Virtual Mount TBR Challenge 2024 discussion

Mount Mindolluin seems like a safe level for me in this challenge, even in more successful Mount TBR years, so I think I'll stick with that.

Some goals, copied from last year:
- Stay on top of my library stack. I've been doing pretty well with this!
- Make some progress on my get-from-library shelf.
- Make progress on my saved list on the public library website.
- Read some of the 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die. The library has loads of them.

Starting size of get-from-library shelf: 188
Starting size of public library list: 29

(Generally I have not been successful at shrinking these lists, but maybe this will be the year!)

Relevant links:
* Last year's challenge
* This year's Mount TBR challenge

1) Fake News, Real Boners by Chuck Tingle (podcast)

Why do I feel like starting the year off with a Tingler is becoming a pattern? Anyway this one had its funny moments but wasn't as good as the more meta stories I've heard in the podcast so far. Listened to it while I sorted the pieces for my new puzzle.

2) Pierre & Jean by Guy de Maupassant (public library, ebook)

I actually started this one way back in June, but just every so often checked it out again and read a little bit. I read more than half of it in the last week or so. It's just a sad story about a family being torn apart.

1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die read this year: 1

3) Last Pick by Jason Walz (public library)

4) My City Speaks by Darren Lebeuf (school library, storytime)

5) Ghostlight by Kenneth Oppel (public library, audiobook, MYRCA nominee)

2024 MYRCA Northern Lights nominees 8/10, total nominees 10/20

6) Different Kinds of Fruit by Kyle Lukoff (public library)

This book gave me literally every feeling lol. I ended up loving it, even though I fear a non-binary kid reading half of it (in my experience, kids do this a lot lol) and getting all the trauma with none of the payoff. It's heavy for a middle grade novel.

7) I am Not Little Red Riding Hood by Alessandro Lecis (school library, storytime)

8) The Sleeping Car Porter by Suzette Mayr (public library, audiobook)

This is the January/February book for the Amnesty International Book Club.

9) Apartment 713 by Kevin Sylvester (school library, MYRCA nominee)

2024 MYRCA Sundogs nominees 3/10, total nominees 11/20

10) Zander Stays by Maureen Fergus (school library, storytime)

11) Sometimes I Lie by Alice Feeney (public library, audiobook)

12) Cone Cat by Sarah Howden (school library, storytime)

13) Forever Birchwood by Danielle Daniel (public library, audiobook, MYRCA nominee)

2024 MYRCA Sundogs nominees 4/10, total nominees 12/20

14) Berani by Michelle Kadarusman (school library, MYRCA nominee)

2024 MYRCA Sundogs nominees 5/10, total nominees 13/20

15) Zap! Clap! Boom!: The Story of a Thunderstorm by Laura Purdie Salas (school library, storytime)

16) Legends and Liars (Echoes and Empires #2) by Morgan Rhodes (public library, audiobook)

17) When Rabbit Was a Lion by Eugenie Fernandes (school library, storytime)

18) Nimona by ND Stevenson (school library)

19) How to Count to 1 (And Don't Even Think About Bigger Numbers!) by Caspar Salmon (school library, storytime)

20) Ramen for Everyone by Patricia Tanumihardja (school library, storytime)

21) How to Be a Goldfish by Jane Baird Warren (school library, MYRCA nominee)

2024 MYRCA Northern Lights nominees 9/10, total nominees 14/20

22) The Tea Dragon Society by K. O'Neill (school library, reread)

23) One Chicken Nugget by Tadgh Bentley (school library, storytime)

24) The Pet Store Window by Jairo Buitrago (school library, storytime)

25) Peanut Butter and Chaos by Anita Daher (school library, MYRCA nominee)

2024 MYRCA Sundogs nominees 6/10, total nominees 15/20

Dewey's 24 Hour Read-a-Thon:

26) Stars in Their Eyes by Jessica Walton and Aśka (public library)

27) Last Pick, Vol. 2: Born to Run by Jason Walz (public library)

28) Heartstopper, Vol. 5 by Alice Oseman (public library)

29) Saga, Vol. 11 by Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples (public library)

30) Mara Hears in Style by Terri Clemmons (school library, storytime)

31) The Deep & Dark Blue by Niki Smith (school library)

32) The Grave Thief by Dee Hahn (public library, audiobook, MYRCA nominee)

2024 MYRCA Sundogs nominees 7/10, total nominees 16/20

I guess I can stop counting these since next year's list is out lol. I came pretty close this year!! Better than last year, anyway. And for once I actually did read the ones that ended up winning!

33) How to Party Like a Snail by Naseem Hrab (school library, storytime)

34) I Want 100 Dogs by Stacy McAnulty (school library, storytime)

35) Some Moms by Fifi Abu (school library, storytime)

36) Bookshops & Bonedust by Travis Baldree (public library)

37) Thanks a Lot, Universe by Chad Lucas (public library)

I read that last one in just a few days and I think it broke me out of a bit of a reading slump. It was so good! I picked it up because its sequel is one of next year's MYRCA nominees, which were recently announced, and I wanted to read the first one first. I'm so glad I did!

38) Tidy by Emily Gravett (school library, storytime)

39) The Hueys in the New Jumper by Oliver Jeffers (school library, storytime)

40) Calvin by J.R. and Vanessa Ford (school library, storytime)

41) Triangle by Mac Barnett (school library, storytime)

42) The Woman in Me by Britney Spears (public library, audiobook)

43) My Shadow Is Purple by Scott Stuart (school library, storytime)

44) All Systems Red (The Murderbot Diaries #1) by Martha Wells (public library, audiobook)

And the school year is done! No more storytime books for the next two months, but lots more of the new MYRCA nominees!

Also: halfway point! I am more than halfway to my goal! I am way behind on my Mount TBR goal, so I really should be focusing more on that. But also, I have this huge stack of library books for summer reading...

45) The Cricket War by Thọ Phạm and Sandra McTavish (school library, MYRCA nominee)

2025 MYRCA Sundogs nominees 1/10, total nominees 1/20

And so it begins anew!

46) Godly Heathens (The Ouroboros #1) by H.E. Edgmon (public library, audiobook)

47) Welcome to the Hyunam-dong Bookshop by Hwang Bo-reum (public library)

I've learned that this Korean genre is called healing fiction, and that's so fitting. These books tend to take me a long time to read, but they're so pleasant.

48) Weyward by Emilia Hart (public library, audiobook)

49) The Probability of Everything by Sarah Everett (school library, MYRCA nominee)

2025 MYRCA Northern Lights nominees 1/10, total nominees 2/20

50) Artificial Condition (The Murderbot Diaries #2) by Martha Wells (public library, audiobook)

51) Squire & Knight by Scott Chantler (school library, MYRCA nominee)

2025 MYRCA Sundogs nominees 2/10, total nominees 3/20

52) Rogue Protocol (The Murderbot Diaries #3) by Martha Wells (public library, audiobook)

All caught up!

53) The Pronoun Book by Cassandra Jules Corrigan (school library, ebook)

54) The Smallest Girl in the Smallest Grade by Justin Roberts (school library, storytime)

55) Determined Dreamer: The Story of Marie Curie by Deborah Hopkinson (school library)

56) The Good Little Book by Kyo Maclear (school library, storytime)

57) The Tea Dragon Festival (Tea Dragon #2) by Kay O'Neill (school library)

58) Exit Strategy (Murderbot Diaries #4) by Martha Wells (public library, audiobook)

59) Mr. S by Monica Arnaldo (school library, storytime)

Mr. S has earned a place amongst my favourite picture books.

60) Don't Eat Bees: Life Lessons from Chip the Dog by Dev Petty (school library, storytime)

61) The Three Little Tardigrades by Sandra Fay (school library, storytime)

62) Spider in the Well by Jess Hannigan (school library, storytime)

63) Home: Habitat, Range, Niche, Territory by Martha Wells (public library, ebook)

64) The Bellwoods Game by Celia Krampien (school library, MYRCA nominee)

2025 MYRCA Sundogs nominees 3/10, total nominees 4/20

65) Atana and the Firebird by Vivian Zhou (school library, MYRCA nominee)

2025 MYRCA Sundogs nominees 4/10, total nominees 5/20

66) Books of Magic, Vol. 1: Moveable Type by Kat Howard (public library)

67) Real to Me by Minh Lê (school library, storytime)

68) You Owe Me One, Universe by Chad Lucas (school library, MYRCA nominee)

2025 MYRCA Northern Lights nominees 2/10, total nominees 6/20

69) There's a Ghost* in This House by Oliver Jeffers (school library, storytime)

70) Two Homes, One Heart by Jessica Young (school library, storytime)

71) The Bad Guys in Open Wide and Say Arrrgh! (The Bad Guys #15) by Aaron Blabey (school library)

72) Hopeless in Hope by Wanda John-Kehewin (school library, MYRCA nominee)

2025 MYRCA Northern Lights nominees 3/10, total nominees 7/20

73) The Bad Guys in The Others?! (The Bad Guys #16) by Aaron Blabey (school library)

74) Laverne Cox by Maria Isabel Sanchez Vegara (school library, storytime)

75) The Bad Guys in Let the Games Begin! (The Bad Guys #17) by Aaron Blabey (school library)

Updating when I only have one book to add because I've officially summitted Mount Mindolluin! I'm gonna stay right here and enjoy the view.

76) The Bad Guys in Look Who's Talking (The Bad Guys #18) by Aaron Blabey (school library)

77) Cat on the Run in Cat of Death! (Cat on the Run #1) by Aaron Blabey (school library)

78) The Bad Guys in The Serpent and the Beast (The Bad Guys #19) by Aaron Blabey (school library)

I've just been doing some catching up on the Bad Guys series during my breaks at work lol. Can't wait for us to get the final book!

Liander (The Towering Pile) wrote: "75) The Bad Guys in Let the Games Begin! (The Bad Guys #17) by Aaron Blabey (school library)

Updating when I only have one book to add bec..."

Congrats!

79) As Glenn as Can Be by Sarah Ellis (school library, storytime)

80) Watch Me Throw the Ball! by Mo Willems (school library, suggestion box)

This one is the result of a new feature I'm trying out in the library. I made a suggestion box for kids to tell me what books they think I should read (not even for storytime; just for my own reading). When I'm ready to pick a new library book, I pick at random from the box.

Kids pressured me into picking one today lol; pretty lucky first pick! I don't know how I'll feel about this idea when I start pulling full length novels from the box. But the idea is to get me reading more broadly in the library collection.

81) A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas (public library, audiobook)

82) Living Inside My Own Butt for Eight Years, Starting a Business and Turning a Profit Through Common Sense Reinvestment and Strategic Targeted Marketing by Chuck Tingle (podcast)

83) The Book that Almost Rhymed by Omar Abed (school library, storytime)

84) Narwhal: Unicorn of the Sea by Ben Clanton (school library, reread)

I read only the first two books of this series years ago, and want to read the whole thing now. Just gotta catch them when they're not checked out.

85) The Eyes & the Impossible by Dave Eggers (school library, suggestion box)

The second suggestion box pick and first novel. This was definitely put in by a kid who just looked around for a random book to suggest lol, but it was nice to get one of our new books!

86) Making It So by Patrick Stewart (public library, audiobook)

Loved this! But it was also long, and has a long wait list. I had already been interrupted and had to wait to get it back once, and couldn't let that happen again! So I ended up having to spend much of my weekend powering through the last 7 hours lol

87) Angela's Glacier by Jordan Scott (school library, storytime)

88) If I Go Missing by Brianna Jonnie (school library)

89) Violets Are Blue by Barbara Dee (school library, suggestion box)

Loved this one! Barbara Dee just can't miss!

90) Santa's First Christmas by Mac Barnett (school library, storytime)

91) Super Narwhal and Jelly Jolt (Narwhal and Jelly #2) by Ben Clanton (school library)

92) Stolen Focus: Why You Can't Pay Attention -- And How to Think Deeply Again by Johann Hari (public library, audiobook)

93) Cat on the Run in Cucumber Madness! (Cat on the Run #2) by Aaron Blabey (school library)

94) The Tea Dragon Tapestry (Tea Dragon #3) by Kay O'Neill (school library)

95) Les Misérables by Victor Hugo (Project Gutenberg ebook, finished with paperback borrowed from friend)

Good thing I didn't try to move up a mountain!

Next year's challenge!