Mount TBR Challenge 2025 discussion

Here we go again for the 6th year! I want to try to read 48 books from my mountain knowing that I will have new books to read too. I hope I read a lot of really good books this year and no time wasters.

Starting off good with a psycho-thriller, and then a historical fiction selected for my Bedtime Bookclub!

Book #1 - How to Be a Good Wife by Emma Chapman. Very interesting, well-written, and a quick read that's suitable for the New Year holiday weekend.

Book #2 - In the Time of the Butterflies by Julia Alvarez. Beautiful flow, a little slow-moving but still interesting. Sad, and no happy ending as it is based on the true story of the Mirabal sisters.

Book #3 - Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus. A quirky and very enjoyable read! So glad I picked it up.

Book #4 - The Caliph's House: A Year in Casablanca by Tahir Shah. Very entertaining! Maybe I'll see something familiar when I get to Casablanca in a few months.

Book #5 - A House in Fez: Building a Life in the Ancient Heart of Morocco by Suzanna Clarke. Beautifully written, and in fact more in-depth locally with some interesting historical narratives compared to Tahir Shah's Casablanca story.

Book #6 - Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons. Very cute story, and I smiled to myself multiple times. Comfort indeed!

Book #7 - When You Ask Me Where I'm Going by Jasmin Kaur. Not good, very whiny, not something I enjoy. I like the art of classic poets like Wilkinson, Plath, Kipling, Frost...

Books #8 - The Great Railway Bazaar: By Train Through Asia by Paul Theroux. Only a few pages in and I already understand why he is so highly praised!!

Maslela wrote: "Here we go again for the 6th year! I want to try to read 48 books from my mountain knowing that I will have new books to read too. I hope I read a lot of really good books this year and no time was..."

Chickened out of the high peak. Work has become the focus this year due to increased responsibilities, leading to a new role. There was almost no time for reading daily. Just now regaining some sense of balance and playing catch up on reading goals.

Oh dear, I'm late, I'm late, I'm late!

Book #9 - In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex by Nathaniel Philbrick. It was a good enough read after impulsively buying and reading The Terror by Dan Simmons. I was hoping for the heady rush of adrenaline but it was a much tamer story. But hey, I know a little bit more of American history and Nantucket now.

Book #10 - The Ugly Cry by Danielle Henderson. I was pleasantly surprised by how well-written this was. It was a little funny, witty, sad, and it reminded me of myself growing up thinking (some) similar thoughts.

Book #11 - A Piece of Cake by Cupcake Brown. I thought it would be a good idea to follow up an African American memoir with another one so I can relate better. It was a brilliant idea because it made me chuck this book off my list.
1. Not everybody can write even though they want to tell their story.
2. Not everybody's story is worth telling.
3. Good books are the ones where readers find lessons and reminders to incorporate into their lives; bad books are for some people to vent and others read for outrage.

Book #12 - Of Human Bondage by Somerset Maugham. I wanted to read something of his that was less talked about first but somehow ended up reading this first anyway. It was a very boring start, at least 260 pages in before it got really interesting to the point I didn't want to put it down. Wow, it was good!

Book #13 - The Cobblestone Flowerpot by Troy Drayton. Dabbling in a little bit of stoic philosophy reading. I liked the chapters on love and relationships, and on introverts.

Book #14 - Hamnet by Maggie O'Farrell. HARROWING!!!!

Book #15 - Castle Ugly by Mary Ellin Barrett. Intriguing, unexpectedly good. I love a surprise find.

Book #16 - Can't Wait to Get to Heaven by Fannie Flagg. This one just doesn't hit the same way as Fried Green Tomatoes at Whistle Stop Cafe. Maybe no more Fannie Flagg in my future...