Virtual Mount TBR Challenge 2024 discussion

Going to try keeping it small on the virtual slopes, but I know myself and can't help reading those books I don't own.

Running List:

----------- Rum Doodle ----------------
January:
1. Clear by Carys Davies 💻
2. Tartans: Pleasures and Treasures by Christian Hesketh 📘

February:
3. American Spirits by Russell Banks 🎧
4. Copper Falcon by W. Michael Gear & Kathleen O'Neal Gear 💻

March:
5. The Great Divide by Cristina Henríquez 🎧
6. Crank by Ellen Hopkins 💻

April:
7. The Secret Lives of Booksellers and Librarians: True Stories of the Magic of Reading by by James Patterson & Matt Eversmann 💻

May:
8. Rednecks by Taylor Brown 🎧

June:
9. Get Me Through the Next Five Minutes: Odes to Being Alive by James Parker 💻
10. The Book That Wouldn’t Burn by Mark Lawrence 💻

July:
11. Email by Randy Malamud 📘

August:
12: Traffic by Paul Josephson 📘




-----------Currently Reading-----------
posted at the next peak!


on pause/dnf--------------
What an Owl Knows: The New Science of the World's Most Enigmatic Birds by Jennifer Ackerman 🎧
The Singularity is Nearer by Ray Kurzweil 💻

Welcome back! Yes, there are just too many tempting books out there. Currently reading one from the library when I know good and well I ought to be getting another one off the mountain slopes at home... :-)

Welcome back, Pamela! We all have the same problem with trying to stay on the lower slopes for our Virtual Climb, but always climbing higher than expected! Let's hope we can stay on track in 2024!

Natália wrote: "Welcome back, Pamela! We all have the same problem with trying to stay on the lower slopes for our Virtual Climb, but always climbing higher than expected! Let's hope we can stay on track in 2024!"

Thanks Natália. Good luck in reaching your reading goals in 2024!

Starting the year in the middle of three books not owned, here we go January! One of each format - audio, print and eBook.

just about the first week of January completed and I've finished two books I'd started in December. Both Scottish.

Book 1 is Clear by Carys Davies.

4.25 stars, eBook

A historical story placed a while back during the Scottish clearances the minister John takes on the job to remove the last person on an island. This way of making money is due to the split with the Scottish Free Church so the priests are all staring anew. Soon after arriving on the island he falls off a cliff, the tenant Ivar finds him and helps him back to health. Got this from NetGalley and will be published soon.


Book 2 is Tartans: Pleasures and Treasures by Christian Hesketh

4 stars. print book

A short book with many images, prints and drawings along with a text with the history of the tartan and kilt, and wee bit of the Scottish history in general. Learned quite a bit, but the text would refer to images not on the same page and had to flip forward or back constantly. Poor design in that aspect. From the library.

Book 3 is American Spirits by Russell Banks.

3.75 stars, audio book

This book is of three short stories, all center around the same location a small town in Northern New York. The characters are quickly drawn, Banks knows how to write. But they are bleak. There is an awful tragedy in each story. I didn't quite enjoy this, but they did pull me in. Early release audio from Penguin Random House Audio.

Book 4 is Copper Falcon by W. Michael Gear & Kathleen O'Neal Gear.
Series: People of Cahokia #0.5
Series: North America's Forgotten Past #20.5

3 stars, eBook


This was a very short book, a novella, yet it took me a while to read it as I wasn't reading it. I have read many books in the North America's Forgotten Past series, and this one read a bit different from their other books. Felt a little modern at first, maybe it was due to the length being so short that material was cut out. In any case, by the end it started to feel familiar. A good set-up for the next in the series. eBook from the library.

Book 5 is The Great Divide by Cristina Henríquez.


3.25 stars, audio book

The book was okay, but didn't blow me away. Thought there were way too many characters and not enough depth. Also, the focus was to be on building the Panama canal, but there was less of that than relationships and illness, etc. I like a book with fewer character's POV. Got an advance audio book from NetGalley.

Book 6 is Crank by Ellen Hopkins.

4 stars, eBook

This was a bit of an accidental read. I was looking over last year's top 10 most banned book and this book was on the list. A YA book told in poetry form, which made me curious. After reading a sample I wanted to read a bit more, and ended up reading the entire book in one day. It's a cautionary tale for teens to get into drugs, based on the the real history of what happened to the author and her daughter. Powerful book. Debating about reading the next one. Got the book from my local public library.

Book 7 is The Secret Lives of Booksellers and Librarians: True Stories of the Magic of Reading by by James Patterson & Matt Eversmann

4 stars, eBook

While I did enjoy this book overall, the sub-title is a bit of a misnomer. The book is split into 5 parts, and those seem arbitrary as well, the headings don't really fit the entries. The book has a lot of individual stories by bookstore owners or librarians with their own person experience in their work. Often there is a short tale about how they got started. After some time the book became repetitive despite each person's unique experience. Got the eBook as an advance copy from netGalley.

Book 8 is Rednecks by Taylor Brown.

4 starts, audio book

Historical fiction that was a bit shocking to me. I didn't know how violent the union strike and king coal wars were in West Virginia. It was a war with many killed. The book was well done, and although accurate too war-like for me to really enjoy it. Still glad a new light is shining on this forgotten history. Audio book from the local library.

Book 9 is Get Me Through the Next Five Minutes: Odes to Being Alive by James Parker.

3 stars, eBook

A collection of (most previously published) essays, or Odes, to the quotidian. They are full of humor and they look at the positive side of things that one may not typically see. Some odes are better than others, the length varies. Overall enjoyable but not profound. Got an advance copy of the eBook from NetGalley.

Book 10 The Book That Wouldn’t Burn by Mark Lawrence.

4 stars, eBook


Somehow I got sucked into a kindle reading challenge and needed a book for the Series Pioneer. This book looked the most interesting from the list that fit that category. Turned out I enjoyed the book. Confusing world building in the beginning, but that's due to the characters not understanding the world either. The book is about trying to understand it, and it being the library. An ancient massively huge library. This is book one of a series, but not sure I will continue. Got the eBook from my local library.

Book 11 is Email by Randy Malamud.

4.5 stars, print book

This was a quite entertaining read about email! It's a short book in the Object Lessons series, each book is focused on one thing, in this case email. The author did not hold back on adding in humor and it made this one of the better books I've read in the series, and this is the 9th one. Checked out the book from the library.

Reached the peak with book 12 Traffic by Paul Josephson.

3 stars, print book

Another small book in the Object Lessons series from Bloomsbury Academic. This one felt a bit more academic in tone, but not entirely. The traffic focus was with speed bumps, traffic calming and safety, but mostly traffic bumps. Not my favorite, but was interesting to some degree. Had this checked out from the library for way to long.

See the next peak!
onto Pamela meanders up Mount Crumpit!