TBR Challenge

I am signing up for this one a little behind the usual time (story of my life these days). This is th TBR (to be read) challenge. Unlike most of my challenges, this one doesn't allow you to swap out books on your list once you create it so it takes some careful thinking. It does let you have a main list of 12 and a list of 12 alternates just in case though. In any case, I pondered my possibilities and finally created an eclectic list that should suit me all year long no matter what kind of reading mood in which I seem to be at any given moment. So with no further ado, here's the 2009 list I'll be tackling:

1. Our Mutual Friend by Charles Dickens
2. The Makioka Sisters by Junichiro Tanizaki
3. Fingersmith by Sarah Waters
4. River of Doubt by Candice Millard
5. Jim the Boy by Tony Earley
6. Merry Hall by Beverley Nichols
7. Eve's Ransom by George Gissing
8. I Wanna Be Sedated: 30 Writers on Parenting Teenagers edited by Faith Conlon and Gail Hudson
9. The Bar Sinister by Linda Berdoll
10. Dog Years by Mark Doty
11. Kartography by Kamila Shamsie
12. Don't Let's Go To the Dogs Tonight by Alexandra Fuller

alternates:
1. Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell
2. Independent People by Haldor Laxness
3. A Lady's Life in the Rocky Mountains by Isabella Bird
4. Twilight by Stephanie Meyer
5. The Tale of Desperaux by Kate DiCamillo
6. Firmin by Sam Savage
7. Bless Me Ultima by Rudolfo Anaya
8. Pure Dead Frozen by Debi Gliori
9. Eve's Ransom by George Gissing
10. Blue Highways by William Least Heat Moon
11. Short Fat Triathlete by Jayne Williams
12. Tallulahland by Lynn Messina