Pete's totally going to read TBR this year

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Pete's totally going to read TBR this year

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1psutto
nov 2, 2018, 5:43 am

Or at least some of it

As posted in the 2018 gorup I'm going to read 5 books off the TBR per month - I'll probably try to theme each month too but just laying this down for now and will think about it closer to the end of 2018.

14psutto
nov 2, 2018, 5:45 am

The keeping score post

15psutto
Bewerkt: sep 17, 2019, 4:44 am

My TBR baseline at the start of 2018 was 473 books

252 Fiction books
1 Graphic Novel
181 Non-Fiction
4 poetry books
2 plays
33 short story collections

My TBR baseline at the start of 2019 is 337 books (not counting e-books)

211 Fiction books
0 Graphic Novel
75 Non-Fiction
2 poetry books
0 plays
48 short story collections

16mstrust
dec 5, 2018, 1:52 pm

Happy new thread! Seems like quite a few of us are making the pledge to read what we already own for 2019.

17Zozette
dec 13, 2018, 4:52 pm

I also have very big TBR list but then I have had a few decades to accumulate them.

I hope you manage to get yours down a bit next year.

18psutto
dec 17, 2018, 8:39 am

Looking at my book buying stats i've bought more books in 2018 than I've read :-S I'm going to have to change that in 2019!

19rabbitprincess
dec 17, 2018, 6:22 pm

Good luck! At least you will have plenty of books to choose from ;)

20MissWatson
dec 18, 2018, 4:33 am

>18 psutto: Good luck with that! I fail miserably, every year. But I love knowing that I'll never run out of stuff to read!

21LisaMorr
Bewerkt: jan 7, 2019, 3:34 pm

Good luck with your challenge - I've been on the 'wrong' side of that equation for a few years now...

22JayneCM
dec 22, 2018, 3:48 am

I do not think there will ever be a year where my TBR is not bigger than at the beginning of the year!
As is the catch cry of all readers, too many books, too little time!
Look forward to seeing what you are reading.

23psutto
dec 27, 2018, 12:37 pm

OK so not counting e-books (which is a bit cheaty but hey it's my challenge and the e-books don't weigh on my mind - and my shelves) My TBR stands at 337 as of today.

I'm currently reading a book I got for Xmas - so that will come off the 2018 challenge if I finish it by the 1st (which I probably will)

My birthday is at the beginning of January so I'll be adding a few books to the books I acquired this month almost immediately...

So similar to 2018 I'm going to prioritise them - Hardbacks and books by woman and BAME writers then books acquired prior to 2018

I have 17 hardbacks...

I have 48 short story books. I haven't recorded how many of the books I read n 2018 were short story books, but I shall in 2019. Usually I read 3 short stories in between books and 3 essays/chapters of 'bitty' Non-fiction books. I feel I may have some short story books on the shelves for a long time!

64 books by women - so that's not a great ratio...

24Tess_W
dec 27, 2018, 12:39 pm

Good luck with your 2019 reading!

25lkernagh
dec 28, 2018, 12:17 pm

>23 psutto: - I like you thinking and can relate to the idea that e-books don't weigh on your mind or your shelves like the print books do!

26psutto
dec 31, 2018, 5:35 am

So last day of the year - just finished a book I got for Xmas (see the 2018 challenge) so I'll be starting tomorrow with a clean slate. Potentially getting another Xmas present today, seeing friends. Next time I check in I'll probably be another year older and adding January books that have been acquired...

Happy New Year! :-)

27The_Hibernator
dec 31, 2018, 6:45 am

Happy New Year!

28hailelib
dec 31, 2018, 9:07 am

Nice to see you here and have a Happy Birthday.

29thornton37814
dec 31, 2018, 11:49 am

30Tess_W
dec 31, 2018, 2:56 pm

31VivienneR
Bewerkt: jan 2, 2019, 2:08 pm

You are so lucky to get books as Christmas and birthday gifts. My family never buy me books believing that I already own or have read them.

Happy New Year!

32rabbitprincess
jan 2, 2019, 6:51 pm

Happy new year and happy birthday when it comes! :)

34Tess_W
jan 3, 2019, 8:43 am

Nice stash!

35MissWatson
jan 3, 2019, 10:32 am

Happy New Year and Happy Birthday! Nice haul!

36mstrust
jan 3, 2019, 5:40 pm

Happy birthday!

37psutto
jan 5, 2019, 12:25 pm

Books read -

Tea with the black dragon

This is a delightful, but brief tale about a black dragon that has taken on human form and who decides to help a human woman find her daughter. There's some quaint 1980's computer stuff too. I really liked MacAvoy's Damiano series when I was a teenager and getting to visit another of her worlds was a delight, reminding me that I should track down more of her work. I see on Wikipedia that she has just started writing again after a long illness (talking about a 20 year hiatus here) - I hope to catch up with the rest of her early (80'2, 90's ) stuff and the newer work

The land of somewhere safe

I met Hal at an event and he kindly gave me some writerly feedback on an early draft of my own novel seven deadly swords so I returned the favour on an RPG he's been writing (I used to edit for a RPG company) in the Scruffian universe. The Scruffian tales are full of rapier wordsmithery and invention and are a lot of fun - I'd recommend them. This particular episode I picked up at FantasyCon from a NewCon Press launch and signed by the man himself. It's a WW2 tale involving a faerie kingdom, a Nazi gryphon, a dragon called spitfire and a secret seven-esque cast of scruffs and scallywags. A really fun adventure. If you'd like to explore the Scruffian 'verse I'd start with A Scruffian Primer

38DeltaQueen50
jan 5, 2019, 12:58 pm

Great to see you back for another year of the Challenge, Pete. I think many of us here are going to be working on clearing our own shelves this year. I can't put my e-books out of my mind as I am afraid that my Kindles are going to explod from the volume I have crammed on them!

39psutto
jan 6, 2019, 8:33 am

Yeah, my Kindle books probably double the TBR! But a lot of them come from ARCs and bundled deals rather than books I was, at the point of purchase, desperate to read - so more ignorable than the ones making my bookshelves groan :-o

Another read book - the art of possibility this was recommended to me as a “good book for creativity” but really it’s full of vague aspirational self-help stuff. There’s an entire chapter on how not taking yourself seriously can improve your life and another in accepting things the way they are. So nope not for me

40psutto
jan 18, 2019, 7:55 am

Going to do a monthly wrap up I think - have read 10 books so far this year

41psutto
feb 1, 2019, 8:23 am

I'm currently doing a 7 day blog tour for my book Seven Deadly Swords if anyone's interested - day 3 is a nice (and balanced) review: https://mbc84blog.wordpress.com/2019/02/01/seven-deadly-swords-peter-sutton-love...

you can see the whole tour if you're on Twitter: LoveBooksGroup #SevenDeadlySwords #blogtour

42psutto
feb 1, 2019, 8:32 am

January - 19 books read
9 of those were acquired in 2019 out of 17 books that were acquired
So first month is running to stand still - if I'd read all the books that came in I'd have reduced the TBR by 2
February - must do better!

43mstrust
feb 1, 2019, 10:55 am

Congratulations on the new book!

44DeltaQueen50
feb 1, 2019, 5:50 pm

Congrats on the new book, Pete. I picked up an e-copy today and look forward to reading it in the near future.

45rabbitprincess
feb 1, 2019, 6:43 pm

Woo hoo, blog tour! :)

47AHS-Wolfy
feb 7, 2019, 8:22 am

>46 psutto: Good to hear that the positive reviews are continuing.

Your new book was showing in the unknown section for your name so sorted that for you and combined a couple of entries for another one.

48psutto
feb 12, 2019, 3:03 pm

>47 AHS-Wolfy: - you're a scholar and a gentleman!

49VivienneR
feb 21, 2019, 1:16 am

Congratulations on the book! I liked this quote from one reviewer who said: "From Sutton’s writing I would like to think he knows his way around a sword." Fitting.

50psutto
feb 21, 2019, 10:57 am

>49 VivienneR: - very flattering, since I've never handled a real sword more then to pick one up and go 'ooo that's heavy' ;-)

51psutto
feb 26, 2019, 11:06 am

Hmmm not doing so well on the not acquiring new books front...

52psutto
mrt 7, 2019, 10:04 am

Blackfish city a book group book - very mixed, feels like it never had a developmental edit as it was a bit all over the place!

Seems to be a trend at the moment - I felt the same after reading Becky Chambers and Charlie Jane Anders that these books are not 'cooked' properly, that the writers imagination has been allowed to splurge without some trimming and control of plot.

53mathgirl40
mrt 13, 2019, 9:39 am

Just catching up with your thread, and I'm happy to hear about your new book. Congratulations!

A friend at work has just recommended Blackfish City, so it's on my radar.

54psutto
apr 8, 2019, 4:54 am

I'm going to be interviewing a few authors at Cymera festival so have received a bunch of ARCs this month which is going to skew the stats a bit :-/

55mstrust
apr 8, 2019, 12:16 pm

Exciting! Anyone we know?

57psutto
apr 15, 2019, 4:28 am

Full disclosure - this is a review for a friend's book. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Dragonfly-Jari-Moate/dp/1910089796/ref=sr_1_fkmrnull_1?...

Dragonfly (no touchstone)

"My weapon is my story and I need to follow it"

There's a line in the book (describing a character) - "He resembles a fire started with petrol - fast burning, and who knows where it will go before it stops" and that sums up this book. If t were a drink it'd be a double espresso - maximum caffeine delivery.

Marine P has survived a sketchy situation in Syria and we follow him on a mission that takes him from a protest (sounding like the Occupy ones) to Bristol where he enters a chocolate factory, but this is no Willy Wonka trip. What follows is a full on express train of a story where P and a motley crew of secondary characters are stuck inside the factory looking for escape, through drugs, drink and the unfindable exit.

It reminded me most of Toby Litt's Hospital - the same thorough wringing out of theme and exploring every nook and cranny of it through a mestatsizing story. It has that central weird element, the building is a living beast that has swallowed, Jonah like, our heroes. It also has an essence of hauntology to it. It grips and runs and you must follow only to be discarded at the end, breathless, post-andrenalin shakes and exhaustedly exhilerated.

We are all PTSD survivors of a late capitalist, post war on terror, landscape, trapped in the defunct factory of industrialisation's ruin, searching for escape.

Recommended

58psutto
mei 20, 2019, 7:31 am

wow I've only managed to read two books in May so far. Admittedly one was Thirteen which is over 600 pages - but even so!

59Tess_W
mei 20, 2019, 11:47 am

>58 psutto: Just enjoy, regardless of numbers!

60psutto
mei 21, 2019, 5:33 am

>59 Tess_W: of course - I was just surprised :-)

61psutto
jun 11, 2019, 9:13 am

If you do Facebook you can see my interview with Tade Thompson and Aliette de Bodard at Cymera festival here: https://www.facebook.com/cymerafest/?modal=admin_todo_tour

I also interviewed Richard k morgan which was interesting and cameron Johnson and Anna Stephens which was fun

I now have non-job related reading :-) So I'm moving onto reading Infinite Detail

62psutto
jun 21, 2019, 8:18 am

Had the chance to visit Shakespeare & Co in Paris recently (so obviously I bought some books there) - I feel like I'm the last person in the world to discover John Cooper Clark and grabbed a copy of Ten years in an open necked shirt and also found a nice old Pan copy of Ring of bright water a book I remember making me cry as a child but I haven't read for at least 35 years.

As we're pretty much half way through the year (it being the longest day today) I thought I'd just check how I'm doing:

I've read 24 books from the TBR so I'm behind - supposed to be doing 5 per month (but havn't really been paying a whole lot of attention to making sure of that) - I feel the "professional" reading last month for Cymera festival where I interviewed 5 authors may have skewed the numbers

I have, to my shame, bought almost a hundred (94) books this year so far - oh how to resist the shiny allure of new books! No wonder my TBR only ever gets larger...

63DeltaQueen50
jun 21, 2019, 2:28 pm

Hi Pete, I only know John Cooper Clark from viewing some British Panel shows but I think he is fantastic so I am definitey taking a book bullet for Ten years in an open necked shirt.

64psutto
jun 27, 2019, 5:14 am

My book club chose A natural history of dragons which I would never have picked up - I found this a very strange read, I liked the hints of worldbuilding but intensely disliked the main character and wondered at the end what the point of the story was... it seems very popular though. Being both a science nerd and a fantasy reader you'd think this would be right up my street, it really isn't though...

65psutto
Bewerkt: jul 12, 2019, 10:17 am

I've realised that in October I'll have been a member here for a decade. Where does time go? (it's generally lost inside good books) and the last book I published was the tenth.

In a break from the norm of buying books on my Thingversary I think I'll do a giveaway - so I'll give away 10 books (in e format) on Oct 12, 2019, 10 years to the day since I joined. If you'd like one of my books drop me a private comment with which book you'd like and an email address and the format you'd like (I may not have all formats on all books) and I'll send 10 people a book each - who doesn't like free books!?

So those books:

A Tiding of Magpies
Sick City Syndrome
Seven Deadly Swords
North by Southwest my writing group's first anthology - an eclectic mix
Dark Half of the Year
Infinite Dysmorphia
The Hotwells Horror & other stories (Mostly Horror)
Tales from the graveyard:
Former Heroes
Forever Hungry (Zombie tales)

You can see most of these books on my Amazon Author page: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Peter-Sutton/e/B06XG1LYCN?ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1&qid...

66psutto
jul 18, 2019, 5:11 am

Read Kings of the wyld which was as much fun as everyone told me it was - also the key idea, that mercenary bands (like D&D adventuring groups) are exactly like old rock bands is so obvious it's amazing no-one else has ever done it!

I also note that like most years I seem to read a lot less in summer - almost as if cold, dark, wet months mean being inside more ;-)

67LisaMorr
jul 18, 2019, 9:33 am

Wow Peter - happy upcoming Thingaversary - and what a generous offer!

68psutto
jul 23, 2019, 4:03 am

I'll be judging the British Fantasy Awards for Best Newcomer this year:

https://www.britishfantasysociety.org/news/british-fantasy-awards-2019/

69christina_reads
jul 23, 2019, 1:37 pm

>68 psutto: What a cool opportunity! I hope you'll share your thoughts on all the nominees, even if it's not till after a winner has been chosen.

70psutto
jul 25, 2019, 9:55 am

>69 christina_reads: - all the thoughts that are fit to print anyway ;-)

71psutto
aug 20, 2019, 12:12 pm

Just back from a week in Scotland - read surprisingly little and didn't pick up as many books at the Edinburgh book festival as usual either...

I did get to meet Raja Shehadeh though which was cool

72mstrust
aug 20, 2019, 2:08 pm

I hope you had a great time, even without a huge book haul!

73psutto
aug 23, 2019, 11:15 am

>72 mstrust: - I certainly did! :-)

74psutto
sep 17, 2019, 4:54 am

Traditionally I add a lot of books to my TBR in October - being that I go to FantasyCon, BristolCon and Bristol Festival of Literature - I've only read 35 books from my TBR so far this year (I'm currently reading number 36) so I'm quite far off my challenge of average of 5 per month... so I'd better just read TBR books for the rest of the year (yeah, right)

I've acquired 128 books:

7 presents
40 from second-hand shops
14 ARCs
5 from events
24 on Kindle
40 shiny and new grabbed while passing a bookshop

75Tess_W
sep 17, 2019, 6:01 am

>74 psutto: LOL looks like you better take detours around bookshops!

76psutto
sep 18, 2019, 4:29 am

>75 Tess_W: - I know, right!

77christina_reads
sep 19, 2019, 9:46 am

>74 psutto: I like your statistics! I keep track of how many books I acquire each month, but it would be nice to see where they all came from. Sometimes I think they spontaneously generate!

78psutto
sep 20, 2019, 10:36 am

>77 christina_reads: exactly what I thought last year - I know I'm bringing a lot of books in, where do they come from? So the 'where did I buy it' stat was born for this year :-)

79psutto
okt 1, 2019, 11:10 am

It's my Thingaversary this month - & 10 years of doing the category challenge :-)

I've been trying to work out a challenge for next year which is a milestone birthday for me and I may try and do a book published in each year I've been alive...

80MissWatson
okt 2, 2019, 2:35 am

Happy thingaversary!

81psutto
okt 2, 2019, 10:34 am

82JayneCM
okt 3, 2019, 2:50 am

Happy Thingaversary! That sounds like a fun way to do the challenge.

83Tess_W
okt 4, 2019, 4:33 am

>79 psutto: sounds like a great idea!

84Helenliz
okt 4, 2019, 1:06 pm

>79 psutto: Happy Thingaversary. That could be a cool challenge, a book per year.

85psutto
okt 9, 2019, 9:52 am

Looks like I'm going to fail this challenge - I've read 36 off the TBR which is some way off the 60 I should have read...

and I've been adding books to the TBR at a rate of knots...

hmmm

86Tess_W
okt 10, 2019, 3:40 am

>85 psutto: Seems to be the way of LTers!

87mstrust
okt 11, 2019, 11:49 am

Happy Thingaversary, Pete! And yes, >85 psutto: is spoken like a true LTer!

88AHS-Wolfy
okt 12, 2019, 7:38 am

Happy Thingaversary!

89psutto
okt 14, 2019, 10:32 am

Thanks!

90psutto
okt 15, 2019, 10:50 am

‪I have a milestone birthday in less than 3 months' time and I’ve been wondering what to do to mark it. And I’d like to ask for help from the community. I’d like to get to 50 reviews for Seven Deadly Swords on Amazon (there are 2 only currently).‬
If you have the skills and oomph to do that it only costs you a little time and effort and it’d be very appreciated!

91psutto
okt 28, 2019, 5:08 am

As ever October is litfest and convention month and the month I'm most likely to add a bunch of books to my TBR, and this year I've done the same... (see comment 11)

Next year it's Stokercon in the UK - the big horror convention from the HWA and it's in the UK for the first time - I suspect my TBR will take a hit that month!

92psutto
nov 19, 2019, 8:25 am

About to head off for a couple of weeks R&R - so am hoping to read a few books whilst I'm away :-)

93MissWatson
nov 19, 2019, 10:49 am

Happy travels!

94psutto
dec 13, 2019, 5:39 am

am back. 1 more week in work then another 2 weeks off for the Xmas period.
Read a few books :-)

95psutto
dec 31, 2019, 6:41 am

Hope everyone had a good Xmas & has a Happy New Year. Just dropping the last books of the year in here...

96psutto
dec 31, 2019, 7:04 am

So my goal was 5 books off the TBR per month - I totally failed to do it monthly, and it turns out failed to read 60 books off the TBF - in fact I only managed 43

So out of the 229 books I've tracked this year:

Read

Added to the TBR 73
Read 132 (149 last year) not including the DNF (see below)

I read 10 books I received as presents - and this year I asked people to not give me books (I got 3 for Xmas - but expect will get a few for my birthday beginning of January)

I read 15 ARCs (some review copies, some for events where I was interviewing authors, some for the award I judged)

I have 34 DNF this year. I had 7 last year. So I've obviously been a lot less patient this year! 30 of the DNF I bought this year too - but at least they didn't go onto the TBR I guess...

I had 2 "Brilliant" reads this year (absolute 5 stars) - there were 3 last year. The two are:

ghosts of my life
This is how you lose the time war

I read books from 19 different countries - but no surprise that UK & USA dominated

20 books bought or read by multiple authors
50 by women
159 by men

So I'm doing atrociously on gender balance

So my 2019 report is "must do better" - to find out if I do please head on over to the 2020 challenge!

97rabbitprincess
dec 31, 2019, 2:33 pm

I'm really glad you liked This is How You Lose the Time War -- looking forward to reading it!

98psutto
jan 1, 2020, 10:28 am

>97 rabbitprincess: - I was very impressed with it :-)

99psutto
jan 1, 2020, 10:28 am

My TBR is 403 this year (336 last year so added almost 70!) - head on over to the 2020 group to see how I do in reducing my TBR...

100christina_reads
jan 1, 2020, 2:54 pm

>99 psutto: I'm so glad I'm not the only one whose TBR is several hundred books! I'm at about 350 right now, I think.

101JayneCM
jan 1, 2020, 9:52 pm

>99 psutto: >100 christina_reads: Mine would be as well - I blame op shops!