Mount TBR Challenge 2025 discussion
El Toro (75 Books)
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When not in Narnia Karen wants to climb El Toro!
1. Blizzards and Bastards by C.M. Stunich.5 stars. The perfect piece of Christmas smut.
On Kindle TBR since 26/12/2024.
2. The Squire's Daughter by F.M. Mayor 5 stars. Really interesting work; our lead character is single but the tone is different to F.M. Mayor's previous books.
On TBR since 31/08/2012.
3. Secrets Can Kill by Carolyn Keene.3 stars. Good fun.
On TBR since approx July 2017.
4. Pew by Catherine Lacey.3 stars. I liked what the author was trying to do and think this book would get a higher rating if I reread it later.
On TBR since December 2021.
5. A Duel with the Vampire Lord by Elise Kova.4 stars. I honestly thought this would be a 5 star book but it is just a little too long and I wanted a little bit more from the ending. Love this series though.
On TBR since 26/12/2024.
6. Poet Mystic Widow Wife by Hetta Howes.4 stars. I really enjoyed this. I love books about medieval women and while there is nothing relevatory here; the way it was written, using the experiences of four well-known medieval women to look at aspects of medieval life was well done and it felt different in tone to many other works on the subject. I really enjoyed it.
On TBR since December 2024.
7. Saturday Night by Caroline B Cooney.5 stars. I wish I still had my original point romance paperbacks. I loved this series so much as a teenager. I reread this first book back in 2018 and loved it but never continued because I was worried that the other books would not live up to my memories. So maybe it is just nostalgia, but I loved this.
On Kindle TBR since 23/12/2014, read in 2018 before this group allowed rereads.
8. Longbourn by Jo Baker.3 stars. I have a long history of not enjoying reworks of my favourite books and while there were parts of this I liked, the tone was far too miserable and the book was too long.
On TBR since 2021? 2022?
9. Passionate Captivity by Patricia Wilson.2 stars. A misfire from a usually dependable author. Extra silly plot.
On TBR since ?
10. Hunting Adeline by H.D. Carlton.3 stars. Liked it better than the first book but not really my kind of thing.
On Kindle TBR since 09/06/2023.
11. Curtain of Stars by Patricia Wilson.3 stars. Better than the other one I just read by her but I don't like office romances and didn't particularly like the hero or heroine in this one.
On TBR since.... will need to check.
12. Independence and Nationhood: Scotland 1306-1469 by Alexander Grant.4 stars. Interesting overview of Scottish history, with a more positive view of this period than often found elsewhere. Lack of women though.
On TBR since approx 2001. It was an old course book from university that I kept and still enjoy. I have obviously read it before but not in years.
13. Last Dance by Caroline B Cooney.4 stars. This was always my least favourite in the series and the one where I had to look up what my sadly-missed paperback cover looked like because I could not remember. I still really enjoyed it but it is not as compelling as the first book.
On Kindle TBR since 02/02/2015.
14. If You Lived Here You'd be Perfect Now by Robin Hardwick.3 stars. I was never obsessed with Sweet Valley, but I read several books across the series. Lila was my favourite character because I had her special edition. The only book I really loved was about the Wakefield ancestors and how they kept getting torn apart until fate finally allowed Ned and Alice to procreate. One of the characters was killed in an airship disaster. Anyway, I digress. This was funny, but as blog posts about individual books then I found it easier to read a little at a time.
On Kindle TBR since 06/03/2015.
15. Pheromone by C.M. Stunich.3 stars. I wanted to like this more than I did. But I am intrigued by where the story is going.
On Kindle TBR since 14/12/2023.
16. Sex, Art and American Culture by Camille Paglia.4 stars. Thought provoking.
On TBR since 24/02/2020
17. Eve: How the Female Body Drove 200 Million Years of Human Evolution by Cat Bohannon.4 stars. Really interesting and understandable even to a non scientist like myself.
On TBR since November or December 2024.
18. Coastliners by Joanne Harris.4 stars. Well, I really enjoyed this book, but it seems to have quite a bit of hate here on GR. It is nice to read her beautiful descriptions of landscapes rather than food. I can see myself rereading this.
On TBR since 2023 or 2024?
19. The New Middle East: What Everyone Needs to Know by James L. Gelvin.3 stars. A short summary of recent trends up to 2022.
On TBR since 2024.
20. The High Road by Edna O'Brien.3 stars. Started off strong but I don't think all the plot elements connected well. My least favourite of her books that I have read.
On TBR since approx 23/11/2017.
21. The Rose Code by Kate O'Brien.4 stars. I love the author but twentieth century historicals are not my thing. I had the hardback out from the library for ages before returning it unread and only bought it on Kindle since it was 99p. But I finally read it. It was too long but still a good read.
On Kindle TBR since 02/04/2021.
22. Wild Bright Hope by various.3 stars. Mixed bag of essays.
On TBR since 13/12/2024
23. The Red Tent by Anita Diamant.5 stars. This is a book I have owned for over 20 years and up until I moved I reread it every few years. The writing is beautiful, the world-building accomplished and the story heartfelt. There are some pacing issues and I always eventually, once the book's spell has worn off a little, start to worry that the major change from the Bible means that I am feeling sympathetic towards (view spoiler). But this is a classic book for a reason.
On TBR since... I actually currently own two copies. My original is in my parents' attic and my partner bought me another copy on 02/09/2022 which is the one I read.
24. Jesus and the Gospel Women by Joanna Collicut McGrath.4 stars. This book just gets better as it goes along. Enjoyed the analysis of the women with the uncontrolled bleeding. A thoughtful and helpful book.
On TBR since approx 03/09/2020.
25. Seminal by C.M. Stunich.3 stars. Not as good as the other books I have read by her. One more to go.
On Kindle TBR since 14/12/2023.
26. Shakespeare's Strangest Tales by Iain Spragg.4 stars. Good fun.
On TBR since approx 28/04/2021.
27. The Stranger from the Sea by Winston Graham.4 stars. Book 8 in the series and the first without a TV season to watch so I enjoyed not knowing what was going to happen. My dad preferred the last few books in the series and after a slow start I really enjoyed this book. However, in large part I think this was because of Demelza having a larger role. We will see what happens.
On TBR since my dad passed it on to me a few years ago.
28. Requiem by Callie Hart.4 stars. Odd but enjoyable.
On Kindle TBR since 31/08/2022.
29. Frances & Bernard by Carlene Bauer.4 stars. For me, it was the titular characters' discussions of religion that I most enjoyed.
On TBR since approx 13/10/2021.
30. Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred D. Taylor.4 stars. We read this at school and I liked it but it was never a favourite. Looking at it again as an adult, I can see it's flaws but appreciate the message more than ever.
On TBR for a couple of years but I cannot remember where I acquired this older copy which matches the one we read in school.
31. Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil by John Berendt. 4 stars. I really enjoyed this. I bought it because of the title and cover and found it intriguing and different.
On TBR since approx 06/09/2023
32. Vera by Elizabeth Von Arnim.4 stars. Struggled with the beginning but as it becomes more macabre it becomes a wonderful read.
On TBR since before 2015.
33. The Moon and More by Sarah Dessen.4 stars. A lovely book. It is not summer until I have read one of her novels.
On TBR since approx 28/04/2018.
34. Infinity by Sarah Dessen.4 stars. Nice little short story.
On Kindle TBR since 06/08/2022
35. Venery by C.M. Stunich.2 stars. Just too long, repetitive and disappointing at key moments.
On Kindle TBR since 14/12/2023
36. The Miller's Dance by Winston Graham.4 stars. Better than the book before. Not sure I like the end with Jeremy.
On TBR for several years.
37. Fast Women by Jennifer Crusie.4 stars. A reliably good author. Don't understand the china obsession though. A re-read.
On TBR since approx 2021 (this copy) but I originally bought it new when it first came out, read it a few times and then got rid of it. Happy to reread it.
38. A Rose in Winter by Kathleen E Woodiwiss.3 stars. A book by her I don't totally hate. Yay. Ludicrous and easy to figure out the plot twist. Beauty and the Beast retelling in a silly way. Love the Baroque-esque cover.
On TBR since approx 10/10/2021.
39. Come Love a Stranger by Kathleen E Woodiwiss.3 stars. I think this may be the last book that I picked up from this author from a free library a few years ago. It was okay. The writing was better than the others I had read but it was still silly but I somehow did not like it as much as A Rose in Winter which was stupidly silly.
On TBR since approx 10/10/2021.
40. The Loving Cup by Winston Graham.4 stars. Took ages to get into this one. But very enjoyable when I was engaged.
On TBR for several years
41. Meant-to-be-Marriage by Rebecca Winters.2 stars. I bought this new when it came out but got rid of it. Had forgotten all about it until I saw it in a charity shop. Just a little too conservative for me.
On TBR since approx 31/10/2022
42. A Catch of Consequence by Diana Norman.4 stars. I have read this before but only remembered the beginning. It goes off in a completely different direction.
On TBR since approx 21/11/2021.
43. Life. the Universe and Everything by Douglas Adams.4 stars. Loved the little Marvin cameo. The whole book was funnier than I remembered it.
On TBR since my partner bought it for me last year. I had read it before.
44. Remembrance by Jude Deveraux.3 stars. I enjoyed the Edwardian and modern sections more than I expected but the book took a detour into the Elizabethan period and was far too long and a bit silly.
On TBR since 2024?
45. The Little Drummer Girl by John Le Carre.4 stars. Complex and absorbing thriller.
On TBR for a few years as I bought it for my dad when the BBC adaptation came out and gave it back to me.
46. The Twisted Sword by Winston Graham.4 stars. This is one of the strongest books in the series.
On TBR since my dad gave it to me a few years ago.
47. The Cat that Lived on Park Avenue by Tracy Sinclair.3 stars. Good fun. Nice to read a romance book that does not have billionaires in it.
On TBR since I will have to check.
48. Carte Blanche by Carlo Lucarelli.3 stars. Reads like an older American hardboiled crime novel. Interesting and I liked the end.
On TBR since approx 28/06/2018
49. Silent Hostage by Sarah Gainham.4 stars. Old fashioned but enjoyable. Somehow missed this off this list earlier in the year.
On TBR since approx 10/10/2021
Good luck to everyone taking part.