Mount TBR 2014 Challenge discussion

Once again, I'm aiming to climb Mt. Everest. I'm going to try and increase the pace so I'll be able to build a rocket ship when I get to the top and actually make it to Mount Olympus up on Mars....but my official goal for 2014 will be to knock another 100 books off the TBR stacks. I'll be posting the books as they come.

You've wished everyone else good luck so I'll wish *you* good luck and happy reading and scaling of Mt. Everest, Bev. :-)

Cath wrote: "You've wished everyone else good luck so I'll wish *you* good luck and happy reading and scaling of Mt. Everest, Bev. :-)"

Thanks, Cath! Hopefully, I'll be able to get back in the reading groove I had going for a couple of years and I'll be able to blast off to Mars next year (after finishing Everest)! Right now, my pack's getting a little heavy and even tho' I can see the peak, I'm having a hard time reaching 100 for 2013.

First step up the mountain! Starting a little sooner this year!

1. The Poison Belt by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (on TBR shelf since August 2012)

2. Faceless Killers by Henning Mankell (on TBR shelf since November 2011)

Bev wrote: "2. Faceless Killers by Henning Mankell (on TBR shelf since November 2011)"

How did you like it? I was a bit disappointed when I read it last year...

Leslie wrote: "Bev wrote: "2. Faceless Killers by Henning Mankell (on TBR shelf since November 2011)"

How did you like it? I was a bit disappointed when I read it last year..."

Not the best thing ever. If I hadn't read #7 in the series (and, thus, know that it gets better), I probably wouldn't ever pick up another one. As it is, I now want to know when they get better.

Made it to my third campsite!

3. Shakespeare's Planet by Clifford D. Simak

4. The Skeleton in the Clock by Carter Dickson

Campsite #5!

Dangerous Visions #3 by Harlan Ellison, ed

Rolling, rolling, rolling...keep those doggies rolling...Up Mount Everest!

#6 Angels & Spaceships by Fredric Brown

Finished a little apocalyptic bed-time story last night:

#7 Triumph by Philip Wylie

#8 Seven Footprints to Satan by A. Merritt

Getting close to a Pike's Peak's worth of TBR reads!

I sure hope I can keep this momentum going. Mars may be an option for reals this year....

#9 The Winter Murder Case by S. S. Van Dine

#10 Death on the Aisle by Frances & Richard Lockridge

#11 The Adventure of the Eleven Cuff-Buttons by James Francis Thierry

#12 Other Times, Other Worlds by John D. MacDonald

It's amazing how much reading I can get done when I'm loaning my laptop to my son for half-days (or more). :-)

Well done, Bevster. We're on par too. :) I've tried keeping on a groove (after a wordy, 'award-winning type' took a week). However 12 reviews are about to bite me in the @ss. Hehehe....

I'm just about to hand the laptop back to my son. Should be able to knock out another book...or two.

I dislike reviews piling but progress was stunted, pausing for those. Must find a happy medium.

Oh...and BTW: Pike's Peak--just stuck a flag on your tippy-top! Headed for Mount Blanc on my way to Everest.

I'll park the maple leaf next to your stripes tonight. Lately I don't mind the sun setting early.

C. wrote: "I'll park the maple leaf next to your stripes tonight. Lately I don't mind the sun setting early."

I'm still sitting here on the Peak...not moving fast on the next book....

#13 Too Much of Water by Bruce Hamilton

first step on Mount Blanc

Bev
Good going, to already be at your second level .

Julie wrote: "Bev
Good going, to already be at your second level ."

Thanks, Julie. Definitely a better start than last year. At the beginning of 2013 I kept getting distracted by the library and new shiny things...

Dear lady, we're hardly dawdling. You and I hit one hundred last month. :)

C. wrote: "Dear lady, we're hardly dawdling. You and I hit one hundred last month. :)"

No...not dawdling. But I keep hoping to make it to Mars. Reading the new things makes that difficult....

I'm with you because for us "new" means "purchased this year", publication era completely notwithstanding. There's one angle I'd like to see bending. Let me at least approach the bench and maybe you'll consider it some other year.

I understand leniency with 'DNF' even if it isn't my way. You've done what it takes to get a book looked at and washed your hands of (even if semi-read). As regards series: frequently I need earlier volumes, to get what I own (often, shelved for decades) looked at. I finish all the pages and do a formal 300-word review. Food for thought is all. I'm a law-abider. :)

C. wrote: "I'm with you because for us "new" means "purchased this year", publication era completely notwithstanding. There's one angle I'd like to see bending. Let me at least approach the bench and maybe ..."

The purchase/acquisition date for qualifying books stands and will not be changed. No books that were not on the TBR stack before January 1. That's one of the primary rules of the challenge. The point is to read (or be done with, for DNF) books that have been on your shelves too long.

If you feel like you have to read a series in order (and, thus, will have to acquire more books before you can read a book that been sitting on the shelf for years), then I suggest acquiring the books needed for a series and save that series for the following year's challenge.

With the amount of books I have hanging out on my TBR pile, you can be sure that I'll be offering Mount TBR Challenges for several year to come.

#14 Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K Dick

#15 Darkness at Pemberley by T. H. White

#16 Exit Actors, Dying by Margot Arnold

Hm, "Pemberley" is either a cultural place, or famous structure. Both "Gentle Spectrums" categories, as well as #14 fitting 'Quintupled'. Hehehe!

Continuing my jog up the mountain...

#17 Shelf Life by Douglas Clark

#18 Gambit by Rex Stout

#19 Death Walks on Cat Feet by D. B. Olsen

The top of Mount Blanc is in sight!

#20 Made Up to Kill by Kelley Roos

#21 Ellery Queen's 20th Anniversary Annual by Ellery Queen, ed.

Made it to another campsite!

#22 The Purple Parrot by Clyde Clason

#23 The Man in the High Castle by Philip K. Dick

Mount Blanc is about to be completed....

Bev wrote: "#23 The Man in the High Castle by Philip K. Dick

Mount Blanc is about to be completed...."

Congrats on your progress! How did you like that book by Philip K. Dick? I see it on a lot of lists so I assume that it is pretty good...

Leslie wrote: "Bev wrote: "#23 The Man in the High Castle by Philip K. Dick

Mount Blanc is about to be completed...."

Congrats on your progress! How did you like that book by Philip K. Dick? I see it on a lot..."

My review is linked...but short version: I'm not a big fan of PKD. He has some big ideas and some very interesting ones. But he doesn't make me care about his characters. I much prefer SF writers like Ellison & Zelazny.

Planting my flag atop Mount Blanc...

#24 The Darker the Night by Herbert Brean

First step on Vancouver...

#25 India's Love Lyrics by Laurence Hope [aka Adela Florence Nicolson]

#26 Murder in the Vatican by Ann Margaret Lewis

I got a little distracted by the shiny library books path. But I'm now back on track with

#27 Vicious Circle by Douglas Clark

#28 Harlan Ellison's 7 Against Chaos by Harlan Ellison

#29 The League of Frightened Men by Rex Stout

Getting closer to the summit of Vancouver...

#30 Tut, Tut! Mr. Tutt by Arthur Cheney Train

#31 Grimm's Fairy Tales by the Brothers Grimm (3/28/14)