Mount TBR 2013 Reading Challenge discussion

I have a huge list of 'To Read' books, and maintain a blog where I review new books (www.christianreads.blogspot.com). I've already signed up for the 2013 Goodreads Challenge, but hopefully this will motivate me to read some of the 70+ paperbacks and ebooks I've paid for (not to mention the 300+ I've downloaded free).

To Read:

1. The Lady of Bolton Hill by Elizabeth Camden - READ 2-1-13
2. Tidewater Inn by Coleen Coble
3. The Lightkeeper's Daughter by Colleen Coble - READ Oct
4. Montana Marriages Trilogy by Mary Connealy
5. Ransome's Honor by Kaye Dacus - READ 19-1-13
6. Ransome #2 by Kaye Dacus - READ 4-2-13
7. Ransome #3 by Kaye Dacus - READ
8. Captive Trail by Susan Page Davis - READ Oct
9. Love Finds You in Price Edward Island, Canada by Susan Page Davis
10. Falling Star by Diana Dempsey
11. Almost Heaven by Chris Fabry
12. A Ranger's Trail by Darlene Frankliin
13. Unending Devotion by Jody Hedlund - READ
14. The Doctor's Lady by Jody Hedlund - READ Oct
15. Full Disclosure by Dee Henderson - READ 19-4-13
16. On Writng Fiction by David Jauss
17. Sixty Acres and a Bride by Regina Jennings - RAED Oct
18. Stuck with You by Trish Jensen
19. The Raging Quiet by Sheryl Jordan
20. Double Cross by James David Jordan - READ 7-1-13
21. The Silent Governess by Julie Klassen - READ 1-1-13
22. The Unveiling by Tamara Leigh
23. Though Waters Roar by Lynn Austin
24. Until We Reach Home by Lynn Austin
25. Wonderland Creek by Lynn Austin - READ 5-1-13
26. Livvie's Song by Sharlene McLaren
27. End of the Trail by Vickie McDonough
28. Long Trail Home by Vickie McDonough - READ Oct
29. Seeds of Discovery by Breanna Puttroff
30. For All Time by Meredith Resce - READ 8-1-13
31. Summer Dream by Martha Rogers
32. The Casual Vacancy by JK Rowling
33. The Mailbox by Marybeth Whalan - READ 7/13
34. Still Life in Shadows by Alice J Whisler - READ 7/13
35. Vitamin D by Ian Wishart
36. Words by Ginny Yttrup - READ 7/13
37. Operation Bonnett by Kimberley Stuart - READ 3-2-13

Apart from the Book thief Im not making a list it will be random and I do have three library books to finish first. Daphne

Three down - summer holidays are wonderful!

# 6 - Who Switched off My Brain by Dr Caroline Leaf

#7 - Ransome's Honor by Kaye Dacus - very good Christian Regency

#8 - Dating a Cougar by Donna McDonald - too much swearing, not sure I liked the hero all the time and an unsophisticated writing style (adverbs, POV errors), but I still liked it.

#9 - A Case for Love by Kaye Dacus - contemporary romance

Long summer weekends...

#10 - Moon over Tokyo by Siri L Mitchell - better than others I've read from Mitchell, but still didn't like the heroine. No one wants a perfect heroine, but I want her faults to be interesting foibles (sp?), not irritating character deficiencies.

#11 - My Stubborn Heart by Becky Wade - debut novel that caused a ruckus for the use of the word 'crap' three times in Christian fiction (and from Bethany House, no less). Very good book, but I agree with the critics that the crap word wasn't necessary. In context, junk or rubbish would have worked equally well.

#12 - The Silent Governess by Julie Klassen. I'm always a bit hesitant to read a book by a favourite author, just in case it doesn't meet expectations. This more than succeeded - great writing, excellent sense of time and place (Regency England) and an enjoyable mix of romance and suspense.

#13 - Ransome's Crossing by Kaye Dacus (Ransome #2). Very good, but not quite enough interaction between Lott and Ned, and I'm only letting her get away with the cliffhander ending because I have book #3 sitting waiting... I'd have been very annoyed if I had to wait six months before finding out what happens.

#14 - Ransome #3. Nice finish to the series, but not as much romance as the first two.

#15 - First the Dead by Tim Downs.

#16 - Red Helmet by Homer Hickam. Well-written, great action and good suspense, but the 'romantic' relationship was unconvincing.

Been a while...

#17 - The Last Waltz by GG Vandergriff. Not what I was expected, but quite brilliant.

#18 - The Scandalous, Dissolute, No-Good Mr Wright by Tessa Dare - shorter than expected.

#18 Full Disclosure by Dee Henderson - as bad as the reviews indicated

#19 - I'll Take Forever by Barbara McMahon - short.

#20 - Courting Morrow Little by Laura Franz - Good

#21 - The Frontiersman's Daughter by Laura Franz - not as good as Courting Morrow Little, but it was her first book - at least this means she's improving.

Made some progress this week...

#22 - Wedded to War by Jocelyn Green
#23 - Words by Ginny Yttrup
#24 - The Mailbox by Marybeth Whalan
#25 - Still Life in Shadows by Alice J Whisler

#26 - Unending Devotion by Jody Hedlund. Recommended.

#27 - Hand of Fate by Liz Wiehl with April Henry

#28 - Hatteras Girl by Alice J Whisler. I'm slowly catching up...

#29 - Just Between You and Me by Jenny B Jones - another Chick-lit like Hatteras Girl. Very good.

These two are actually DNF's. I read a quarter of each, then gave up because neither the plot nor the characters had captured my attention. I actually tried to read one of them three times.

#30 Latter-Day Cipher by Latayne C Scott
#31 The Country House Courtship by Linore Rose Burkard

It might be kind of cheating given I didn't finish them, but I'm never going to finish them.

Iola wrote: "These two are actually DNF's. I read a quarter of each, then gave up because neither the plot nor the characters had captured my attention. I actually tried to read

#30 Latter-Day Cipher by Latay..."

DNF's absolutley count. I've left it up to each of you to decide on what you have to do with them for them to count. But, definitely, if you're positive that you're never going back to them--then you've moved them off the TBR pile and they count.

Bev wrote: DNF's absolutley count ... if you're positive that you're never going back to them--then you've moved them off the TBR pile and they count.
..."
I like that logic. After all, that's the point of the challenge, to move books off the TBR pile.

I'm also in the GR 2013 Reading Challenge, but am not counting DNFs on that list (but I am counting re-reads - after all, that is books I've read).

Glad they get to count. Without referring to you, it's odd a quarter-read novel is in, if we can't use 2013 buys. I follow rules but sure buy like the wind and need EVERYTHING moving. If that's the purpose, everything we own fits. Either the mission is to get stuff off our shelves, like this sounds, or it is pinpointing that older stuff be read.

(Always feel welcome to call me 'Carolyn', for 'C'). :-) Next on the agenda: getting dear Bev to make 'vintage mystery' go up to 1970 next year! heeheehee

Carolyn: Stay tuned for the announcement of next year's vintage mystery challenge. You are going to be pleasantly surprised.

Also--I too buy like the wind (but don't read at near the blustery rate). When I developed the Mt. TBR challenge, my idea was to help shift books off the stacks that had been languishing there for way too long. It's all to easy for me to go ahead and read the books I just bought and continue to ignore the teetering stacks that I've accumulated over the years (I still have books on my TBR shelves from 20 years ago....but fewer and fewer thanks to challenges!). I don't mind how they get shifted (provided we honestly tried to read them--even if we find that our current self can't figure out why our previous self ever put them on the stack in the first place and give up on them).

I figured dust thickness was part of your vision, as it is with Bonnie's 'Off The Shelf'. I ran it by you because I read every page of what I list, even if I hated them, and do a 300 word review at Amazon.ca. But just like you and perhaps Iola, there is plenty of 1, 5, 10, 15, 20 year-old material at home to fit your criteria. :-)

I don't know how many saw my article about how I got started but as a teen, my Uncle considered us family at his cottage, on Lake Winnipeg. The beach store had a box on the floor with 25c gothic mysteries. Starting about 1986, I bought EVERY ONE with a woman fleeing from a mansion, over a good 10 years. Still in school then university, there was no way to eat them up and so a treasured collection began. Speaking of treasures, I don't know how many reading friends in our Mount TBR family are gardeners but southern Manitoba is zone 3. Tonight is the first frost date and Ron & I have covered everything our hearts are set on ensuring are safe.

When people gush 'Ooo, fall is my favourite season because the colours of the trees are so pretty'; they clearly don't call their Mom crying if they find their flowers and garden dead in the morning. :( I pray my eggplants, peppers, watermelons, pumpkins, and flowers get more time. I'm the kind of person who treasures all forms of life and my heart surges, if 'my children' BLOOM before autumn takes over. It can be warm until November, if we pray our way past some -0 nights.

I've been on holiday for the last few days - sunbathing and reading:

#32 Long Trail Home by Vickie McDonough
#33 Lone Star Trail by Darlene Franklin
#34 Captive Trail by Susan Page Davis
#35 Rose of Winslow Street by Elizabeth Camden
#36 Nickels by Karen Baney
#37 Sixty Acres and a Bride by Regina Jennings
#38 Love in Disguise by Carol Cox
#39 Texas Roads by Cathy Bryant

Yay! Only 9 to go!

Been busy since my holiday, but Christmas/summer holiday is about to start. Nine books in eleven days. Possible...

#40 The Trouble With Harry by Katie McAlister

As I read this, it seemed familiar, but I hadn't previously recorded it on Goodreads, so it counts, because it was in my TBR file and now it isn't.

#41 Chameleon by Jillian Kent
#42 Her Good Name by Ruth Axtell
#43 Lady Dearing's Masquerade by Elena Greene

Only five to go ...

#44 Montana Rose by Mary Connelly. To answer the discussion questions, is Red too sweet? Yes.
Is Cassie too scattered? Yes.
Is Mort to be respected or despised? Despised. He's in his seventies, and not ole did he think it was okay to marry an eighteen year old widow, he planned on 'sharing' her with his son.
Is the discussion on childbearing too graphic? Yes. And unrealistic.
Is the birth scene fun or nonsense? Nonsense.

And she's making a last-minute attempt to scale those heights ...
#45 The Husband Tree by Mary Conneally. The first 75% was better than Montana Rose, but then the hero had a personality transplant and turned stupid.

#46 Wildflower Bride by Mary Conneally

Finished on the 30th (but have been out of wifi range since then):

#47 The Hunger Games
#48 Catching Fire
#49 Mockingjay

all by Suzanne Collins

Congrats on summiting! Enjoy the view!