Virtual Mount TBR Challenge 2025 discussion

Mount Mindolluin is my safe mountain for this challenge, so here I'll stay!

Some goals, copied from previous years:
- 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: 193
Starting size of public library list: 42

A confession: I rarely look at these lists. Every year I say I'm gonna try to decrease them, and they just go up. I don't even remember adding to my public library list, yet it's somehow 13 higher than a year ago! Well. Maybe this year??

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

1. Network Effect (Murderbot Diaries #5) by Martha Wells (public library, audiobook)

Slow start this year! All I've finished is the audiobook I started in the last week of December. Feels weird not to start this challenge with a Chuck Tingle story. XD

2. Squirrel-ish by Bambi Edlund (school library, storytime)

3. A Court of Mist and Fury (A Court of Thorns and Roses #2) by Sarah J. Maas (public library, audiobook)

I've been spending way more time than usual listening to audiobooks (both because of having to race to finish books before they return to the library, and because of getting super into the books), and less time than usual sitting down and reading physical books. Not what I'm going for, but at least I'm reading.

4. Fugitive Telemetry (Murderbot Diaries #6) by Martha Wells (public library, audiobook)

5. VenCo by Cherie Dimaline (public library, audiobook)

Finally got to finish this one! I started it months ago and ran out of time with it, then got back on the holds list and it moved at a snail's pace. I ended up starting it over because it had been so long.

6. Open Wide for the Handsome Sabertooth Dentist Who Is Also a Ghost by Chuck Tingle (podcast)

Expertly read by M Lamar on the podcast Pounded in the Butt by My Own Podcast.

7. What Inspires by Alison Hughes (school library, storytime)

8. The Bad Guys in One Last Thing (The Bad Guys #20) by Aaron Blabey (school library)

I loved the earlier books in this series but honestly I'm kinda glad it's done lol. It went a bit off the rails.

9. Noodles on a Bicycle by Kyo Maclear (school library, storytime)

I loved this one!

10. A Court of Wings and Ruin (A Court of Thorns and Roses #3) by Sarah J. Maas (public library, audiobook)

This one was fine. I liked a lot of parts of it, but it also dragged in parts, and I had some nitpicks lol.

Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir (public library, audiobook, reread)

This one doesn't count for the challenge since I've counted it before. I'm rereading the first two books again because I keep waiting too long before reading the third, lol! Luckily the Gideon audiobook is AMAZING so I don't mind revisiting it at all.

11. My Name Is Saajin Singh by Kuljinder Kaur Brar (school library, storytime)

Really good story about the importance of getting people's names right. This would be a good one at the start of the school year.

12. A Court of Frost and Starlight (A Court of Thorns and Roses #3.5) by Sarah J. Maas (borrowed from a friend)

The audiobook wait list for this one was super long and my friend really wanted me to read the next book lol so she lent me a copy. The paperback did take me way longer than the audiobook would have, though. This bridge book in the series was fine. Nothing to write home about.

13. System Collapse (The Murderbot Diaries #7) by Martha Wells (public library, audiobook)

One day I'll read these again and be less lost lmao. I love them but every time I'm thrown into an action scene and I'm like, excuse me, can someone tell me what's going on?

Current state of the audiobook queue:
- Just started reading Rebecca (15.5 hours)
- Annie Bot is checked out (9.5 hours)
- 8 holds, with two of them recently suspended
- probably up next: In the Lives of Puppets and Harrow the Ninth

14. As Edward Imagined: A Story of Edward Gorey in Three Acts by Matthew Burgess (school library, storytime)

15. Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier (public library, audiobook)

47th book read from the 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die! And it was a beautiful one. I do love a gothic tale!

16. On a Mushroom Day by Chris Baker (school library, storytime)

17. Graveyard Shift by M.L. Rio (public library)

I liked this one, but I think I would have enjoyed the experience a lot more if I'd read it in a single evening rather than bit by bit over many bedtimes.

18. Mike's Mystery (The Boxcar Children #5) by Gertrude Chandler Warner (public library, ebook)

19. All Are Neighbors by Alexandra Penfold (school library, storytime)

20. A Court of Silver Flames (A Court of Thorns and Roses #4) by Sarah J. Maas (public library, audiobook)

21. I Know How to Draw an Owl by Hilary Horder Hippely (school library, storytime)

22. Karen's Witch (Baby-Sitters Little Sister #1) by Katy Fatina (school library, suggestion box)

Fourth book done from the student suggestion box on my desk! (The box is extremely full.)

23. The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead (public library, audiobook)

24. Impossible Possums by Justin Colón (school library, storytime)

25. That's Not Fair by Shinsuke Yoshitake (school library)

26. An Academy for Liars by Alexis Henderson (public library)

Oh my god, this book felt like EXACTLY what I wanted to read.

27. Knight Owl by Christopher Denise (school library, storytime)

28. The Sandman, Vol. 4: Season of Mists by Neil Gaiman (public library)

29. Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt (public library, audiobook)

This was SO GOOD! I wish I hadn't had to binge the last 6 hours of it last night when I realised it was due this morning lmao, but I managed to enjoy it anyway. I kept wishing for more Marcellus chapters though. Screw these humans, gimme more of the octopus!! I kid... mostly.

30. ARTificial Intelligence by David Biedrzycki (school library, storytime)

31. I Feel Awful, Thanks by Lara Pickle (public library)

32. The Sea in You by Jessi Sheron (public library)

33. Parrotfish Has a Superpower by Jill Esbaum (school library, storytime)

34. In the Lives of Puppets by T.J. Klune (public library, audiobook)

35. Peanut Butter and Jelly (Narwhal and Jelly #3) by Ben Clanton (school library)

36. What Happened to You? by James Catchpole (school library, storytime)

37. Little Moons by Jen Storm (public library, MYRCA nominee)

2026 MYRCA Northern Lights nominees 1/10, total nominees 1/20

Earlier start than last year on the MYRCAs! I know I said this last year but, for real this time, this is my year!! XD

38. Narwhal's Otter Friend (Narwhal and Jelly #4) by Ben Clanton (school library)

Slightly out of order because I forgot to mark things as read on Goodreads when I finished them lol, but:

39. The Teeny-Weeny Unicorn by Shawn Harris (school library, storytime)

40. The Arrangement by Kiersten Modglin (public library, audiobook)

41. Fluffy McWhiskers Cuteness Explosion by Stephen W. Martin (school library, storytime)

42. The Inheritance Games by Jennifer Lynn Barnes (public library, audiobook, student suggestion box)

43. Nick and the Brick Builder Challenge (The Infinity Rainbow Club #1) by Jen Malia (school library)

44. The Many Colors of Harpreet Singh by Supriya Kelkar (school library, storytime)

45. I Am Invited to a Party! by Mo Willems (school library, suggestion box)

Grandad's Camper by Harry Woodgate (school library, storytime, reread)

This one doesn't count for the challenge because I counted it the last time I read it in 2022. This time I only read it to one class, because I had forgotten Grandad's Pride at home so I read them the first book and then the second one the next week.

46. Grandad's Pride by Harry Woodgate (public library, storytime)

Got this one from the public library because the copy from my school went missing. :( I was lucky there was one available at my local branch during Pride!

47. The Unfinished by Cheryl Isaacs (public library, audiobook, MYRCA nominee)

2026 MYRCA Northern Lights nominees 2/10, total nominees 2/20

This is a pretty strong start for me, getting two MYRCA books done before the end of the school year! I've already started taking my summer reading stack home, which always includes all the MYRCA nominees I haven't read yet. I just looked back to see how many I've read in past summers, and chat, it was dismal. XD My best years were my first two summers after I started working at my school. In 2018 and 2019 I read 8 MYRCA books over summer break, and then continued going strong in the fall. Every year since has been much worse lol.

Anyway, I have 18 left at this point, and as usual, I am starting off with the best of intentions! Gonna read this stack!!

48. My Shadow Is Pink by Scott Stuart (school library, storytime)

Last storytime book of the year!


49. Everything Is Tuberculosis: The History and Persistence of Our Deadliest Infection by John Green (public library, audiobook)

50. Gangsta Granny by David Walliams (school library, suggestion box)

This was not for me lol, but I finished it because it was a student suggestion. Got it done the night before the last day of school, so I didn't have to keep it for the summer!

51. The Staircase in the Woods by Chuck Wendig

I loved this one!!

Well, my computer died. It was very old and I definitely should have replaced it a while ago. I desperately hope my files can be recovered. The bright side is that soon I'll get a nice new computer! But right now I am making frequent visits to the library to use a computer because some things (like this) just can't be done on a phone. (Yes I'm aware there are people who just use the Goodreads app, and that is bewildering to me. It's so terrible.)

Anywho, reading-wise, my summer has started off with a focus on library books that are overdue lol. I'm really enjoying The Nightmare Before Kissmas. As usual, not reading quite as much, because of biking and other fun summer activities.

52. The Nightmare Before Kissmas by Sara Raasch (public library)

Oh my god I loved this so much. I can't wait for the sequel, but also the sequel follows different main characters, and I fear there will not be enough Coal and Hex in it to satisfy me lol

53. Annie Bot by Sierra Greer (public library, audiobook)

This book was triggering lol. I liked it but at times it was upsetting for me.

54. The Hawthorne Legacy (The Inheritance Games #2) by Jennifer Lynn Barnes (public library, audiobook)

55. The Curse of Eelgrass Bog by Mary Averling (school library, MYRCA nominee)

2026 MYRCA Sundogs nominees 1/10, total nominees 3/20

56. Lost at Windy River: A True Story of Survival by Trina Rathgeber (school library, MYRCA nominee)

2026 MYRCA Sundogs nominees 2/10, total nominees 4/20

Finally got started on the stack of MYRCA nominees I brought home for the summer!

August was a month of starting a few books and finishing nothing lol. But I'm back at work and getting more into a normal rhythm now!

57. Blue Bay Mystery (The Boxcar Children #6) by Gertrude Chandler Warner (public library, ebook)

58. The Amendment (The Arrangement #2) by Kiersten Modglin (public library, audiobook)

59. The Other Significant Others: Reimagining Life with Friendship at the Center by Rhaina Cohen (public library, audiobook)

60. That's Not My Name! by Anoosha Syed (school library, storytime)