Mount TBR 2016 discussion

This will be my third year attempting this challenge! In 2014, I made it to Mt. Vancouver (36), and for 2015, I'm on track for Mt. Ararat (48). So I'm stepping it up one more time in 2016!

As it stands, here are my TBR shelves, according to the year they were added:
2015 - 114
2014 - 90
2013 - 77
2012 - 57
2011 and before - 103

My goal for 2016 is to get 2011 and 2015 lists under 100 books!

Another goal (as usual), is to add fewer books to TBR 2016's shelf. Obviously that never works well for me. Someone else suggested a "book budget" which sounds like a good idea. My husband said I'll be really sad when it's only March and my book budget is blown for the year, but I know I can do better than that! Based on my estimates, I spent about $350 on books in 2015. Yay for library sales and indie bundles! I'm setting my book budget for 2016 at $300.

Last year, I pre-selected the books I wanted to read, and did complete about 2/3rds of that list. This year, no list, I'll just post as I go.

Happy climbing! Feel free to add me as a friend. Friendly comments always appreciated!

Good luck!

Rabbit {Paint me like one of your 19th century gothic heroines!} wrote: "Good luck!"

Thanks! You, too!

Good luck with your increased goal! That book budget thing would never work for me.... :-)

As the quote from Desiderius Erasmus is said to translate: "When I get a little money I buy books; and if any is left I buy food and clothes."

Bev wrote: "When I get a little money I buy books; and if any is left I buy food and clothes."

Great quote, Bev! We'll see if I stick to the budget or not... It's worth a shot!

Book Budget 2016

Running total: $109.03 as of Dec 2

Jessika wrote: "I'm setting my book budget for 2016 at $300."

I'm resolved to only bring 1 book in for every 5 that leave the shelf. I figure buying a book is a good reward for getting rid of a few. Fingers crossed it helps control the number that come in!!

Colleen wrote: "I'm resolved to only bring 1 book in for every 5 that leave the shelf. I figure buying a book is a good reward for getting rid of a fe..."

Good idea! It's always nice to reward ourselves, and if you're like me, if I say that I won't buy ANY books, I'll rebel against myself and buy too many!

Here we go!

1. Amulet, Vol. 6: Escape From Lucien Acquired 8/2015, 4/5 stars. Next one comes out in February, woohoo!

2. Flight, Vol. 3 Acquired 4/2015, 4/5 stars.

3. Stuff White People Like: A Definitive Guide to the Unique Taste of Millions Acquired 5/2015, 2.5/5 stars. Entertaining, but not exactly great literature...

I only discovered library sales last year and they are the best.
That's an awesome book budget, I like to think I could stick to one, but I'm an impulsive shopper, I never manage to stick to anything.
Happy reading

Maxine wrote: "I only discovered library sales last year and they are the best."

Ahh, yes, they are my downfall. I also love indie e-book bundles, where you can get 15-20 books for $5 or $10.

4. Here We Are & There We Go: Teaching and Traveling With Kids in Tow Acquired 8/2013 as a kindle freebie, 2/5 stars. I really wanted to enjoy this memoir, but it was a good example of how people who lead interesting lives aren't necessarily good writers.

Wow! Four down already! Doing great....I'm in the midst of my third.

Bev wrote: "Wow! Four down already! Doing great....I'm in the midst of my third."

Great job to you! Those 4 were patiently waiting at 47% finished til I started the new year, so it was easy to zoom through them!

5. In the Year 2889 Acquired 5/2013 free on kindle, 3/5 stars. Always fun to see what people in the past think the future will be like! Hehe. I've heard that many people attribute Jules Verne's son as the author of this short story.

Jessika wrote: "Maxine wrote: "I only discovered library sales last year and they are the best."

Ahh, yes, they are my downfall. I also love indie e-book bundles, where you can get 15-20 books for $5 or $10."

Love the library sales here too! And--we have a community book fair (used to be sponsored by the Red Cross and now by a local food bank) every Fall where I manage to pick 40-60 books every year.

6. The Housewife Assassin's Handbook Acquired 5/2012 free on kindle, 2/5 stars. Well written, a quick read, but this book (and genre) is not for me.

7. Sharp Objects Acquired 12/2012, 3.5/5 stars. Disturbing, but I liked it better than Dark Places. I had a gut feeling about who was committing the murders that turned out to be half right, but the whole town is creepy. Not a place I would want to go back to, either.

Kudos for your great start! And I give you a *nod* for generously awarding 2 stars for a book you didn't particularly enjoy. I'm thinking I should check out the books you award 5 stars to! :D

Laura wrote: "Kudos for your great start! And I give you a *nod* for generously awarding 2 stars for a book you didn't particularly enjoy. I'm thinking I should check out the books you award 5 stars to! :D"

Hehe, well I try to save 1 stars for truly terrible books that no one should ever read. I do think some people would enjoy The Housewife Assassin's Handbook and it was well written, it was just the subject matter wasn't up my alley.

8. Y: The Last Man - The Deluxe Edition Book One Acquired 11/2015, 4/5 stars. The first of five deluxe editions. Very interesting story, where a mysterious event simultaneously wiped out all male mammals on Earth, except for one man and his Capuchin monkey. The only thing I don't like is the amount of profanity. A little here and there, I can handle. Littering every page, it can be too much.

9. Y: The Last Man - The Deluxe Edition Book Two Acquired 11/2015, 4/5 stars. Still an interesting series, with some very weird parts in this one that made me briefly question my taste... hehe

January Status Update:
Total read: 10/85
Hard copies: 6/50
E-Books: 4/35
Counting for this challenge: 9/60
Total added to TBR 2016: 9
Book Budget: $21.66

This month, I'm proud that 90% of the books I read counted for this challenge! But I'm not so proud that I acquired 9 new books, so I'm only ahead by one. Drat!

You've made a fantastic start, Jessika! 60 is quite a target but I reckon you'll do it. :-)

Impressive- I like the idea of the book budget!

Jessika, you are doing great!

And thanks so much for being such a great cheerleader for the other climbers--I keep seeing you pop up in my challenge message feed!

Cath wrote: "You've made a fantastic start, Jessika! 60 is quite a target but I reckon you'll do it. :-)"

Thanks, Cath! I'm on my way!

Maegan wrote: "Impressive- I like the idea of the book budget!"

Thanks! I "borrowed" the idea from another group member to try for this year... we'll see how it goes.

Bev wrote: "Jessika, you are doing great!

And thanks so much for being such a great cheerleader for the other climbers--I keep seeing you pop up in my challenge message feed!"

Thanks, Bev! I'm trying to be more active and get to know people this year. :)

10. Franny and Zooey Acquired 6/2015, 2/5 stars. Couldn't get into the story or style of writing.

11. Ramayana: Divine Loophole Acquired 12/2015, 5/5 stars. A really lovely illustrated retelling of a Hindu myth. Loved the art style.

12. Steelheart Acquired 6/2015, 4/5 stars. Another great story by Sanderson. This one is a little more YA-focused than Mistborn, but still captivating. I had fun doing this for buddy read, posting thoughts and questions along the way. The 3rd book in this series just came out yesterday, so I guess I'll make my way through the 2nd one soon.

And with that, I've finished Pike's Peak!

Jessika wrote: "And with that, I've finished Pike's Peak!"

Woo Hoo! Onward and upward.

13. 90 Minutes in Heaven: A True Story of Death & Life Acquired pre-GR, at least since 9/2011, 4/5 stars. This book has sat on my shelf for a long time, because it's hard to read and rate a book about someone's near death experience. Do I think they would lie about what they experienced? Most likely not, but since I haven't experienced it for myself, it's just hard to know. But regardless of whether you believe this man went to heaven and came back again, it is a great story of his physical, emotional, and spiritual struggle to put his life back together again after a horrible car accident.

Jessika wrote: "And with that, I've finished Pike's Peak!"

Fantastic!!!

14. Impulse Acquired 8/2014, 3/5 stars. 3rd in the "Jumper" series. While it was an entertaining story, it got a little old with Cent's amazing ability to know exactly how much speed she was able to add when she jumped... Yeah, right, like she could just automatically know "I'm going to add 20 mph, yup that felt about right."

15. Dave Barry Slept Here: A Sort of History of the United States Acquired 8/2015, 3/5 stars. Light, humorous read, but not for everyone.

February Status Update:
Total read: 19/85
Hard copies: 13/50
E-Books: 6/35
Counting for this challenge: 15/60
Total added to TBR 2016: 15
Book Budget: $57.43

Well, I'm breaking even for the year. Read 15 TBRs, added 15 TBRs. Darn those free kindle classics! You think you have all the ones you want, and then a few more pop up! I'm doing well with my book budget, though, since most of those were free. :)

Oh man! I haven't even kept track of what I've added. Those freebies get to me, too.

Nice start, Jessika!

16. Y: The Last Man - The Deluxe Edition Book Three Acquired 11/2015, 3/5 stars. Still liking the series overall, and this one had some interesting parts, but (and don't laugh), it was too wordy for my taste in comics... Very story-heavy and didn't let the pictures do enough of the talking.

17. Whiter Shades of Pale: The Stuff White People Like, Coast to Coast, from Seattle's Sweaters to Maine's Microbrews Acquired 5/2015, 2/5 stars. Why, oh why, did I read 2 of these books? lol

18. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer Acquired 8/2012 free on kindle, 3/5 stars. I'm sure I read this when I was in school, but have absolutely no recollection of it. It was a cute story! It took me a while to get into the rhythm of the language, but overall a good read.

March Status Update:
Total read: 27/85
Hard copies: 16/50
E-Books: 11/35
Counting for this challenge: 18/60
Total added to TBR 2016: 17
Book Budget: $60.46

I'm cheating a little bit here, because I'm doing my "end of the month update" BEFORE the big book sale I'm going to on Monday! This month was a slow month for my reading, but I'm still chugging along. I have 3 more in progress that I'm hoping to finish shortly, if not this month, then early next month.

Jessika wrote: "March Status Update:
Total read: 27/85
Hard copies: 16/50
E-Books: 11/35
Counting for this challenge: 18/60
Total added to TBR 2016: 17
Book Budget: $60.46

I'm cheating a little bit here, because ..."

Love to see your breakdown. I never thought about how many types of books I've read. It would be interesting to track. Onward to next month.
Enjoy that book sale. :)

Sophia wrote: "Love to see your breakdown. I never thought about how many types of books I've read. It would be interesting to track."

Like many people, my e-book library is growing, but I'm ok with that because it doesn't take up any space! However, my physical library does. So I keep track to encourage myself to read more of my hard copies.

Ah, that makes sense.

Jessika wrote: "18. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer Acquired 8/2012 free on kindle, 3/5 stars. I'm sure I read this when I was in school, but have abs..."

Yay!! I admit that I tried multiple times to read Huckleberry Finn as a youth and later as an adult and just couldn't get into it.

Jessika wrote: "Sophia wrote: "Love to see your breakdown. I never thought about how many types of books I've read. It would be interesting to track."

Like many people, my e-book library is growing, but I'm ok wi..."

My e-book library is pretty big and although I'm chipping away at the mountain via my pre-2016 purchases, I still do that easy little One-Click. ;) Amusingly, as to my physical books, my husband said as long as my pile isn't as tall as my nightstand. *snort*