Mount TBR 2013 Reading Challenge discussion

The first book on my list was recommended by a relative, Relaxation Response, which I bought in 2012. I did start reading it already (Jan 02) but barely, only read the introduction. This one may take me a while.

One book I really hope to tackle this year is Brian Greene’s The Elegant Universe: Superstrings, Hidden Dimensions, and the Quest for the Ultimate Theory. I had planned to undertake this last year, (well, for years now) still haven’t gotten to it. I have Greene’s second book waiting as well, but want to be pragmatic for my reading list this year.

As far as planning out some of the books I’d like to read this year packed in (still) unread on my bookshelves:
• The Passage by Justin Cronin
• Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen
• The Great Typo Hunt: Two Friends Changing the World, One Correction at a Time by Jeff Deck.
• Wild Life by Molly Glass
• Pacific Edge by Kim Stanley Robinson – this is the third in the series, which is hopefully the most optimistic of the three as it's utopian. It’s been on my to read shelf for years and years, after already reading the other two. Should tackle this one soon.
• The Island by Aldous Huxley - to keep with the utopian theme

Don’t want to plan it all out since it's quite likely would end up not following it anyway. I have a few books checked out from the library right now so it may be a slow start up the mountain.

Heart of the Trail: The Stories of Eight Wagon Train Women
     4 Stars

The first book I finished reading for this challenge was a short book that sat on my shelves for a long while. May as well get a step up that mountain with a quickie. Among the women portrayed was the first woman to climb Pikes Peak!
Read my review

Ooh. Don't know the books, but like the sound of your list. Good luck!

Thanks Tani! I always have good intentions of reading these books I buy, and listing those here is to encourage myself to finally get to reading them....
I also tend to be haphazard about writing reviews, but intend on attempting something with these challenge books as I read them.

Progress report:
Months Complete: 1
Read qualified books: 1
Qualified books reading in progress: 3
Non-qualified books read: 6
New Books Acquired: 6

To sum up: slipping backwards, as usual

Ha, I've bought (and started) quite a number of books too. Should finish one at some stage.

If you are interested in buddy reads, I've just put "The Elegant Universe", "Wild life" and "The Great Typo Hunt" into my amazon basket. Clearly, they won't help me up my mountain (maybe in 2014 ;)), but they seem to be fun reads. Won't start anything new until I have finished a few of my long books though.

Hi Tani,
Yeah I am up for a buddy read with either Wild Life or The Great Type Hunt. For The Elegant Universe I think I’ll need to go at my own pace. I too will need to wait a little while, not only do I have the three in progress but have a couple checked out from the library still that I would like to read before returning, you know, since they’re in my hot little hands already :) Maybe start March 1? I’m flexible though, really anytime. And sorry, it’s not helping your TBR pile right. Isn’t that how these things go?

Pamela wrote: "Progress report:
Months Complete: 1
Read qualified books: 1
Qualified books reading in progress: 3
Non-qualified books read: 6
New Books Acquired: 6

To sum up: slipping backwards, as usual"

Oh no! You mean the 6 books I've read this year and the 11 books I've bought have left me with a growing pile of books?! That's the opposite of what I wanted! 8^0

Stephanie wrote: "Oh no! You mean the 6 books I've read this year and the 11 books I've bought have left me with a growing pile of books?! That's the opposite of what I wanted! 8^0"

Yeah, I had a feeling this group had many who were like me....book buying habit that won't quit! :-)

And realized now, I was mistaken in my stats...currently reading 3 books, but really only 2 count towards the mountain pile. Guess that was wishful thinking.

Book two: The Scale of Maps by Belén Gopegui and translated by Mark Schafer. Finished on Friday, February 08, with my review forthcoming (I have notes, just not cohesively put together yet). I gave it three stars. For a while I wasn’t sure I’d get through this book, but it was short so I kept pressing on and it did get better.


Book three completed today: The Great Gatsby. I was disappointed by this one, gave it two stars. The short review here. Sat on my shelves for at least 12 years now, so I can say I'm happy I finally got to it.

Still languishing with a book that’s good for me, so it’s going extremely slow (meaning, almost never pick it up) and have another library book to finish. But after that I’m really going to try focusing on the TBR pile, I mean mountain! There’s over 500 books waiting to be read, so yeah, that is a mountain!

Book four: Michael Tolliver Lives

Another book off the TBR shelves, but that’s about the only good thing I can say about this one. Review here. I gotta pick a great one next, had a few duds lately. But am in the middle of something mediocre & another stalled (two in progress that I will likely throw aside for a book that soars, I hope)

That's too bad. Sounds like you need to move on to something else!

Yes, yes, I do need to move on. There are so many great books out there and I know I own at least one of them. :-)

One of the books I'm mired in, Collections of Nothing, I'm half-way through and debating about continuing. The reviews don't help. I feel like the author is being too self indulgent in his life story and not providing anything for the reader. So yeah, it will likely get put aside. Sometimes it's hard to set aside a book, that must finish feeling....

I know! I always want to finish a lousy book, optimistically thinking its got to get better! :D But life's too short to read a lousy book.
I'm debating setting aside one I'm reading now because I'm having a love/hate relationship with it. Guess as long as there are "love" parts I'll keep going.

Progress report:
Months Complete: 2
Read qualified books: 3 (4)
Books currently reading in progress: 3
Non-qualified books read: 6 (15)
New Books Acquired: 5 (14)

The second number: (Year-to-date total)
Summary: Starting to climb the old mountain, but creating a new one as well. Last month forgot to include the 3 newly aquired ebooks, so yeah the new mountain is growing faster than I climb the old one. At least I'm not just reading library books anymore, and making some progress on old owned books.

Book 5 finished a couple of days ago.
People of the Raven by Micheal Gear and Kathleen O'Neal Gear.

It's the 12th book in The First North American Series, or the North America’s Forgotten Past Series (they changed the name of the series). I read the others in the series and have enjoyed them, so of course I bought the next one as well, which I may not wait too long to read. Oddly this one I did, I bought it back in 2011. These books are fun reads and I particularly like that the authors have make these book accurate to the degree of what is known about these peoples. Overall I give this one four stars, and really that is probably being generous. The writing could have been more polished, but I do enjoy the series. While not an excellent book it did break the disappointment of the last few. My next TBR read looks like it will be a good one. I’m only on page 16 (out of 636) and already thrilled by the language.

Pamela wrote: "Book three completed today: The Great Gatsby. I was disappointed by this one, gave it two stars. The short review here. Sat on my shelves for at least 12 years now, so I can say I'm happy I finally got to it."

I read this book for the Mount TBR Challenge this year as well and was pretty underwhelmed too! I asked some of my literary friends about what the appeal is for the book to be considered a Modern Classic. I got quite a number of interesting responses (which I transcribed over on my thread) and while I might appreciate The Great Gatsby a bit more, I still don't think it's my kind of book :-/

Progress report:
Months Complete: 4
Read qualified books: 0 (5.5)
Books currently reading in progress: 1
Non-qualified books read: 3 (22.5)
New Books Acquired: 2 (24)

The second number: (Year-to-date total)
Summary: Didn't post my progress last month since there was the first check-in point. I didn't make any progress on my TBR mountain well since March, so it may seem to that I've been taking a long siesta at this stop. Really I had a detour, lingering along the lake and wildflowers of library books and life. I've gotten back to one Mount TBR book that I started in March and had set aside for those library books that came in. This one is a long one, but getting close to finishing.

Progress report:
Months Complete: 5
Read qualified books: 2 (7.5)
Books currently reading in progress: 0
Non-qualified books read: 0 (22.5)
New Books Acquired: 4 (28)

The second number: (Year-to-date total)
Summary: With the goal of 24 books I am behind. And the new books keep rolling in. Still have many months ahead if I focus I can reach the peak. Perhaps I should look at those books I thought in January I'd like to conquer this year.


Books read this past month:


Cloudsplitter by Russell Banks. Book was way too long really. Good, but felt a lot of it could have been edited out and would have made a better story, shorter and more enjoyable. Very historical, but still fiction. It took me a while to get through this one, but I also had interrupted reading.


Black Out by John Lawton. A very short review here.

Finished two books this week from the Mount TBR pile. One I had started back in January:

Relaxation Response. I had put aside, but got back to it, and have a few comments here.

The second book I read mostly over this weekend, Wabash by Robert Olen Butler.

It was nice to be back to reading. I had to take a break while I changed jobs and did a long-distance move, well seems long distance when it was over 500 miles. Been a busy summer, and despite all the boxes that still need to be unpacked, I relaxed this weekend and read! Yeah, reading!!

I missed logging in the one book I read in July:

The King's Gold: An Old World Novel of Adventure by Yxta Maya Murray. I did write a short review about it.

Not quite half-way up Mount Blanc. I have 10 read, and two partials. Still it's a possibility I can conquer this peak. Four full months left, and if I don’t detour I can get to the top.

Another two done this week. Feels like a little sprint here.

Dispatches from a Public Librarian by Scott Douglas

Listen by Rene Gutteridge

Both were mediocre, but went quickly. Had some problems with both books. The Dispatches were sometimes more mean than funny. And Listen should have been edited more carefully, sloppy writing. The author has many books to her name, but I won't be looking for any. Happy both books were free.

12.5 books done now. Made it past the half-way point! Yippee!

Two more:

What Technology Wants by Kevin Kelly.

Interesting book, thought provoking. Don't agree with many of his conclusions or premises, but very worthwhile read.



Pacific Edge by Kim Stanley Robinson
Third book in a trilogy. I don't know what took me so long to get to this book; read the other two years ago. I think I would have enjoyed it more if I read it way back then as well. Still glad I finally got it done. This challenge is helping me tackle these old reads.

14.5 books up the mountain now....on my way up.

One more down: Coming of the Storm: Book One of Contact: The Battle for America by the Gear authors: Kathleen O'Neal Gear and W. Michael Gear



Rated at a mild three stars. Read my full review here.

Climbing toward the mountain top, counting the half-read book as full, that makes 16 down...8 more to go. Will I make it??? Working on two more at the moment...so maybe...

Book 17 completed: Three Cups of Tea: One Man's Mission to Promote Peace ... One School at a Time (or as the original subtitle was called One Man's Mission to Fight Terrorism and Build Nations ... One School at a Time) by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin. Both titles show the ambition of Greg Mortenson. Despite having two authors the book wasn't very well written. There were moments that should have been exciting and full of tension, but instead were flat and dull. Yet the subject and accomplishments uplift the book enough to get at least three stars.

Last one in October, book number 18 finished. Beyond Outrage: What has gone wrong with our economy and our democracy, and how to fix it by Robert B. Reich.


I gave it four stars, and have a short review here.

Hoping I will complete my 19th read this weekend. I can see the peak in the distance, but it's getting closer.

Got my climbing boots firmly in the forward motion. 19 large steps up and only 5 more to the top. This last was Truck Stop Rainbows by Iva Pekárková.

Interesting title that had rainbows as part of the theme, as well as truck stops. But it wasn't quite as interesting as the title. My review is here. I gave it 2 stars.

Finished another book, number 20 yesterday. Hope to finish number 21 today. This last one I really enjoyed.
Bone Rattler: A Mystery of Colonial America. by Eliot Pattison. The first in a series called Duncan McCallum, who is the main character.

I'll probably write up a short review soon. It's a five star read, or maybe four and just feels like five since I read so many duds this year. Will definitely read the next in the book series. It's a mystery that unfolds in surprising ways, not a typical who-done-it and expect more of the same.

Book #21 was finished on Wed. Nov.27. Got sick so I had lots of time and read two more over the long weekend.

#21: The Passage by Justin Cronin

#22: Before Freedom, When I Just Can Remember: Twenty-Seven Oral Histories of Former South Carolina Slaves edited by: Belinda Hurmence

#23: Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen

I haven't written any reviews yet, but I've really enjoyed #21 & 23, they are 5 stars reads. #22 is more difficult to judge, it was a rough time in the history of the U.S. as this book is a collection of oral history of slave narratives. The grammar and speech patterns are somewhat rough and of course the situation. What is surprising is how many reminisce fondly of those times. Overall the book isn't as depressing as it may seem, but there definite difficult moments. Will post link to reviews once they are up.

This short sprint got me close to the mountain top. It's in view and I think I can get there before the end of the year.

I've conquered the mountain! Finished the 24th book with The Great Typo Hunt: Two Friends Changing the World, One Correction at a Time by Jeff Deck and Benjamin D. Herson.

Interesting, but the writing...could it be they tried too hard? Too often there were bits of information put in the story that was purely extraneous. The main writer had worked as an editor, but the book felt like it lacked editing. Overall okay, but could've been better. I gave it three solid stars.

I'm going to try to squeeze one more in before the end of the year, since really one of these I only read half...but was so discouraged I'll never get back to it. In any case, I do believe I achieved my goal. YEAH!!! Looking back at what I thought I may read, I read 5 of the 8 I listed, better than half.

I hope to return next year and try another mountain climb. I have hundreds (seriously, hundreds) of unread books I own. Thanks all for reading my posts & Bev for organizing this challenge.

Congrats!

I'm glad you read what you are pleased with the outcome. I can't refrain from finishing, was chatting with my fiancé about that yesterday. We agreed ya gotta see how it ends, closure for slogging through any uninspiring pages. Believe me two or three were scarcely bearable. One really turned around after 5 chapters and the pleasant improvement was a reward. I've noticed re-trying an author who had a book I disliked, isn't a bad thing.

For the second time, I'm finding a different book better. In this case it's Dicey Deere. In the past, it was Juliet Blackwell's second witch and ghost novel. I couldn't stand her first but had already bought most of the series. (I read paper books solely). "Cast-Off Coven" was outstandingly good and I've in fact become a fan. Carolyn.

Thank you Susan & Carolyn!