Mount TBR 2015 discussion

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message 1: by An (last edited Dec 21, 2015 03:11AM) (new)

An | 39 comments Hi all!

I have made a list of 20 ebooks and 20 physical books that have been lingering on my shelves far too long. The idea is to read these 40 books (starting January 1) and not buy or borrow any new books before they are finished.

✓ ebook TBR20: https://www.goodreads.com/review/list...
Progress: 20/20

✓ physical TBR20: https://www.goodreads.com/review/list...
Progress: 20/20

A third TBR20 pile will be made and read as soon as the two above have been processed.
https://www.goodreads.com/review/list...
Progress: 1/20


message 2: by Marina (new)

Marina (sonnenbarke) Hey An, nice to see you've joined the group! Good luck with your challenge :-)


message 3: by An (new)

An | 39 comments Marina wrote: "Hey An, nice to see you've joined the group! Good luck with your challenge :-)"

Thank you! You too!


message 4: by An (new)

An | 39 comments Book #1: Cold Earth by Sarah Moss
Rating: ★★★★

I had bought this book on impulse (because it was a bargain AND because I had read another book by Sarah Moss which I really enjoyed, Names for the Sea: Strangers in Iceland. I've had it for about a year, so that's not too bad. I really enjoyed it. It has a good plot (haunted archaeological digs in Greenland while in the outside world a pandemic is threatening mankind) and although it's off to a slow start, the story really picks up AND comes to a nice conclusion.

physical TBR: 1/20


message 5: by An (last edited Jan 08, 2015 01:14PM) (new)

An | 39 comments Book #2: Night Waking by Sarah Moss
Rating: ★★★★

Another Sarah Moss book. Very enjoyable. I'll be reading Bodies of Light soon, which focuses on the family which already makes an appearance in Night Waking. Very much looking forward to that one.

physical TBR: 2/20


message 6: by Sam (new)

Sam (aramsamsam) I really like how you planned out your challenge, An! Good luck with it, especially the book buying/borrowing ban.


message 7: by An (new)

An | 39 comments Iselin wrote: "I really like how you planned out your challenge, An! Good luck with it, especially the book buying/borrowing ban."

Thanks! So far it's fun but I'm sure the buying/borrowing ban will prove difficult.


message 8: by An (last edited Jan 18, 2015 02:31PM) (new)

An | 39 comments Book #3: The Raw Shark Texts
Rating: ★★★★

I had won this book in a Twitter competition a little over a year ago, browsed through it but was put off by the gimmicky-looking stuff inside. So glad I read it now! Really gripping.


message 9: by An (last edited Jan 18, 2015 02:33PM) (new)

An | 39 comments Book #4: Granta 129
Rating: ★★★★

Not on my shelf for very long, but as I have a subscription to the magazine, the new issue will arrive in a few weeks, so I like to keep up with my reading.

Next up: My Salinger Year and Granta 110: Sex


message 10: by An (last edited Jan 21, 2015 12:32PM) (new)

An | 39 comments Book #5: My Salinger Year
Rating:★★★★★

One of my recent books. I really loved this story (a memoir, focusing on Rakoff's year working at a literary agency in the 1990s).


message 11: by An (last edited Jan 23, 2015 12:47PM) (new)

An | 39 comments Book #6: The Flame Alphabet
Rating:★★★

I picked this one up on a trip to London almost 2 years ago. I enjoyed the ideas brought forward in this book, the storytelling not so much. Still worth a read.


message 12: by An (new)

An | 39 comments Book #7: Granta 110: Sex
Rating:★★★

I had been wanting to read this for a while, so it's nice I finally got around to it. Not all of it to my taste, but the story by Adam Foulds was just sublime.


message 13: by An (last edited Jan 31, 2015 01:05AM) (new)

An | 39 comments Book #8: The Good Children
Rating:★★★

A review copy sent to me in December, so I added it to my TBR project.

An enjoyable family saga, but too long.


message 14: by An (new)

An | 39 comments Book #9: A Brief Stop on the Road from Auschwitz
Rating:★★★★

I bought this book when it won an important literary price in Sweden, had started reading it, but hadn't finished completely. Now I did. The English translation is out now by the way. Recommended.


message 15: by An (new)

An | 39 comments Book #10: Selected Stories: Text Classics
Rating:★★★★


message 16: by Bev (new)

Bev | 601 comments Mod
Hi, An! Glad you're with us--and you're doing great!


message 17: by An (new)

An | 39 comments Bev wrote: "Hi, An! Glad you're with us--and you're doing great!"

Thanks! It was high time I took up a challenge like this :)


message 18: by An (last edited Feb 13, 2015 10:54AM) (new)

An | 39 comments Book #11: Not That Kind of Girl: A Young Woman Tells You What She's "Learned" by Lena Dunham
Rating:★★★

One I recently purchased, when it was cheap on Kindle. I wouldn't have read it otherwise. I have to say I enjoyed it in places, but I also often found myself thinking 'why are you telling us this?'


message 19: by An (new)

An | 39 comments Book #12: Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell
Rating:★★★★


message 20: by An (last edited Feb 20, 2015 10:37AM) (new)

An | 39 comments Book #13: One Day by David Nicholls
Rating:★★★★★

Wonderful book. I had won a copy (a deluxe version even) so it wasn't a book I had chosen myself, which is probably why it lingered on my shelf. Needless to say I'm very happy I read it.


message 21: by Sam (new)

Sam (aramsamsam) Woa, An, you're past the first peak! Congrats.


message 22: by An (new)

An | 39 comments Iselin wrote: "Woa, An, you're past the first peak! Congrats."

Thanks! You're getting on well too I've seen. I really like this challenge. Those books have been waiting far too long.


message 23: by An (new)

An | 39 comments Book #14: Stone Mattress: Nine Tales by Margaret Atwood
Rating:★★★★

One of the recent books of my TBR. My rule is that I count for this challenge the books purchased before 2015, so this one just made the cut. I really liked these stories. One of my favourite collections so far.


message 24: by An (last edited Mar 02, 2015 11:18AM) (new)

An | 39 comments Book #15: En storm kom från paradiset by Johannes Anyuru
Rating:★★★★

Johannes Anyuru tells the story of his father's flight from Uganda after Idi Amin's coup.


message 25: by An (new)

An | 39 comments Book #16: Ring for Jeeves by P.G. Wodehouse
Rating:★★★★

My first Wodehouse. Excellent.


message 26: by An (new)

An | 39 comments Book #17: Agaat by Marlene Van Niekerk
Rating:★★★★

712 pages. Long, long, long. But good.


message 27: by An (last edited Mar 26, 2015 04:29AM) (new)

An | 39 comments Book #18: book:Sizzling Sixteen|7023554] by Janet Evanovich
Rating:★★


message 28: by An (new)

An | 39 comments Book #19: my first abandonment. Unfortunately, Chowringhee didn't do it for me. Too bad.


message 29: by An (new)

An | 39 comments Book #20: A Sense of Direction: Pilgrimage for the Restless and the Hopeful by Gideon Lewis-Kraus
Rating:★★★★

The lack of choice (only 4 books on my physcial TBR pile left) was bothering me so I switched to my ebook TBR again. Good that I did, because this brilliant book about pilgrimage cured my reading slump.


message 30: by An (last edited Apr 16, 2015 10:55AM) (new)

An | 39 comments Book #21: Mannen som föll i glömska by Mia Ajvide
Rating:★★★


message 31: by An (new)

An | 39 comments Book #22: half of Les Liaisons Dangereuses was plenty. Abandoned.


message 32: by An (new)

An | 39 comments Book #23: One of Our Thursdays Is Missingby Jasper Fford
Rating:★★★

I enjoyed this book, but maybe I've had a bit enough of this series. Well, I've still got The Woman Who Died a Lot so I'll read at least one more.


message 33: by Bev (new)

Bev | 601 comments Mod
An wrote: "The lack of choice (only 4 books on my physcial TBR pile left) was bothering me so I switched to my ebook TBR again. Good that I did, because this brilliant book about pilgrimage cured my reading slump. ."

Glad you were able to find a way out of your reading slump.


message 34: by An (new)

An | 39 comments Bev wrote: "An wrote: "The lack of choice (only 4 books on my physcial TBR pile left) was bothering me so I switched to my ebook TBR again. Good that I did, because this brilliant book about pilgrimage cured m..."

Me too :)


message 35: by An (last edited May 22, 2015 12:55AM) (new)

An | 39 comments Book #24 and book 20/20 of my physical TBR pile: Middlemarch. It took me a long time to read it, but I really enjoyed it.
Rating:★★★★


message 36: by Bev (new)

Bev | 601 comments Mod
And...Mount Blanc done! Two mountain peaks conquered!


message 37: by An (new)

An | 39 comments Bev wrote: "And...Mount Blanc done! Two mountain peaks conquered!"

Oh, that's good :-)
I'm a bit behind on schedule but at least I've gotten somewhere already!


message 38: by An (last edited May 26, 2015 07:37AM) (new)

An | 39 comments Book #25: The Sound of Things Falling by Juan Gabriel Vasquez
Rating: ★★★★★

This was an amazing book. I think I bought it when it won the 2014 International IMPAC DUBLIN Literary Award, but I hadn't really felt like reading it, even though it's set in Colombia and would have been perfect for my Around the World challenge last year. I'm so glad I read it now. It will most definitely be one of the highlights of my reading year.


message 39: by An (last edited Jun 03, 2015 09:17AM) (new)

An | 39 comments Book #26: Longbourn by Jo Baker
Rating: ★★★★★

Another brilliant book from my TBR pile.


message 40: by An (last edited Jun 11, 2015 12:52PM) (new)

An | 39 comments Book #27: TransAtlantic by Colum McCann
Rating: ★★★★

I loved TransAtlantic. It took a while, but once I got familiar with the characters and time frames, I loved it.

Book #28: My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante.
Rating: ★★★★

I enjoyed this book, but I'm still not sure how I feel about the whole Elena Ferrante hype.


message 41: by An (last edited Jun 13, 2015 08:00AM) (new)

An | 39 comments Book #29: Elizabeth Is Missing by Emma Healy.
Rating: ★

I'm afraid I didn't like this book at all.


message 42: by Bev (new)

Bev | 601 comments Mod
Almost half-way there! Right on target. :-)


message 43: by An (new)

An | 39 comments Book #30: Orfeo
Rating: ★★★

Book #31: Broken Harbour
Rating: ★★★★

Book #32: Raven Black
Rating: ★★★

Book #33: The Assassination of Margaret Thatcher
Rating: ★★★

Book #34: The Spider King's Daughter
Rating: ★★★

Book #35: Meeting the English: A Novel
Did not finish

Book #36: Almost English
Did not finish

Book #37: I Am Pilgrim
Did not finish


message 44: by An (last edited Jul 30, 2015 07:35AM) (new)

An | 39 comments I had a few disappointments in my ebooks #TBR20 pile, but luckily the last three have been very good to brilliant:

Book # 38: All That Is Solid Melts into Air by Darragh McKeon
Rating:★★★

A grim account of the Chernobyl aftermath

Book # 39: The Orenda by Joseph Boyden
Rating:★★★★★

I absolutely loved this riveting story of missionaries and natives in 17th century Canada.

Book # 40: Benediction by Kent Haruf
Rating:★★★★

Maybe not wise to start with the last book of the Plainsong trilogy, but it happened to be the one on my Kindle. I loved Haruf's gentle style. Very moving. I'll definitely read more of his work.


message 45: by An (last edited Dec 21, 2015 03:12AM) (new)

An | 39 comments Book # 41: The Christmas Cafe by Amanda Prowse
Rating: ★★★

Back on the TBR track. A festive read for the season.


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