2021 TBR Cleanup Challenge

[Mareike]

Update:

I didn‘t do quite as well as last year (turns out finishing a dissertation will sap your energy for reading by….a lot), but I want to try and have read at least ten of the twenty books on this list before the year is over.

1. Take a gamble - Das verrückte Tagebuch des Henry Shackleford: Roman
2. Red or black - Redshirts
3. Behind the eight ball - The Future of Another Timeline
5. Agreeable alliteration - Africanfuturism: An Anthology
6. Jackpot - Piranesi
7. Pawns - Le Roi de fer
9. Dealer's choice - On A Sunbeam
12. Back from the dead - Two Hundred and Twenty-One Baker Streets: An Anthology of Holmesian Tales Across Time and Space
13. Features a game or puzzle - Cannonbridge
14. I have no gift for strategy - Midnight Never Come
17. Role-play - Catfishing on CatNet
18. Amazing race - The Hanging Artist

[Meredith]

I finished the challenge. I changed 7 of my original picks.

1. Take a gamble — Changed pick to Borderline, gamble on mysterious job opportunity.
2. Red or black — Changed pick to Black Bead
3. Behind the eight ball — Changed pick to The Ghost Train to New Orleans, several characters wind up in this situation
4. Charade — Heroine Complex, main character pretends to be someone she's not and gets found out pretending to be something she is not
5. Agreeable alliteration — Assassin's Apprentice
6. Jackpot — Pachinko, pachinko is a slot machine game
7. Pawns — Starship Troopers, soldiers are pawns in war
8. An 8 or 21 — Arrival, it has 8 stories
9. Dealer's choice — Catfantastic: Nine Lives and Fifteen Tales, an edited volume is a dealer’s choice
10. X marks the spot — X , I mean, come on.
11. Murrderrrrr — The Word Is Murder , murrderrrrr
12. Back from the dead — Midnight Taxi Tango, ghosts and stuff
13. Features a game or puzzle — Changed pick to Dying with Her Cheer Pants On, stories about a cheerleading squad who cheer at football and other games
14. I have no head for strategy — Raven Stratagem
15. Features best friends — Changed pick to Victory of Eagles
16. Queen of hearts — A Hope Divided, it's a romance
17. Role-play — Changed pick to One Salt Sea, lots of disguises and role-playing
18. Amazing race — Ancestral Night, characters on the run across the galaxy
19. Taboo — Wool Omnibus, character violates a societal taboo
20. Critical hit — changed pick to Those Who Hunt the Night, it takes a critical hit to kill a vampire

[Anna]

Nice! 👍🏻

[CBRetriever]

Excellent!

[Maggie]

DivaDiane wrote: "Maggie, I’m using the same Tiptree story for that prompt (I bet I stole the idea from you!). I think I could probably read that one before the end of the year..."

yes-it's nice and short!

[Maggie]

I changed a couple around, and now I have only one book left...annnnd it's done!

1. Take a gamble The Blinding Knife
2. Red or black the red cover for Have Space Suit—Will Travel
3. Behind the eight ball Up the Walls of the World
4. Charade When Fox is a Thousand Because foxes like to take over and pretend to be other people
5. Agreeable alliteration Bag of Bones
6. Jackpot Duma Key
7. Pawns Virtual Light
8. An 8 or 21 Bound #8 in the Alex Verus series
9. Dealer's choice Eartheater Just because I found it so intriguing
10. X marks the spot The Stone Sky
11. Murrderrrrr Bag of Bones
12. Back from the dead 'Salem's Lot
13. Features a game or puzzle Children of RuinBecause the Octopi think that exploring ship systems is a great puzzle
14. I have no gift for strategy Heir of Sea and Fire
15. Features best friends Indigo Springs
16. Queen of hearts Battle Ground there are quite a few queens and princesses in this world!
17. Role-play --Raven Stratagem
18. Amazing race The Dark Forest
19. Taboo The Zenith
20. Critical hit-- The Caves of Steel

[Stephen]

19/20

5. Agreeable alliteration

Moving Mars✔️

A slow starter, but I enjoyed the back half of the book very much.

[Dj]

So with finishing The City and the Stars I have finished my 2021 TBR Challenge.

A book that sort of reminds me of the song 2112, or the saying, the meek shall inherit the Earth, the rest of us are going to the Stars. A somewhat convoluted tale of the ways Mankind has decided not to go into space after having done so previously. While occasionally difficult to keep track of what the plot twists are doing it is still a well-written book, A little light on the development of characters, but an interesting look at what might be.

[Raucous]

Congratulations Dj!

There aren't many books that I remember from half a century ago but The City and the Stars is one of them. It left a long-lasting positive impression.

[Mareike]

Dj wrote: "So with finishing The City and the Stars I have finished my 2021 TBR Challenge.

A book that sort of reminds me of the song 2112, or the sayi..."

Congratulations!

[Stephen]

7. Pawns

The Scar - online discussion suggests some characters are manipulated by others✔️

Certainly a 5-star genre classic.

20/20, challenge completed.

[Anna]

Woot!

[Mareike]

Finished “Africanfuturism: An Anthology” this morning, bringing my count up to 11/20, which is better than I thought I’d do this year.

[Nicol]

Congrats on finishing!! 🥳How was it? I have plans to read it.

[Mareike]

I liked it! Some stories more than other, but that’s just an anthology for you.

[Aga]

Time to share my list :)
1. Take a gamble "Deadhouse Gates" by S. Erikson - they all took a gamble.
2. Red or black - Red - "All Systems Red" by M. Wells
3. Behind the eight ball - "I, Robot" by I. Asimov - Powell and Donovan stories
4. Charade - "The Fifth Season" by N. K. Jemisin - the moon charade.
5. Agreeable alliteration - "Lies of Lock Lamora" by S. Lynch
6. Jackpot - "Sword of Destiny" by A. Sapkowski - the prize for killing the dragon + the dragon's treasure + the dragon itself
7. Pawns - "The Poppy War" by F. Kuang - they were all just pawns.
8. An 8 or 21 - "A Psalm for a Wild-Built" by B. Chambers - 8 chapters. Published in 2021.
9. Dealer's choice "The Man in the High Castle" by P. K. Dick - I Ching
10. X marks the spot - "Piranesi" by S. Clark - the labirynth.
11. Murrderrrrr "Fugitive Telemetry" by M. Wells - murder investigation.
12. Back from the dead - "Fate of The Fallen" by K. Kade - haha, the head!
13. Features a game or puzzle "This Virtual Night" by C.S. Friedman - the VR game.
14. I have no gift for strategy - "Exit Strategy" by M. Wells
15. Features best friends - "Artificial Condition" by M. Wells - ART!
16. Queen of hearts - "The Last Wish" by A. Sapkowski - Calanthe
17. Role-play - "Rogue Protocol" by M. Wells - Murderbot posing as a human.
18. Amazing race -"Momo" by M. Ende - Momo running away has to go slower to be faster.
19. Taboo "White Sand" vol. 3 - Kerzian assasins.
20. Critical hit - "Network Effect" by M. Wells - Murderbot's shutdown.

Ah, I loved the books I've read for this challenge :)

[Meredith]

Aga wrote: "Time to share my list :)
1. Take a gamble "Deadhouse Gates" by S. Erikson - they all took a gamble.
2. Red or black - Red - "All Systems Red" by M. Wells
3. Behind the eight ball - "I, Robot" by I..."

I'm impressed by your usage of Murderbot(s) in this challenge.

[Aga]

Meredith wrote: "I'm impressed by your usage of Murderbot(s) in this challenge. "

I’ve read the whole series in 2021 and can’t wait for the next book. I used to prefer long books (500 + pages) but after Murderbot I started to read more novellas.

[DivaDiane]

So, after having done a tally of all my owned TBR books that I read this year, I didn't do so badly (44/104 books total). I didn't do well at this challenge though. Mostly I would say it's because my eye-reading took a nosedive and audio went way up and in my choices here, I stuck mostly to dead-tree or ebook format. I achieved 13/18 that I chose books for. I left out 2 prompts.

✅1. Take a gamble - Seanan McGuire Every Heart a Doorway new to me author, I'm not sure I'm going to like.
2. Red or black - Sunrunner's Fire cover red AND black
✅3. Behind the eight ball - Parable of the Sower
✅4. Charade - The Haunting of Tram Car 015,
✅5. Agreeable alliteration - Rendezvous with RamaIn progress
6. Jackpot
✅7. Pawns - Interference
8. An 8 or 21 - Tin - 21st book on my physical SF TBR shelf
9. Dealer's choice
✅10. X marks the spot - The Poet X
✅11. Murrderrrrr - Artificial Condition (well, obviously)
✅12. Back from the dead - Katrina Hates The Dead
✅13. Features a game or puzzle - A Memory Called Empire
✅14. I have no gift for strategy - Winter's Orbit
15. Features best friends - Seraphina
✅16. Queen of hearts - Chasing the Queen of Sassi
17. Role-play - Ready Player One OR Catfishing on CatNet
✅18. Amazing race - Children of Time In progress
✅19. Taboo - Out of the Silence: After the Crash Cannibalism
20. Critical hit - A Song for a New Day OR Riot Baby