Mount TBR 2015 discussion

Having reached (and exceeded) my goal of 48 in the first 7 months, I guess I will try to scale the higher peak of Mount Kilamanjaro in the remaining 5 months....

Starting point is 50 books finished. You can see the details in my previous thread:

https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

July Progress: (copied over from my previous thread)

Paperback books (and hardcovers!)
15. A Civil Campaign (second book in omnibus Miles in Love) (done 7/4)
16. The Paper Thunderbolt (done 7/9)
17. Winterfair Gifts (done 7/11)
18. Bright Orange For The Shroud (done 7/24)

Kindle books
29. Our Mutual Friend (done 7/16)
30. *Three Men in a Boat (done 7/19)
31. King John (contained in the omnibus of Shakespeare's "Complete Works") (done 7/11)

Audiobooks
4. Our Mutual Friend (done 7/16)
5. Paper Towns (done 7/21)


* means the book is on the Guardian's 1000 Novels Everyone Should Read list

#51 is audiobook #5 -- Paper Towns by John Green, narrated by Dan John Miller. I picked this up last November when I had a coupon for Audible. Probably this YA novel will appeal more to its target audience. I guess I am too old & fuddy-duddy because I can't help wondering if a story in which a 18-year-old girl who goes missing (not for the first time) is portrayed as the cool kid is really the kind of role model teens should be reading about. However, Q's musings about life and how well we ever know another person were interesting and I enjoyed the interactions between him and his two best friends. 3*

#52 is paperback #18, Bright Orange for the Shroud. I found this entry in the Travis McGee series less dated than many of the previous ones but lacking some of the snide humor. 3½*

August Progress:

Paperback books (and hardcovers!)
19. Falling Free (first book in the omnibus Miles, Mutants and Microbes, done 8/17)
20. Silence Observed (done 8/29)

Kindle books
32. Louise de La Vallière (done 8/9)
33. *The Awakening and Selected Short Stories (done 8/18)

Audiobooks
6.

* means the book is on the Guardian's 1000 Novels Everyone Should Read list

#53 is Kindle #32, Louise de La Vallière, which has been on my Kindle only a relatively short time since November 2014. This penultimate book in the d'Artagnan series was okay but lacked the action and adventure that I love so much in The Three Musketeers. Plus I didn't much care for Louise who struck me as a somewhat hypocritically prudish miss. 3*

I am not including the last book in the series here, as it is a reread for me. I will just say that The Man in the Iron Mask was even better now that I have read the whole series leading up to it! I upgraded my rating from 4 to 4½ stars.

Paperback #19 takes me to #54 total: Falling Free is the first novel in the omnibus Miles, Mutants and Microbes, which has been languishing on my shelves since 2009. This entry in the Vorkosigan series is more of a prequel or even a stand-alone novel set in the same universe, as not only is it set ~200 years before Miles' birth but there are only a few references to Beta & none to Barrayar. I think I will need to revisit this one -- it has plenty of features that I like but I missed Miles. 3½*

#55 is Kindle book #33 -- The Awakening and Selected Short Stories by Kate Chopin which has been on my Kindle since 2012. Wonderful prose & I loved the late-1800s Louisiana setting. I liked the short stories even better than the novella & will have to look for more of them! 4½*

Paperback #20 brings my total to 56 -- the 19th Inspector Appleby mystery, Silence Observed. As I have mentioned before, I acquired these Michael Innes mysteries in 2006 when my parents decided to reduce their library. This one is a more traditional mystery than many of the previous books in the series and a little predictable in spots but still a good fun read. 3½*

Leslie wrote: "#55 is Kindle book #33 -- The Awakening and Selected Short Stories by Kate Chopin which has been on my Kindle since 2012. Wonderful prose & I loved the late-1800s Louisiana setting...."

I loved Chopin when I read her back in college. Great writing! You're getting really close to the summit.

Bev wrote: "Leslie wrote: "#55 is Kindle book #33 -- The Awakening and Selected Short Stories by Kate Chopin which has been on my Kindle since 2012. Wonderful prose & I loved the late-1800s Lou..."

I loved the writing & was a bit shocked that this American author was completely unknown to me. Wish I had read her in college!

Leslie wrote: "Bev wrote: "Leslie wrote: "#55 is Kindle book #33 -- The Awakening and Selected Short Stories by Kate Chopin which has been on my Kindle since 2012. Wonderful prose & I loved the la..."

I read her in a fiction class with one of my favorite professors. He introduced me to a great number of my favorite authors.

September Progress:

Paperback books (and hardcovers!)
21. Diplomatic Immunity (last book in the omnibus Miles, Mutants and Microbes, done 9/2)
22. Darker Than Amber (done 9/2)
23. Collected Short Stories (done 9/25)
24. *Journey Into Fear (read in the hardcover omnibus Intrigue: Journey Into Fear, A Coffin For Dimitrios, Cause For Alarm and Background to Danger, done 9/25)

Kindle books
34.

Audiobooks
6.

* means the book is on the Guardian's 1000 Novels Everyone Should Read list

Paperback #21 brings me to a total of 57; this was the final book of the omnibus Miles, Mutants and Microbes, Diplomatic Immunity. While enjoyable, I found this entry in the Vorkosigan series a bit slow to get going and lacking the social commentary or philosophical ideas that many of the earlier books had. 3½*

#58 was paperback #22, Darker Than Amber -- the seventh Travis McGee mystery. I am a bit disappointed in this series, finding it more dated than most of the older paperback mysteries on my shelves. 3*

Wow... 58 books so far this year for Mount TBR is amazing, Leslie. Well done, you! :-D

Cath wrote: "Wow... 58 books so far this year for Mount TBR is amazing, Leslie. Well done, you! :-D"

Thanks, I am making more of an effort this year - glad it is paying off!

#59 is the paperback Collected Short Stories by Aldous Huxley. I have no idea when I acquired this book but several years ago at least! These stories were good but not as compelling as his full length novels. A couple of them had some curious people or plots which I may revisit. 3*

#60 is the classic spy thriller Journey Into Fear, read in the hardcover omnibus Intrigue: Journey Into Fear, A Coffin For Dimitrios, Cause For Alarm and Background to Danger. Not as good as A Coffin for Dimitrious imo but still a good example of the "innocent person caught up in intrigue" type espionage thriller. 3½★

Woo hoo!! I have reached my second peak :-)

Thanks Jessika! Now I am going to go crazy with library books :)

Congratulations, Leslie!!

Thanks Bev :)

October Progress:

Paperback books (and hardcovers!)
25. CryoBurn (done 10/5)

Kindle books
34. Lord Arthur Savile's Crime and Other Stories (done 10/25)

Audiobooks
6.

* means the book is on the Guardian's 1000 Novels Everyone Should Read list

The 25th print book of 2015 was the penultimate Vorkosigan book, Cryoburn. I have had the hardcover book on my shelf for years (although I actually listened to the Grover Gardner audiobook from the library). 4*

Congratulations Leslie.

The pictures you posted on the Checkpoint are great, I especially love the Smokey Mtns one.

Thanks Nell! I love that photo of the Smokies too -- it is a beautiful park. Have you been there?

#34 Kindle book (62 overall) was a set of short stories by Oscar Wilde called Lord Arthur Savile's Crime and Other Stories which has been on my Kindle since 2012. The best story in the collection was the only one I had read before, "The Canterville Ghost" but late October was the perfect time to revisit it! I liked most of the other stories but not the last one, "The Portrait of Mr. W. H." which I found both dull and long. Overall I give the collection 3½*.

November Progress:

Paperback books (and hardcovers!)
26. One Fearful Yellow Eye

Kindle books
35. Klondike House - Memories of an Irish Country Childhood (done 11/2)
36. Artemis Fowl (done 11/3)
37. *Molloy read as part of omnibus Molloy, Malone Dies, The Unnamable (done 11/4)
38. *Crome Yellow (done 11/16)

Audiobooks
6. The Gray Man (done 11/6)

* means the book is on the Guardian's 1000 Novels Everyone Should Read list

#63 is a Kindle book I picked up when it was offered for free back in 2012 -- Klondike House - Memories of an Irish Country Childhood. A slight but enjoyable memoir. I liked the photographs included (which I could see fine in black & white on my old Kindle keyboard but were even better in color on my Kindle Fire) and the selection of Irish poems related well to the contents of the various chapters. However, I never felt that I got to know the narrator/writer as a person - it was more a collection of anecdotes than a memoir. 3*

I picked up the Kindle edition of Artemis Fowl back in September 2012. I liked the fairy world aspects more than the 12-year-old villain...

#65, Molloy, was a bit of a cheat, as I listened to a library audiobook edition while I read my Kindle omnibus of Molloy, Malone Dies, The Unnamable (acquired in 2013). Brilliant narration (with such lovely Irish accents) for a demanding book. I give the audio 5*, the book itself 4.5*

The 6th audiobook was a freebie I picked up from Audible in 2013, The Gray Man. Despite the improbable plot & sometimes terrible writing, I enjoyed this thriller. Jay Snyder's narration helped with that! 2½*

#67 is Kindle #38, Crome Yellow which has been languishing on my Kindle since August 2012. This is a satire or comedy of manners so there is not much action. Various people are gathered at a country house for a visit which gives Huxley a chance to show us different types of 'bright young things' (this was published in the early 1920s). I found much to amuse me but it rarely made me laugh out loud. 3.5*

Still zooming right along, Leslie!

Bev wrote: "Still zooming right along, Leslie!"

Still trying to limit my library consumption *grin*

#68 is paperback 26, the 8th Travis McGee book One Fearful Yellow Eye. While I haven't disliked these books, I think that I am going to put this series aside for a while...

December Progress:

Paperback books (and hardcovers!)
27. Death By Water by Michael Innes (done 12/22)

Kindle books
39. Dramatic Short Stories: Fiction That's Real (done 12/7)
40. Orestes (contained in omnibus "The Tragedies of Euripides, Volume 1") (done 12/8)
41. Death of a Couch Potato's Wife (done 12/11)
42. The Amersham Rubies (done 12/28)

Audiobooks
7.

* means the book is on the Guardian's 1000 Novels Everyone Should Read list

#70 overall is Kindle ROOT #40 - the play Orestes by Euripides, contained in the Kindle omnibus "The Tragedies of Euripides, Volume 1" which I acquired in January 2014. While I thought the content of the play was very interesting, I didn't much care for the translation by Theodore Buckley. 3*

#71 is a Kindle mystery I picked up as a freebie back in 2012, Death of a Couch Potato's Wife. While the writing was decent & the mystery kept me guessing, there were some flaws in this first book. I gave it 2½★ but would be willing to read another by this author.

Ah yes... I can see you got to the top and beyond. :-) Well done!

Cath wrote: "Ah yes... I can see you got to the top and beyond. :-) Well done!"

Thanks Cath -- but I still need to work on reading more of my physical books - only 26 of those (and one going now)... The Kindle books & audiobooks don't take up space on my bookcases!

I know... but I still feel guilty at all the ereader books I've accumulated unread too. LOL! But yeah, I'm planning to make 2016 a year of reading more of my physical books.

#72 was the paperback of the 22nd Inspector Appleby mystery, Death By Water. A good entry but not one of the best of the series. 3*


#73 was a Kindle short story, The Amersham Rubies, which I picked up in 2013. This mystery short is a prequel to the Molly Murphy series -- it made me want to dip further into this series (like I need to get involved in yet another mystery series!!). 3*