherd’s Hut – Tim Winton – READ – Bah!
- Finished: 02.08.2019
Genre: novel
Rating: F –
Conclusion:
So glad to be done with this book.
I’m amazed that it received so many 4 and 5-star ratings.To “call a spade a spade” is a figurative expression.
It refers to calling something “as it is” without
“beating about the bush”.
Tim Winton can write ….read Cloudstreet for the proof.
Tim Winton just wasted my reading time with this s**t.
Sorry to be so blunt…but there it is!
UPDATE: 05.08.2019
- Aquarium – David Vann – READ (…why in heaven’s name did I buy this book?)
- Finished: 06.08.2019
Genre: novella (pg 272)
Rating: F —
#TBR list 2019
Conclusion:
Blurb: Elegant? Gripping?
Please, I’ve read a recipe for a boiled
egg that was better than this!
#WasteOfTime
- Red Ribbons – L. Phillips – READ (Irish profiler/psychologist Dr. Kate Pearson #1)
-
Finished: 10.09.2019
Genre: CF
Rating: F
#TBR list 2019
Conclusion:
Where do I start?
I start and end with …..no comment.
Taking the high road with this book!
#WasteOfTime
- Crocodile Tears – M. O’ Sullivan – READ (Irish Detective Leo Woods #1)
- Finished: 05.08.2019
Genre: CF
Rating: A+++++
#TBR list 2019
Conclusion:
I could NOT put this book down!
Did not have a clue who killed Dermot Brennan
….and finally after 97% of the book…the reader
gasps!
#Excellent ‘Who dunnit?‘
- Seeing Yellow (poetry) – E. Bourke – READ shortlist Irish Times Poetry Award 2019
- Stunning!!
UPDATE: 07.08.2019
- Insistence – Ailbhe Darcy – READ 18 poems (review)
- Wales Book of the Year Award 2019
- Roland Mathias Poetry Award (Wales)
- Pigott Poetry Prize 2019 (Ireland)
- Shorlist: T.S. Eliot Prize 2018
- Shortlist: Irish Times Poetry Award 2019
- Finished: 07.08.2019
Genre: poetry
Rating: D
#TBR list 2019
Conclusion:
My thoughts are my own.
Please take the time to read these poems
…I’m curious what YOU think….and what I am missing.
UPDATE: 09.08.2019
- Are Friends Electric ? – H. Heath (Ockham NZ Award poetry 2019) – READ
- Finished: 09.08.2019
Genre: poetry
Rating: B
#Winner Ockham New Zealand Award Poetry 2019
Conclusion:
My Thoughts
UPDATE: 11.08.2019
- The Twelve – S.Neville – READ (Irish Noir)
Finished: 011.08.2019
Genre: CF
Rating: D
#TBR ist 2019
Conclusion:
No intrigue…no whodunnit
…no story development
just guns, blood, violence and some
’12 walking dead’.
#IrishNoir I expected better
UPDATE: 12.08.2019
- Harbour Lights (poetry) – D. Mahon (winner Irish Times Poetry Award 2006) – READ
UPDATE: 15.08.2019
- Now We Can Talk Openly about Men – Martina Evans – READ
Conclusion:
I didn’t like it…
…but I didn’t hate it either.
“dilemme cornélien”
Finished: 15.08.2019
Genre: poetry
Rating: C
#TBR list 2019
UPDATE: 15.08.2019
- The Boys of Bluehill – E. Ní Chuilleanáin – READ (40 poems, Irish poet)
UPDATE: 13.08.2019
- The Radio (32 poems) – Irish poet L. Flynn (shortlist 2017 T.S. Eliot Prize) – READ
Trackbacks & Pingbacks
- #Poetry Ailbhe Darcy “Insistance” | NancyElin
- #Poetry Derek Mahon (Irish poet) | NancyElin
- #Poetry Ireland Professor of Poetry | NancyElin
- #Short Stories “Show Them a Good Time” | NancyElin
- #AWW 2019 Ashley Kalagian Blunt | NancyElin
- #Poetry Leontia Flynn (Irish poet) | NancyElin
- #AWW2019 Selina Tusitala Marsh Poet Laureate NZ | NancyElin
- #Poetry Omar Musa inspiring Australian voice! | NancyElin
- #Essays Best American Essays 2017 | NancyElin
- #Non-Fiction America’s War | NancyElin
- #Non-fiction A Time of Gifts | NancyElin
- Sam Shepard….his last book | NancyElin
- #RIPXIV Aurealis Award Best Horror Book 2018 | NancyElin
- #AUSReadingMonth 2019 The Endsister | NancyElin
- #AWW 2019 Victorian Literary Best YA Novel | NancyElin
Leave a Reply Cancel reply
This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.
Wow, that is an ambitious plan! All the best in making it through them ALL! You can do it!
#NeverGiveUp !
Bonne Chance!
Merci !
Seems ambitious, but do-able. Good luck!
10 book are small poetry collections…so a book a week should be do-able!
Thanks for your comment!
I found the Ghosts of the Tsunami to be extraordinarily moving. I’m reading another one about this time atm too – more focused on the Fukashima meltdown and the actions of the govt, media, business etc during this time.
Good luck with your bigger goals – know ing how much you read, I’m sure you’ll make it!
Ghosts of the Tsunami is fascinating….right from page one!
I’m going to follow this list….one after another.
Goal: read the books bought in 2019….in 2019!!