Mount TBR Challenge 2024 discussion
Mt. Ararat (48 books)
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Liander Tries to Shrink the Pile
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Detailed starting stats:Total TBR: 1018
Number of books over a certain length (cumulative):
>1000: 2
>900: 3
>800: 9
>700: 23
>600: 44
>500: 89
>400: 208
>300: 390
which leaves 628 books that are under 300 pages.
When books were added to my TBR shelf:
2009: 308 (the year I joined Goodreads and added my existing collection)
2010: 95
2011: 41
2012: 115
2013: 39
2014: 44
2015: 86
2016: 37
2017: 49
2018: 53
2019: 39
2020: 28
2021: 16
2022: 23
2023: 45
These are the 23 books on my TBR that are over 700 pages:
1) Shōgun (1152 pages)
2) Under the Dome (1074 pages)
3) The Golden Book of Faerie (946 pages)
4) Necronomicon: The Best Weird Tales (880 pages)
5) The Poetical Works of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (878 pages)
6) Inheritance (849 pages)*
7) 11/22/63 (849 pages)
8) The War of the Flowers (828 pages)
9) Introduction to Philosophy: Classical and Contemporary Readings (819 pages)
10) The Light Bearer (788 pages)
11) The Triumph of the Dwarves (784 pages)*
12) City of Golden Shadow (780 pages)
13) The Machine Crusade (779 pages)*
14) Brisingr (748 pages)*
15) The Collected Short Fiction of C.J. Cherryh (736 pages)
16) House Harkonnen (733 pages)*
17) The Sword of Shannara (726 pages)
18) Weaveworld (721 pages)
19)
20) Lirael (705 pages)*
21) The Book of the Dead: The Hieroglyphic Transcript and Translation into English of the Ancient Egyptian Papyrus of Ani (704 pages)
22) Eldest (704 pages)*
23) House Atreides (704 pages)*
* = There is prerequisite reading for this, e.g. earlier books in the series.
Unread R.L. Stine books: 288 (oldest: August 1993)
I have added a new stat! I have been collecting R.L. Stine books since about 2009 (maybe earlier, and not counting the ones I bought as a child). In 2019, I started reading them in publication order. But I've been slow about it; I've read the first 68 in the last 5 years. Right now, my R.L. Stine collection makes up a whopping 28.5% of my TBR pile!! And since finding the ones I need has gotten harder and harder, many of those are from the earlier years of my TBR, which I'm always trying to shrink. So, it makes sense to put a bit of focus on them!
I'm making a final push to see how many 1993 R.L. Stine books I can squeeze into 2023. For 2024, I would love to read all the 1994 books! He published 29 books in 1994.
Good luck on your climb for 2024 Liander! I'm always impressed with your grouping of books by page numbers and years.
Pamela wrote: "Good luck on your climb for 2024 Liander! I'm always impressed with your grouping of books by page numbers and years."Thanks! I do love my stats. Now if I could just get them to improve from year to year!
Haha, yeah me too! Just went on a book buying spree yesterday which ruined all the gain I made over the year. Oh well, next year. LOL
Good luck, Liander! I like how you set subgoals, hopefully you'll get to cross those off as well!
Mod
I decided to start tracking and making more effort on my R.L. Stine read-through (see my detailed stats comment above), and my push in 2024 is going to be to try to read all the 1994 releases. (I am optimistically believing that I'll finish 1993 by the end of 2023; if I don't, any remaining 2023 titles will get added to the start of this list.)Edit: I did not finish the 1993 releases! The ones I have left are as follows:
1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
6)
7)
8)
9)
10)
1994 R.L. Stine releases:
1) You Can't Scare Me!
2) The New Boy
3) One Day at Horrorland
4) Call Waiting
5) The Dare
6) Why I'm Afraid of Bees
7) Bad Dreams
8) Monster Blood II
9) Double Date
10) Deep Trouble
11) The Scarecrow Walks at Midnight
12) The Thrill Club
13) The Beast
14) The Dead Lifeguard
15) Go Eat Worms!
16) One Evil Summer
17) I Saw You That Night!
18) Ghost Beach
19) The First Horror
20) Return of the Mummy
21) Halloween Night II
22) The Second Horror
23) The Third Horror
24) Phantom of the Auditorium
25) Tales To Give You Goosebumps: 10 Spooky Stories
26) Attack of the Mutant
27) The Mind Reader
28) My Hairiest Adventure
29) The New Evil
Why yes, I DO spend December planning goals excessively and making countless lists; why do you ask???
Anyway, R.L. Stine published books at a feverish rate in the 90s, and slowed quite a bit in the 2000s, so my thinking is that if I can read one year's releases each year for the next 6 years, at the end of that I'll still be 30 years behind, but those 30 years will be much more manageable ones. XD And the oldest section of my TBR pile will have shrunk considerably.
Quite an impressive list! I love your Stats. I am not sure I have it in me to start collecting stats on my books.I see you have a few C.J. Cherryh books on your shelf. If you want a buddy read with them, let me know.
I've read 8 of your 700+ page books and loved all of them.
Catherine wrote: "Quite an impressive list! I love your Stats. I am not sure I have it in me to start collecting stats on my books.I see you have a few C.J. Cherryh books on your shelf. If you want a buddy read wi..."
I've been meaning to read The Morgaine Saga as one of my long books for a while! But I also have a bunch of shorter ones and might be interested in a buddy read for any!
CinCO wrote: "I've read 8 of your 700+ page books and loved all of them."
Ooh, I'm curious which ones! I need motivation to actually read some of them lol
Liander (The Towering Pile) wrote: "CinCO wrote: "I've read 8 of your 700+ page books and loved all of them."Ooh, I'm curious which ones! I need motivation to actually read some of them lol"
Shogun
Under the Dome
Inheritance
11/22/63
Brisingr
The Sword of Shanara
Lirael
Eldest
"I've been meaning to read The Morgaine Saga as one of my long books for a while! But I also have a bunch of shorter ones and might be interested in a buddy read for any!"(Sorry, do not know how to italicize the quotes.)
It looks like I have all the Cherryh books you have. I would read or re-read any you choose. Also I am sure you are aware that several on your shelve are actually series, or some like the Morgaine Saga, there is another book to the series: Exile's Gate https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/8...
I have yet to read Exile's gate, and would prefer to re-read the first three first so I am familiar with the characters. I read those in the 1980s. It would help me a lot to have a buddy read for that series.
But any on your list would be lovely.
edited to add:
I must admit, I do not currently have access to most of my books. Sometime in February I should be able to get at them. Let me know what you want to read, and I will see if I can get to the storage and access the books sooner.
Catherine wrote: "But any on your list would be lovely."I think I would like to get to The Morgaine Saga this year! Last year I even pulled it from the shelf and put it on my book cart, with the best of intentions, and just never got to it. I'm not in a big hurry to get to it, though; I have a long-ish book I plan to read for a group read in February, and would want to be done that one before thinking of starting another long book!
Thanks for the reminder that that isn't the full series! Looks like Exile's Gate is pretty easy to come by, so I won't have trouble finding it when I'm ready for it.
1)
The Dead Girlfriend by R.L. Stine (bought pre-2009)Let the games begin! One TBR book down. And another started! And many more planned!
I think I would like to get to The Morgaine Saga this year! Last year I even pulled it from the shelf and put it on my book cart, with the best of intentions, and just never got to it. I'm not in a big hurry to get to it, though; I have a long-ish book I plan to read for a group read in February, and would want to be done that one before thinking of starting another long book! I am also reading a longer book for January February, so just let me know when you are ready.
2)
Glory O'Brien's History of the Future by A.S. King (bought in April 2018)
3)
Beyond This Dark House by Guy Gavriel Kay (bought in May 2019)This poetry collection was hard to come by, and I finally saw it for sale at one of his book signings. Poetry is not my thing, and this is no exception, but I will read everything Guy Gavriel Kay writes.
Books Acquired in JanuaryNone!
TBR books read in January: 3
Books acquired in January: 0
Difference: -3
Total spent in January: $0
A good start! :)
To summit Mt. Ararat this year, I need to read 4 TBR books per month, on average, so the goal is to end each month on track. (Dewey's 24 Hour Read-a-Thon gives me two chances a year to catch up, but only by so much!) I fell slightly short of that in January, but I have also just started my first long book of the year. I'm hoping to finish it in February, since it's being read and discussed in one of my other groups (Beyond Reality) this month. We shall see if I can do that and also squeeze in four shorter books!
OK, I knew I was behind on this challenge, but yikes! Let's start by catching up on those monthly wrap-ups...Books Acquired in February
Hardcover
So Let Them Burn $21.00
TBR books read in February: 0
Books acquired in February: 1
Difference: +1
Total spent in February: $21.00
TBR books read in 2024: 3
Books acquired in 2024: 1
Difference: -2
Total spent in 2024: $21.00
Books Acquired in MarchNone!
TBR books read in March: 0
Books acquired in March: 0
Difference: 0
Total spent in March: $0
TBR books read in 2024: 3
Books acquired in 2024: 1
Difference: -2
Total spent in 2024: $21.00
Dewey's 24 Hour Read-a-Thon:4)
The Diversion (Animorphs #49) by K.A. Applegate (bought in May 2010)5)
The Betrayal (The Fear Street Saga #1) by R.L. Stine (bought in September 2009)6)
Cupid Doesn't Flip Hamburgers (The Bailey School Kids #12) by Debbie Dadey and Marcia Thornton Jones (owned since childhood, reread)7)
The Haunted Mask (Goosebumps #11) by R.L. Stine (owned since childhood)Definitely still behind, but the read-a-thon caught me up a bit! And in a couple of weeks I have the Children's Hospital Book Market, the book sale that routinely undoes all my work reducing my TBR pile lol. So this would be a good month to get a lot of TBR reading done!!
Books Acquired in AprilHardcover
The Essential Bordertown $2.00
The Lost Cause $8.00
Paperback
Why Is This Night Different from All Other Nights? $6.29
Piranesi $24.15
Vampire of the Mists $1.00
Expendable $2.75
Commitment Hour $2.75
Lilith $2.00
Max the Mighty $1.00
Gone with the Wind $1.00
Heroine Complex $3.75
Too Far Gone $4.00
Who Fears Death $6.00
TIME Star Trek: Inside The Most Influential Science Fiction Series Ever $3.00
TBR books read in April: 4 (actually removed from shelf: 3)
Books acquired in April: 14
Difference: +11
Total spent in April: $67.69
TBR books read in 2024: 7 (actually removed from shelf: 6)
Books acquired in 2024: 15
Difference: +9
Total spent in 2024: $88.69
OK, most of that was from the big Children's Hospital Book Market, which is my weakness, and which only happens I think twice a year these days (spring and autumn). I think I did ok! Two books were from a group outing to McNally Robinson.
I have been reading mostly library books, though. I'm currently reading Bookshops & Bonedust, and have been for a while (it's overdue at the library lol). The problem is I keep checking out popular books so they end up taking priority!
Catherine wrote: "I think I would like to get to The Morgaine Saga this year! Last year I even pulled it from the shelf and put it on my book cart, with the best of intentions, and just never got to it. I'm not in a..."Catherine! I am soooo close to finishing my first long book of the year lol. That took way longer than I anticipated. (I did take a bit of a break from it when I had a library book that I had to finish.) So if you wanted to read The Morgaine Saga soon, I can! And hopefully I don't read it as slowly as I did my last long book. XD
I could also post about it in the buddy reads section, to see if there's anyone else interested.
Edit: I did post in the buddy reads section lol
I will dig out my copies! I am not getting any of my long reads conquered. I seem to be stuck on repeat of the Foreigner series. It will do me good to switch up series, even if the author stays the same.
Books Acquired in MayHardcover
The Woods All Black $26.99
Out of Salem $24.95
TBR books read in May: 0
Books acquired in May: 2
Difference: +2
Total spent in May: $51.94
TBR books read in 2024: 7 (actually removed from shelf: 6)
Books acquired in 2024: 17
Difference: +11
Total spent in 2024: $140.63
This was a more expensive book month, but not a lot of new books. I bought two new hardcovers from my friend's horror book store at a queer book fair.
8)
All the Seas of the World by Guy Gavriel Kay (bought in 2022)My first long book of the year is done! It actually barely qualified as "long", only hitting 500 pages if you count the acknowledgements. But it's definitely a long book lol. GGK's books are heavy. They're gorgeous and I love them but they are not quick reads!
9)
Halloween Night by R.L. Stine (bought in 2010)
Books Acquired in JuneNone!
TBR books read in June: 2
Books acquired in June: 0
Difference: -2
Total spent in June: $0
TBR books read in 2024: 9 (actually removed from shelf: 8)
Books acquired in 2024: 17
Difference: +9
Total spent in 2024: $140.63
June is not a strong reading month for me, what with the enormous stress of the end of the school year lol. But I still managed to put a tiny dent in my TBR pile! 😆 Summer means more free time, but also a bigger stack of library books! We shall see if I manage to balance things out a little. As usual I'm WAY behind on this challenge.
10)
The Secret (The Fear Street Saga #2) by R.L. Stine (bought in April 2010)I've decided to try alternating between my giant library stack and my giant TBR pile lol. So we'll see how that goes!
Liander (The Towering Pile) wrote: "10) The Secret (The Fear Street Saga #2) by R.L. Stine (bought in April 2010)I've decided to try alternating between my giant library stack and my giant TBR pile lol..."
I loved this initial trilogy!
Books Acquired in JulyHardcover
Bury Your Gays $37.79
TBR books read in July: 1
Books acquired in July: 1
Difference: 0
Total spent in July: $37.79
TBR books read in 2024: 10 (actually removed from shelf: 9)
Books acquired in 2024: 18
Difference: +9
Total spent in 2024: $178.42
Books Acquired in AugustPaperback
The Sitter free (gift from friend)
TBR books read in August: 0
Books acquired in August: 1
Difference: +1
Total spent in August: $0
TBR books read in 2024: 10 (actually removed from shelf: 9)
Books acquired in 2024: 19
Difference: +10
Total spent in 2024: $178.42
Bury Your Gays by Chuck Tingle (bought in July 2024)Doesn't count for the challenge since it's new, but it is a book removed from my TBR. Gods, that was good. I love Chuck Tingle so much.
11)
The Burning (The Fear Street Saga #3) by R.L. Stine (bought in March 2010)
Books Acquired in SeptemberPaperback
Straight $24.99
She Is a Haunting $16.99
Frankenstein Doesn't Slam Hockey Pucks $1.50
Trolls Don't Ride Roller Coasters $1.50
Wolfmen Don't Hula Dance $1.50
Sea Monsters Don't Ride Motorcycles $1.50
Wizards Don't Wear Graduation Gowns $1.50
The Abominable Snowman Doesn't Roast Marshmallows $1.50
Swamp Monsters Don't Chase Wild Turkeys $1.50
Mrs. Claus Doesn't Climb Telephone Poles $1.50
Mrs. Jeepers on Vampire Island $1.50
Escape $1.50
The Secret of NIMH $1.50
The Ghost Comes Calling $1.00
Goosebumps Official Collector's Caps Book $1.50
Scary Stories for Sleep-Overs $1.50
The Valley of Fear $1.00
The Last Canadian $1.00
Waking the Moon $3.50
Lightborn $3.50
Tales of the Otherworld $3.00
TBR books read in September: 1 (actually removed from shelf: 2)
Books acquired in September: 21
Difference: +19
Total spent in September: $73.98
TBR books read in 2024: 11 (actually removed from shelf: 11)
Books acquired in 2024: 40
Difference: +29
Total spent in 2024: $252.40
Soooo, the Children's Hospital Book Market happened. XD Also I visited my friend's horror book store, Raven's End, which is where I bought those first two (new) books. But next up is October, when I probably won't buy any books AND there's a read-a-thon! So it's fine lol.
It's actually weird how badly I'm doing on this challenge, considering I've been taking out fewer library books lately. I guess I'm just in a reading slump that basically lasted all summer. Not that I haven't enjoyed what I have read! I just haven't spent a lot of time actually sitting down and reading.
I have two TBR books that I'm really actively reading right now. One is Hallows Eve, which I'm really feeling in the perfect mood for! The other is The Silmarillion, which is very intimidating, but I'm listening to the corresponding episodes of The Prancing Pony Podcast after each chapter, to make it feel more manageable.
12)
Hallows Eve by Al Sarrantonio (bought pre-2009)This book has quite the story on my shelf. It's been on my shelf for ages. (It was the 15th book I added on the day I started adding my whole collection to Goodreads in 2009.) At some point, I realised it was book #2 in a series, and had to wait til I got the first one. In 2017, I finally found a copy of Horrorween, but of course I didn't get around to reading it any time soon. Then recently, I was going to read Horrorween, until I noticed that Hallows Eve was actually published first??? Anyway, apparently Horrorween is actually several shorter stories, and probably at least one of them came out before Hallows Eve. So maybe I went out of order after all. Ugh, confusing series orders!!
13)
Be Careful What You Wish For... (Goosebumps #12) by R.L. Stine (owned since childhood)I love these classic Goosebumps books! Even when I don't know if I ever read them as a kid, I have so much nostalgia from having watched the episodes of the TV show. And then I enjoy noticing all the little things they changed when they adapted them!
14)
Piano Lessons Can Be Murder (Goosebumps #13) by R.L. Stine (owned since childhood)15)
The Ultimate (Animorphs #50) by K.A. Applegate (bought pre-2009)16)
The Werewolf of Fever Swamp (Goosebumps #14) by R.L. Stine (owned since childhood)17)
Gremlins Don't Chew Bubble Gum (Bailey School Kids #13) by Debbie Dadey and Marcia Thornton Jones (owned since childhood, reread)Those are the ones I read over the course of the weekend, for a heavily adapted 24 hour read-a-thon.
Books Acquired in OctoberPaperback
Leech $26.20
Zomtropolis: A Record of Life in a Dead City $20.00
Demon in the Sack $15.00
Hardcover
Out of the Shadows $25.00
TBR books read in October: 6 (actually removed from shelf: 5)
Books acquired in October: 4
Difference: -1
Total spent in October: $86.20
TBR books read in 2024: 17 (actually removed from shelf: 16)
Books acquired in 2024: 44
Difference: +28
Total spent in 2024: $338.60
Why did I say in last month's summary that I probably wouldn't buy any books in October?? Did I forget Comic Con exists? Anyway, I bought books in October. I went to Raven's End again, where I bought Leech, and then bought three more books at Comic Con.
My read-a-thon weekend was drastically messed up by Comic Con being the same weekend (how dare the planners of these two large events not appreciate that I want to do both of them), but I did still manage to knock a few books off my TBR, plus a couple of library books.
Only two months left of the year!! Time to push for some of my goals, and eventually abandon others lol. I would really love to get some of my long books finished up before the end of the year; I've had a few carrying over for the last several years and it really irritates me. It's gonna be an interesting balance between finishing those and reading some shorter books for my other goals!
18)
The Halloween Moon by Joseph Fink (got as a gift in December 2021)It's fine guys I just need to read an R.L. Stine book every 1.63 days for the next 49 days.
Elyse wrote: "Easy peasy! lol"XD
19)
House of Danger (Choose Your Own Adventure #15) by R.A. Montgomery (bought in August 2009)
20)
Silent Night 2 (Fear Street Superchiller #5) by R.L. Stine (bought in April 2010)And with that, I finish the 1993 R.L. Stine books! Attentive followers may notice that was actually my goal for December 2023 lmao. Obviously I will not be finishing the 1994 list this year! But let's see how many more we can squeeze in!
Books Acquired in NovemberNone!
TBR books read in November: 3 (actually removed from shelf: 3)
Books acquired in November: 0
Difference: -3
Total spent in November: $0
TBR books read in 2024: 20 (actually removed from shelf: 19)
Books acquired in 2024: 44
Difference: +25
Total spent in 2024: $338.60
Liander (The Towering Pile) wrote: "Books Acquired in NovemberNone!
TBR books read in November: 3 (actually removed from shelf: 3)
Books acquired in November: 0
Difference: -3
Total spent in November: $0
TBR books read in 2024: 2..."
Nice!
21)
Under Blood Lake by I.D. Russell (bought in October 2021)
22)
The Morgaine Saga by C.J. Cherryh (bought in May 2014)I finished!! I started this book in June, as my second long book of the year. Needless to say, I did not get a 3rd or 4th long book read this year lol. At least not from my TBR!
Well, it's another dismal performance in this challenge, but as usual, I'm optimistic for next year!
Mount TBR 2025
Books Acquired in DecemberHardcover
We Used to Live Here $33.31
Thistlefoot $26.59
TBR books read in December: 2 (actually removed from shelf: 2)
Books acquired in November: 2
Difference: 0
Total spent in December: $59.90
TBR books read in 2024: 22 (actually removed from shelf: 21)
Books acquired in 2024: 46
Difference: +25
Total spent in 2024: $398.50
I think I spent a lot more on books this year than I have in a long time lol. But to be fair, a lot of it was at my friend's new horror book store. So I'm just being a good friend!! For a long time, I didn't really buy a lot of new books, because it was just so much more affordable to splurge at the used book sale twice a year. But there is a certain excitement when buying new books that has been nice to bring back.
Liander (The Towering Pile) wrote: "Books Acquired in DecemberHardcover
We Used to Live Here $33.31
Thistlefoot $26.59
TBR books read in December: 2 (actually removed from shelf: 2)
Books acquired ..."
I'm determined to read We Used to Live Here in January. I've been pushing it in the Libby queue since October lol. I stopped keeping track of my book spending last year because baby but I'm going to be back at it this year. I need to know lol. And I bought a LOT of special editions last year.
Mount TBR Challenge 2024
Books mentioned in this topic
We Used to Live Here (other topics)Thistlefoot (other topics)
We Used to Live Here (other topics)
Thistlefoot (other topics)
The Morgaine Saga (other topics)
More...
I'll be sticking with my usual sub-goals:
Sub-goal #1: Read one 500+ page book off my TBR each quarter.
Winter: All the Seas of the World
Spring: The Morgaine Saga (took me the rest of the year)
Summer: none
Autumn: none
Sub-goal #2: Read one non-fiction book off my TBR each quarter.
Winter: none
Spring: none
Summer: none
Autumn: none
Sub-goal #3: Knock some of the oldest books off my TBR. I've been on Goodreads since 2009, and when I joined I added my whole collection as of that time, so a huge chunk of my TBR list is from that year.
2009 TBR at start of year: 308
2009 TBR at end of year: 297
Relevant links:
* Last year's Mount TBR challenge
* This year's Virtual Mount TBR challenge