According to my handy graph, November for me is the start of two months of increased TBR growth. Will I be able to make it to the first of the year without completely sabotaging my TBR Declutter? Ah, the suspense!
Wondering what this is all about? Check out the introductory post.
Titles 201-210:
201
Title: Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH
Author: O’Brien, Robert C.
Date Added: 03/30/12
Verdict: Keep. I think. I disliked (or rather was freaked out by) the movie version I watched as a kid, and hopefully I can get it out of my head long enough to give the book a fair chance.
Project List: none.
202
Title: The New Republic
Author: Shriver, Lionel
Date Added: 04/04/12
Verdict: Go. I added this after I read and liked We Need to Talk About Kevin and The Post-Birthday World, but before I read and mostly liked Big Brother until for the cop-out ending which left me ranting at my spouse (luckily, he doesn’t even try to follow my rantings about books; he just sits there with an indulgent smile on his face and lets the rant run its course) and also before I tried to read but didn’t like The Mandibles. Basically, I added it before I developed a grudge against Lionel Shriver’s writing. Now that I have the grudge, off the list it goes. Fool me once, shame on me—actually, I guess Shriver’s books fooled me twice. That one didn’t work out so well. Let’s stick with “Won’t Get Fooled Again.” And now I have The Who stuck in my head.
Project List: n/a
203
Title: The Bridge at Andau
Author: Michener, James A.
Date Added: 04/04/12
Verdict: Go. The reviews suggest this isn’t so much historical fiction as it is a vehicle for Cold War propaganda. There might be a time when I would like to read Cold War propaganda, but it’s not now.
Project List: n/a
204
Title: About Schmidt
Author: Begley, Louis
Date Added: 04/09/12
Verdict: Go. I know why I added this. It’s because I watched the movie and was unimpressed, so I thought I’d give the book a try. Reading the reviews, however, it sounds a little like late John Updike, which I do not like. So, off the list! (I’m getting a little tipsy from the power of cutting books from my TBR today.)
Project List: n/a
205
Title: Misty of Chincoteague
Author: Henry, Marguerite
Date Added: 04/11/12
Verdict: Keep. My daughter read this book during a brief horse phase she went through. I’m told that all girls go through a horse phase, but I was once a girl and I never did, so maybe I added it not only to see why my daughter liked it so much but to recapture some of my youth and imagine what it would have been like if I had had a horse phase. Seems like a good reason to me. Also, if I read this and my son also reads it, that’s a great excuse to take a family visit to Virginia and watch the ponies swim from Assateague to Chincoteague.
Project List: none.
206
Title: The Woman Warrior
Author: Kingston, Maxine Hong
Date Added: 04/11/12
Verdict: Keep. This has been on my list since college. It’s comfy here. I will leave it on my list, and perhaps even add it to my revised Cavalcade of Classics as a modern classic.
Project List: Cavalcade of Classics?
207
Title: Why I Left the Amish
Author: Furlong, Saloma Miller
Date Added: 04/12/12
Verdict: Go. The author of this memoir visited the little library here in town, and although I didn’t attend the event, I added the book to my TBR. If I read another book about the Amish, it will probably be this one, but I’m not enthusiastic, because reviewers—even those who like the book—say the writing isn’t very good. I’m not sure if my curiosity outweighs my desire for a well-written memoir. Off the list, but luckily I have these posts as a record not only of what I kept but also what I scrapped, so I can always come back to this book.
Project List: n/a
208
Title: The Death of Josseline: Immigration Stories from the Arizona Borderlands
Author: Regan, Margaret
Date Added: 04/16/12
Verdict: Keep. Immigration is a timely topic, and this seems like it might be a good read on the subject.
Project List: none.
209
Title: Columbine
Author: Cullen, Dave
Date Added: 04/20/12
Verdict: Keep. I don’t know if I added this because my friend Maggie recommended it or if I added it and my friend Maggie recommended it (correlation or causation?), but either way, it looks like one I’d like to read.
Project List: none.
210
Title: The Keeping Quilt
Author: Polacco, Patricia
Date Added: 04/27/12
Verdict: Keep. This one looks good, and there’s probably not much more time before my kids will no longer want to curl up with me and read a picture book, so I’d best make hay while the sun shines.
Project List: none.
Four more titles off the list for a total of 67 out of 210 (8.9% of the original 750). It felt like I cut more than that, but I think I just started strong and then softened up as I made my way through these ten titles.
Any thoughts about which I kept and which I tossed?
Imperfect Happiness 