Mount TBR Challenge 2024 discussion
Mt. Ararat (48 books)
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Pamela Ascending Mt Ararat

January.01.2024 - Own-to be read total: 1,143
📘 Print books: 740
🎧 Audio books: 164
💻 eBooks: 239
* listened to audio library copy (own print or eBook)
-----------Pike's Peak ----------------
January:
1. Day by Michael Cunningham 📘
2. O-Zone by Paul Theroux 📘 (dnf)
3. The Vaster Wilds by Lauren Groff 📘
4. The Living Mountain by Nan Shepherd 🎧
5. Soul of Nowhere by Craig Childs 📘
6. When You Finish Saving the World by Jesse Eisenberg 🎧
February:
7. The Moor's Last Sigh by Salman Rushdie 📘✔️
8. Still Life with Woodpecker by Tom Robbins 📘
9. Trees in Paradise: A California History by Jared Farmer 🎧✔️
10. Falling Angels by Tracy Chevalier 📘
11. Fever by Deon Meyer 📘✔️
12. Dayswork by Chris Bachelder & Jennifer Habel 📘
-----------Mount Blanc --------------
March:
13. Between Before and After by Maureen Doyle McQuerry 📘
14. The Mysterious Life of the Heart edited by Sy Safransky 📘
15. The Family Hightower by Brian Francis Slattery 📘 (dnf)
16. Land of Milk and Honey by C Pam Zhang 📘
17. People of the Morning Star by Kathleen O'Neal Gear & W. Michael Gear 📘✔️
April:
18. The Drowned World by J.G. Ballard 🎧
19. Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life by Barbara Kingsolver 📘✔️
20. The Forgotten Botanist: Sara Plummer Lemmon's Life of Science and Art by Wynne Brown 🎧
21. This Tender Land by William Kent Krueger 📘
22. Love Minus Eighty by Will McIntosh 🎧
May:
23. Sutton Place by Dinah Lampitt 💻
24. Trinity by Louisa Hall 📘
-----------Mt. Vancouver -----------
May:
25. The Orchid Thief by Susan Orlean 📘🎧*
26. The Flâneur: A Stroll through the Paradoxes of Paris by Edmund White 📘
27. In the Country of Women by Susan Straight 📘🎧*
28. The Forest People: A Study of the Pygmies of the Congo by Colin M. Turnbull 📘💻
June:
29. Sixty: A Diary of My Sixty-First Year: The Beginning of the End, or the End of the Beginning? by Ian Brown 📘
30. I'd Rather Not by Robert Skinner 📘
31. The Kept Woman by Karin Slaughter 📘✔️
32. The Sheltering Sky by Paul Bowles 💻🎧*
33. The Twenty Something American Dream: A Cross Country Quest for a Generation by Michael Lee Cohen 📘
34. Unmade by A.R. Capetta 📘
July:
35. Woman at 1,000 Degrees by Hallgrímur Helgason 📘
36. The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Díaz 📘
-----------Mt. Ararat -----------------
July:
37. Kokoro by Natsume Sōseki 🎧
38. The Unusual Second Life of Thomas Weaver by Shawn Inmon 🎧
39. Sugar and Rum by Barry Unsworth 📘
40. The Redemption of Michael Hollister by Shawn Inmon 🎧
August:
41. That Quail, Robert by Margaret Stanger 📘
42. Time Squared by Lesley Krueger 📘
43. Bad Animals by Sarah Braunstein 📘
44. Dust by Hugh Howey 🎧
45. Too Poor to Move but Always Rich: A Century on Montana Land by Jim Sargent 📘
46. Sun Born: Morning Star by Kathleen O'Neal Gear & W. Michael Gear 📘
47. Banthology: Stories from Unwanted Nations edited by Sarah Cleave 📘
September:
48. The Death and Life of Dominick Davidner by Shawn Inmon 🎧
Onto the next peak!
-----------Currently Reading-----------
see: Pamela Ascending Mt Kilimanjaro
Peaks complete: ⛰️⛰️⛰️⛰️
Personal Goal - 12 long (or) dense books:
Finished ( 6 ) ✔️✔️✔️✔️✔️✔️
-on pause---------------
The Space Race various 🎧
Our Dreaming Mind by Robert L. Van De Castle 📘

Starting the year with a carry over from December, a long audio book I've barely gotten into. Yesterday started a long print book, hopefully that will go fairly quickly.
The number of books starting the year own-to-read is higher than last year. I'm adding in books owned into goodreads previously missed, also going to count a few (18) that I have partially read, but would like to get back to someday. First time counting those in my total. I'm still going through my collection so the final numbers for starting this year may be adjusted upwards during this next week or so. My goal here is to get a more accurate picture of what I own into goodreads.
EDIT: Jan.09: think I'm settled (for now) on the numbers with my tally now at 1,143 own to read. I'd love that number to be below 1,000 but it won't be this year, as I don't read that much/fast.
Started the year with a dud, that long print book, and will not finish it. I'm debating about counting DNF in my total, for now it's just set aside.


3.5 stars, print book
While this was better than the book I set aside, I wouldn't say it was a stellar read either. The characters just didn't connect with me, something seemed off to me. Like a six-year old learning her alphabet yet writing these letters.... anyway, the writing quality was good, but the story fell flat for me. Got the book at a library conference in June 2023.


2 stars, print book
Okay, going to count the partials - did not finish. This was a long book, over 500 pages, and I read to page 220, nearly a full book length. Technically the first book of the year, but oh-well, not a great way to start the challenge. Reading this was aggravating; it irritated me, did not enjoy it one bit. After reading a few reviews it looked like the book got worse, not better, so yeah, set it aside and now it's all behind me. Paul Theroux is more known for his non-fiction travel books, which I do have a few unread. Hope those go much better! This book was a science fiction, dystopian future. Picked up this book in November 2023, after lingering for years on my want to read list (why??).


4 stars, print book
Gorgeous writing in this book! Takes place in the pre-America time, when the first settlers came and tried to establish a colony. They are dying of starvation and disease. A girl escapes and runs, runs through the woods and the vast wilderness hoping to reach the French. The journey is the tale, nature was unknown to her and now in full force. Got this book at a library conference in June 2023.


4.5 stars, audio
Quite enjoyed the language and description of the Cairngorm Mountains in Scotland by Nan Shepherd. When she first wrote the book the publishers wouldn't touch it, but thankfully, years later in the last 70s they had a change of heart. This edition was reissued, with a long afterword written by Jeanette Winterson. Oh, and the audio was narrated by Tilda Swinton. Hard to go wrong with that! It was on the short side, but that means I may actually relisten someday! Got this in February 2023.


3.5 stars, print book
This is a hard one to rate. Childs explores these empty places, deserts, usually with other one or a few other people, but occasionally alone. He goes out for weeks, even months at a time. He doesn't seem to have a purpose other than wanting to reach deep into the landscape, the place, and searching for remnants of ancient peoples. He often comes across broken pottery and other items, several of the first areas discussed he goes into the homes of the cliff dwellings. The substance was so elusive though, the writing was hard to get into, find a way in. I had attempted to read this before, many years ago, didn't get past page 27. At least this time I completed it. I bought the book in May 2004.
EDIT: Nope, found actual receipt and bought the book in November.2003


3 stars, audio book
This short audio book is a character study of a small family: father, son, mother. The format is with audio tapes, and in different time periods, present, future then past. The future is a bit idealized, but the invention of slang for a teenager is spot on. Each person talking as stream of consciousness has a psychological aspect to the book. Overall it was okay, happy it was a short one. Got the audiobook in August 2020.


3.25 stars, print book
The first long book, and so happy that it's done with. A book I wanted to quit reading nearly the whole time, but accepted I would read it entirely. There were moments that kept me going, the writing quality and bits of humor and such, but I really didn't connect with this book at all. Was it worth it to finish? I don't know, maybe. Don't think I'll be rushing to read another Rushdie. I bought the book in November 2008. Next up some shorter ones, while working through the longer books I already have going.


2.75 stars, print book
A bit disappointed in this book. I read a few of Robbins books back in my twenties and enjoyed them quite a bit, so I had high hopes. Perhaps I enjoyed this writing style more back then, but I just found it silly and tedious. So much in the book is over the top, it didn't work for me. Not sure when I bought this book, but it's been sitting around a very long time, guessing I got this in 2000.


5 stars, audio book
Although this book took me a long while to get through (well it is quite long!), I did enjoy this thoroughly. The book is in four parts - each for one type of tree, then discusses the history of and about the tree in the state. Covered were iconic California trees, one could says helps define California: Redwoods, Eucalyptus, Citrus and Palm. Although I listened to the book, I had a print copy with me to view the included photos and peruse the various notes and bibliography. Kinda wish I had my own print copy to keep. I really like this book! I purchased the audio in December 2016.


3.5 stars, print book
Historical novel that takes place in London during the first years of the 1900's, when class and decorum played a much stronger role than it does today. This is about the families of two young girls, their family graves are next to each other and soon they are living next door to each other as well. The cemetery plays a large role in the book, as well as the women's suffrage movement. I found the book well written, decent story, but it wasn't anything that wowed me. I bought the book in January 2004. Yay, another oldie off the TBR!


4.25 starts, print book
This is a post-apocalyptic book set in South Africa after a virus wipes out 90%, maybe more percent of the population. It centers on a teenager and his dad, who creates a community shortly afterwards. There is tension with motorcycle gangs that attack, steal food and their resources, also within the community is a preacher that antagonizes as they don't have God as the center of the community. It's a fast-paced book, perhaps left open for a sequel, but not necessarily. Only some of the weird things that happened are resolved. Also have another long book completed. Got this in June 2017.


4 stars, print book
An experimental novel, that really is close to non-fiction. Mostly, it's an unusual biography of Herman Melville than a novel. Yet, there is also the narrator, who is obsesses with Melville, during lock down in the early months of the pandemic. Home with her husband and two daughters, they remote into their work/school, while searching for more information about Melville's life. There are many tangents into other writers and such, the book captivated me and I've barely read a thing by Melville. I got the book in June 2023.


3 stars, print book
This was just okay. The story is told in two timelines, in the early 1900s and 1955. The older line is the point of view of Elaine, and the later one is of her daughter, Molly. The book is about Elaine's life and the modern time Molly is trying to uncover more about her mom. I think it was set up to be a mystery, but it wasn't that at all, although the reveal was late in the book, but foreseeable much, much sooner. Got the book in June 2019.


4 stars, print book
A collection of essays, short stories and a few poems that are about romantic love. Generally, there is a type of journey throughout the book, with innocent love early in the book and with terminal illness and death later in the book, and much in between. The quality of writing is excellent as what one would find in the Sun Magazine, where all of these selections first appeared. I bought the book direct from the publisher Sun Publishing in November 2009.


no rating, print book
This is a partial-read/did not finish. I read about 28% and haven't been enjoying the book in any way. Not a fan of the style of writing, and the none of the characters are interesting. Roughly, it's about a rich family that got rich illegally, by the grandfather. He's dead, but his four children seem to be carrying on in some degree with the crime. The two main characters are grandsons that happened to have the same name, after the grandfather, and well really I am not interested to find out any more. I tend not to rate books I don't finish....got this one in June, maybe July of 2014.


3 stars, print book
A dystopian near future book where a smog covers the land and smothers crops to where the only thing that will grow with sustenance is a gray mung-bean flour. The main character is a chef and grabs a chance at working with the last of the fresh foods for the ultra-rich. It's an odd book, that is elusive for the most part, but food-centered. That didn't do much for me, but foodies may enjoy it more. I got the book last year, June 2023.


4 stars, print book
This is book #21 in the series North America's Forgotten Past as well as the first book in a sub-series: People of Cahokia. In this book we are introduced to a huge city called Cahokia, located in the south. The people build huge mounds, with the elite living on the top of these mounds. People from all over, all languages, have come here to live near the miracle that happened with a living God being embodied in a human body. The bulk of the book is trying to figure out why the rulers are being attacked, killed or nearly. I will have to read the next in the series sooner than later, so I don't forget the story line. Bought this book in February 2022.


2 stars, audio book
This is a classic science-fiction book about the world with drastic global warming, seas have risen. The book takes place in London, but it's a very different environment. Very hot and swampy. It seemed like a book I'd like, but I couldn't really get into this, the characters were forgettable and didn't enjoy the book at all. Since I was listening it was easy to keep going, if it was a print book I likely would have dnf this one. It was also short. I bought this book in April 2023.


3.5 stars, print book
I'm a bit on the fence on how to rate this one. The book started out strongly in moralizing us Americans how poorly we eat, which may be true, but it's hard to read being constantly chastised. It eased maybe a little as the book went on. I started to just ignore that part and enjoy reading about how Kingsolver and her family grew their own food and ate locally for a year. This was a slow read for me, hard to take a lot in huge chunks so I counted it as one of my challenging books, as it certainly was one! I bought this book in March 2011.


4 stars, audio book
A fascinating biography of Sara Plummer-Lemmon. She was quite an independent woman for the time, the mid-1800s. Leaving home at age 33 in 1870 she travelled alone by ship to California from New York City. Her heath was poor and the dryer climate would allow her to live a longer life. She lead a full life, even getting married at the late age of 43. But her work is what sets her apart, an artist and botanist. While I enjoyed the book, the narrator not so much. I bought the audio book in May 2023.


4 stars, print book
This was an enjoyable book. It had the feeling of a fable, along with an adventure and many lessons learned on the way. Four orphans, two are brothers, escape from a boarding school for Native Americans, although only one is an Indian. The narrator is the younger brother Odie and they canoe down the river towards St. Louis in search of an aunt, the only family out of all of them. Takes place during the depression era, so there are many shantytowns they visit along the way. I got this book in June 2019.


4.5 stars, audio book
Quite enjoyed this sci-fi type book. Takes place in the future, where the dead can be revived if placed in a cryogenic stasis. They developed a bride dating facility, where rich men can "date" these dead women for a few minutes at a time, bringing them awake momentarily. If compatible the men pay an exorbitant fee to revive the woman. It's creepy! The story line is well developed. Listened to the audio with multiple narrators to match the different POV and worked great! Bought the book in June 2020.


3 stars, eBook
Historical novel about Anne Boleyn and King Henry VIII, also about the estate of Sutton Place being cursed. The book follows the family that own the estate during this time period, Richard and Anne Weston, who built a new grand house on the property. There is some time shifting at the beginning of the book, and Anne has some weird dreams that appear to be in the future. The bulk of the book though is about Anne Boleyn and the many cast of characters around court during that time. This is book 1 in a short series, but I won't continue as I didn't like the writing style. I bought this eBook in February 2020.


2.75 stars, print book
Finished two books yesterday, yay! This was the first one finished. A fictional historical biography on Robert Oppenheimer. It was told via seven testimonials, people loosely associated with Oppenheimer, and their stories often delved deeply into their own life. Sometimes it want far astray, particularly the last one. I didn't care for much of the book, but some was okay. I got this print book in June 2018.
With this book I reached the top of Mount Blanc.


3 stars, print/audio book
I own this print book, but was slow going reading it, so I switched to audio book around 35% way in and listened to the rest of it. It was one of those books that was too easily set down. The story is of John Laroche who was arrested and found guilty for stealing rare plants out of a nature preserve in Florida, a swampy land. The book goes into the world of orchids, which some people are quite obsessed about. Not sure when I got this book, guessing sometime in 2009.


2.75 stars, print book
I got this book as a gift a long while back, figured it was time to finally read it. The book is a meandering through Paris (and some of French) history on a few topics, so it matches the title. I though actual walking would be discussed, but no. It covered African Americans in Paris, especially jazz musicians, obscure museums, Jewish people and gay people, and a bit more. The book was okay, not super interesting to me after all. I got this in October 2003.


4 stars, audio/print book
I own the print book, but listened to the audio from the library. A great way to read this book, I loved the narrator. This is an autobiography but written for her kids. She addresses them in the book. She also shares family history from both sides of the kids family, but most of the book is her own story. The premise doesn't sound like it would be interesting to anyone outside of their family, but somehow I really enjoyed it. It was written well. The book contained family photographs throughout, so I was happy I had that. Got the book in June 2019.


5 stars, eBook/print book
This book has been around just about my entire life. It came from my parents, a college course one or both of them took, and somehow it migrated my own personal bookshelves when I got older. Safe to say this will be the oldest book I owned unread until now. I expected it to be a dry academic work but was pleasantly surprised that is not the case. The author lives with the Pygmies in Congo for many years, they become his friends, they accept him as one of them. This book is of how they lived their lives and how they interact with the villagers nearby that work plantations. Glad I finally got to reading this one! I read an eBook copy from the library since my print copy is so old it is starting to fall apart and didn't want to ruin it further.


5 stars, print book
I found this quite well written, contemplative about what it means to be facing that later stage of life, when decline becomes noticeable. This diary was started with a view towards publication so it's not a typical personal diary, it's well written, was edited probably multiple times. It's quite readable. And in the end it's just one man's view of what this year meant. Apparently this book has several different subtitles - I went with the one that matched the book I have, which I got in June 2016.


3 stars, print book
This is a delightfully short book of autobiographical essays filled with humor. Exaggeration is made to make the humor. The author is Australian so most locations mentioned were lost on me. It's a good breather book in between long serious ones. I really was in the mood for something short, didn't know how quick that would go. Probably a book better read via audio instead of print like I did. I got the book in June 2023.


3 stars, print book
Not typical reading genre for me. A police procedural, book 8 in a series and I have not read the previous. It didn't seem to matter, the book covered background material on the main characters. This was okay, but it isn't something I'm going to read further in the series. Got the book at a library conference, and I could have just given it away or something, but decided to see what Slaughter's writing was about. Now I know. This was a fairly long book, just under the 500 page threshold, but decided to count it as one of my long ones. Got the book in June 2016.


3.5 stars, audio/eBook
This is a classic fiction novel that I went into very cold. Perhaps I knew something about the premise when I bought the book, but that was years ago. Still not entirely sure how I feel about this book, it was a little strange, distant, not sure what the book was trying to accomplish or say. There is a married American couple with a friend traveling in North Africa shortly after the war. They are not tourists, their lives are traveling. I ended up listening to the audiobook from the library, and the narration was well done. Bought the eBook in March 2017.


3 stars, print book
The author travelled the country interviewing young adults in 1992 just months after the L.A. riots. This is Generation X coming of age and looking at their prospects and what they think is the American Dream, and if they can achieve it. Something about all these interviews were just not well edited or something. I kept thinking of Studs Terkel and his work and this one was well short of that quality. In any case, glad I finally got around to reading this one. I picked it up in August 2005.


4 stars, print book
Forgot to list my last read of June: A second book in a duology, I barely remembered the first but it worked out okay. Although, it did take a minute to get used to the writing style. The story line is good. A young girl sets out with her friends to save the humans from being eliminated from the universe. Sad thing is, the ones killing everyone are human too, called the unmakers. I got the book in June 2014.


3 stars, print book
Another one I went into without knowing what the book was about, except it was a translation from Iceland. A woman tells her story on her death bed, which happens to be in a garage because she couldn't stand a nursing home. Most of the tale takes place during WWII when she was a teenager and horrific things happen. I tend to avoid war books, this one creeped in. Got the book in June 2017.


2.75 stars, print book
This was not an easy, nor enjoyable read for me. About a third the way through I about gave it up, but read some reviews and found a website of annotations and translations. There is quite a bit of misogyny, constant racial slurs and other unappealing aspects of this book, and yet it's a Pulitzer Prize winner. I stuck with it, the website helped. It is about Oscar Wao and his family and also about their country of origin, Dominican Republic and the brutal regime of Trujillo. Not entirely sure when I bought this book, going with December 2014.
With this book I reached the top of Mt. Vancouver.


4 stars, audio book
This book is listed as short stories, but it may be more accurate to say they are three parts to one longer novel. This is a classic Japanese work first published in 1914, back when Japan was still ruled by emperors. It is about two young men, they are both lonely and they become friends. The younger initiated the friendship and calls the older man Sensei. It is not a work of action, but one of contemplation on the essence of life, friendship and love. I bought the audiobook in March 2020.


4 stars, audio book
This is the first book in the Middle Falls Time Travel series. It takes the premise of having a chance to relive your life with keeping the knowledge you already have, at least for the main character Thomas Weaver. It brought up interesting aspects one wouldn't think about. Overall a decent story, enjoyable enough. I've already begun the next one too. Bought the book in May 2020.


3.75 stars, print book
Novel written and set in the late 1980s in Liverpool. The main character Baxter has writer's block, he wanders around town aimlessly talking to strangers. He also helps other's with their writing, calling them his fictioneers; and there's also the war experience. He served in WWII and after running into an old war buddy there is quite about those experiences. It's almost a meandering book, but it is pulled together in the end. I bought this in bookstore closing sale in December 2004.


4 stars, audio book
This is book 2 in the Middle Falls Time Travel series. I had a little trepidation for how this would play out, the main character was quite an evil person in book 1. But the title does state redemption. And since this is a time travel book, things go differently this time around. I appreciated the author's note at the end as well. Surprisingly, I liked this book a little more than the first one. Also got this in May 2020.


4.5 stars, print book
A short book written in the mid-60's about a quail that became a pet. An abandoned quail egg was hatched and the family attempted to send the quail back into the wild, but was having none of it. They named the quail Robert and this book is about how its habits and people loving nature impresses many people. A heart-warming book. I bought this November 2023.


3.75 stars, print book
A unique concept on how to write a time travel book. It starts, and takes place for most of the book in the 19th century, but doesn't stay there. Eleanor Crosby is at the center as well as needing to get married. There are some central characters and some side ones that are always there in whatever time line. The book claims a romance, but no, not really. The book is much more than that. It was intriguing. I got this book in June 2021.


3.5 stars, print book
Told from the POV of Maeve Cosgrove who seems to be a meek librarian but becomes a different person through this story, more herself. She gets fired seemingly from budget cuts, or was it that unfounded accusation from a troubled teenage girl? Then her favorite writer agrees to do a reading. Maeve wants her job back. But then the writer becomes more important with a new book he is writing. This book grew on me. I got it in November 2023.


3.75 stars, audio book
Book three in the Silo series. I enjoyed this book more than book 2, but less than book 1. Glad I didn't wait longer before getting to this one, as book 2 I read last year and was somewhat still in mind. I enjoyed the conclusion to this book, and series. I bought the audiobook in September 2023.
Books mentioned in this topic
The Death and Life of Dominick Davidner (other topics)The Death and Life of Dominick Davidner (other topics)
Banthology: Stories from Unwanted Nations (other topics)
Sun Born (other topics)
Banthology: Stories from Unwanted Nations (other topics)
More...
Oh, and how I pine for the higher peaks. This one is very doable, but I hope to push myself further. Happy reading!