Announcing the Tag for December

[Theresa]

NancyJ wrote: "Theresa wrote: "NancyJ wrote: "LOL. I was thinking about the personal angle for 2005. All I can think of is Bad Decisions or Regrets! In 2005 I made a decision that seemed good in the short term bu..."

😏

I personally would go with Persuasion. It is my favorite Austen, I adore the 1995 BBC adaptation with Amanda Root and Ciaràn Hinds. And I have bittersweet memories attached to it...I was in the middle of reading it for the first time at the age of 23 when my mother passed away after a long illness. It was a great comfort at that time. And there is just something about Anne who has all these ,ong internal monologues because she has no one to converse with.

I also love Washington Square - I read it after seeing Cherry Jones star in tbe Broadway adaptation, The Heiress.

Baldwin...might in fact be a good time toread another.

I am very interested in what you choose, Nancy!

[Karin]

Joi wrote: "Just a reminder, we can all sort our Goodreads "To read" lists by publishing date as well :)

When in 'My Books' choose the "Want to Read" shelf on the left hand, and sort by publishing date. If t..."

THANKS!!! I don't know if I've ever thought to look there for that :).

[Amy]

For some reason could not get that to work.... that’s okay.. I’m excited about Hummingbirds Daughter...

[Linda C]

I have 139 books originally published in 2005 on my TBR pile. So I'll have plenty of options, just need to see what looks good.

[Susie]

I'm thinking of the Booker winner for 2005, The Sea, or I might re-read Middlesex.

[Nicole R]

Ooo, Susie, Middlesex.

[Susie]

There's a new audio too Nicole. 24 hours!

[Amy]

You know what? I couldn’t figure out the sorting function to determine how many 2005’s were on my TBR, But I was plowing my TBR on my phone and it lists the dates right out there! I have like six more books for 2005 waiting to be read and a few I own- here’s some goodies....

Cold Sassy Tree
Sweet Gum Tree
Mrs. Kimble
When Nitzche Wept
Jewish Women and the Power of their Salons
And one more. Was so surprised!

[Nicole R]

Susie wrote: "There's a new audio too Nicole. 24 hours!"

Wow! I read that one in print but do not remember it being long enough to warrant 24 hours!

[Karin]

The only thing I don't like is that GR does NOT save the setting for date published, so I had to set it again. I have five books for 2005, which is fine since I'm not likely to read more than five of these for the tag. One I am not sure if I'll like since I didn't like White Teeth, but the main reason I didn't like White Teeth was because I did NOT like two of the main characters. Does On Beauty On Beauty have more likable ones? Her writing is very good.

The others I have on my Want to Read Shelf that came out in 2005 are:
Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking
Miss Leavitt's Stars: The Untold Story of the Woman Who Discovered How to Measure the Universe
Code Talker: A Novel About the Navajo Marines of World War Two
Still Life by Louise Penny

so not very many

[AsimovsZeroth]

Meli wrote: "I HATE THIS! :(

(but I'll get over it after I look at 2005 and realize how much there really is, and there is even probably a ghost or 2)"

I just stumbled across a 2005 book you might like, if you're into short stories. They probably aren't all ghost stories, but it looks like at least one of them is.

Most of them look vaguely paranormal, at least. It doesn't show up on a bunch of the lists I've looked into, because in the US it was published in 2007, but originally, in the UK it was published in 2005.

20th Century Ghosts

[AsimovsZeroth]

NancyJ wrote: "Sara wrote: "I'm not thrilled about this tag, but I'm sure I'll find something, maybe I'll finally get to Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything or [book..."

Nancy -

If I were you, I wouldn't read Fledgling if you're unfamiliar with Octavia Butler's works. Hell, even if you are - it's simply not Butler at her best.

Probably because it was the last book she published before her death and in addition to her health problems, she was struggling with major depression.

It feels rushed. Like she was setting herself up to really explore all of these really complicated and uncomfortable questions... but some publisher was just desperate to get her to publish before she was ready.

It was clearly the establishing novel for a series. Had she lived, the series as a whole might have saved Fledgling and more than that, I think it could have been brilliant... but on its own it's really disappointing.

I don't mind controversial works, but if you're gonna even border on a sexual relationship that feels a little like pedophilia is involved, even if technically it isn't... (the main character is a 53 year old vampire, but looks like a 10 year old and has sex with adults under her thrall) it's gonna have to be a masterpiece and Fledgling is not that.

There are elements of Butler's genius in there. If you're familiar with her work you can definitely see where she's going, as she likes to make her reader uncomfortable with relationships involving uneven power dynamics... but this just isn't up to her usual standards, in my opinion.

[NancyJ]

LiteraryMania wrote:

... Fledgling...

"

Thanks for letting me know. I think the next book I read by her will be Dawn (Xenogenesis series), perhaps when a tag or other challenge calls for sci-fi.

My 2005 list seems to be dominated by less popular books by authors I like.

[Karin]

I did a search and found a couple of GR shelves for published in 2005
https://www.goodreads.com/shelf/show/...

https://www.goodreads.com/book/popula...

[Nicole D.]

I'm late, but I recommend Incendiary

[Jen]

The Percy Jackson ones are great of you like stuff for tween/early teens. Fun adventure with lots of greek mythology.