Hairballs in Inconvenient Places

I pretty much killed it for the 2008 TBR. I completed all books in the primary list and all but one in the alternates. The only reason I missed that one is because, as far as I know, it still doesn’t exist. That’s all right. I finished a boat load of books not on either list. By my count, if I finish my current book by 2009-01-01, I’ll have read 36 books. (Maybe more. I think there’s an omnibus or 2 that I didn’t break up for listing.)

This year I’m upping the ante. It won’t all be sci-fi and fantasy, though there is still plenty of that. No, sir. I’m going to pick my knuckles off the ground a bit. That probably means I won’t make into the mid 30’s of books read, but that’s ok.

Primary 12, in no particular order except where series are involved:

1. Endymion (Dan Simmons) (June)
2. Rise of Endymion (Dan Simmons) (June)
3. For Whom the Bell Tolls (Ernest Hemingway)
4. Heir to Sevenwaters (Juliet Marillier) (March)
5. Empire of Ivory (Temeraire) (Naomi Novik) (July)
6. Victory of Eagles (Temeraire) (Naomi Novik) (July)
7. A Wizard of Earthsea (Earthsea) (Ursula Le Guin) (January)
8. The Tombs of Atuan (Earthsea) (Ursula Le Guin) (January)
9. The Farthest Shore (Earthsea) (Ursula Le Guin) (January)
10. The Prince (Niccolo Machiavelli) (February)
11. Edly’s Music Theory for Practical People (Ed Roseman) (February)
12. National Geographic Concise History of the World: An Illustrated Time Line (Neil Kagan) (In Progress)

Alternate 12, again in no particular order:

1. World Prehistory: A Brief Introduction (7th Edition) (Brian M. Fagan)
2. Music for Sight Singing (7th Edition) (Robert W. Ottman, Nancy Rogers)
3. Off Armageddon Reef (Safehold Series) (David Weber) (In Progress)
4. By Schism Rent Asunder (Safehold Series) (David Weber)
5. A Talent for War (Jack McDevitt)
6. Polaris (Jack McDevitt)
7. Seeker (Jack McDevitt)
8. The Devil’s Eye (Jack McDevitt)
9. Candide (Voltaire)
10. Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas and Other American Stories (Hunter S. Thompson) (March)
11. A Clockwork Orange (Anthony Burgess) (May)
12. Lexicon of Musical Invective: Critical Assaults on Composers Since Beethoven’s Time (Nicolas Slonimsky) (In Progress)

It was really hard whittling down to 24 books to meet the TBR rules. This probably wouldn’t happen to such a degree if I didn’t forget to turn down the SFBC featured selections all the time. Then again, I’ve read quite a few good books because of my inattention to the calendar. My abbreviated list of also rans follows. In order to fulfill the TBR challenge I’ll definitely read at least 12 of the above 24, but I’ll almost certainly pull from this list of alternate alternates throughout the year as well.

1. The Communist Manifesto (Karl Marx)
2. Das Kapital, Gateway Edition (Karl Marx)
3. The Fractal Geometry of Nature (Benoit B. Mandelbrot)
4. Bizarro Buccaneers: Nuttin’ But Pirate Cartoons (Dan Piraro)
5. Tonal Harmony (Stefan Kostka, Dorothy Payne)
   • Tonal Harmony Wkbk with Wkbk Audio CD and Finale CD-ROM (Stefan Kostka)
6. Materials and Techniques of 20th Century Music (3rd Edition) (Stefan Kostka)
7. Slaughterhouse-​Five (Kurt Vonnegut)
8. Sorcery Rising (Fool’s Gold) (Jude Fisher)
9. Wild Magic (Fool’s Gold) (Jude Fisher)
10. The Rose of the World (Fool’s Gold) (Jude Fisher)
11. Howl and Other Poems (Allen Ginsberg)
12. On the Road: 50th Anniversary Edition (Jack Kerouac)
13. A Shadow in Summer (The Long Price Quartet) (Daniel Abraham)
14. A Betrayal in Winter (The Long Price Quartet) (Daniel Abraham)
15. An Autumn War (The Long Price Quartet) (Daniel Abraham)
16. The Price of Spring (The Long Price Quartet) (Daniel Abraham) (if published in time)
17. Mistress of Dragons (Dragonvarld) (Margaret Weis)
18. The Dragon’s Son (Dragonvarld) (Margaret Weis)
19. Master of Dragons (Dragonvarld) (Margaret Weis)
20. The Ring of Five Dragons (The Pearl Saga) (Eric Van Lustbader)
21. The Veil of a Thousand Tears (The Pearl Saga) (Eric Van Lustbader)
22. Mistress of the Pearl (The Pearl Saga) (Eric Van Lustbader)

I’m sure some other tomes not listed here will end up in front of me, too. If you have a sadistic need to affect what I read and when you are welcome to purchase stuff for me off my Amazon wishlist.