Mount TBR 2017 discussion

Pike's Peak:
1. The Diabolic by S.J Kincaid
2. A Torch Against The Night by Sabaa Tahir
3. Beauty Queens by Libba Bray
4. The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton
5. A Week of Mondays by Jessica Brody
6. The Siren by Kiera Cass
7. Magnus Chase and The Gods of Asgard: The Hammer of Thor by Rick Riordan
8.The Serpent's Shadow by Rick Riordan
9.For Magnus Chase: Hotel Valhalla, Guide to the Norse Worlds by Rick Riordan
10.They All Fall Down by Roxanne St. Claire
11.The Girl Before by J.P Delaney
12.Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty

Mount Blanc:
13. Dark Matter by Blake Crouch
14. Drown by Esther Dalseno
15. These Shallow Graves by Jennifer Donnelly
16. Eragon by Christopher Paolini
17. Blood Promise by Richelle Mead
18. The Young Elites by Marie Lu
19.The Raven Boys by Maggie Stievfater
20.Queen of Shadows by Sarah J. Maas
21.Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo
22.Eldest by Christopher Paolini
23.Empire of Storms by Sarah J. Maas
24.Illuminae by Amie Kaufman & Jay Kristoff

Mt. Vancouver:
25.Gemina by Amie Kaufman & Jay Kristoff
26.Anne & Henry by Dawn Ius
27.Passenger by Alexandra Bracken
28.Percy Jackson & The Greek Gods by Rick Riordan
29.My Lady Jane by Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton & Jodi Meadows
30.Born Wicked by Jessica Spotswood
31.Cruel Beauty by Rosamund Hodge
32.Gilded Ashes by Rosamund Hodge
33.City of Lost Souls by Cassandra Clare
34.Three Dark Crowns by Kendara Blake
35.City of Heavenly Fire by Cassandra Clare
36.By The Pricking of My Thumbs by Agatha Christie

Mt. Ararat
37.N or M? by Agatha Christie
38.The Bane Chronicles by Cassandra Clare, Sarah Rees Brennan, Maureen Johnson, Cassandra Jean
38.Tales From The Shadowhunter Academy by Cassandra Clare, Sarah Rees Brennan, Maureen Johnson, Robin Wasserman
40.Lady Midnight by Cassandra Clare
41.A Thousand Pieces of You by Claudia Grey
42.The Demon in the Woods by Leigh Bardugo
43.The Mistake by Elle Kenedy
44.Prodigy by Marie Lu
45.Champion by Marie Lu
46.Proposal by Meg Cabot
47.Spirit Bound by Richelle Mead
48.The Cuckoo's Calling by Robert Gailbraith

Mt. Kilimanjaro
49.Cherry by Lindsey Rosin
50.The Name of the Star by Maureen Johnson
51.The Unexpected Everything by Morgan Matson
52.The Kiss of Deception by Mary E. Pearson
53.Daughter of Deep Silence by Carrie Ryan
54.Dorothy Must Die by Danielle Page
55.Library of Souls by Ramson Riggs
56.Star Cursed by Jessica Spotswood
57.Ruby Red by Kerstin Gier
58.Perfect Scoundrels by Ally Carter
59.I Like It Like That by Cecily von Ziegesar
60.The Girl With the Steel Corset by Kady Cross

Book #61:
"The Assassin's Game" by Kirsten McKay
TBR since: August, 2016
Finished: November, 2017.
Rating:★★★ - actual rating:3.5 stars
Comment: At first, the slow pace and the rather unlikable characters had me almost DNFing this book, but when things started to pick up and the reading progressed, I found myself engrossed in the mystery and the creepiness and cheering for the main characters. There were a few WTF moments, and not the good kind, but I still ended up liking it. Surprising and satisfying ending.

Book #62:
"The Mirk & The Midnight Hour" by Jane Nickerson
TBR since: November,2015
Finished: November, 2017.
Rating:★★★★
Comment:I liked this one SO MUCH MORE than Strands of Bronze and Gold! I liked the romance, the Civil War setting, the creepy atmosphere of the novel, as well as the set up of the plot. The pace was kind of slow at first, but by halfway through I was completely engaged. The only thing I disliked here was how the author handled the prejudice against African religions - it would have been much better to not give into the cliché that these practices are 'evil magic' and demoniac and shed a more positive light on them, exploring the richness of African cultures.

Book #63:
"Sleeping Murder" by Agatha Christie
TBR since: December, 2014
Finished: November 29, 2017.
Rating:★★★★★
Comment:Another Miss Marple book, another great Christie book. I love Miss Marple as a character and how smart and observant she is. I found this book a little creepy, with this atmospheric feel about it. It was kind of pretictable, or at least I guessed the culprit way before the end - which is a first for me with Agatha's books. Still, loved it.

Book #64:
"Peril at End House" by Agatha Christie
TBR since: December, 2014
Finished: November, 2017.
Rating:★★★★★
Comment: Poirot at the end of his career is still as brilliant as ever. The ending was again surprising (I guessed a part of it, but could never see the actual solution coming!) and the whole thing was as good as any Christie book. I love how compelling her characters are and how addictive her writing is. I always fly through her novels.


Well, four books into El Toro, with one more than halfway through to go! I probably won't reach the top of this one, but I'll make it super close at least!

Hopefully you should reach the top - there is a month to go after all!

Book #65:
"The Last Sacrifice" by Richelle Mead
TBR since: November, 2011
Finished: December,2017
Rating:★★★ (actual rating: 3.5 stars)
Comment:It's done! I finally, finally finished this series! I started it in a hype and loved the first 3 volumes, but the final three were kinda disappointing. This last book had some issues, but it was a solid conclusion to the series and opened up the way to the spin-off, which I'm excited to read since it has my favorite character in the entire six books, my bb Adrian, who deserved better. I'm glad I'm done with this series and it will open up space to new books, since I'm not keeping the boxed set on my shelf as I don't plan to re-read them.

Book #66:
"Heartless" by Marissa Meyer
TBR since: October 12,2015
Finished: December,2017
Rating:★★★★★
Comment:THIS BOOK! So,so,so good! It took me a while to finish it, mainly because I already knew what would happen in the end and I was dreading it - I became so attached to Cath and Jest that I was hoping that Meyer would spin the tale to give me the ending I wanted. BUT, although it broke my heart, it was such a brilliant book! It's darker than The Lunar Chronicles series, but it still displays Meyer's way of mixing pieces of the original stories with original, new stuff and giving the tale we thought we knew a fresh look. I can't wait to pick her next book!

Book #67:
"Daughter of Smoke and Bone" by Laini Taylor
TBR since: December 27,2014
Finished: December,2017
Rating:★★★★★
Comment:I regret not reading this book sooner. I was amazed at the end of it. Laini's writing is so poetic and mysterious and has a different cadence to everything I've read so far. I also like the way she interwoven Madrigal & Karou's stories, and the mythologic elements she used to build the story and this new world. There are a lot of unexpected plot twists that left my mind reeling and I couldn't keep the book down. I NEED to pick up the next two books in this trilogy to know what happens!

Book #68:
"Fallen" by Lauren Kate
TBR since: December 27,2014
Finished: December,2017
Rating:★
Comment:DNF at 115 pages. I couldn't keep going. The main character annoyed me to no end, she always seemed indecisive and changed her mind every few seconds, had absolutely no self-steem and none of the other characters in the book appealed to me. Also, the pace was awefully slow - nothing happened till the page I stopped that wasn't Luce pining over a guy who mistreated her at every turn and going on about how aweful Sword&Cross was. I'm done with this series and now I'm considering if it's worth it to pick up the other Lauren Kate series I have on my Kindle.

Book #69:
"A Madness So Discreet" by Mindy McGinnis
TBR since: December 28,2015
Finished: December,2017
Rating:★★★★★
Comment:And then we have this precious gem, this gripping, sad and empowering story. The first chapters are a punch in the gut and I love how the author brings the topic of what is madness, the prejudice against mental illness and the brand of 'crazy', how asylums were back then and how people in them were considered less than human and therefore were treated that way. It's an eye opener, for sure. And also about mysoginy and how looked down upon and undervalued women were (and still are, sometimes). A powerful book and I loved every second. Another favorite of the year.

Book #70:
"The Lady of the Rivers" by Phillipa Gregory
TBR since: February 06,2015
Finished: December,2017
Rating:★★★★ (actual rating: 3.5 stars)
Comment:I like Gregory's take on these historical events and how she recounts them through the eyes of important women of the period, giving life to them. Jaquetta was a fierce, lovable and interesting character and after Elizabeth, her daughter, my favorite so far of the three in the series. But I have to say that some of her actions annoyed me and I tired easily from the author's slow pace and too detailed writing. I would like to read the final three books in this series (since I gave up on the Tudors one), especially because I really want to read "The White Princess" before watching the tv series and close the Woodville women saga, but I don't think I will do it anytime soon, if ever, since the books are way too long and slow and detailed and are very dense and tiring reads.

Book #71:
"Ruin & Rising" by Leigh Bardugo
TBR since: December 27,2014
Finished: December 26,2017
Rating:★★★★
Comment:I was dreading this book for all the things I've heard about it and because of the issues I had with the other two books regarding Alina and Mal. BUT I was pleasantly surprised, because it was way better than what I came in expecting to find. Alina really came into her own in this book, she's more easy in her role as a leader and more commanding of her powers. Mal wasn't as insufferable in this book as I was expecting, so that was also good. On the downside, there wasn't much of Nikolai in it. Nikolai and Aline will forever be the power couple Ravka deserves, but oh well. I understand Alina's choice at the end, though I would've wanted if it had gone differently, but it was still a good ending. This book was by far the most fast paced of the trilogy. Overall, I really liked it and I'm glad that's another series I'm wrapping up this year.


4 books to go till Sunday! I have four on-going reads that totally counts towards this challenge, 3 of them short stories/novella books, so maybe I can finish those. The other one is a 300 or something pages novel, so I'm most definetely not going to wrap it up by New Year's Eve. And I'm fine with that! I managed to get just shy of El Toro this year AND surpassed my GR challenge by almost 20 books! I've read almost 90 books, the most I've read ever since I started reading! I'm pretty happy with what I accomplished this year and I'll hopefully surpass my goals next year!

oooh so close!

Book #72:
"Dorothy Must Die Stories, Vol.1" by Danielle Page
TBR since: November 7,2015
Finished: December 28,2017
Rating:★★★★
Comment:I really enjoyed "Dorothy Must Die", it was one of my favorites of the year. So, obviously, I had to pick up the novellas! And I was not disappointed. These first three stories helps the readers to understand a bit what happened before the first volume of the series and get why certain key characters ended up where they were. It gave a lot of context to some events in "Dorothy Must Die" and made me even more interested to finish the series and find out what really happened in Oz when Dorothy came back the second time and who's behind it all. I loved especially Dorothy & Jellia's stories, but I felt the Wizard's kind of off. The beginning was good, but by the end of that novella, I was a little bit disappointed. I can't wait to pick up the next volume of these short stories before I go on to the second novel.

Book #73:
"My True Love Gave To Me: Twelve Holiday Stories" by Stephanie Perkins & 11 other authors
TBR since: December 27,2014
Finished: December 28,2017
Rating:★★★★
Comment:This is such a sweet collection of short stories that really brings up the holiday feels. And it was also a chance to discover some new authors to read - or give a chance to some more famous ones. I especially liked Jenny Han's super cute and sad tale, Holly Black's trademark style and fun,sarcastic and magical story and Gayle Foreman's emotional one. Ally Carter's was also a favorite, as well as Myra McEntire's. Laini Taylor and her atmospheric, lyrical writing was chilling and beautiful to read. But I think "Welcome to Christmas, Ca" by Kiersten White, "It's a Yuletide Miracle, Charlie Brown" by Stephanie Perkins (who knew? I really really loved her writing!) and "Angels In The Snow" by Matt de La Peña might have been my favorites. My least favorite one might have been David Levithan's, but it still gave me that warm, kind feeling inside after finishing it. Overall, I loved loved loved this little collection and I plan to read other short stories like this soon!

Book #74:
"Life Before Legend: Stories of The Criminal and The Prodigy" by Marie Lu
TBR since: July 09,2016
Finished: December 29,2017
Rating:★★★★
Comment:Two little shorts set three years before the events of "Legend" - two scenes, one for June and one for Day, depicting events that were hinted at during the main trilogy. A nice addition to the series and it was nice revisiting these characters, especially June, which is my favorite. Their lives were both so different, but just as lonely. Also, I liked how the events in both tales complemented each other somehow.

Book #75:
"Double Crossed: A Spies and Thieves Story" by Ally Carter
TBR since: August 04,2015
Finished: December 29,2017
Rating:★★★★★
Comment: A crossover between Carter's two main series. I haven't read Gallagher Girls yet, so I didn't get some of the references, but I really liked Macey and I can't wait to get to know her better in her book series. I think both crews worked really well together and I would like to see a full-fledged crossover novel, with all the important characters from both series working on a case. I enjoyed it a lot, it was fun and entertaining and I really like heist novels.

And I am DONE! I can't believe it! Yes, I may have conned my way through these last two books, because they were both short stories/novellas, but still. They were still taking space on my Kindle and are both separate archives, so it totally counts! My year's challenge is done and I've planted my flag at the top of El Toro, with two days to spare. Now is just enjoy the view with some hard-earned hot chocolate, or maybe some champagne. Onwards to 2018!

Awesome! Congrats! Hopefully you'll do just as well next year!