Mount TBR 2019 discussion

I summited Mt. Vancouver in 2017 and found it very motivating. I even won a book in one of the quarterly drawings (thanks Bev!)

I get distracted by books that I don't already own so I'm going to stick with 36 this time around. I want to tackle at least one nonfiction book every month because I have waaaaaaaay too many of them in my TBR pile.

I don't want to spend a ton of time reading books that I don't enjoy so am allowing DNFs as long as I read at least 20% of the book before throwing in the towel. If I DNF, I'll get rid of that book so it can't keep haunting me. :)

Thanks again, Bev, for organizing!

Completed books that I'll add as I go...

1) Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption
2) The Black Stiletto: Stars & Stripes
3) Factfulness: Ten Reasons We're Wrong About the World – and Why Things Are Better Than You Think
4) The Immortal Irishman: The Irish Revolutionary Who Became an American Hero
5) The Best American Science and Nature Writing 2014
6) All the President's Men
7) Coming Clean
8) The Perfect Mile: Three Athletes, One Goal, and Less Than Four Minutes to Achieve It
9) The Hours
10) The Jungle Book
11) Miracle Boy Grows Up: How the Disability Rights Revolution Saved My Sanity
12) The Three Musketeers *DNF*
13) Hate Mail from Cheerleaders: And Other Adventures from the Life of Reilly
14) Writing on the Wall: Social Media - The First 2,000 Years
15) Augie and the Green Knight
16) Anne's House of Dreams
17) Imperial Woman: The Story of the Last Empress of China *DNF*
18) The Beekeeper's Lament: How One Man and Half a Billion Honey Bees Help Feed America
19) The Way Life Should Be
20) Guernica
21) The Path Is Everywhere: Uncovering the Jewels Hidden Within You *DNF*
22) Ready Player One
23) The Poisoner's Handbook: Murder and the Birth of Forensic Medicine in Jazz Age New York
24) The International Bank of Bob: Connecting Our Worlds One $25 Kiva Loan at a Time
25) Calling Me Home
26) The Winemaker
27) And the Mountains Echoed
28) Sh*t My Dad Says
29) Jane Eyre
30) West with the Night
31) Whisper Me This
32) Man's Search for Meaning
33) The Gifts of Imperfection
34) The Undoing Project: A Friendship That Changed Our Minds *DNF*
35) Nobody Wants to Read Your Sh*t: Why That Is And What You Can Do About It
36) The Color Purple

Yay, welcome back! I've been couting DNFs for a while now...I used to insist on all the books I've read, but realized that I was wasting time I could be reading something more enjoyable with something I wasn't even liking at all. I cleared some books and books series this way in the past 2 years! It's a relief to see those go to someone who can maybe enjoy them.

Good luck with your challenge!

Natália wrote: "Yay, welcome back! I've been couting DNFs for a while now...I used to insist on all the books I've read, but realized that I was wasting time I could be reading something more enjoyable with someth..."

Thanks Natália! I completely agree. There are too many amazing books out there to spend my limited reading time slogging through one that isn't enjoyable or helpful, depending on my reason for reading it. Best wishes to you as well on your challenge!

Welcome back, Kathryn!

Yes, I also used to finish books no matter what. But as the saying goes "So many books, too little time." So, I had to start throwing in the towel. I'm just glad to get those books off the stacks....

So excited to kick off another year of reading! My overall goal is 60 books so getting these 36 done will be a great start.

Wishing you well!

First three books done! This cold snap in Montana has made curling up with a book even more appealing than usual. If I keep this up, maybe I'll be able to tackle Mt. Ararat. :)

The polar vortex has arrived... Looking forward to lots of reading, possibly by candle light if these winds keep up!

It's the middle of February and I'm already nine books in, so I'm thinking I might be able to go for Mt. Ararat. It would be great to clear out my backlog of books that I own. I think my TBR list is actually getting longer, though, since I keep coming across new books that I want to read. :)

First DNF of the year, but I hung in there for my minimum 20% and it still feels good to delete it from my Kindle account.

I always feel weird giving a book a star rating when I didn't finish it, or counting it towards my main Goodreads challenge for books completed. Instead, I write a short review (without a star rating), mark it as read, add it to my DNF shelf, and remove the end date so that it doesn't count for my main challenge.

How do other people track/review their DNFs?

Kathryn wrote: "How do other people track/review their DNFs? "

It's a pet peeve of mine that people rate DNFs, so I, for one, appreciate your approach! I tend to just push through and speed read/skim in order to finish it so that I feel like I can count it.

Jessika wrote: "Kathryn wrote: "How do other people track/review their DNFs? "

It's a pet peeve of mine that people rate DNFs, so I, for one, appreciate your approach! I tend to just push through and speed read/s..."

That's good to know, thanks! I wish I had your patience. :)

Guess we all have our own rules of the reading road, and I like seeing what other folks do. I don’t usually count a book at all until I’ve read 50 pages (the Nancy Pearl rule). If I stop reading at that point, it doesn’t count as a DNF. This works pretty well for me to screen out books I don’t like or am not in the mood for, etc.

Last year I had two DNF books — one I stopped reading because it got exceedingly violent, and the other I had lost interest in the characters and plot. I was about halfway through both books when I jumped ship, and I did give a star rating and a brief review/explanation which starts “DNF”. Is it fair? If the review is clear it was a partial read and why, it seems fair to me. YMMV

Susan wrote: "Guess we all have our own rules of the reading road, and I like seeing what other folks do. I don’t usually count a book at all until I’ve read 50 pages (the Nancy Pearl rule). If I stop reading at..."

Like you said, we all have our own rules of the reading road. To each their own, right? Your approach seems reasonable, especially since you call out DNF at the start of your review. I mostly write reviews for myself, to help jog my memory down the road, so I try not to spend too much mental energy establishing firm rules. The goodie two shoes part of me sometimes finds that hard, though. :)

Thanks for sharing your approach!

It feels sooooo good to give myself permission to delete a Kindle book from my Amazon library when it was a DNF. Be gone, book! For me, digital content feels more overwhelming than actual books because they come in such a tiny digital package and accumulate more easily over time.

17 TBR books down! The main challenge for me is to resist the urge to use up all of my reading time on stuff from the library that doesn't help with the backlog. Books, books, oh wonderful books...

Halfway done and it isn't even the end of May yet. Huzzah!

Sooooo many books. How do other people cope with feeling overwhelmed by how many books they want to read? If only time could pause while I was reading. :)

Kathryn wrote: "Sooooo many books. How do other people cope with feeling overwhelmed by how many books they want to read? If only time could pause while I was reading. :)"

I know what you mean! For me, I deal with it by making lists, with the full realization that I will never stick to a list :P Which I am learning to be okay with. In fact, I've actually read more books from my lists, and more books total, now that I'm allowing myself to read what I want, rather than what I "should" read :)

Kathryn wrote: "Sooooo many books. How do other people cope with feeling overwhelmed by how many books they want to read? If only time could pause while I was reading. :)"

I'm with you on stopping time for reading. I think I deal with it by getting more books.....which of course just makes it all worse. I need some help! Really, it's not that bad of problem to have. :-)

I sometimes prioritize what to read next, maybe that is what truly helps.

Yeah, I really should stop paying attention to the rising number of books on my Want to Read list. I feel like for every book I finish, I add at least two more. :) I've also realized that when I'm feeling stressed, one of my coping strategies is to go online and put holds on a bunch of books at the library. In the moment, I think I'm trying to retreat into the world of books, but the end result is that I have a stack of books staring me down. At least I'm getting better about returning books to the library unread without feeling guilty. Baby steps, right?

I try to prioritize my Want to Read list, but I find that what I feel like reading changes frequently. For 2018, I've been experimenting with only reading one book at a time. In the past, I would simultaneously read 2-4 books, but I'm finding this more satisfying because I'm actually finishing the darn things more quickly and getting that little dopamine hit. It also motivates me to dedicate more time to reading so I can get to the next book in my reading adventure!

Thanks for sharing!

2/3rds of the way there. Huzzah!

I just hit 30 books, and it's fortunate I signed up for Mt. Vancouver because it turns out I only have 8 more books that would be eligible. Way to go, Mount TBR challenge!

I've hit 33 books. Now my challenge is to read the last 3 for this TBR plus 3 more for my library's 2019 challenge. Luckily I have some shorter options to choose from. It might be a 100 book year!

Kathryn wrote: "I've hit 33 books. Now my challenge is to read the last 3 for this TBR plus 3 more for my library's 2019 challenge. Luckily I have some shorter options to choose from. It might be a 100 book year!"

Well done Kathryn! The peak is not far off now :)

Leslie wrote: "Kathryn wrote: "I've hit 33 books. Now my challenge is to read the last 3 for this TBR plus 3 more for my library's 2019 challenge. Luckily I have some shorter options to choose from. It might be a..."

Thanks Leslie! I hope your challenge is also going well.

Success! Thanks again, Bev. I find this extra motivation very helpful and it feels great to clear out the backlog.

Congratulations!