Mount TBR 2013 Reading Challenge discussion

As I mentioned last year, I am a bookaholic. I can't let a bookstore (used or new, it doesn't matter) go by without stopping in ("just to look") and walking out with at least something--if not an armload. I wait all year for the Red Cross Book Sale in October so I can cart them out by the bagful. And, well, that means that I wind up with gigantic piles of TBR books stacked up around my backroom. I don't have a TBR shelf. Oh, no. I have "Mount TBR"...actually a whole mountain range. And it doesn't matter that I've just spent the last year working on my mountain range with the Mount TBR Reading Challenge. They just keep on sprouting up.

So, once again, I plan to concentrate on reading primarily from my own books this year. And you're invited to join me in knocking out some of those books that have been waiting in the wings for weeks....months...even years.

Challenge Levels (I've adjusted the levels just slightly this year):

Pike's Peak: Read 12 books from your TBR pile/s
Mount Blanc: Read 24 books from your TBR pile/s
Mt. Vancouver: Read 36 books from your TBR pile/s
Mt. Ararat: Read 48 books from your TBR piles/s
Mt. Kilimanjaro: Read 60 books from your TBR pile/s
El Toro: Read 75 books from your TBR pile/s
Mt. Everest: Read 100 books from your TBR pile/s
Mount Olympus (Mars): Read 150+ books from your TBR pile/s

And the rules:
*Once you choose your challenge level, you are locked in for at least that many books. If you find that you're on a mountain-climbing roll and want to tackle a taller mountain, then you are certainly welcome to upgrade.

*Challenge runs from January 1 to December 31, 2013.

*You may sign up anytime from now until November 30th, 2013.

*Books must be owned by you prior to January 1, 2013. No ARCs (none), no library books. No rereads. [To clarify--based on a question raised last year--the intention is to reduce the stack of books that you have bought for yourself or received as presents {birthday, Christmas, "just because," etc.}] Audiobooks and E-books may count if they are yours and they are one of your primary sources of backlogged books.


*You may count any "currently reading" book that you begin prior to January 1--provided that you had 50% or more of the book left to finish in 2013. I will trust you all on that.

*Any qualifying book read during 2013 counts--no matter when you sign up.


*Books may be used to count for other challenges as well.

*Feel free to submit your list in advance (as incentive to really get those books taken care of) or to tally them as you climb.

*Start a thread in the appropriate Challenge level folder to declare your challenge goal and so we can follow your progress up the mountain.

Question on short story collections: I'm rereading some of Randall Garrett's Lord Darcy series. The Baen collection has all of them, including the ones I've already read. Can I count it at all towards the TBR challenge? The first collection only makes up 160 pages of a 600 page collection.

Is the 600 page collection (including portions you've already read) all in one book or in separate volumes? If the entire collection is one book, then, yes, it may count as long as you have previously read less than 50% of the entire series. OR if the portions of the series are in separate books (that collectively make up the entire collection) then you may count each volume of the series as separate entries in the challenge (provided that each volume counted contains at least 50% new reading for you). Does that make sense? {I've got some sort of upper-respiratory flu-thing that's making my head hurt...so I'm not sure that's as clear as I think it is. :-) }

It's all in one book. The originals were published in separate collections -- two short story collections and a novel and a few others from other sources. I own one collection and the novel and this collection. So I was planning on not counting that first collection, while the rest will be new material for me. {I had a charming sinus infection over the Christmas break, so I understand completely. I was more worried I wasn't making sense.}

Bev, do DNF books count? They qualified, spent an hour or more of our time, but were not entertaining enough to finish, but they did get moved out of that collecting dust pile....

Rio (Lynne) wrote: "Bev, do DNF books count? They qualified, spent an hour or more of our time, but were not entertaining enough to finish, but they did get moved out of that collecting dust pile...."

Sure...as long as they meet your own personal DNF rules (for me, I have to give a book at least 100 pages--sometimes longer if the book is longer--for me to count it as really "read").

Can I include audiobooks if they're borrowed BUT are recordings of actual books I've had on my TBR pile for a while?

Caz wrote: "Can I include audiobooks if they're borrowed BUT are recordings of actual books I've had on my TBR pile for a while?"

Yes, indeed. Library books or borrowed audio versions are okay as long as they represent an actual book on your shelf (pre-January). I've got so many boxes of books that I've had to substitute library books when I've been unable to remember where I put my personal copy. And last year I used an audio version of Jane Austen's Emma to help the 5 hour trip to Chicago go quicker....

Bev wrote: "Caz wrote: "Can I include audiobooks if they're borrowed BUT are recordings of actual books I've had on my TBR pile for a while?"

Yes, indeed. Library books or borrowed audio versions are okay as..."

Useful to know, thanks. I was feeling a bit rough last week, so I downloaded some audios from the e-library so I could listen when I couldn't keep my eyes open to read an actual book! The ones I've listened to so far are of books I've already got and had prior to January this year.

Bev, are you doing the quarterly check-ins again this year? It's not for the prize, (of course) but it's nice to see how folks are doing without trawling through each and every separate thread.

Karen wrote: "Bev, are you doing the quarterly check-ins again this year? It's not for the prize, (of course) but it's nice to see how folks are doing without trawling through each and every separate thread."

Yes. I'm going to have it up sometime tomorrow. Trying to figure out what I want to do with it (question-wise, etc)

Bev wrote: "Karen wrote: "Bev, are you doing the quarterly check-ins again this year? It's not for the prize, (of course) but it's nice to see how folks are doing without trawling through each and every separa..."

Actually.....got things together and it is now up!

Thanks, great! Will check it out - soooo excited to see what you've come up with ;-))

Christine wrote: "Bev, how many pages should a 'book' have to count in this challenge? I have some books that are anything from 50 to around the 150 page mark, that I'd like to get off my TBR pile.

Thanks in advance"

I've placed no limit on the page count. If it has been produced as a book (and not a short story), then it counts. Adult, Young Adult, Children's....doesn't matter. It's all about getting those books shifted off the TBR stacks...so if it's stone-sized or boulder-sized, it's all good.