50 Book Challenge in 2013. Who's with me?

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Tidying up after Christmas it has come to my attention that I have nearly 100(!!) paperbacks in stacks down the side of my bed waiting to be read.
I am going to challenge myself to try and read at least 50 of them this year. That's nearly one a week so I am going to have to really apply myself and stop faffing around and doing other things when I could be enjoying a good book.
I wondered if anyone else would like to join me? We can post what we are reading and then post when we have finished each book and what's next.
I know I would love to hear what others are reading and enjoying (or not enjoying) so I can go out and buy more books in a few months time!
My first book of the year is President Down by Terence Strong about spies and terrorists which my dad lent me about a year ago! I'm only about 20 pages in, but so far so good.

War Crimes for the Home was superb. Written from the point of view of a feisty elderly lady suffering from dementia... or is she. Truth, lies and everything in between. Fantastic read.

Book 19: The Secret Speech, sequel to Child 44. Opinion reserved so far.

Agree about sobbing through The Hand That First Held Mine!

Yep I stayed up late finishing it in bed and had to sob into the pillow so as not to wake DH!

Good morning everyone!!

I have finished The Race by Richard North Patterson. I would highly recommend it to anyone interested in US politics. It is really insightful. Although the opinions of some of those politicians considered mainstream Republicans, especially on race and gay marriage, is pretty frightening!

Book 8 is Italian Shoes by Henning Mankell. I'm not normally mad keen on Scandi-fiction but I'm willing to give it a try.
I'm on a weeks annual leave from work starting today so hopefully I can crack on through and catch up with some of you already on book 10 and beyond.

Saying that, I have promised to take DS to the library this morning. I must be strong and not take out loads of books!

Finished books 7 & 8 -

1. The Fishing Fleet - husband hunting in the Raj. v interesting social history but not a fast read.
2. The Bookshop, Penelope Fitzgerald. Beautifully but economically written.

I am also half way through Alsion Weir's Mary Boleyn which I need a good uninterrupted couple of hours at!

Cardiff did you come back empty handed from the library? I never can but feel that, somehow, I am helping the library by clocking up loans, as I am sure the local authority "big brother" is watching and waiting for an excuse to cut hours!

Just found this thread and would love to join you. I've challenged myself to read more new books this year as I seem to have slipped into the habit or rereading old favourites too much due to tiredness since the kids were born. Have read the following 6 books so far this year (lagging behind a lot of you I know):

1. Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden
2. The Cleverness of Boys - Sally Featherstone and Ros Bayley
3. All Teachers Great and Small - Andy Seed
4. Twice Shy - Dick Francis (re-read)
5. A Year of Doing Good - Judith O'Reilly
6. Wife in the North - Judith O'Reilly

I'm currently on book 7: Sovereign - C.J. Sansom, which I'm really enjoying.

"War Crimes for the Home" is the Amazon Kindle Daily Deal today (Wed 20th Feb) and sounds a bargain at just 99 pence, so I'll probably add add it to my TBR list, which is getting longer by the day!

Lurking

Right, I have now finished 6 books, and am reading a seventh.

So far:

1. The red and the black by Stendhal
2. The snows of Kilimanjaro by Hemmingway
3. Tales of the Jazz Age by Fitzgerald
4. The man without a face - the unlikely rise of Vladimir Putin by Masha Gessen AMAZING. But scary
5. Little Women
6. Good Wives (had me sobbing a lot. Poor Beth )

and currently reading

1. Noah's Compass by Ann Tyler

1. The Bone Garden - Tess Gerritsen. Escapist 1830's based thriller with grave robbers, forensic drama and a present day denouement.

And currently reading

1. The Woman Who Went To Bed For A Year - Sue Townsend. Funny take on empty nest syndrome.

I was brave and strong Gailforce. DS came away with 7 books and I didn't get any out.

That is only because you can go in, go to the children's library and then go to the desk and out without going anywhere near the rest of the library!!

Actually, I've read seven. I forgot I've read The Power of One by Bryce Courtenay

Hope - This is the first Ann Tyler I've read. Someone recommended the Accidental Tourist, but it's NEVER available at my local library, so I went for this. I'm not loving it so far, but it's early days.

Also tempted by War Crimes for the Home - I loved The Rapture by the same author.

Remember, I was surprised at how much I loved Wife in the North. I thought it was going to be this London meeja type moaning about life in the sticks, but it was a tender and thoughtful take about how life (and children) makes us compromise.

I gobbled up a couple of novel. One was Ophelia in pieces by Clare Jacob (the main character is a barrister, as was the author, so I found it interesting and authentic. I trained for the Bar but didn't practice, so for me it was a window into a life I might have led but didn't). The other is by Mavis Cheek, Truth to Tell. I think she is a genuinely witty writer, unlike some who think wit is all about bad puns (looking at you, Kathy Lette).

I've embarked on Barbara Nadel, Deadline - crime set in Istanbul. I'm a big fan of this series so I'm enjoying this, but it wouldn't be a great place to start if you are new to the series. You need to have a sense of the characters and their back-stories.

I've also just heard from the library that they are holding The Real Jane Austen: a life in small things, so I'll be dashing off to pick that up soon. I love my library.

I'm still on book 13: A Game of Thrones. I'm addicted and already expecting the sequels to be my next few books.

Well thanks to this thread I have purchased War Crimes for 99p and I also picked up The 100 Year Old Man for 20p. I will keep these back for when I go on holiday later on in the year though rather than read them now.

currently reading The hanging Shed by Gordon Ferris , book 14, enjoying it but having to do lots of overtime so not much time to read at the moment.

I have cracked and bought If this is a Man by Primo Levi so that will probably be book 15 as I have been trying to get it for ages and don't think I will be able to resist it.

1. Gone girl

10. The unlikely pilgrimage of Harold Fry 11. Robin Ince's Bad Book Club 12. David Sedaris - When you are engulfed in Flame 13. Half Blood Blues 14. Mo Hayder - Hanging Hill

15. Derek Webb - Is
16. will be Why French children don't throw food. Possibly. Or I may go back to Middlemarch.

Plan is to complete the reading of 2011 and 2012 Man Booker shortlists and the move on to 2013 when it is announced in September. If I run out of books I'll do the same for the Orange (or whatever it will now be called).

Not really on MN for lent but terrified I will forget or lose any handwritten lists and I can't wait to be able to look back over this year's reading!

The Secret Speech was not bad. I'll probably try and read the third in the trilogy later this year.

Book 20: The Disappearance of Edwin Drood by Peter Rowland. Hoping for a quick, light read.

shrinking, how did you find the Bad Book Club? I thought it was a great concept, but the writing wasn't quite as funny as I was hoping.

gail, would you recommend The Fishing Fleet? I've been eyeing it for a while.

Totally agree. He's a very funny man but it felt a bit too much like hard work in places - it seemed like he had been told to do x number of books and he was going to slog on through to the bitter end. Some bits made me laugh out loud though. I did find myself getting frustrated that he didn't go into the books in greater depth. Maybe fewer books in more detail would have worked better.

I have decided to make an exception to my no MN for lent for this thread...