Some of my TBRR Pile for 2021!

Last year, I had honestly planned to focus only on my TBR pile and try to reduce some of the endless books that seemed to be waiting forever on there, but while the ‘lockdown’ helped in that no one was delivering books for while (so I could actually stick to my shopping ban), and I also didn’t request very many books on NetGalley (also part of the plan), I ended up revisiting quite a few previously read books so didn’t take off as many from my TBR pile. This year I’m going to try and be more balanced–I have been reading NetGalley ARCs, and some books from my existing TBR, but at the same time, wanted to also get to revisiting a few books I’ve read before but have been meaning to reread for a bit as well. While I haven’t put together an extensive list, this is just 10 of the books that I want to read from my ‘read’ shelves. Most are ones I haven’t read for a fairly long time, but there are a couple of ‘newer’ ones as well.

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The first few on my list are classics. First up I have Mansfield Park by Jane Austen. This is the story of Fanny Price, born into a poor family but who is adopted by her aunt, and is brought up in the elegant Mansfield Park, by the wealthy Bertrams. Initially Fanny feels like an outsider but with time, the family, her aunt and uncle particularly come to rely on her more. Meanwhile Mary Crawford and her brother Henry arrive from London bringing in glamour and complicating matters at Mansfield Park. This is a book I think I have read only once before and fairly long ago, but I did enjoy it very much and the TV adaptation as well.

Next is Pearl S. Buck’s The Good Earth. This is the first of a trilogy (I haven’t read the other two so far) which tells the story of a farmer Wang Lung, opening on his wedding day and tracing his and his family’s life from that point. They face many hardships but also do eventually rise in the world. This one I had read quite a while ago and have been wanting to pick up again.

The third of the classics on my list is Nicholas Nickleby or The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby by Charles Dickens. This was one of the first Dickens books I read and it immediately had me hooked. I loved the characters, the different plot lines, and pretty much everything about it. This tells of the Nicklebys who are left without means after Mr Nickleby dies; while Nicholas takes up a teacher’s position at the not very pleasant school run by Wackford Squeers, his mother and his sister have to for a while lean for support on their ruthless (and is slimy) uncle Ralph. Last year I had considered a revisit but didn’t end up picking it up. Last week Paula at Bookjotter mentioned a readalong of this one taking place next month, and this sounds like the perfect time for me to read it.

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Next is a slightly more recent read Nevermoor: The Trials of Morrigan Crow by Jessica Townsend. This is the first of a middle-grade series and tells the story of Morrigan Crow a young girl who is supposed to be ‘cursed’ and is pretty much blamed for all the ills that happen in her town. She is supposed to die on her eleventh birthday but instead is whisked off to a magical land by a remarkable stranger called Jupiter North. Here she lives in the strangest (and yet, fun) hotel one can imagine and must enter a contest to become a member of the Wundrous society. This was a book I enjoyed but at the same time not as much as I’d expected. So I want to give it a second shot.

The other children’s title on my list is Chitty Chitty Bang Bang by Ian Fleming. This tells of the Pott family; the father Commander Caratacus Pott invents various things–some useful, but others plain crazy. Among these is Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, a car which can fly. And of course, in this Commander Pott, his wife and children have many adventures. This is very different from the movie they made out of it but it was a rerun of the movie on TV here a few days ago that reminded me of the book, and that it’s been ages since I read it.

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Then on my list, I have Rumpole and the Penge Bungalow Murders by John Mortimer. This is actually the only Rumpole book I’ve read so far (must remedy that as well). This is the story of Rumpole narrating his very first case in which a man is accused of murdering his father and his father’s friend.

Measuring the World by Daniel Kehlmann, translated by Carol Brown Janeway is a humorous telling of the lives of explorer/geographer Alexander Von Humboldt and mathematician Carl Friedrich Gauss, a man with a truly incredible mind. What I loved about this was how despite being a translation (from German), the humour comes through so well. (This is historical fiction, by the way.)

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A Traveller in Time by Alison Uttley was a present to me from a friend, and a book I really love. I have read it a couple of times before (perhaps more) but not very recently (Goodreads tells me my last read was 2016). This is part fantasy, part historical fiction which tells of a young girl Penelope Taberner Cameron who is somewhat fey. When convalescing at the home of relatives, she manages to travel back in time to the 1600s amidst the Babington plot, a plan to rescue Mary, Queen of Scots from imprisonment. This was a really wonderful read and I am looking forward to picking it up again.

Brothers-in-Law by Henry Cecil is the first in a series of three books, which trace the story of Roger Thursby, a young barrister from the time he clears his final exam to when he eventually becomes a judge. This first book tells of the start of his career, who he finds his feet and also his love. A peek into the world of law but with a great deal of humour.

Finally I have another more recent read, Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan. Also the first in a trilogy, this one tells of a young professor Rachel Chu who is dating a fellow academic Nicholas Young who belongs to Singapore. When he invites her to attend his friend’s wedding back home, she doesn’t have a clue what she is getting herself into for Nick’s family is one of the wealthiest in Singapore and Nick a very eligible bachelor. From a disapproving family (mostly Nick’s mother) to scheming young ladies also vying for Nick’s hand (also their mothers), she has a lot to contend with. I read this one in 2019 and found it very entertaining (and outrageous). I ended up reading the whole series pretty fast and it also got me out of a reading slump. I’ve been feeling like picking it up again.

While these aren’t the only books I want to reread, I think these make a good list for a start. I will of course also end up reading Agatha Christies which I have read before, and often do go back to for comfort reading.

Are you planning to reread any books this year? Old favourites or some that you want to give a second chance? Have you read or do you plan to read any from my list? Looking forward to your thoughts!

Cover images as always from Goodreads.