Mount TBR 2016 discussion

Since I usually read approximately 100 books during the course of a year, for this challenge I'm going to attempt to pull half of those out of the teetering piles in my house. (Of course, if I purchase the other half, I'm basically climbing in place. Alas, Rome wasn't built in a day! And book hoarders aren't cured in one, either. ;) Onward and upward to the summit!

1. The President and the Assassin: McKinley, Terror, and Empire at the Dawn of the American Century --January ***
2. How the Light Gets In -- January****
3. The Long Way Home -- January ***
4. World Gone By -- January ****
5. The Witches: Salem, 1692--January **1/2
6. Beautiful Ruins -- January (e-book) ****
7. After Birth -- January (e-book) ***
8. Black Mass: Whitey Bulger, the FBI, and a Devil's Deal -- January ***
9. Bird in Hand -- February (e-book) ***
10. The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry -- February ****
11. Drunk Mom -- February ***
12. Falling Angels -- February ***

***REACHED PIKE'S PEAK*** 2/29/16

13. Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth -- March ***
14. Avenue of Mysteries -- March **
15. Luckiest Girl Alive -- March ***
16. Les Misérables--March ***
17. On Hallowed Ground: The Story of Arlington National Cemetery -- March ****
18. Skeletons at the Feast -- March ***1/2
19. The Keeper of Lost Causes -- April ***
20. You Should Have Known -- April **** (e-book)
21. Fall of Giants -- April ***
22. Bodies of Water -- May **
23. The Book Thief -- May ****
24. Miracle in the Andes -- May *** (e-book)

***REACHED MOUNT BLANC*** 5/15/16

25. Half of a Yellow Sun -- May ***1/2
26. A God in Ruins -- May ***
27. Darjeeling: A Novel -- June **
28. The Post-Birthday World -- June ****
29. The Panic Virus: A True Story of Medicine, Science, and Fear -- June ***
30. Torch -- June ***
31. The Fall of Pan Am 103 -- July ***
32. The Brothers K -- July ****
33. The Plot Against America -- August ****
34. Unfamiliar Fishes --August **
35. Ghettoside: A True Story of Murder in America -- August ****
36. Finding Nouf -- August ***

***REACHED MT. VANCOUVER *** 8/20/16

37. One Hundred Names -August ** (e-book)
38. The Language of Flowers -- August ***
39. Jim Henson: The Biography -- September ***1/2 (e-book)
40. The Good Father -- September ***
41. Dreamland: The True Tale of America's Opiate Epidemic -- September ****
42. Outliers: The Story of Success -- October ****
43. Those Who Leave and Those Who Stay -- October ***
44. The Demon in the Freezer -- October *** (e-book)
45. Freedomland -- October ***
46. Barbie and Ruth: The Story of the World's Most Famous Doll and the Woman Who Created Her -- November *** (e-book)
47. The Narrow Road to the Deep North -- November ***
48. The Passage -- November ***

***REACHED MT. ARARAT on Nov. 23, 2016***

Additional climbing toward Mount Kilimanjaro:
49. The Sweet Hereafter -- November ****
50. Little Pink House: A True Story of Defiance and Courage -- December ***
51. Brooklyn --December ****
52. Murder on Astor Place -- December (e-book) **
53. Once We Were Brothers -- December ***
54. The American Plague: The Untold Story of Yellow Fever, the Epidemic that Shaped Our History -- December ***
55. Nemesis --December ***

OK, wait, how does this work? Are we working as a "team"? Is is 48 between or each person? Because while I read a fair amount (at least one a month), I don't see myself doing anything close to 50!

I believe everyone selects their own "mountain" to climb, each with its own book total. I picked 48 because it's approximately 50% of the total number of books I read in a year. Check out the other mountain levels and pick the one that works for you!

I'm happy to join you Amy :-) The last 2-3 years I've ended the year with a larger TBR than when I started it, so clearing 48 off should help a little :-)

And away we go!

Good luck, Amy!

Checking in at the end of Month #1:

So far this year I've read 12 books, 8 of which I had already owned. Six were from the teetering TBR pile in my bedroom, and two others had been sitting on my Nook for a number of months. I did purchase 4 new books -- two of those were e-books (good news for my sagging bookshelves), one was a graphic memoir that I immediately passed on to my son, and the last one was purchased at a used bookstore because it was the monthly selection for my book club (and I gave it away to another member after I finished it). Off to a good start, IMO! Maybe I will clear off space on that bookshelf this year after all. ;)

Jessika wrote: "Nice job! Keep up the good work!"

Thanks! You too! :)

Amy wrote: "Checking in at the end of Month #1:

So far this year I've read 12 books, 8 of which I had already owned. Six were from the teetering TBR pile in my bedroom, and two others had been sitting on my ..."

Amy, you're doing great!

End of Month #2:

Not quite as successful overall as January, but still plugging along. In February I completed 7 books. Four of those were books pulled from my shelves and counted toward the Mount TBR challenge: 3 were paper copies (helps clear the physical shelves!) and one was an e-book that has been on my Nook for several years. Of the other 3: one was borrowed from a coworker (so I least I didn't buy it!), one was an e-book that I purchased on a daily sale at B&N, and one was a paperback that I purchased for my book club discussion (and then I passed it along to another club member, to keep it from coming into my house!)

Total tally towards Mount TBR at end of February: 12/48

And I just finished one last night, so March is coming in like a lion. Fingers crossed. ;)

End of Month #3:

In March I completed 10 boooks, 6 of which I pulled off my still-cluttered shelves to count toward this challenge. The others include two e-books that I purchased as "daily deals," one that I bought on a whim at a used bookstore (and made sure to leave in the free bin at work when I finished with it), and the other was a new book purchased for my f2f book club discussion.

Total tally towards Mount TBR at end of March: 18/48

Still plodding along. Planted my flag on Pike's Peak and now angling for a spot atop Mount Blanc. :)

Congrats on getting to the top of the Peak! And best of luck for Mount Blanc.

Thanks, Bev! Slow and steady wins the race. I hope. Still not reading (and getting rid of) books fast enough for my husband! He'd really like to be able to open the closet door all the way again. ;)

Amy wrote: "Thanks, Bev! Slow and steady wins the race. I hope. Still not reading (and getting rid of) books fast enough for my husband! He'd really like to be able to open the closet door all the way again. ;)"

Yeah...my husband really wonders if I'll ever actually read all the books that are stacked in various places in the house...

Of course we won't Bev - but we'll always have a tempting selection to choose from :-p

End of Month #4:

A slower month in April, hampered primarily by the fact that my husband and I were traveling in the Netherlands and Belgium for 10 days. (A large chunk of my reading time is accumulated during my hour-long commute each way to work every day, so my totals go way down when I'm not working!) We had a great time, so it wasn't a horrible thing. ;)

In April I read a total of 6 books -- 3 of which counted toward my Mount TBR total. Two of those were physical books pulled off my shelves, and the third was an e-book that has been sitting in my Nook for several years. The other 3 books were purchased off the bargain table at a local store, and I brought them to the used bookstore when I was done with them. So they don't count toward Mount Ararat, but at least they aren't taking up room on my shelves either. I'd call that almost-win/win. ;)

Total tally towards Mount TBR at end of April: 21/48

Mount Blanc is in sight and I can feel the wind at the top ...

Planted a flag on Mount Blanc yesterday. Halfway there!

Amy wrote: "Planted a flag on Mount Blanc yesterday. Halfway there!"

Congrats!

Thanks! This is actually a bit more challenging than I thought it would be. It's forcing me to be more thoughtful when making a book selection instead of just going with whatever catches my eye to read next.

Amy wrote: "Thanks! This is actually a bit more challenging than I thought it would be. It's forcing me to be more thoughtful when making a book selection instead of just going with whatever catches my eye to ..."

So you're a mood reader? Your strategy seems to work :)

Sam wrote: "So you're a mood reader? Your strategy seems to work :) ..."

You know, I think I am both. I definitely need to be in the mood to read something, but I also try very hard to be more aware of what I'm reading in an effort to broaden my horizons. If I notice that I've been reading a lot of fiction, I make a point of picking up a nonfiction book. Likewise with my paper books and those on my e-reader--because I prefer paper books, I tend to forget about the ones that are stacked up on my Nook. So I am trying to make sure that I scroll through the e-reader periodically and pick one from there.

And now that I'm doing this challenge, I'm trying to be aware of how often a new book will catch my eye and distract me away from my already-towering TBR pile. I used to think I did a pretty good job of pulling from my pile, but I don't think I realized before this how often I am tempted by bright shiny objects! lol

End of Month #5:

Finished 7 books in May -- 5 of which counted toward this challenge, enabling me to reach the peak of Mount Blanc halfway through the month. Four were paper books and one was an e-book. Yay! The other two books were ones that caught my eye at the used bookstore near my office. They were read and passed on to coworkers.

Total tally towards Mount TBR at end of May: 26/48

Amy, you're doing great! more than half-way there!

Finished 7 books in June -- 4 counted for Mount TBR, 3 were newly acquired (2 paperbacks, 1 e-book).

Total tally towards Mount TBR at end of June: 30/48

Finished 6 books in July -- only 2 counted for Mount TBR (the others were library books (1), a bargain paperback from the used book store (1) and newly purchased e-books (2) ). However, one of the Mount TBR books was a 736-page paperback that has been sitting on my bookshelves for at least 13 years. So I count that as a major win. :)

Total tally towards Mount TBR at end of July: 32/48

Planted a flag on Mount Vancouver yesterday, and beginning my final ascent to the top of Mount Ararat!

Yay!

Amy wrote: "Planted a flag on Mount Vancouver yesterday, and beginning my final ascent to the top of Mount Ararat!"

Congrats!

End of Month #8:

Finished 11 books in August -- 6 of which counted toward this challenge, enabling me to reach the peak of Mount Vancouver partway through the month. Five were paper books and one was an e-book.

Total tally towards Mount TBR at end of August: 38/48

End of Month #9:

Finished 8 books in September -- 3 of which I pulled from my shelves to count toward this challenge. The others were library books and ones borrowed from the free bin at work and returned.
And I've already finished one for October, so I'm keeping my eyes on the peak.

Total tally towards Mount TBR at end of September: 41/48

End of Month #10:

Finished 9 books in October -- 4 of which counted toward this challenge. Three were paper books and the other was an e-book.

I've already finished one for November -- so only 2 more to go! I can see the top of the mountain and I've got my flag in my pocket!

Total tally towards Mount TBR at end of October: 45/48

Go Amy, you're almost there! Nice job!

Made it to the peak and planted my flag on Mount Ararat!

Now that I finally made it to the top, I rewarded myself by stopping at the library to pick up two new books I've been wanting to read but have been resisting in order to keep focused on my challenge and the TBR stack in my room! :)

Amy, I have to tell you--so far, you win the "Words of Wisdom" game in the final checkpoint. This is my absolute favorite:

The pen is mightier than..... The Demon in the Freezer

:-)

Bev wrote: "Amy, I have to tell you--so far, you win the "Words of Wisdom" game in the final checkpoint. This is my absolute favorite:

The pen is mightier than..... The Demon in the Freezer

:-)"

It was a fun game! I was chuckling as I was shuffling titles around to make them fit. ;)