Mount TBR 2015 discussion

I succeeded with my Mount Blanc just on paperback books in 2014 so for 2015 I am aiming higher! I would like to have at least half of my goal be paperback (or hardcover) books, but I am including Kindle & audiobooks in my total goal.

added later: looks like the tickers still don't work... Progress: 48/48

Leslie, welcome back and good luck with the higher mountain!

Bev wrote: "Leslie, welcome back and good luck with the higher mountain!"

Thanks Bev!

January Progress:

Paperback books (and hardcovers!)
1. The Weight Of The Evidence (done 1/2)
2. Rain and Other South Sea Stories (done 1/8)
3. Robots and Empire (done 1/18)

Kindle books
1. January Exposure (done 1/9)
2. *The Vicar of Wakefield (done 1/9)
3.  A Bobwhite Killing (done 1/24)
4.  Life on the Mississippi (done 1/25)
5.  Indiscretions of Archie (done 1/28)

Audiobooks
1. Life on the Mississippi (done 1/25)

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

Finished my first step up the mountain yesterday with The Weight Of The Evidence -- I had started #9 in the Inspector Appleby series on Dec. 31 but only got about 50 pages done (out of 192) so I am counting it. 3½ stars

Good luck with Mount Ararat, Leslie. I'm sure you can do it and you've already started well!

Thanks Cath -- I just need to restrain myself at the library :)

LOL. We need a support group. ;-)

Maybe I should hand out blinders to go with our climbing equipment so we won't see the shiny books at the library and elsewhere...

That would be good, Bev!

@Bev -- Blinders would be helpful! :-)

Have to see if I can get some sort of bulk order discount... LOL.

I have finished book #2, Rain and Other South Sea Stories by W. Somerset Maugham. I've owned this for about a year and am glad I finally made time to read it -- the stories were lovely! 4½*

Book #3, January Exposure by Sunny Benson, has been on my Kindle since Feb. 2013. This is the first book in a cozy mystery series set in North Dakota. 3*

Book #4, The Vicar of Wakefield, has been on my Kindle since Aug. 2012. While I enjoyed it quite a lot, it wasn't as funny as Goldsmith's She Stoops to Conquer. 4*

Leslie wrote: "Book #4, The Vicar of Wakefield, has been on my Kindle since Aug. 2012. While I enjoyed it quite a lot, it wasn't as funny as Goldsmith's She Stoops to Conquer. 4*"

I absolutely agree with you. Loved She Stoops to Conquer. But Vicar wasn't near as good.

Yes, that was a little disappointing but I am glad I finally read this novel anyway.

Four books read is great, Leslie! I have a book Somerset Maugham's travel writings which I must get to. I haven't read any of his fiction.

Cath wrote: "Four books read is great, Leslie! I have a book Somerset Maugham's travel writings which I must get to. I haven't read any of his fiction."

I absolutely loved his satire of British authors in Cakes and Ale and thought The Razor's Edge was very good too. I will have to put his nonfiction onto my radar!

After a strong start, I am now reading 4 different library books! I think that my library addiction will take a long time to overcome but at least I'm not buying as many books :P

Oooh, thanks for the recs, I've added them to my 'want to read' shelf.

my library addiction will take a long time to overcome

LOL! Yes, mine too although I only have 5 on my library pile atm. I'm not buying many books either. I was given a few for Christmas and will be satisfied (or try to be) with those for a while.

Book #5, Robots and Empire, is a paperback I got from my mother 6 or 7 years ago. This is the last book in Asimov's Robot series and I felt it didn't quite measure up to the previous books in the series. However it did pick up as it went along & provided a bridge to the Foundation series. 3*

I do love Asimov--it's been a long time since I read this one.

Bev wrote: "I do love Asimov--it's been a long time since I read this one."

We seem to have similar tastes :)

Yes, indeed!

Book #6 (Kindle book #3) was A Bobwhite Killing by Jan Dunlap, owned since July 2013. A fun cozy mystery centering around a group of bird watchers. I'll be reading more of this series, so it's a bit too bad I started with #3. 4*

Book #7 (first audiobook & 4th Kindle book) was Life on the Mississippi narrated by Grover Gardner. This is a relative newcomer to my mountain of books, having got both audio & Kindle books last July. 3½* for the book and 4* for the audiobook.

Book #8 (Kindle book #5) was Indiscretions of Archie by P.G. Wodehouse. This humorous book has been on my Kindle waiting to be read since 2012, and I am glad I finally made time for it. Not as good as the best Wodehouse (the Jeeves & Wooster series and the Blandings Castle series) but a fast, fun read. 3½*

February Progress:

Paperback books (and hardcovers!)
4. Borders of Infinity (contained in the omnibus Miles Errant, done 2/13)
5. Nightmare in Pink (done 2/15)
6. Brothers in Arms (contained in the omnibus Miles Errant, done 2/18)
7. Appleby's End (contained in the omnibus "The Michael Innes Treasury", done 2/24)

Kindle books
6. *Bel-Ami (done 2/5)
7.  Deadly Valentine (done 2/7)
8.  Yellow Crocus (done 2/12)
9.  In a German Pension: 13 Stories (done 2/13, finishes Selected Stories)
10. Antony and Cleopatra (contained in the omnibus of Shakespeare's "The Complete Works")
11. Much Ado About Nothing (contained in the omnibus of Shakespeare's "The Complete Works")
12. Indian Summer of a Forsyte and In Chancery (contained in the omnibus "The Forsyte Saga - Complete") (done 2/21)
13. Caesar's Wife A comedy in three acts (done 2/24)
14. Dutch Me Deadly (done 2/27)

Audiobooks
2. NONE this month


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

Book #9 (Kindle book #6) was Bel-Ami by Guy de Maupassant. I have had the iBook since 2012 and the public domain Kindle edition since 2013. While beautifully written, the story itself was ultimately depressing. I guess the nineteenth French school of realism isn't to my taste... 3½*

Book #10 (Kindle book #7) Deadly Valentine, owned since 2012. While some of the plot was predictable, even obvious in places, the ending did manage to surprise me. There was also more details about the sex between Tess and Jack than I wanted to read (in fact, I didn't read it - just skimmed through 'til it was over). However, I can't really complain about that as it was clear in the blurb that this would be the case... 2½*

Book #11 (Kindle book #8), owned since 2012, was the historical fiction Yellow Crocus set in pre-Civil War Virginia & Ohio. I liked the beginning and ending more than the middle. Lisbeth as a teenager seemed unbelievably naive. This level of blindness is like the Germans during WW2 saying they didn't know what was happening to the Jews and I guess it stems from a similar psychological need to not see the cruelty that you have little ability to ameliorate. 3*

In a German Pension: 13 Stories is book #12 (Kindle book #9) and is the third and last part of the omnibus Selected Stories (the first 2 parts, "The Garden Party and Other Stories" & "Bliss and Other Stories", I read in 2013). I found this collection distinct from the other 2 in that the stories are almost chapters in a "slice of life" novel, describing the various characters & events that occur while the main character, an Englishwoman, is staying at this pension (sort of like a boarding house). 4*

After some internal debate & reading a discussion elsewhere about omnibus editions, I am going to count each novel, novella, or play separately this year. It will certainly help my numbers!

Therefore, #13 is the novella Borders of Infinity which is contained in the omnibus Miles Errant. This omnibus (and several others from the Vorkosigan series) has been on my shelves since 2010. I found this entry in the series a bit gritty, perhaps because I found the idea of how easily humans discard their civilities disturbing. 3*

My decision to count the parts of omnibuses separately means I have 2 more entries from January, 2 plays I read in my Kindle edition of Shakespeare's The Complete Works (owned since 2012):

Antony and Cleopatra and Much Ado About Nothing

Book #16 is the second Travis McGee mystery, Nightmare in Pink. I got about 15 or 20 of these books from my parents when they moved to a smaller home about 9 years ago but haven't read them until now. I am unsure how much I like the series so far -- a bit more hard-boiled in tone than I generally like but McGee is an interesting character. 3*

Leslie...just so you'll know the Mount TBR moderator stance on omnibus entries, I'm absolutely fine with counting novels/plays/etc as separate entries as long as they were published on their own at some point. I've done it myself with some of my 3-in-1 Detective Club Editions.

Bev wrote: "Leslie...just so you'll know the Mount TBR moderator stance on omnibus entries, I'm absolutely fine with counting novels/plays/etc as separate entries as long as they were published on their own at..."

Good to know Bev! Thanks :)

Book #17 is Brothers in Arms (contained in the omnibus Miles Errant). I was glad to see Bujold return to the previous style of space opera adventure in this novel in the Vorkosigan series. 4*

Book #18 (Kindle book #12) is Vol. 2 of "The Forsyte Saga", Indian Summer of a Forsyte and In Chancery. I have had this omnibus of the complete Forsyte Saga on my Kindle since 2012. I really enjoyed the first book (The Man of Property) when I read it in 2013 so I don't know why it has taken me so long to continue on!

I give the novella Indian Summer of a Forsyte 4½* and the novel In Chancery 4*.

Book #19 (print #7) is the third book in my The Michael Innes Treasury - Appleby's End. This is the tenth entry of the Inspector Appleby series, and has been on my shelf since 2006. While I don't think it would be to everyone's taste, I enjoyed this peculiar yet witty mystery once I adjusted to the somewhat pendantic vocabulary used. 4*

Leslie wrote: "Book #19 (print #7) is the third book in my The Michael Innes Treasury - Appleby's End. This is the tenth entry of the Inspector Appleby series, and has been on my shelf sinc..."

The Innes books are a little off the wall sometimes...but I do like his peculiar mysteries. Have you read The Open House? That one is particularly bizarre--but I thoroughly enjoyed it. I probably need to reread it....I read it before I started blogging and doing detailed reviews.

Bev wrote: "Leslie wrote: "Book #19 (print #7) is the third book in my The Michael Innes Treasury - Appleby's End. This is the tenth entry of the Inspector Appleby series, and has been o..."

I haven't read that one yet. "Particularly bizarre" when it comes to Innes must be very odd indeed!

Leslie wrote: "Bev wrote: "Leslie wrote: "Book #19 (print #7) is the third book in my The Michael Innes Treasury - Appleby's End. This is the tenth entry of the Inspector Appleby series, an..."

Yes, indeed. :-) But that one appeals to me because it has a quirky professor-type character and I love me a mystery with an academic slant of any sort.

I have a fondness for academic mysteries as well :)

Book #20 (Kindle #13) is a play by W. Somerset Maugham which I downloaded from Project Gutenberg several years ago (2012? 2013?), called Caesar's Wife A Comedy in Three Acts. Well-written as is all of Maugham's work, this play is amusing on the surface but is actually sad underneath. 4*

Book #21 (Kindle #14) is a cozy mystery I picked up almost exactly 2 years ago (March 1, 2013). Dutch Me Deadly is the 7th book in the Passports in Peril series but it is the first one I have read. While I thought the murder plot was good, with plenty of clues without being obvious, I found the supporting characters to be weak. These traveling seniors were all too similar to each other and not very believable. 3*

I want to read The Vicar of Wakefield purely because it is referenced in Little Women, which I just started reading.

Nela wrote: "I want to read The Vicar of Wakefield purely because it is referenced in Little Women, which I just started reading."

I picked it up because it is mentioned a few times in some of Georgette Heyer's books (set in Regency England) :)

Very impressed at how well you're doing, Leslie!

Cath wrote: "Very impressed at how well you're doing, Leslie!"

Thanks! :)

I needed to build up a cushion against some of the chunksters I plan to read (like now!).