Mount TBR 2017 discussion

The year is half-way over....Wait! What? How did that happen so quickly? I must have lost track of time just concentrating on the mountain trail ahead of me. But--it's that time again. Your mountaineering guide is calling for a second quarterly check-in post. Let us know how your climb has been so far. Seen any mountain goats? Any particularly pretty wildflowers? How about the abominable snowman? For those who would like to participate in this checkpoint post, I'd like you to do two things:

1. Tell us how many miles you've made it up your mountain (# of books read). If you're really ambitious, you can do some intricate math and figure out how the number of books you've read correlates to actual miles up Pike's Peak, Mt. Ararat, etc. And feel free to tell us about any particularly exciting adventures you've had along the way.

I'm not quite half-way up Mt. Olympus (67 books). I got distracted by a few too many library books and that's slowed me up a bit. I still hope to finally plant my flag on Olympus this year.



2. Complete ONE (or more if you like) of the following:

A. Choose two titles from the books you've read so far that have a common link. You decide what the link is--both have strong female lead characters? Each focuses on a diabolical plot to take over the world? Blue covers? About weddings? Find your link and tell us what it is.

Spice Island Mystery by Betty Cavanna and Deception Island by M. K. Lorens--both take place (surprise!) on an island. One is the Caribbean and the other is in the middle of New York.


B. Tell us about a book on the list that was new to you in some way--new author, about a place you've never been, a genre you don't usually read...etc.

Death of a Racehorse by John Creasey--the first book I've read by Creasey (under any of his noms de plume...). It won't be the last. A very satisfying police procedural.


C. Which book (read so far) has been on your TBR mountain the longest? Was it worth the wait? Or is it possible you should have tackled it back when you first put it on the pile? Or tossed it off the edge without reading it all?

Death Cracks a Bottle by Kenneth Giles [on TBR since 12/11/08]. Well worth the wait. Kenneth Giles writes a very nice British mystery.


OR (Counts as both part 1 and 2)

Use titles from your list to complete as many of the following sentences below as you can. If you haven't read enough books to give you good choices, then feel free to use any books yet to be read from your piles. I've given my answers as examples. Feel free to add or change words (such as "a" or "the" or others that clarify) as needed.

My Life According to Books
1. My Ex is/was The Snake on 99 (by Stewart Farrar)
2. My best friend is Zadok's Treasure (by Margot Arnold)
3. Lately, at work [I've had to deal with the] Decision at Delph (by Helen MacInnes)
4. If I won the lottery, [I'd go searching for] The Hidden Planet (by Donald A Wollheim, ed)
5. My fashion sense [is] Fit to Kill (by Hans C. Owen)
6. My next ride [will be told in] Thrilling Stories of the Railway (by Victor L. Whitechurch)
7. The one I love is [a] Mystery in White (by J. Jefferson Farjeon)
8. If I ruled the world, I would Search for a Scientist (by Charles Leonard) [or several hundred...to work on climate change]
9. When I look out my window, I [wonder] Who Is the Next? (by Henry Kitchell Webster)
10. The best things in life are [done] All for the Love of a Lady (by Leslie Ford)

Please post your answers in a comment below. And what do you get for all that hard work (and distraction from the actual climb)? The checkpoint will be closed at 11:59 pm on Sunday, July 9. On Monday, July 10, I will crank up the Custom Random Number Generator and pick a winning climber. He or she will have the chance to add to their TBR stack via my gently-used book vault (prize list will be sent). Just think, if you win a book you can start up a pile for next year's Mount TBR Challenge.

Even if you're not in the mood for a prize or if you've only got one leg of the journey under your belt, I'd love to have you check in and tell us how your climb is going!

***Please note--comments for Checkpoint posts only. This makes it easier for me to track a winner. If you would like to cheer on fellow climbers--please visit their climb folder.

My climb up Mount Blanc (24) has progressed well in Q2 although not as quickly as in Q1. However it's going well enough for me to jump up to Mt Vancouver (36) as I'm pretty sure I can do it—I just have to stop getting distracted by library books and new books.

Every book that I read from my TBR pile in Q2 was by an author I'd read before. The Spire by William Golding is probably the book I've been meaning to read the longest; just how long I can't say for sure, and in the end I was a little disappointed; the story was good enough but the vaguely stream-of-consciousness style didn't really suit the story. I'm glad I read it though.

The last two months have been slow for me, since not only I picked up big books, but also I was very busy with my internship AND I was going through this awful reading slump that made me switch back and forth between books, not really finishing any of them. But I'm almost on the top of Mt. Vancouver, and going to Mt. Ararat, so I consider that a victory. This next two months will be great for picking up the pace with this challenge, since I'm at home most of the time.

1. Like I said, I'm two books away from the top of Mt. Vancouver, so I'm counting the miles as if I'm already climbing Mt. Ararat, because that's were I'm heading anyway. I'm 3.638,7 m up the 5.137m mountain.

2. Complete ONE (or more if you like) of the following:

A. Choose two titles from the books you've read so far that have a common link. You decide what the link is--both have strong female lead characters? Each focuses on a diabolical plot to take over the world? Blue covers? About weddings? Find your link and tell us what it is.

Drown by Esther Dalseno & Cruel Beauty by Rosamund Hodge are both fairytales retellings with a dark feel to it. And both are SO SO good and I gave them 5 stars.


B. Tell us about a book on the list that was new to you in some way--new author, about a place you've never been, a genre you don't usually read...etc.

Dark Matter by Blake Crouch, because although I do like the genre, sci-fi is not one of my most read genres and this was my first one this year, quickly followed by "The Illuminae Files" two books - Illuminae & Gemina.


C. Which book (read so far) has been on your TBR mountain the longest? Was it worth the wait? Or is it possible you should have tackled it back when you first put it on the pile? Or tossed it off the edge without reading it all?

Both Eragon and Eldest have been on my TBR the longest, along with Blood Promise by Richelle Mead. The first two were re-reads, so I could get to Brisingir, so I'm only counting Blood Promise, which was so not worth the wait. I really wish I was done with this series already.


OR (Counts as both part 1 and 2)

Use titles from your list to complete as many of the following sentences below as you can. If you haven't read enough books to give you good choices, then feel free to use any books yet to be read from your piles. I've given my answers as examples. Feel free to add or change words (such as "a" or "the" or others that clarify) as needed.

My Life According to Books
1. My Ex is/was The Diabolic
2. My best friend is The Siren
3. Lately, at work [it's been] A Week of Mondays
4. If I won the lottery, [I'd be part of] The Young Elites
5. My fashion sense [is made of] Dark Matter
6. My next ride [will be to the] City of Lost Souls
7. The one I love is Born Wicked
8. If I ruled the world, I would [be the] Queen of Shadows
9. When I look out my window, I [see] The Serpent's Shadow
10. The best things in life are Big Little Lies

I am 17 books into my Mt. Vancouver climb so a little off pace, but I'm sure I can catch up! So many other books keep distracting me. :)

The Last Telegram by Liz Trenow and The Pearl that Broke Its Shell by Nadia Hashimi both explored the theme of women living in a male-dominated world. The settings were very different but both protagonists grappled with sexual assault and navigating traditional (sexist) views of how a woman should behave.

MT TBR Checkpoint #2

1. I've read 26 out of 36 books for Mt. Vancouver. That's 70% of the climb. I expect my pace will slow since I have some longer books planned for the summer.... and then there are those shiny new ones.

2. Complete ONE (or more if you like) of the following:

B. Tell us about a book on the list that was new to you in some way-
Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty is a new author for me and set in a place I've never been, Australia. The story is told from the POV of three characters, goes backward from the climactic event and has snippets of police interviews with other characters at the start of the chapters. It was a different read and a very good story.

C. Which book (read so far) has been on your TBR mountain the longest?
Venetia by Georgette Heyer was on my TBR the longest. I bought that book about 10 years ago when I was on a spree reading and collecting Heyer's novels. Not sure why it took me so long to read this one. I guess that I moved on to another author before I got to it. It was a good read, classic Heyer.

My Life According to Books
1. My Ex [told] Big Little Lies [that left] Bridges Burned.
2. My best friend[s are] The Supremes at Earl's All-You-Can-Eat
3. Lately, at work, [I use] Every Trick in the Book
4. If I won the lottery, [I will make] The Escape
5. My fashion sense [is] Patterns in the Sand [with] Twisted Threads
6. My next ride [has] A High-End Finish
7. The one I love is Only Enchanting
8. If I ruled the world, I would [find the] Lost Legacy
9. When I look out my window, [I am] Finding Sky
10. The best things in life are Only a Promise

I've made it 27 bookmiles - of 48 - up Mt. Ararat, as usual it's hard to focus on those older TBRs!

My oldest one was added Aug 17, 2011 Dash & Lily's Book of Dares - it was a bit disappointing and will be passed on to goodwill. But hey - theres a shelf space available :-)

I really enjoyed the for me new author of Einstein's Dreams Alan Lightman

1. 36 books read by the end of June. This is over half way so I am pleased… but there is a long way still to go.

2a. Wayfarer by Alexandra Bracken and Seeing by José Saramago are both second parts of duologies.

2b. I finally got round to a true crime book. I am not convinced I have ever read one before. I enjoyed Truman Capote’s In Cold Blood but I am not sure that I want to read any more anytime soon.

2c. Slightly ashamed to admit this. But I have had the End of the House of Lancaster by R L Storey on my TBR since 1999. In fact the (faded) receipt was in the book and it was dated 23/08/1999. To be fair I have not had a lot of access to it… it spent years in an attic.

My Life According to Books

1. My Ex is Gone With the Wind (Margaret Mitchell)
2. My best friend is The Scarecrow Queen (Melinda Salisbury)
3. Lately, at work (I) Disobey (Jacqui Rose)
4. If I won the lottery, (I’d try) Reading the World (and less selfishly I would be involved in) Dethroning Mammon (Ann Morgan and Justin Welby)
5. My fashion sense [is] Genesis and Exodus (JW Rogerson and others)
6. My next ride is (with) Monsignor Quixote (Graham Greene)
7. The one I love is Once and For All (Sarah Dessen)
8. If I ruled the world, (I would travel in)The Ship Beyond Time (Heidi Heilig)
9. When I look out my window, I see How Green Was My Valley (Richard Llewellyn)
10. The best things in life are Cakes and Ale (W. Somerset Maugham)

Okay... I cheated a little and used some from my non-mount TBR list.

1) 40 books read takes me 2/3s up Mount Kilimanjaro. I'm hoping to finish climbing a little early before the end of year holidays and looks like that may work out.

2A). A Common Link: Three Bags Full: A Sheep Detective Story by Leonie Swann and The Big Cat Nap by Rita Mae Brown both tell at least some of the story from point of view of animals.

2B) New In Some Way: Pastors and Masters by Ivy Compton-Burnett. I'd guess this author is like dark chocolate— you either love her or hate her — I loved her astringent wit and cynically revealing dialogue.

2C) Worth the Wait? Violet Clay by Gail Godwin has been sitting on my shelves for 20+ years because I could never get past the first few pages. This one was almost a DNF, but the last third of the book pulled the story together so I'm glad I persisted.

My Life According to Books
1. My Ex is/was The Secondhand Dog [by Jon Katz]
2. My best friend is The Giver [by Lois Lowry]
3. Lately, at work [it’s] Brewing Up A Storm [by Emma Lathen]
4. If I won the lottery, [I'd go searching for] Back Roads to Far Towns [by Basho]
5. My fashion sense [is a] Big Cat Nap [by Rita Mae Brown]
6. My next ride [will be ] A Journey to the Center of the Earth [by Jules Verne]
7. The one I love is The Arrival [by Shaun Tan]
8. If I ruled the world, [there would be] Good Behavior [by Donald Westlake]
9. When I look out my window, I [wonder] Why I Wake Early [by Mary Oliver]
10. The best things in life are [done with] The Last of the Wine [by Mary Renault

First, thank you, Bev, for such a fun and creative challenge!

I am exactly halfway up Mt. Ararat with 24 books read. I've managed to donate 13 of those to the Mt. Ararat Library, the others I loved too much to leave behind on the slope. As a devoted mystery reader, my adventure has included many a Dark and Stormy Night, and on the ascent, I've stumbled across countless victims who died under suspicious circumstances. Thanks to great detective work, all those murders have been solved.

Along the climb, I discovered The Tomb of Zeus (by Barbara Cleverly) and Artifacts (by Mary Anna Evans), both new authors to me. I planted 5 flags at each site before moving on with my adventure. I will journey to more of their archaeological sites before I'm finished—archaeology being the common link.

The book on my TBR pile the longest, I'm guessing was The Red House Mystery (by A.A. Milne), the only mystery ever written by the author of the Winnie the Pooh books and well-worth the read.

The second part of the challenge, though not required, is too fun to pass up.

1. My Ex was Columbo: the Game Show Killer by William Harrington.
2. My best friend is Miss Pym [who] Disposes by Josephine Tey.
3. Lately at work, Death Lights a Candle by Phoebe Atwood Taylor.
4. If I won the lottery, [I'd buy] The Anodyne Necklace by Martha Grimes.
5. My fashion sense [could be described as] The Corpse Steps Out by Craig Rice.
6. My next ride [is on] A Late Phoenix by Catherine Aird.
7. The one I love is Murder, Mr. Mosley by John Greenwood.
8. If I ruled the world, [I'd share] Zadok's Treasure by Margot Arnold.
9. When I look out my window [I see] The House at Sea's End by Elly Griffiths.
10. The best things is life are Grim Pickings by Jennifer Rowe.

I've read 28 of the 36 books for mnt. Vancouver. That puts me 3/4 of the way to the top.
2a. I've read several of the books from Darrell Maloney Countdown to Armageddon series (books 6-8). I had stopped reading them for awhile because I got bored. But I enjoyed getting back to
2b. was a new genre for me. It's a fictional Western that I just loved ❤️
2c. I think the oldest book in my pile was It took me 3 years to read this book but I'm glad I finished it.

I've read 44 TBR books so far this year. So I'm almost at Mt. Ararat. My goal for the year originally was Mt. Kilimanjaro (60 books) but now I think I might actually make El Toro this year (75 books) if I can stay at this pace. Which is exciting.

I think the longest TBR I've read so far this year was American Wife which I did not like. I've read several other long books, but they don't count toward this challenge (I'm re-reading the Dark Tower series). Most of the TBRs I've read this quarter have been shorter ones. I hope to tackle a few longer ones when I'm done with the Dark Tower books.

I pledged Mt Ararat (48) this year, thinking my reading rate would be comparable to last year. Nope! As of a few days ago I'm at 51. Though the next month or two promises to be much slower as I slog my way through a bunch of 600+ pagers, and in one case, a 1200 page novel.

A. The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet and The Shadowed Sun are both wonderfully written "literary genre" novels that made me cry.

C. Prooooobably Deep Water, but it's hard to tell. With the exception of Essays of E.B. White I don't think anything's been on the list for more than five or so years, which is coincidentally when I made my GR account. It's one of the better tie-ins, though that's a low bar. I enjoy them because of the characters, not the writing, though.

As of today, I've finished 23 out of 36 books for my TBR goals. Roughly 64% of the way up Mt. Vancouver. I may even be able to make Mt. Ararat this year if I keep up the pace.

My Life According to books sounded fun, so here is my go at it.

My Life According to Books
1. My Ex is/was [a] Singularity (by Steven James)
2. My best friend is A Light in the Window (by Jan Karon)
3. Lately, at work [I've had to deal with] Self-Incrimination (by Randy Singer)
4. If I won the lottery, [I'd go searching for] Treasure Island (by Robert Louis Stevenson, not read yet but on the list)
5. My fashion sense [is] A Noble Masquerade (by Kristi Ann Hunter)
6. My next ride [will be down] Sycamore Road (by John Grisham)
7. The one I love is [a] Man Called Blessed (by Ted Dekker and Bill Bright)
8. If I ruled the world, I would [be] The Guardian (by Robbie Cheuvront and Erik Reed)
9. When I look out my window, I [feel] At Home In Mitford (by Jan Karon)
10. The best things in life are Dancing With Fireflies (by Denise Hunter)

I'm on 35/48 and loving this challenge as it shows me how long some books have languished unread.

I read Hotel Iris by Yoko Ogawa, a new-to-me writer, and really liked its darkness.

The longest-unread book: how about 30 years? Robert Lindner's 50 Minute Hour. Actually I wish I'd read this when I got it because now it felt dated
I also read Best German tales and Stories which was almost as old and it was fantastic.

So there you go....

1. I've read 60 out of 75 books for El Toro so far. I was going quicker in the first quarter, but got distracted by new books and challenges and library books... Anyways, I'm 80% of the way up El Toro, meaning I've climbed 286.4 metres. Not bad.


2. A. I have Seven Kinds of Hell and American Gods, which both feature protagonists who learn of an otherworldly heritage that has been hidden from them by their mothers.

I've read 28 books. The original mountain completed at 24 for Mt Blanc so now I'm climbing up Mt Vancouver, goal of 36 books.

The oldest owned book I've read this year so far is: Kafka's Curse by Achmat Dangor. Bought the print book in August 2001. Not worth the wait.

"My Life" in books:

1. My Ex is/was The Game
2. My best friend is [a] Green Girl
3. Lately, at work [it's been] Kafka's Curse
4. If I won the lottery, [I'd be at] The Bookshop on the Corner
5. My fashion sense [is like] The Couple Next Door
6. My next ride [will be] The Red Car
7. The one I love is [the] Best Boy
8. If I ruled the world, I would [be] The Sympathizer
9. When I look out my window, I [see] The Wild Trees
10. The best things in life are Periodic Tales

65/150 Behind! Oh, no!

My Life According to Books

1. My Ex is/was My Mortal Enemy
2. My best friend is Grace Under Pressure
3. Lately, at work [we've analyzed] One Bad Apple
4. If I won the lottery, [I'd buy the] The Three Musketeers
5. My fashion sense [is inspired by] Scrappy Little Nobody
6. My next ride [is to] Mum's the Word
7. The one I love is A Grimm Warning
8. If I ruled the world, I would [be] The Girl with the Lower Back Tattoo
9. When I look out my window, I [see] The Rest of Us Just Live Here
10. The best things in life are Undeniable

1. Tell us how many miles you've made it up your mountain (# of books read).

At the end of June, I was at 31/48 =0.65% of the way up Mount Ararat. The mountain’s summit sits at 16,854 feet, so that means I’ve climbed … 10, 955 feet. Wow! No wonder I need a nap.

2 A. Choose two titles from the books you've read so far that have a common link.
A Mother's Reckoning: Living in the Aftermath of Tragedy (nonfiction) and The Story of the Lost Child (fiction). Both books deal with the loss of a child — one through death, the other through disappearance (and is never found). Both books detail how losing a child affects the mothers, who spend the rest of their lives searching for answers.

B. Tell us about a book on the list that was new to you in some way:

Amor Towles is an author who was new to me until this year. I have now read both of his books (Rules of Civility and A Gentleman in Moscow), enjoyed them tremendously and have been recommending them to everyone I know.

C. Which book (read so far) has been on your TBR mountain the longest? Was it worth the wait? Or is it possible you should have tackled it back when you first put it on the pile?

The one that was on my TBR pile the longest was Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln by Doris Kearns Goodwin. I’ve had it since the paperback came out in 2007, I think? It was definitely worth the wait—a fabulous read that possibly resonated with me even more by waiting until now – in the current political situation in our country – to read about Lincoln’s presidential leadership.

My Life According to Books
1. My Ex is/was Everything She Forgot
2. My best friend is The Girl with All the Gifts
3. Lately, at work [I've had to deal with] Pride and Prejudice
4. If I won the lottery, [I'd go searching for] The Geography of Bliss: One Grump's Search for the Happiest Places in the World
5. My fashion sense [is best viewed] Behind Closed Doors
6. My next ride [will be along] Revolutionary Road
7. The one I love is The Story of a Marriage
8. If I ruled the world, I would [bring back] Rules of Civility
9. When I look out my window, I [am] East of the Sun
10. The best things in life are Homegoing

19 books so far out of 36.
the books that was on my shelves for ages was; one flew over the cuckoo's nest by Ken Kesey. It surprised by being very different from the movie and I really liked reading it. oh well...books are patient.
1. my ex is; something wicked this way comes (ray bradbury)
2. my best friend is; Kzanol the spacepirate (Larry Niven)
3. lately at work; no time for goodbye (Linwood Barclay)
4. If I won the lottery; White noise (Don deLillo) and happy screaming!
5. my fashion sense is; one flew over the cuckoo's nest (Ken Kesey)
6. my next ride; (on) the greenway (Jane Addams)
7. the one I love is; (my) Self (Yann Martel)
8. if I ruled the world I would; (run for the) black hills ( Dan Simmons)
9. when I look out of my window; monkfish moon (Romesh Gunesekera)
10. the best things in life are; memoirs of a geisha (Arthur Golden)

1. I have read seven books so far out of my goal of twenty-four, meaning I need to stop visiting my local libraries and getting distracted :P

2A. Chasing the Moon, by A. Lee Martinez, and Daredevil Volume 7, by Mark Waid, both feature monsters. Unfortunately their other similarity was that I found both of them slightly disappointing.

2B. Beyond the Glass Slipper, by Kate Wolford, was my first foray into the realm of annotated fairy tales. I quite enjoyed it, and will likely read more books along the same lines.

2C. Most of my books on my TBR pile are fairly recent, so the oldest one so far was Daredevil Volume 7, by Mark Waid, purchased in January of last year. I really shouldn't have waited so long to read it, because I ended up needing to reread the first six volumes to remind myself of what had happened previously since it had been so long.

Thanks, everyone for checking in! So glad to see you all doing so well. I will pull out the Random Number Generator and pick a winner when I get home from work tonight!

I just got the chance to haul out the random number generator and select our Mount TBR checkpoint winner. Let's feed in all the entries, listen to it clank and whir, and we have a winner! Our lucky climber is Message #4.


A quick peek above tells me that our winner at Message #4 is Kathryn! Congratulations, Kathryn! I'll be contacting you about the prize list very soon.

Thanks again to all of you who checked in...and to all who are busy climbing with us! See you at the next checkpoint!

I'm working my way up Pike's Peak with 7 of 13 books read! I'm currently reading _Ulysses_ by James Joyce, which is becoming a problematic climb. I think it is going to be tossed off the nearest cliff face.

I have three books that are linked: ULYSSES, HEART OF DARKNESS, and REBECCA because they are all off my "Waterstone’s 50 Books to Read Before You Die" list.

Bev wrote: "Thanks, everyone for checking in! So glad to see you all doing so well. I will pull out the Random Number Generator and pick a winner when I get home from work tonight!"

Congrats, Kathryn!

I finished Pike's Peak last month.

My Life According to Books
1. My Ex has been through REDEPLOYMENT
2. My best friend is LITTLE BEE
3. Lately, at work [it's been] a HONEYSUCKLE HOLIDAY
4. If I won the lottery, [I'd be part of] the GIRL IN TRANSLATION
5. My fashion sense [is similar to] SAINT MAZIE
6. My next ride [will be to see] DUMPLIN'
7. The one I love is THE VEGETARIAN
8. If I ruled the world, I would [be in] THE PERSIAN PICKLE CLUB
9. When I look out my window, I [see] A MAN CALLED OVE
10. The best things in life are part of THE NAMESAKE

"Mount TBR Checkpoint #2"

46 books read, so just short of being halfway up the mountain

a. Choose two titles from the books you've read so far that have a common link.
Chronicles of a Curate and Chronicles of a Vicar. Novelized memoirs of Fred during his career in the English church.

b. Tell us about a book on the list that was new to you in some way.
The Golden Straw; I'd never read anything by this author because I didn't think I'd like the genre. A dear friend brought the book to me while I was in hospital, and I devoured it in 2 days, & loved it!

c. Which book (read so far) has been on your TBR mountain the longest?
Henrietta's War: News from the Home Front 1939-1942. Added top TBR mountain Jan. 10, 2011.
Was it worth the wait? No, but I enjoyed the book & it was just that there were so many other books in front of it.