April Wrap-Up: Books
Ye Grande Olde TBR(e) Challenge Update
I started April with 262 unread books sitting around my house. And I ended with … *drumroll* … 235! Check me out! Negative numbers?!? That’s CRAZY TALK!
I’m still behind on my reviews, though… at the moment I’ve got five to write and publish early in May. *whew* Better get cracking!
Let’s take a look at the breakdown:
Neutral books – Read, but don’t affect the TBR pile
Audiobooks
– The Sea of Trolls by Nancy Farmer
– Apologize, Apologize! by Elizabeth Kelly
– The Land of the Silver Apples by Nancy Farmer
Read but not owned
– Death: At Death’s Door by Jill Thompson
– Hand of Isis by Jo Graham
– Jack of Fables, Vol. 1: The (Nearly) Great Escape by Bill Willingham et al.
– Jack of Fables, Vol. 2: Jack of Hearts by Bill Willingham et al.
– Vampirates: Blood Captain by Justin Somper
Re-reads
– Talking to Dragons by Patricia C. Wrede
– This Place Has No Atmosphere by Paula Danziger
– The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
– His Majesty’s Dragon by Naomi Novik
Changes to the TBR pile
Cleared from my TBR pile (huzzah!)
– The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch
– Amberville by Tim Davys
– Alone in the Kitchen with an Eggplant by Jenni Ferrari-Adler, ed.
– The Outlaws of Sherwood by Robin McKinley
– The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks by E. Lockhart
– California Demon by Julie Kenner
– The Book of Ballads by Charles Vess et al.
Added to, then promptly cleared from my TBR pile (um… huzzah?)
– Darkwood by M. E. Breen
– Exodus by Julie Bertagna
Other removals from my TBR pile (meh?)
Oh, yes, two whole boxes full (31 books). I’m not going to list them all here, but they’re all marked as “purged” or “missing” on my TBR list.
Added to my TBR pile (shame!)
– Red Seas Under Red Skies by Scott Lynch
– Midnighters: Touching Darkness by Scott Westerfeld
– The Tin Princess by Philip Pullman
– What Jane Austen Ate and Charles Dickens Knew: From Fox Hunting to Whist-The Facts of Daily Life in Nineteenth-Century England by Daniel Pool
– Zenith by Julie Bertagna
– Palace Circle by Rebecca Dean
– Here, There be Dragons by James A. Owen
– Angels of Destruction by Keith Donohue
– Midnighters: Blue Noon by Scott Westerfeld
– The Year’s Best Fantasy and Horror 2006: Nineteenth Annual Collection by Ellen Datlow et al.
– Beguilement by Lois McMaster Bujold
– Legacy by Lois McMaster Bujold
– Legends II: New Short Novels by the Masters of Modern Fantasy by Robert Silverberg, ed.
Other Non-TBR Book Acquisitions
– Step-by-Step Fantastic Cocktails & Mixed Drinks by Amanda Bishop, ed. (not pictured)
– Lyra’s Oxford by Philip Pullman
What about you, readers? Put anything exciting on your TBR pile lately?
Fyrefly's Book Blog 
You had a great month it seems! It’s a nice feeling to purge some of your books. I need to do the same.
Impressive reduction in numbers – perhaps if I tracked myself it would help me to do the same!!
Woo, great purge! I’m not quite ready to give up any of my TBR pile but I think I also saw a reduction in numbers this month. =)
I’m so impressed that your TBR pile actually went down this month! Way to go!
I’m very impressed by the negative growth in your TBR pile. I would be really afraid to check my numbers each month.
Horray for TBR reductions! You’ve got some nice additions in your pile, too.
Pretty much nothing but adding to the TBR pile last month. Hopefully I’ll read them soon.
No shame in a TBR pile! It BRA. (Book Retirement Account). You know you should save 10%. It’s only prudent. :)
It’s. It IS. Gah.
Lenore – I was surprised at how many books I read this month – crazy what good things the Read-a-Thon can do!
Peta – I don’t think it’s tracking the numbers so much as forcing myself to publicize the numbers that shames me into trying to keep them down.
Meghan – Negative numbers without purging is the holy grail of TBR tracking! Congrats!
bermudaonion – Had to happen eventually! :)
DoB – Month-by-month it’s not so bad. Looking at it over longer time scales (like, say, the past year), it’s terrifying.
Memory – Yah, I knew there were at least two in there you’d approve of. :)
Carrie – Ah, but 10% measured how? Of books I read? Of floorspace in my house devoted to bookshelves?
Wow you had a great month! Hope you keep reading good books :)
I don’t count my TBR pile. Maybe one year I will so I can see how the size is NOT changing for the better… lol
You read a lot of great books!
Ladytink – The same to you!
Kailana – It all started with a bet to see whether my TBR pile was taller than I am (it was.)… and then I figured while I had them all pulled off the shelves…
Wow, I am really impressed. That is quite an accomplishment to put such a serious dent in your pile. I consistently add more that I ever read so I won’t even admit to the number if books I have laying around.
Nicole – I think I could post more months with reductions if I didn’t spend so much reading time on library books… but there’s always so many good things out there and I can’t afford to buy all of them.
Great job! Hope May treats you as well.