Mount TBR 2016 discussion

Oh my goodness! Where does the time go? Last I checked, September was just starting....and now it's gone and it's time to get the third quarterly checkpoint up and running. Let's see how our challengers are doing after they've got 9 months under the ol' mountain-climbing belt.

For those who would like to participate in this checkpoint post, I'd like you to do two things:


1. Tell us how many miles you've made it up your mountain (# of books read). If you're really ambitious, you can do some intricate math and figure out how the number of books you've read correlates to actual miles up Pike's Peak, Mt. Ararat, etc.

2. Complete ONE (or more if you like) of the following:
A. Who has been your favorite character so far? And tell us why, if you like.
B. Pair up two of your reads. But this time we're going for opposites. One book with a male protagonist and one with a female protagonist. One book with "Good" in the title and one with "Evil." Get creative and show off a couple of your books.
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?
D. Choose 1-4 titles from your stacks and using a word from the title, do an image search. Post the first all-eyes-friendly picture associated with that word.


Please prepare your answers in a Checkpoint blog post and link up below.

And what do you get for all that hard work (and distraction from the actual climb)? I will stop taking entries at 11:59 pm on Saturday, October 8. Sometime next Sunday I will crank up the Custom Random Number Generator and pick a winning climber. He or she will have the chance to add to their TBR stack via my gently-used book vault (prize list will be sent). Just think, if you win a book you can start up a pile for next year's Mount TBR Challenge.

Even if you're not in the mood for a prize or you've already finished your climb, I'd love to have you check in with us and tell us all your news!

***Please note--comments are for Checkpoint posts only. If you would like to cheer fellow climbers on (and I encourage you to do so!), please visit their climb folders. Comments that are not Checkpoint-specific will be removed--to make it easier for me to track a winner.

Hi everyone!
I've read books 35-48. I keep having to switch my peak, although I'm not going to this time. Unless I read tons..
(Edited:Some reason my post got cut off)
From this quarters group of books, Cammie from the Gallagher Girls series was my favorite character. Strangely, I relate to her blend into the background personality.

Third Quarter Checkpoint

1. Tell us how many miles you've made it up your mountain (# of books read).
I am dancing on the summit of Mt Vancouver - 15,787 feet Woo Hoo!!

2. Complete ONE (or more if you like) of the following:
A. Who has been your favorite character so far? And tell us why, if you like.
My favorite character is Shay Glory Dixon in Orange Mint and Honey and her mother Nona Dixon. The MC is struggling to heal from her childhood and to reconcile with her mother, a recovering alcoholic.

B. Pair up two of your reads. But this time we're going for opposites.
A Radical Departure by Lia Matera
Be Careful What You Witch For by Dawn Eastman

Plus - A book with opposites in the title -
The Good, the Bad, and the Emus by Donna Andrews

D.
The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah
The Nightingale Before Christmas by Donna Andrews

Nightingale

The Handsome Man's Deluxe Café by Alexander McCall Smith
Gone With a Handsomer Man by Michael Lee West

Handsome Man

Pearls and Poison by Duffy Brown

Pearls

Orange Mint and Honey by Carleen Brice

Orange Mint

1. I'm getting closer to the peak with 51/60 books competed!

2C. Towers of Midnight has been on my TBR since I started GR in 2011. It's #13 in a 14 book series. Things are ramping up for the grand finale! It was definitely worth the wait, since I had to read 12 other books to get to it, and I'm already well into book #14!

I reached the top of my original goal, Mt. Vancouver and started a new adventure climbing Mt. Ararat. I have completed 15084' to the 16854' summit (89.5%). Woohoo!
Google Image searched 4 words from previous titles ( ghost, hawk, passage, beautiful) and surprisingly got an image of a book cover for Susan Coopers "Ghost Hawk"

I just finished 44/60. I'm 4 books away from Mt. Ararat and 16 books from my goal of Mt. Kilimanjaro. I'll make it IF I can stop checking out library books!

I also had made myself a TBR goal list which I'm completing in conjunction with Mt. TBR. I have 8 books left on that list.

I'm going to say my favorite character so far is Maisie Dobbs in The Mapping of Love and Death for a few reasons. One is that I just finished this book, so it's freshest in my mind, and I LOVED it. I'm behind on this series, obviously, but I really savor these books when I can get to them. I need to get caught up though so I can just read the new ones when they come out. The other reason she's my favorite character is because these books are just so deep and delicious. I enjoy reading these books while learning a lot about history too. This series is set in England in the time period between the two World Wars. I know a lot more about WW2 than I do about WW1, so I'm really fascinated by the information in these books.

Good luck, fellow climbers!

I'm at 18 of 60, apparently I really need to light a fire under myself here *looks at towering to-read pile*. I keep getting sucked into the land of sequels.

My favourite character so far would have to be Sara Thomas in A Desperate Fortune. I am always drawn to characters who prove everyone wrong. Sara suffers from Asberger's Syndrome and it is obvious that her family does not think she will amount to anything. Then she goes to France and proves them all wrong.

Good luck to all!

I've picked up speed this month and I'm currently at 49 out of 60 books, which leaves me with only 11 books to reach the top of Mt. Kilimanjaro. Which means I'm 4.814,25 meters in! The air up here is surely getting thinner and colder haha

My favorite character so far has been Sherzad, from The Wrath and the Dawn by Renee Ahdieh. I love the fact that she's badass, powerful and smart, she's a fighter and a diplomat and her most powerful weapon are her words. She's such an interesting character, I'm dying to pick up the second book in the series!

2B. Pair up two of your reads. But this time we're going for opposites.
- For Darkness Shows The Stars by Diana Peterfreund
- Their Fractured Light by Amie Kaufman and Megan Spooner

C. The longest book on my TBR that I've read so far for this challenge is "The Great Gatsby" and I should have thrown it out the window before. It was so not worth the wait, unfortunately, because I really wanted to enjoy the book.

D. Choose 1-4 titles from your stacks and using a word from the title, do an image search. Post the first all-eyes-friendly picture associated with that word.

1. The Wrath and the Dawn


2. Throne of Fire - and it actually showed a throne of fire haha


3. Stardust


4. A Court of Thorns and Roses

I'm at 39/48 - so I should be able to reach the top before new year!
The oldest book read so far on this year's challenge was added Mar 27, 2011 : In Office Hours - and I've passed it on to a friend! So more space on the shelves (for books from the towering pile on the floor...)

It was ok, but I find myself less and less inclined to read chick lit - so if cleared out some of the titles in that category - which I probably won't be reading,

1. I have read 33 out of 48 planned books for Mt. Ararat - A little behind, but I think I can catch up by the end of the year if I don't get distracted (again) by NEW books.

2A. I think Harry Dresden has been my favorite character so far. I read the first 11 of the series this year and I will probably pick up more for next year.
2C. A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess has been on my list forever. I've seen the movie but never read the book and I knew the book had a different ending, so I was curious. I am glad that I read it, though!

I have read 40 print books on my climb up Mt. Ararat -- I am on target to reach the peak of 48.

I chose to focus on my physical books this year as I keep pushing them to the back of the queue. However, if I include ebooks and audiobooks in my mountaineering, I have just reached the top of Mount Everest, having passed 100 books read! I am doing a little happy dance :)

I'm 38 books into my climb up Mt. Ararat. Last year I read 37 books from my shelves, so I feel good about passing that mark.

The book that was probably on my shelf the longest was Gilded Death: A Newport Mystery. I bought it in 2009 on a trip to Newport, RI. It was a little better than the first in the series, but not really worth the wait. The Tenderness of Wolves was also on my shelf a long time, but I'm not sure when I got it. It was definitely worth the wait for the first two thirds of the book. Toward the end, it got a bit repetitious, but I still enjoyed it.

I've read 25/36, so I still have some climbing to do! I think it might be time to get some of my short stories and novellas read to catch up. :)

Park Lane by Frances Osborne had been on my tbr for a long time, and I'd considered passing it on a few times, but finally decided to read it over the summer. Despite many reviews to the contrary, I really enjoyed the novel and it was worth the wait.

I've read 41 books and I think I'll be shooting for Mt. Kilimanjaro at this point!

The book that's been on my TBR mountain so far is a tiny book:
But while it hasn't taken up a lot of PHYSICAL space, it has taken up a lot of mental space — I really didn't enjoy it, and am now annoyed that I've hauled it all over the state as I've moved various places! Maybe that'll teach me to stop buying books as though there's no tomorrow.

Hello! I've read 18 out of my 24 books goal, so I've read exactly 3/4 of what I need, right on track!

For my favorite character, I would have to say Daemon from Obsidian. It's far from my favorite book, and Daemon just infuriates me sometimes, but he is such a fun character!

I think the book that had been on my tbr the longest is Grave Mercy. The hardcover just seems so big, I felt intimidated by that size.
But it was definetly worth the wait, since I read the entire trilogy this year and it became my favorite trilogy ever.

Good luck everyone! I'll see you at the last checkpoint.

I've just jumped into the air just above Mount Ararat (49/48), though a lot of the books I have left are either Buffy tie-in novels or chunksters so I don't know if I'll aim a little higher.

I think the book that's been on my TBR longest was Ivanhoe, which I have mixed feelings on. The adventure plot is fine as far as Victoriana goes, but most of the characters were one-dimensional and the Jewish stereotype made me uncomfortable.

I've read 34 books, just 2 shy of my Mt Vancouver goal. I would head to the next peak, but I've hit a real reading slump.

2a. My favorite character is Temeraire, the dragon in the Temeraire series by Naomi Novik. I know it's strange to pick a dragon, but I find him hilarious and love the relationship between him and his handler Laurence.

2b. My opposites are: The Cleaner, a book from the point of view of a cold and calculating serial cleaner who acts like he has a mental disability. A gritty and graphic read.
A Night in with Audrey Hepburn about a young woman, who cannot act. She is accident prone and not really very good at planning anything. A ligh and fluffy read.

3c. Pope Joan: I bought this book in the late 90's. I actually gave it away to the library when giving away books prior to getting married (cleaning for moving in together). I really enjoyed the book and glad that I finally got around to reading it, because of a challenge.

Thanks, everyone for checking in! I will be back later today to announce a winner.

Okay, it's time to pick a winner! I'm going to feed all the checkpoint comments in to select the winner. Let me just grab the Custom Random Number Generator and feed all the numbers in....Can you hear it clanking and whirring?

We have a winner! I've warmed up the Custom Random Number Generator and I'm feeding entries 2 through 17 in (since mine doesn't count...). After much buzzing and whirring, our lucky climber is #12--Susan! Congratulations, Susan! I will be contacting you soon about the prize list.

Thanks again to everyone for you check-in posts. You're all doing great. Now we head into the home stretch.

So exciting! Good luck to all the other participants in their climbs during the last quarter of this year.

Congrats Susan!

And good climbing to everyone in the final few months of the year.

I have climbed 11,175 feet of my mountain! I am 17 books read of the 24 for mount blanc!

My favorite character so far has been Fanny Banks in Someday, Someday Maybe by Lauren Graham. Fanny has this over the top personality & she reminds me so much of Lorelai her character on Gilmore Girls. Probably why I adore Fanny so much!

A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius- has been on my current T.B.R. pile the longest. I should have shoved it off the cliff. While many people have high opinions about this book, my opinion is no thanks.

J. wrote: "I have climbed 11,175 feet of my mountain! I am 17 books read of the 24 for mount blanc!

My favorite character so far has been Fanny Banks in Someday, Someday Maybe by Lauren Graham. Fanny has th..."

Great job!

Not all of my books have reviews, but after tallying up, I am at 22 books for Bridgett's First Pike Attempt

Update--- I read 28!!!! I had to look through my GR challenge for the year, must have forgot to update my list.

Jadetyger checking in! I'm scaling Mt. Vancouver at the moment. I'm at 10/36, which isn't bad, considering I had a major slow down in middle to late this year due to Real Life Stuff.

I can't believe I started at Pike's Peak. I'm really pleased with my progress on my TBR pile.

Let's see...Favorite Character: Not sure. Maybe Catherine Blade from My Beautiful Enemy?

I'm currently reading The Doomsday Vault.