Mount TBR 2018 discussion
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Mountaineering Checkpoint #2
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Currently 113 books up Mt Olympus - the last bit I have been reading new titles (oops) so need to get back to this! - Not in for a prize just a check in.
I’m 12640’ up Mount Ararat or 3/4s of the way. Math... 2.4 mi Out of a total of 3.2! The two books I’ve read this year that have a theme in common are
Island of the Lost: Shipwrecked at the Edge of the Worldand
Moby-Dick or, The Whale which are both about whaling and sailing ships. Although one is NF and one is fiction. The oldest book on my TBR was
The Wind in the Willowswhich was given to me almost 40 years ago by my grandfather because he was named after the author by his oldest sister who had met the author at her school. I never completely read it before, and I don’t think I will ever read it again.
Second Quarter Checkpoint:1. Tell us how many miles you've made it up your mountain (# of books read).
I've read 17 out of 36 books for Mt. Vancouver so I'm about halfway up the mountain.
2. Complete ONE (or more if you like) of the following:
A. Books that have a common link
Two books are set on an island off the coast of South Carolina: Lowcountry Bonfire and The Color of Light
B. Tell us about a book on the list that was new to you in some way.
I don't usually read Young Adult novels expecting them to be lightweight and juvenile. Then I read The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas. It is outstanding. The best book I've read in years. I gave it 10 stars!
C. Which book (read so far) has been on your TBR mountain the longest?
The Alienist by Caleb Carr was on my TBR the longest. A long train ride and the TNT miniseries prompted me to read it. It's a very good book. If it were skinnier, I might have read it sooner.
My Life According to Books
1. My Ex was Death of a Charming Man.
2. My best friend [met me at a] Lowcountry Bonfire.
3. Lately at work, [I distributed] The Unexpected Inheritance of Inspector Chopra.
4. If I won the lottery, [I'd travel] Sky High.
5. My fashion sense [is] Terror in Taffeta.
6. My next ride [is] A Perilous Undertaking.
7. The one I love [believes] We Should All Be Feminists.
8. If I ruled the world, I would [be] Between a Book and a Hard Place.
9. When I look out my window, I [see] The Color of Light.
10. The best things in life are Precious and Grace.
1. Tell us how many miles you've made it up your mountain (# of books read). If you're really ambitious, you can do some intricate math and figure out how the number of books you've read correlates to actual miles up Pike's Peak, Mt. Ararat, etc.I've read 31/48 books for Mount Ararat. Since I've read 100 books overall this year, that's not great, to say the least. 😬
If I'm doing the maths right (which I doubt) that correlates to about 3,318 metres i.e. just over 2 miles up.
2. A. Choose two titles from the books you've read so far that have a common link. Find your link and tell us what it is.
The Gracekeepers and Two Boys Kissing - 2 beautiful LGBT+ books, both with blue covers. Apart from those elements they're very different - TBK is a YA contemporary and Gracekeepers is... a magical-realism seafaring far-future fantasy? I guess? Kirsty Logan's books are a bit hard to describe, but excellent.
B. Tell us about a book on the list that was new to you in some way--new author, about a place you've never been, a genre you don't usually read...etc.
Familiar Things - I don't think I've ever read anything by a South Korean author before. This was kind of about the underbelly of the country, too, so it was interesting to see something other than the slick modern place SK is often shown as in media (usually to contrast NK). It follows a young teen and his mother who end up in poverty and having to live at a landfill site, where they earn a living by picking through the rubbish. The mother ends up in a relationship with the boss of the pickers, and Bugeye, our protagonist, forms a strong bond with the boss's son, his new younger "stepbrother". There's a magical-realist element too, with a subplot about the former residents of the site before it became a landfill. I found the brotherly love between the two boys to be very moving and easily the strongest aspect of the book. Unfortunately, either the writing or the translation was a bit of a let-down. Ultimately the book ended up being fairly forgettable. As in, I've literally seen the title on my "read" shelf and gone "???" more than once.
C. Which book (read so far) has been on your TBR mountain the longest? Was it worth the wait? Or is it possible you should have tackled it back when you first put it on the pile? Or tossed it off the edge without reading it all?
That would be one of the classics - probably The Grapes of Wrath, which I'm sure I've definitely had for over a decade. It was actually really good! I must read more Steinbeck, I've accumulated several of his books since reading Grapes...
1.I'm climbing Mont Blanc, and I've made it more than halfway up, having read 14 of 24 books.
2-A. Choose two titles from the books you've read so far that have a common link:
Outlaw Platoon, by Sean Parnell, and The Forever War, by Joe Haldeman, are both books that center around a soldier's experience. The first one is non-fiction from a US Army platoon leader who served in Afghanistan, and the second one is a science-fiction classic about a soldier in a future war fought on distant planets, but both address some of the same things, which I found very interesting. Also, both were fascinating reads.
This sounds great! Thanks for hosting this wonderful challenge!1. I've made it nearly 60% of the way up Mount Blanc. It's been treacherous thus far, admittedly, but I think I've finally got a handle on the journey and know which way to go. I will keep pushing forward and complete my journey somehow! (That is to say, I've read 14 of 24 books so far for the challenge! Most of them I've donated to my local library.)
2. B. 1 of the books was a poetry book: Windswept: Poems of Love. I haven't read poetry in so long, let alone a whole book of it, so it was an interesting experience. I chose it for another challenge actually so I didn't choose it really on my own but I am glad I left my comfort zone for awhile. I think it's good to do that every once in awhile. Plus, it had been on my shelf collecting dust so it was time to read it already!!
~~ My Life According to Books
1. My Ex is/was [a] Comic Book Criminal.
2. My best friend is Rebecca.
3. Lately, at work [it's been like a] Bratfest at Tiffany's.
4. If I won the lottery, [I'd spend a lot of money finding the] Miracle Cure [for Alzheimer's].
5. My fashion sense [is a] Grave Sight.
6. My next ride [is hopefully not to the] Emergency Room.
7. The one I love is The Maze Runner.
8. If I ruled the world, I would [call myself] The Prom Queen.
9. When I look out my window, I [see a] Mystery by Moonlight.
10. The best things in life are Summer Breezes.
Thanks, Bev. I always enjoy reading these check-ins, so here’s mine.1. 53 books or just a tad over half the mountain.
2. Complete ONE (or more if you like) of the following:
Choose two titles from the books you've read so far that have a common link. B. And a book that was new to you in some way.
Invisible Cities by Italo Calvino and Einstein’s Dream by Alan Lightman shared a new-to-me format where each chapter presents a unique twist on a theme. In Invisible Cities, Marco Polo describes to Kubla Khan a different imaginary city in each chapter. In Einstein’s Dream, each chapter explores the human consequences of a different theory of time as Einstein puts the finishing touches on the theory of relativity. I loved (and recommend) them both.
C. Which book (read so far) has been on your TBR mountain the longest? Was it worth the wait? Or is it possible you should have tackled it back when you first put it on the pile? Or tossed it off the edge without reading it all?
When I was a junior in high school, I told my parents (as I did every year) I wanted books for Christmas. That year under the tree, I found a stack of paperbacks, including Dostoevsky’s Notes From the Underground. Although I picked it up several times, the opening “I am a sick man...I am a spiteful man. I am an unattractive man. I believe my liver is diseased.” put me off, until this challenge, when I read on and discovered a surprisingly humorous masterpiece of psychological insight. Definitely worth the wait!
OR (Counts as both part 1 and 2)
Use titles from your list to complete as many of the following sentences below as you can.
My Life According to Books
1. My Ex was This Old Man (Roger Angell)
2. My best friend is The Alchemist (Paulo Coelho)
3. Lately, at work I’m Poor Folk (Fyodor Dostoevsky)
4. If I won the lottery, I’d get a Diamond Solitaire (Peter Lovesey)
5. My fashion sense is Better than Before (Gretchen Rubin)
6. My next ride [will be] Never In a Hurry (Naomi Shibab Nye)
7. The one I love reminds me of Felicity (Mary Oliver)
8. If I ruled the world, I would have Fair Play (Tove Jansson)
9. When I look out my window, I see 36 Views of Mount Fuji (Cathy Davidson)
10. The best things in life are The Book that Changed My Life (ed, Roxanne Coady and Joy Johannessen)
Part 1: Wow, I read two TBR books in April-May-June! (I may come back later and do the math for how many miles that is toward the top of Pike's Peak. Not many, I'm sure.)Part 2 (A): Walden by Henry David Thoreau and In Suspect Terrain by John McPhee were both about my favorite topic, natural history; and both are by well-loved authors I've read several times before.
Your Montana vacation sounds like fun, Bev; and I'm glad you got your laptop back!
1. I have slowed down recently but have managed to finish 82 books on my way to the peak of Mt. Everest so I should be able to make it by the end of the year.2. A. I just finished St. Martin's Summer by Raphael Sabatini which was set in France during Catherine de Medici's time as Queen-Regent. Earlier this year, I read Queen Margot, or Marguerite de Valois by Alexandre Dumas which was also set about this time (a bit later but Catherine de Medici was still a power in France).
Just a fun piece of personal information about the Sabatini book - I have owned this since 2009 when my parents moved but it has been in my family since 1924! My mother's uncle owned 6-7 of Sabatini's books (and some other great adventure stories) which passed to her and then onto me.
I love these checkpoints!1. I'm 39 books up Mount Ararat, without counting any of the books where I bailed and know I will never, ever, ever, try again. So that's just over 81% of the way up, which roughly translates to just under 13,694 feet or just under 4174 meters. I've done a terrible job of sticking to my original plan of two TBR books for every new book, as I've read a total of 105 books so far this year, but I'm still hopeful that I can reach the peak of Mount Ararat.
2.A and C. Two titles with a common link - this kind of feels like cheating, but I have several titles by Agatha Christie that I've read this year. I own all of her books and have been meaning to read them for ages and finally started going through them in publication order late last year. The first two that I've read this year were The Man in the Brown Suit and The Secret of Chimneys. The Christie novels are also probably the ones that have been on my TBR the longest, as they were hand me downs from my Mom (I have her entire collection now) that she let me "early inherit" about 7 or so years ago. The two I listed were both definitely worth the wait, although I've found the Agatha Christie novels in general to be hit or miss - some have been phenomenal and others barely tolerable. I'm very glad to finally be tackling the list, though.
2B - book that was new to me in some way: I have read many new-to-me authors this year, even among Mount TBR. My favorites, so far, are probably The City of Brass by S.A. Chakraborty, an epic fantasy set in the middle east featuring Djinn, and Gods of Howl Mountain by Taylor Brown, which was a brilliant piece of historical fiction set in the 1950s North Carolina High Country. Upon finishing Gods of Howl Mountain, I went to an author signing and proceeded to buy the rest of his back list.
Thanks for hosting this challenge, Bev!!
1. Tell us how many miles you've made it up your mountain (# of books read).For the first half of the year, I've finished 27 books toward Mt Ararat (48 books), so more than half way there.
2A. Choose two titles from the books you've read so far that have a common link.
Memoirs of a Geisha and The Bone Witch both have female characters that spend their formative years in lodgings where the proprietress supports their training in exchange for their later wages and prestige.
2B. Tell us about a book on the list that was new to you in some way--new author, about a place you've never been, a genre you don't usually read...etc.
The Great Passage by Shion Miura (translated by Juliet Winters): new author; new topic (lexicography - making of a dictionary); charming, interesting read about one man's journey in the process of making a dictionary.
2C. Which book (read so far) has been on your TBR mountain the longest? Was it worth the wait? Or is it possible you should have tackled it back when you first put it on the pile? Or tossed it off the edge without reading it all?
Every Day have been on my TBR list since March 30, 2015. It was worth the wait and was still relevant for me in terms of my current reading interests, despite the 3-year wait. It was an enjoyable read.
My Life According to Books
1. My Ex is/was The Child Thief
2. My best friend is [the] Daughter of Smoke and Bone.
3. Lately, at work [I work] in the absence of the sun
4. If I won the lottery, Never Let Me Go
5. My fashion sense [is an] Uncommon Type
6. My next ride [is to] The Library at Mount Char
7. The one I love is The Blind Assassin
8. If I ruled the world, I would [be] Black Jesus and Other Superheroes
9. When I look out my window, I [see] Beasts of Extraordinary Circumstance.
10. The best things in life are Kindred
1. I’m currently climbing Mt. Ararat, with 38 out of 48, so 10 still to go – that’s 2.858 m in. I’ve managed to get to Mt. Vancouver in the previous years, but as I said at the beginning of this year’s challenge, I’m not having much reading time currently, so I’ll probably stop at the top of Ararat.2. Complete ONE (or more if you like) of the following:
A. Both Wake by Amanda Hocking and Half-Blood by Jennifer L. Armentrout were DNF books, both for the same reason – I couldn’t connect with the characters and the stories were predictable. Both are also YA paranormal books by famous authors. Unfortunately, neither worked for me but I’ll give the authors another chance with another story soon.
B. There were a lot of new authors and new books, but I think the “Rebel of the Sands” trilogy by Alwyn Hamilton is my favorite – I’ve never read anything from the author or from the trilogy before. I loved it so much I read the entire trilogy almost back-to-back. It also diverges from other fantasy series I’ve been reading as it’s a rich, imaginative Arabian-like world with a well-developed and creative mythology.
C. “Envy” by Anna Godbersen has been on my TBR the longest and I don’t know if it was worth the wait. It’s the worst of the series so far. I like these books a lot and I’m invested in the characters and want to know what happens in the end, but this kind of dampened my expectations for the final installment.
My Life According to Books
1. My Ex is/was Dealing in Deception
2. My best friend is [a] Big, Mushy, Happy Lump
3. Lately, at work [it’s] A Gathering of Shadows
4. If I won the lottery, [it would be] The Score
5. My fashion sense [is] A Darker Shade of Magic
6. My next ride [is with] The Daughter of the Pirate King
7. The one I love is [playing] Our Dark Duet
8. If I ruled the world, I would [make] A Tyranny of Pettitcoats
9. When I look out my window, I [see] Days of Blood and Starlight
10. The best things in life are Emerald Green
1. I've read 43 books off my TBR so far this year. Currently obsessed with library books so that's slowing me down a bit. I still think I should make it to 60 before the year's over though. :)C. I read a book called The Secrets We Keep by Trisha Leaver that I bought about 2 years ago back when I was obsessed with ordering cheap books from Book Outlet. It was okay. Definitely not bad. Not amazing. I probably shouldn't have bought it back when I did. I used to buy books because they were cheap and I liked the cover. I know now that's a terrible reason to buy books. All this year I've pretty much only bought books that I know I want to read ASAP or that I already read and loved.
1. Tell us how many miles you've made it up your mountain (# of books read).I have read 28/60 books, so I am behind, as usual!
2C. Which book (read so far) has been on your TBR mountain the longest?
Probably would be Snow Flower and the Secret Fan, which I added to my TBR sometime in 2006-2007 when my English teacher suggested it. I loved it. It made me cry, it made me laugh. I wish I had read it sooner!
My Life According to Books
1. My Ex is a Troublemaker: Surviving Hollywood and Scientology
2. My best friend is Maniac Magee
3. Lately, at work, I've been Running with Scissors
4. If I won the lottery, I'd go to Shutter Island
5. My fashion sense is Orange Is the New Black
6. My next ride will be Above the Timberline
7. The one I love is Jane Eyre
8. If I ruled the world, I would buy The Mermaid Chair
9. When I look out my window, I see The Silkworm
10. The best things in life are Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them: The Original Screenplay
1. 35/60, so I'm exactly on track! Behind where I was last year, though.2c. Oh, man, that is definitely Essays of E. B. White, which has been on my TBR for over a decade now (I had to a handful of the essays for school.) It was all right but I'm not sure why I was so insistent on finishing it one day.
I recently finished book 92. So I am getting closer to Everest and I can hopefully make to Mt. Olympus again.My link that I have found is What Rough Beast and Mother of Toads. It deals with women changing into creepy beastie things. And they are both horror stories.
1. Tell us how many miles you've made it up your mountainAt 105 books and counting I've powered my way up Mount Everest and now switched up to Mount Olympus. So go me, I guess?
2. Complete ONE (or more if you like) of the following:
A. Choose two titles from the books you've read so far that have a common link. You decide what the link is--both have strong female lead characters? Each focuses on a diabolical plot to take over the world? Blue covers? About weddings? Find your link and tell us what it is.
The Rabbit Back Literature Society and The Young Elites both have a similar plot line, with female leads being inducted into secretive societies based on personal skills, and how things go for them from there.
C. Which book (read so far) has been on your TBR mountain the longest? Was it worth the wait? Or is it possible you should have tackled it back when you first put it on the pile? Or tossed it off the edge without reading it all?
Of the books I've read so far this year, I think Moby Dick has been there the longest. I've had it since November 3rd 2011, and... I'm glad I got it as a freebie because it was a slog of a read. I don't really like paying for slog reads.
Not looking for a prize draw entry, just checking in!
1. Tell us how many miles you've made it up your mountain (# of books read). If you're really ambitious, you can do some intricate math and figure out how the number of books you've read correlates to actual miles up Pike's Peak, Mt. Ararat, etc. And feel free to tell us about any particularly exciting adventures you've had along the way.51 books up El Toro. That's 68 % of the way. I was all set to do the intricate math, but I can't figure out which real-life mountain El Toro corresponds to ... all I can find is one in California (435 meters high) and one on Menorca (357 meters high). But it shold be a mountain that's higher than Mount Ararat, which is over 3,000 meters high ...? Which one is it?
2. Complete ONE (or more if you like) of the following:
A. Choose two titles from the books you've read so far that have a common link. You decide what the link is--both have strong female lead characters? Each focuses on a diabolical plot to take over the world? Blue covers? About weddings? Find your link and tell us what it is.
Most obvious connection: The Masked City and The Burning Page are books two and three from the same series.
Somewhat more subtle connection: Day Four and The Dead House both include therapy session transcriptions, witness interviews, newspaper articles, etc. in the narrative.
B. Tell us about a book on the list that was new to you in some way--new author, about a place you've never been, a genre you don't usually read...etc.
Most books on my TBR are by nature books from my usual haunts, but Der Nachtzirkus (The Night Circus) might fit this bill. And I loved this book so much :)
C. Which book (read so far) has been on your TBR mountain the longest? Was it worth the wait? Or is it possible you should have tackled it back when you first put it on the pile? Or tossed it off the edge without reading it all?
I think that would be either Die achte Karte or Am Ufer des Styx. Both have been sitting on my TBR shelf for over ten years.
OR (Counts as both part 1 and 2)
Use titles from your list to complete as many of the following sentences below as you can. If you haven't read enough books to give you good choices, then feel free to use any books yet to be read from your piles.
My Life According to Books
1. My Ex is/was Kasperle auf Burg Himmelhoch (a silly, joke-cracking marionette on an adventure)
2. My best friend is The Last Dragonslayer
3. Lately, at work [I stayed until] Just After Sunset
4. If I won the lottery, [to be added]
5. My fashion sense [to be added]
6. My next ride [to be added]
7. The one I love is Die Entscheidung (The Choice)
8. If I ruled the world, I would [to be added]
9. When I look out my window, I [see] The Masked City
10. The best things in life are [to be added]
1. I have read 7 of my 36 books (19.4%) and am working on one REALLY long one! Even though I can’t count them, I sold or donated over 20 books that I decided I wasn’t going to read. 2. B. Only one of my books is by a new-to-me author – State of Wonder by Ann Patchett. Unfortunately, I didn’t love it and will probably not read any more of her books, at least in the near future.
C. The book on my TBR mountain the longest, that I read, is The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. I don’t even know where it came from! It may have been one of my daughters’ books from school. It was ok but, again, I didn’t love it. Fantasy is not one of my favorite genres.
My Life According to Books
1. My Ex was An American Tragedy.
2. My best friend is A Man Called Ove.
5. My fashion sense [is a] State of Wonder.
8. If I ruled the world, I would [make the quality of] The Air We Breathe [a priority].
Mod
Will be back soon with a winner.
I've read 33 of 48 books trying to reach the top of Mt. Ararat. This puts me around 68% the way up, more like 70% if you count the books I have in progress.Two book that are in common surprised me: The Electrifying Fall of Rainbow City: Spectacle and Assassination at the 1901 Worlds Fair by Margaret Creighton and Love and Other Consolation Prizes by Jamie Ford. Both have at the center a World's Fair. It was a happy accident of the similar settings, and read them about two weeks apart.
Electrifying Fall is a non-fiction work that is all about the world's fair in Buffalo New York that took place in 1901. It's detailed about events that surrounded the fair, also called the Pan-American Exposition.
The other book, Love and Other Consolation Prizes is a historical fiction book and actually has two world fairs, both took place in Seattle. The "modern" one took place in 1962, which is when the Space Needle was built. The other world fair was in 1909, which prompted the main characters to meet.
I missed the cut-off, but wanted to just check in anyway. These are fun. :)
Mod
A quick peek above tells me that our winner is Margaret! Congratulations, Margaret! I'll be contacting you about the prize list very soon through Goodreads.
Thanks again to all of you who checked in...and to all who are busy climbing with us! See you at the next checkpoint!
Bev wrote: "I just got the chance to haul out the random number generator and select our Mount TBR checkpoint winner. Let's feed in all the entries, listen to it clank and whir, and we have a winner! Our lucky..."I'm so excited! Just sent you an email.
Thank you, thank you!
I've done a couple of things to conquer my TBR:For books I've read that I have owned more than a year, I'm at 17, so working my way up Mt. Blanc.
But wait, there's more:
I approached this challenge as an incentive to prune my Goodreads shelves more than anything else. I wanted to get more realistic about my Want-To-Read list, where I keep any book I want to read, whether I own it or not.
To that end:
1.I have managed to prune that list down from 300 to 235, and that's including going to a librarian conference where I took home new books by the bagful.
I tried to be really honest with myself about some of the books on the list: I put them there on a whim years ago, that I'm not still feeling. So, I deleted them from Goodreads, and where I could, I gave the physical copies away.
2. I've also made an effort to use the library to get and read lingering books from my Goodreads TBR:
Driving Over Lemons: An Optimist in Andalucía
Rin Tin Tin: The Life and the Legend
The Catcher Was a Spy: The Mysterious Life of Moe Berg (disappointingly dull, alas!)
Immaculate
Cheesemonger (REALLY good!)
In two weeks, a good friend is hosting a book swap. I've put together a nice big couple of boxes to drop off... and I'm hoping I won't add too many to my TBR then!
(I'm at 104/150 for Mount Olympus - Mars.)My Life According to Books
1. My Ex had a Change of Heart.
2. My best friends are Three Strong Women.
3. Lately, at work I'm on Planet of Exile.
4. If I won the lottery, I'd buy The House on Mango Street.
5. My fashion sense is celebrating my Big Breasts and Wide Hips.
6. My next ride will be The Color Purple.
7. The one I love is The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue.
8. If I ruled the world, there would be no News of a Kidnapping.
9. When I look out my window, I see The Bean Trees.
10. The best thing in life is Good Karma.
I want to change my mountain was at 75 books but I want to climb the 150+ mountainI am sitting really close to that mark right now
The List
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34. Ted and Ann: The Mystery of a Missing Child and Her Neighbor Ted Bundy
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36.Night School
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44.Intrinsical
45.A Head Full of Ghosts
46.Dead Air
47.Storm Born
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Mod
I am sitting really close to that mark right now
The List
1. You Are So Undead to Me
2.[book:The T..."
Feel free to open a thread at Mount Olympus to start your 150+ climb.
Mount TBR 2018
Books mentioned in this topic
Treasure Island (other topics)Of Mice and Men (other topics)
Memoirs of a Geisha (other topics)
Snow Flower and the Secret Fan (other topics)
The Grapes of Wrath (other topics)
More...
Authors mentioned in this topic
John McPhee (other topics)Henry David Thoreau (other topics)
Caleb Carr (other topics)
Angie Thomas (other topics)
1. Tell us how many miles you've made it up your mountain (# of books read). If you're really ambitious, you can do some intricate math and figure out how the number of books you've read correlates to actual miles up Pike's Peak, Mt. Ararat, etc. And feel free to tell us about any particularly exciting adventures you've had along the way.
At 69 books read (not all reviewed yet), I'm a little over half-way up Mt. Everest. I should make my stated goal--but it still doesn't look like I'm going to plant a flag on Mt. Olympus.....
2. Complete ONE (or more if you like) of the following:
A. Choose two titles from the books you've read so far that have a common link. You decide what the link is--both have strong female lead characters? Each focuses on a diabolical plot to take over the world? Blue covers? About weddings? Find your link and tell us what it is.
Melmoth the Wanderer by Charles Robert Maturin (no review yet) and Go Down, Moses by William Faulkner. Both are classics that I am glad are done and I'm glad I won't ever have to read again. Maturin goes on forever and, quite honestly, isn't as interesting in his story about the Wanderer as one might hope. Faulkner is being Faulkner and had me wading through his stream of consciousness....I don't care for wearing waders when I'm reading. :-)
B. Tell us about a book on the list that was new to you in some way--new author, about a place you've never been, a genre you don't usually read...etc.
Murder at Midnight by C. S. Challinor (no review yet)--the first book I've read by Challinor. This seems to be a very well-done cozy series. I look forward to reading more.
C. Which book (read so far) has been on your TBR mountain the longest? Was it worth the wait? Or is it possible you should have tackled it back when you first put it on the pile? Or tossed it off the edge without reading it all?
Women Sleuths by Martin H. Greenberg & Bill Pronzini (eds) [on TBR since 11/29/08] Good short stories--unfortunately two of them appeared in other collections that I read this year as well, so I got a double-dose of them. But I'm glad to get this one off the stacks.
OR (Counts as both part 1 and 2)
Use titles from your list to complete as many of the following sentences below as you can. If you haven't read enough books to give you good choices, then feel free to use any books yet to be read from your piles. I've given my answers as examples. Feel free to add or change words (such as "a" or "the" or others that clarify) as needed. I've used mine as an example:
My Life According to Books
1. My Ex is/was The Trouble in Hunter Ward (by Josephine Bell)
2. My best friend is [a] Partner(s) in Wonder (by Harlan Ellison)
3. Lately, at work [I've had to deal with the] The Wrong Box (by Robert Louis Stevenson & Lloyd Osbourne) [We've been moving offices]
4. If I won the lottery, [I'd go] Around the World in Eighty Days (by Jules Verne)
5. My fashion sense [is a] Terror in the Town (by Edward Ronns)
6. My next ride [will be in] The Time Machine (by H.G. Wells)
7. The one I love is [reminds me of the] Odor of Violets (by Baynard Kendrick)
8. If I ruled the world, I would [make everything a] Catalog of Unabashed Gratitude (by Ross Gay)
9. When I look out my window, I [do so] By the Light of the Study Lamp (by Carolyn Keene)
10. The best things in life are [found through] The Sign of the Book (by John Dunning)
Please post your answers in a comment below. And what do you get for all that hard work (and distraction from the actual climb)? This topic will be considered close at 11:59 pm on Wednesday, August 1. On Thursday, I will crank up the Custom Random Number Generator and pick a winning climber. He or she will have the chance to add to their TBR stack via my gently-used book vault (prize list will be sent). Just think, if you win a book you can start up a pile for next year's Mount TBR Challenge.
Even if you're not in the mood for a prize or if you've only got one leg of the journey under your belt, I'd love to have you check in and tell us how your climb is going!
***Please note--comments are for Checkpoint posts only. Comments that are not Checkpoint-specific may be removed--to make it easier for me to track a winner. If you would like to cheer on your fellow climbers, please visit their particular climb folders. Thanks!