Mount TBR 2013 Reading Challenge discussion

Here are the books I've read so far in 2013 that qualify for this challenge:
All were purchased in previous years. One is an e-book. All others are print copies.
I "read and release" almost all of my books, i.e., once I read a book I trade it at a UBS or donate it to a literacy program.

1) The Body in the Big Apple by Katherine Hall Page - 1/03/13
2) Every Last Secret by Linda Rodriguez - 1/09/13
3) State of the Onion by Julia Hyzy - 1/18/13
4) The Heat of the Moon by Sandra Parshall (Kindle) - 1/24/13
5) The Walled Flower by Lorraine Bartlett - 2/08/13
6) There Goes the Bride by M.C. Beaton 2/17/13
7) Busy Body by M.C. Beaton - 2/20/13
8) As the Pig Turns by M.C. Beaton - 2/24/13
9) If You Can't Stand the Heat by Robin Allen - 3/07/13
10) A Week in Winter by Marcia Willett - 4/01/13
11) Stork Raving Mad by Donna Andrews - 4/16/13
12) The Real Macaw by Donna Andrews - 4/21/13
13) Riding the Dragon by Robert Wicks - 4/22/13
14) Some Like It Hawk by Donna Andrews - 4/27/13
15) Button Holed by Kylie Logan - 5/04/13
16) Three Dirty Women and the Garden of Death by Julie Wray Herman - 5/09/13
17) Devil's Trumpet by Mary Freeman - 5/21/13
18) Dead Head by Rosemary Harris - 5/28/13
19) The Secret Wedding by Jo Beverley - 6/02/13
20) Delicious and Suspicious by Riley Adams - 7/26/13
21) Murder of a Creped Suzette by Denise Swanson - 8/09/13
22) A Parfait Murder by Wendy Lyn Watson - 8/18/13
23) Finger Lickin' Dead by Riley Adams - 8/24/13
24) Fatal Fixer-Upper by Jennie Bentley - 8/31/13
25) Holmes on the Range by Steve Hockensmith - 9/06/13
26) Bloody Kin by Margaret Maron - 9/15/13
27) A Matter of Class by Mary Balough - 9/20/13
28) Charmed to Death by Shirley Damsgaard - 10/09/13

At the bottom of my Goodreads page is a list of titles I'd like to trade with someone. I keep books I like in a collector's way but trade those I didn't care for; at used stores similar to you. Novels I could exchange with someone who has what I need. :)

There are numerous series volumes not on that short list: the last three Damsgaard, the early MC Beaton Hamish volumes. I could use the Carolyn Hart ghost series too! Carolyn, western Canada.

I also list books on one of the on-line swap sites: www.booksfreeswap.com This one is most similar to the book swap GR used to have with the receiver paying for postage. I don't want to pay to give books away. I don't know whether readers outside of the US can participate.

Since I read a lot of mysteries, I rarely re-read. I don't just trade books "I didn't care for." Most are 3 & 4 star reads.

I want a product-for-product swap. No currency or postage. Receive something you want, for what you send. Otherwise I would buy used at Amazon Canada. Anyone interesting in using unneeded books as currency, see my Goodreads page and contact me. :)

Not needing can mean a duplicate, if I found hardcover. Even I limit the collection a little and keeping physical books going forward. I have oldies and recent releases. Glad to meet a book lover either way Nell. A 'lot of mysteries'? My threads show see how 'into them' I am - with photos. ;)

October 15 - 31, 2013


29) The Trouble with Witches by Shirley Damsgaard - 10/15/13
30) Witch Hunt by Shirley Damsgaard - 10/19/13
31) The Witch is Dead by Shirley Damsgaard - 10/26/13

Checkpoint - 3rd quarter
4010 miles of 4,812 miles
30 of 36

A. Who has been your favorite character so far? And tell us why, if you like.
Marquitta Bannion in Every Last Secret: A Mystery by Linda Rodriguez
I liked her courage in changing her life and seeking the truth even when the administration tried to intimidate her.


B. What has been your most difficult read so far. And why? (Length? Subject matter? Difficult style? Out of your comfort zone reading?)
The most difficult read was Three Dirty Women and the Garden of Death by Julie Wray Herman. MC was unlikable; the book only focuses on 2 of the 3 women and it was not a good read.

C. Which book (read so far) has been on your TBR mountain the longest? Was it worth the wait? Or is it possible you should have tackled it back when you first put it on the pile? Or tossed it off the edge without reading it all?
Bloody Kin by Margaret Maron
Yes, it was very good. I wish that I had read it sooner. This book is loosely connected to her two series, i.e., a prequel to her Deborah Knott mysteries with the MC Sigrid Harald's cousin who has appeared in those novels.


D. Choose 3-5 titles from your stacks and using a word from the title, do an image search. Post the first picture associated with that word.

The Real Macaw by Donna Andrews


A Week in Winter by Marcia Willett


The Walled Flower by Lorraine Bartlett


The Heat of the Moon by Sandra Parshall

November 2013
Read from Mount TBR:

32) The Secret Mistress by Mary Balogh - 11/09/13
33) Big Stone Gap by Adriana Trigiani - 11/16/13
34) Falling Together by Marisa de los Santos - 11/23/13
35) The Seventh Witch by Shirley Damsgaard - 11/26/13

December 2013
From Mount TBR:

36) Santa, Honey by Kate Angell, Sandra Hill and Joy Nash (Kindle) - 12/17/13

Congratulations! How perfect that you were able to summit at the end of the year with a seasonal title! :-)

Final Checkpoint:

Are you male or female? The Seventh Witch
Describe yourself: The Walled Flower
Describe where you currently live: State of the Onion
If you could go anywhere where would you go? Stork Raving Mad LOL! Couldn't resist this one.
The Body in the Big Apple
Your favorite form of transportation: Riding the Dragon
What's the weather like? A Week in Winter
Favorite time of day? The Heat of the Moon
Your relationships: Falling Together
You fear: Bloody Kin
What is the best advice you have to give? If You Can't Stand the Heat and ...Let Go of Who You Think You're Supposed to Be and Embrace Who You Are
If you could change your name, you would change it to: Holmes on the Range
My soul's present condition: Every Last Secret: A Mystery

Reading on the Summit of Mt. Vancouver
December 2013

37) The Christmas Pearl by Dorothea Benton Frank (Kindle) 12/28/13

Congrats! Nothing like reading with a view ;)