Mount TBR 2019 discussion

So....I apparently am so intent on my mountain climbing that I missed the fact that the first checkpoint normally takes place at the end of three months. Having blown by the regular checkpoint, we're going to have a random checkpoint here at the end of April. No prizes yet, but this will give us a chance to see how our fellow challengers are doing. Made it a couple of miles? Camping out in a cave 1/3 of the way up the mountain face? Taking refuge in a mountain hut along the way? Let us know how you're doing. 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. And feel free to tell us about any particularly exciting adventures you've had along the way.

I have read 31 of my pledged 100 books for Mt. Everest. I am on track to make the peak before the end of the year, but not quite setting a pace for the top of Olympus (always my hope). Of course, it would help if I weren't also trailblazing my way along the Virtual Mount TBR and reading things from the library as well...

2. Complete ONE (or more if you like) of the following:
A. Post a picture of your favorite cover so far. Here's mine (one of my vintage mysteries--I love those little pulp-era, pocket-size books)



B. Who has been your favorite character so far? And tell us why, if you like.

Meg Murry in A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle. Rereading this as an adult I still found myself identifying with Meg--the girl who doesn't quite fit in at school and who will never be part of the "in" crowd. But Meg has qualities that make her unique and uniquely heroic--she has a deep attachment to her family and a determination to help her father and her younger brother. Yes, she becomes afraid in the process, but she faces her fear and finds the strengths that allow her to successfully battle IT and bring her father home.

C. Have any of the books you read surprised you--if so, in what way (not as good as anticipated? unexpected ending? Best thing you've read ever? Etc.)

My most recent read--not yet reviewed: Is Skin Deep, Is Fatal by H.R.F. Keating. I was surprised how much I didn't like it. I've heard so many good things about Keating. I really expected a better book. Part of his solution to the mystery appears to have been lifted straight from an Agatha Christie plot.

D. Title Scrabble: See if you can spell a word using the first letter of the first word in the titles of some/all of the books you have read so far. Feel free to consider "A," "An," or "The" as the first word or not as it helps you with your word hunt.

My word: FLIGHT

Final Curtain by Ngaio Marsh
Lucky Stiff, The by Craig Rice
I Am Captain Kirk by Frank Berros
Girl of the Limberlost, A by Gene Stratton-Porter
Haunted Man, The by Charles Dickens
Tales of Terror and Mystery by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Since this checkpoint will not result in a prize drawing, feel free to comment and cheer on those who update us on their progress.

Good evening! I'm really proud of how I've been doing on my climbing, actually - much better than last year!

1. Tell us how many miles you've made it up your mountain (# of books read).
I have already climbed 3 mountains - Pike's Peak, Mount Blanc, and Mt Vancouver - and making good progress up Mt Ararat. 😁 Just finished my 40th Mount-TBR book for the year already.
For comparison, in 2018 I only reached the peak of Ararat by the skin of my teeth, in the last few days of December.

2.A. Post a picture of your favorite cover so far.
Oh, there've been quite a few pretty ones.


2.B. Who has been your favorite character so far? And tell us why, if you like.
Hmmm... tricky, tricky. 🤔

Evelyn Hugo, from The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, was such a big, complex personality, and was refreshingly honest about, well, the fact that she wasn't always honest - she had to learn to manipulate and play mind games just to survive.

Locke Lamora and Jean Tannen from the Gentlemen Bastards series. I read the whole series thus far this year, although technically only the second book counted towards Mount TBR. Locke and Jean are the ultimate duo. Amazing portrayal of a platonic love that is just as strong, if not stronger, than any example of the romantic kind. And Jean in particular is just... well, if I was the sort of person to claim a "book boyfriend", he'd be it. He's a total bruiser that nobody can take down in a fair physical fight, but he also loves ancient literature and is the most incredibly caring guy - Locke would be dead about a dozen times over if Jean hadn't been there to cobble him back together again, either physically, psychologically, or both.

The Rocher family from Chocolat and sequels.

2.C. Have any of the books you read surprised you--if so, in what way (not as good as anticipated? unexpected ending? Best thing you've read ever? Etc.)

Aforementioned Chocolat, and the several other Joanne Harris books I've read this year. I had completely the wrong impression of what her books were like - I thought it'd be chick-lit, not that there's anything wrong with that but it's not what I'm into. And instead, it's literary fiction mixed with magical realism, and I adored them. She's one of my new favourite authors.

I read several of Aliette de Bodard's books this year and have been surprised by my reaction to them - I thought they were going to totally blow me away, but all of them have been solid 3-star reads. I can't even pinpoint why I'm not loving them, somehow it's just not clicking.

And Goblin and Jade City were both the "OMG WHY DIDN'T I READ THIS SOONER, I LOVE IT SO" kind of surprise. Though in the case of Jade City I simultaneously wish I'd read it later so that I'd be able to move straight on to the sequel, which isn't out for a few more months.

2.D. - I'm skipping this question as a) I'm kind of bad at Scrabble and b) my Mount TBR titles give me very few vowels to work with.

Checkpoint update - 8/12!

I was extremely disappointed in Maybe in Another Life by Taylor Jenkins Reid. I actually DNF'd it, I hated the main character so much. I had heard so much about The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo and how great it is, so I thought this would be good. Now I'm hesitant to spend time on Seven Husbands or her newest, Daisy Jones & The Six.

1) I've completed 22/60 books so far, which is just over a third of the way so I'm making good progress. I just hit a reading lull in April but I'm hoping to get back on track in the coming months.

2a) Favorite cover so far:

2c) Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI surprised me because I wasn't expecting to like it so much. My mother couldn't get into it so I was expecting it to be dull or dry but I found it really engrossing and gave it 5 stars.

2d) Word from some titles: WORKABLE:
Wonder Valley
Ocean at the End of the Lane, The
Rainbirds
Killers of the Flower Moon
All My Friends are Engaged
Born a Crime: Stories From a South African Childhood
Lilith's Brood
Erotic Stories for Punjabi Widows

1. I've completed one book so far. Got a late start on Pikes Peak in April. I think I'll make it at least up Pikes Peak by the end of the year.

2a. Favorite cover so far. I've only read one book, but it had a cool cover.

1. I have moved 13 books off my mountain on the way up Mt. Blanc, so I'm just past the halfway point of my ascent (although I'm behind on my reviewing since professorial life gets more than a little crazy this time of year). It's been a busy semester, so I'm quite pleased to be ahead of schedule for this challenge. On the other hand, for every book I move off the mountain, I add three or four more...

2A. I have two favorite covers from my mountain so far: The Initiation (which was just an okay book but had a nice cover), and Saga, Vol. 6 (which was as wonderful as all the rest of the series). Apparently I like covers with someone standing with their back to the viewer... Neither of these is my favorite cover from all my reading this year, but sadly, I don't own Down Among the Sticks and Bones (not yet, at least).


2B. I really like Kade from Beneath the Sugar Sky - he's comfortable in his own skin even when that might be a hard thing, but it's clear he's come a long way to get to that point. I also like Madame Chang from Starry River of the Sky, because she's good at gently guiding the people around her to live wisely and well.

2C. I was surprised by how much I enjoyed the Iliad, because I was anticipating something dry and boring. Yes, the battle accounts were repetitive at times, but keeping in mind that it started out as an oral tradition helped me appreciate that very repetition as a part of the tale's storytelling history, and I even found myself looking excitedly for repeated themes and phrases. I think it also helped that I read a more modern translation.

2D. Title Scrabble: My word is GHOSTS.

Golden Fleece, The
Here Is Our God
Of Other Worlds
Saga, Vol. 6
The Initiation
Starry River of the Sky

1. I have read 6 books, and am halfway up Pike's Peak. I have taken quite the detour by unfortunately having read the first book in two seperate series, and only 1 book I owned prior to January 1st. That is slowing my pace quite a bit. But, at the speed I'm going I'm sure I can make it to the top of the peak by the end of the year

2A. My favorite cover was Cinder:



I liked how simple it was, but how well it symbolized the main character with just one piece of anatomy.

2D. BITS

Becoming
I'll Be Gone in the Dark
The Scarlet Liter
Stop Walking on Eggshells

Mt TBR Checkpoint #1

1. The extra month to report worked well for me! I was lagging behind but gained ground in April. Now I'm on track with 12 out of 36 books read for Mt. Vancouver.

2.
A. Post a picture of your favorite cover so far.
I'd love to sit in that chair.


B. Who has been your favorite character so far?
Regan Carmichael in Tempest.

C. Have any of the books you read surprised you--if so, in what way?
Still Waters by Tami Hoag. I picked this book at random as part of another GR challenge. It had been on my TBR shelf for years. The first book I've read by this author. It was very good.

D. Title Scrabble: BLASTS

B - Breathless
L - Lions and Tigers and Murder, Oh My
A - All Shall Be Well
S - Someone to Love
T - Tempest
S - Still Waters

Mt. Ararat is getting closer. I'm 39/48 right now. My favorite cover so far is by Laurie Cass. I have so many favorite characters, it's way too hard to single one out. I really liked Eddie the cat in the book cover I just posted. Bridget Sway in the series by Jordaina Sydney Robinson is a new to me character, maybe I'll call her my favorite new to me character. ;)

For the Scrabble, I can't believe this word fell in my lap after I was thinking this was way too much thinking for this time of morning LOL, very coincidental for what word it is: EASY--seriously right in a row! ::insert bug-eyed emoji from my phone that I'm not using to post this::

36. Easter Bunny Murder
37. Allergic to Death
38. Sweet Revenge
39. You Can Lead a Horse to Murder

1. So far I have only read 1 book on my owned TBR shelf (clearly I like to flirt with danger). So I'm 1/12 of the way up Pike's Peak!

2 B. My favorite character within Children of Blood and Bone was probably Inan. I liked being able to see into the antagonist's mind and his feelings about the conflict at hand. There was definitely some YA tropes regarding him, and I did predict some of his actions, but overall I thought he was an interesting multi dimensional character.

1. 40/100! Ahead for the year, because at this pace I could finish by Halloween!

2. I noticed I have a lot of M titles, so my Title Scrabble is MAMMAL.

Misery, by Stephen King
Angelfall, by Susan Ee
Magic Shifts, by Ilona Andrews
MaddAddam, by Margaret Atwood
After the Fall, by Liz Isaacson
Live and Let Die, by Ian Fleming

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. And feel free to tell us about any particularly exciting adventures you've had along the way.

Not very far along, I've only read 2 books of the 12 I indicated in my thread for Pike's Peak.

2. Complete ONE (or more if you like) of the following:

B. Who has been your favorite character so far? And tell us why, if you like.

Of my two TBR books its going to be Erlendur, the main character of Arctic Chill and the Detective Erlendur books. I always enjoy him, his melancholy and nostalgia.

C. Have any of the books you read surprised you--if so, in what way (not as good as anticipated? unexpected ending? Best thing you've read ever? Etc.)

I was surprised by how much I enjoyed I, Robot. I had read a couple paragraphs in the past and didn't seem drawn in by it, but this time I was really into it and ended up being a 5 star read for me. Made me much more interested to read Asimov's other robot books.

1. As of today I'm at 49/60. But I've only made it that far because I've done some weeding and quite a bit of DNFing.

No particular favorite characters or covers. I've read a lot of nonfiction this year and nothing has particularly stuck out, except maybe The Tiger's Daughter. Nothing I DNFed was bad, just not my thing.

1. Tell us how many miles you've made it up your mountain (# of books read).
I am approaching the half-way point with 16 of the 36 books I need to scale Mount Vancouver.

2. Complete ONE (or more if you like) of the following:
A. Post a picture of your favorite cover so far.


The best cover was on the least favorite book I've read so far.

B. Who has been your favorite character so far? And tell us why, if you like.

Ender Wiggin, in this case from Ender in Exile. I think he shows contained power that chooses to work for good. I also appreciate that he can both feel guilt and yet keep pushing forward.

C. Have any of the books you read surprised you--if so, in what way (not as good as anticipated? unexpected ending? Best thing you've read ever? Etc.)

I was pleasantly surprised by Fail-Safe. I knew it took place during the Cold War era, and expected it to feel more antiquated than it did. I also appreciated how it managed to be tense without becoming melodramatic.

D. Title Scrabble: See if you can spell a word using the first letter of the first word in the titles of some/all of the books you have read so far. Feel free to consider "A," "An," or "The" as the first word or not as it helps you with your word hunt.

My word: GLITCH
Guardians of the Galaxy
Let's Roll
Invisible Man
The Last Librarian
Children of Time
(The) Hangman's Daughter

I’m enjoying seeing everyone’s check-ins so here’s mine.

Progress Up Mt Ararat: on target at 20/48

2. Complete ONE (or more if you like) of the following:

A Favorite cover

The beautiful cover of The School of Essential Ingredients by Erica Bauermeister

B. Who has been your favorite character so far? And tell us why, if you like.

Kate in Anne Tyler’s Vinegar Girl has her own slant on things and gets into trouble for saying exactly what she thinks, a funny and moving character.

C. Have any of the books you read surprised you--if so, in what way (not as good as anticipated? unexpected ending? Best thing you've read ever? Etc.)

HHhH was a surprisingly suspenseful and moving story which alternated between a World War II assassination attempt by the Czechoslovakian resistance and the story of researching and writing the novel. I’ll be hunting out Laurent Binet’s other books.

D) My word is: CHARMS

Cop to Corpse, Peter Lovesey
HHhH, Laurent Binet
Angel, Elizabeth Taylor
Regeneration, Pat Barker
Moominland Midwinter, Tove Jansson
(The) School of Essential Ingredients, Erica Bauermeister

These are the covers for the hardcover and paperback editions.


The School of Essential Ingredients

1. Tell us how many miles you've made it up your mountain.
Currently, I've finished 12/60 books. Behind as always.

2D. Title Scrabble

My word: SNAKES

Son of a Witch
Nobody Wants to Read Your Sh*t
A Giraffe and a Half
K is for Killer
Everything is Illuminated
So, Anyway...

I am pleased to report that I have read 24 books, or the halfway point, on my climb, Marie's 2019 Climb to Mt. Ararat. The book cover from "The Wedding Promise" was illustrated by Thomas Kinkaid and it definitely enticed me to read this book.

My Word: STONE

Simple Genius
Texas
On the Road Again
Northanger Abbey
Empire Falls

Nell wrote: "These are the covers for the hardcover and paperback editions.

Thank you, Nell! I read the beautiful green and gold hard cover version of The School of Essential Ingredients.

1. So far, I have read 18 books and have completed Pike's Peak and am halfway up Mount Blanc.


A. Post a picture of your favorite cover so far:


I loved how the cover relates to the book's theme of genealogy in a modern way. (And it was a good book!)

B. Who has been your favorite character so far?

Jeff Hinkley in Triple Crown because as a fish-out-of water in the U.S., this British Horseracing Agent held his own (and then some) with his American compatriots. Plus, who doesn't love the Kentucky Derby?

C. Have any of the books you read surprised you--if so, in what way?

Mother's Day Mayhem surprised me, in a good way, because the crime in this cozy mystery novella was not a murder.

D. Title Scrabble: See if you can spell a word using the first letter of the first word in the titles of some/all of the books you have read so far.

My word: CLOCKS

Corned Beef and Casualties by Lynn Cahoon
Leave No Scone Unturned by Denise Swanson
On Calvary's Hill by Max Lucado
Code of Honor by Lynette Eason
Killer Green Tomatoes by Lynn Cahoon
Secret of the Old Clock by Carolyn Keene

It's time for me to start climbing!!!

Barbara wrote: "1. So far, I have read 18 books and have completed Pike's Peak and am halfway up Mount Blanc.


A. Post a picture of your favorite cover so far:

..."

Clever play on words!

I'd love to know how you got ARCs of the cozy mysteries. Though growing my TBR is contrary to the goal of this challenge. 😉

Too soon to say who my favorite character is going to be.
That said I am into A Time of Gifts
These are the memories/memoirs. I know enough about Fermor to like him already and the language is wonderful.
It is going to take a lot for a future read to have a more fascinating character.

Nell wrote: I'd love to know how you got ARCs of the cozy mysteries. Though growing my TBR is contrary to the goal of this challenge. ..

Nell, I know! I signed up with NetGalley last year and made the huge mistake of requesting 8-10 books the first time, thinking I might get one acceptance. Instead, I'm backlogged from last year. (Although now, thankfully, I am on to this year's ARCs.) I also have received ARCs from Goodreads Giveaways, First-To-Read (which is ending in a month or two) and the Cozy Mystery Review Crew (Chewie the Mouse). My goal is to reduce the ARCs by reading 2-3 per month and adding just 1 (or fewer). 📚

Currently I am 3.42 of the way up my mountain 7 out of 24!
My favorite cover is...

Book 1 is done and review posted.

Of the ones left to go, I would like to invite buddy reads, I am not sure how to set them up in any discussion group.

Meantime if you are looking to buddy up, feel free to contact me and we can sift though our respective TBRs.

Late to this thread, but as of right now:

1. Tell us how many miles you've made it up your mountain (# of books read)

I have read 75 books on my pledged Everest Hike. Looks like I'll be hitting Mount Olympus again this year although I do have a ton of library books to read too (all from this year so not doing the library TBR challenge). According to Google, Everest is 8,848 metres high, so I'm 6,636 metres up at the moment

2. Complete ONE (or more if you like) of the following:
A. Post a picture of your favorite cover so far.

It's a pretty cover, imo

D. Title Scrabble: See if you can spell a word using the first letter of the first word in the titles of some/all of the books you have read so far. Feel free to consider "A," "An," or "The" as the first word or not as it helps you with your word hunt.

My word: MAXIMUM
Mind's Eye by Håkan Nesser
American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis
The Xibalba Murders by Lyn Hamilton
It Devours! by Joseph Fink
Memoirs of a Polar Bear by Yōko Tawada
Uglies by Scott Westerfeld
Moonshine by Rob Thurman

(I realise there are only two Ms in a Scrabble set but I guess I used a blank too)

Well done everyone! It's so interesting to see how many of you have read books that I have previously read or am intending to read :-)

Checkpoint update - Pike's Peak - 10 out of 12!

My favorite cover so far:



Although, I really wasn't into this book. Gave it two stars. But gorgeous cover!

This is becoming one of my favorite discussion topics.
My check-in is that I have three of my 13 reads, tho only one review posted.
I have another 3 under way of which one is more than 50% read. The key is that I have not yet finished any of the true horse chokers, so my total 3 of 13 looks better than it is.

Down and done
Six Frigates

To Be reviewed
A Time of Gifts
Charcoal Sketches

6 consonants and two vowels......
Stags
and as a Navy Man
Coasts

Oops! Sorry I'm so late to the checkpoint - I moved house this week and everything has been in turmoil!

1) I've read 23 of my 36 (Mount Vancouver)

2A) Favourite cover:

1. Tell us how many miles you've made it up to your mountain (# of books read).
I'm almost halfway through Kilimanjaro with 25 books read. I may be a little behind on this year's climb, but still, a pace that can get me up the top by December.

2. Complete ONE (or more if you like) of the following:
A. Post a picture of your favorite cover so far.


B. Who has been your favorite character so far?

Alosa, from Daughter of The Siren Queen. I love her strength, her bravery, her compassion, the loyalty and love she has for her crew and how protective she is of them.

C. My most recent read, Incarnate, by Jodi Meadows, was a pleasant surprise. Though somewhat clichéd, the pacing is good, the story really captured me and I was intrigued by the world the author created, it's rules, their take on religion and the rebirth thing going on. The romance was just adorable, it was soft and heartwarming and though Ana, the MC, can sound a little too childish sometimes, it was compatible with her character and she grows a lot during the novel and I could easily empathize with her.

So far this is my favorite book cover

Not becaue of how it looks but because of the back story.
Benjamin Lay was a Quaker, a sailor, a glover and a farmer- a dwarf and hunchback and a very early American abolitionist, As in pre 1800s.

As a writer, his publisher was Ben Franklin. The portrait was commissioned by Mrs Franklin as a gift for husband Ben. Because of Lay's beliefs he would not have posed for it, so the artist had to make do with seeing him when , where and as he could. The portrait was lost for quite some time and only recently rediscovered and restored (It needed it)
So the cover is a story all to itself.

1. Tell us how many miles you've made it up your mountain (# of books read).
By April 30, I read 48 books. This is my first time doing Mount TBR so I've just started at the bottom and taken each mountain as it comes. So I just summitted Mt. Ararat as I ended April!

2. Complete ONE (or more if you like) of the following:
A. Post a picture of your favorite cover so far.


B. Who has been your favorite character so far? And tell us why, if you like.
Sierra from the Shadowshaper trilogy (I read Shadowhouse Fall) is a great MC. She's a strong woman who knows she can lean on her friends and not appear weak. She's got problems but overcomes them. She's a badass!

C. Have any of the books you read surprised you--if so, in what way (not as good as anticipated? unexpected ending? Best thing you've read ever? Etc.)
I was surprised by how much I liked I'll Be Gone in the Dark: One Woman's Obsessive Search for the Golden State Killer. I enjoy true crime but this went above and beyond true crime. It was also the author's memoir while researching obsessively over these cases from decades past. It was utterly fascinating.

D. Title Scrabble: See if you can spell a word using the first letter of the first word in the titles of some/all of the books you have read so far.
Lake House, The
Anonymous Girl, An
Shadowhouse Fall
Evil Has a Name
Red Clocks

Cendaquenta wrote: "I read several of Aliette de Bodard's books this year and have been surprised by my reaction to them - I thought they were going to totally blow me away, but all of them have been solid 3-star reads. I can't even pinpoint why I'm not loving them, somehow it's just not clicking..."

I read The House of Shattered Wings a few years ago and haaaated it. I loved the idea behind it but it felt so disjointed. I'm afraid to pick up another de Bodard book but may try another one someday.

Lindsay wrote: "Checkpoint update - 8/12!

I was extremely disappointed in Maybe in Another Life by Taylor Jenkins Reid. I actually DNF'd it, I hated the main character so much. I ..."

I did not even know/realize those were all by the same author! lol. They're such different books!

Kirsten wrote: "On the other hand, for every book I move off the mountain, I add three or four more..."

I hear you!! I've got quite a few books that will be applicable to next year's Mount TBR... My motto "read one, buy ten." lol!

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. And feel free to tell us about any particularly exciting adventures you've had along the way.

I'm 34 books up El Toro. That's 45.33 %, or 2,795.95 m of 6,168 m scaled. I would be further up, except I'm reading the last Harry Potter book in Spanish this time, and that's going considerably slower than it would in English or German. I'm enjoying every page of it, though, and it's not like I'm behind schedule, after all^^

2. Complete ONE (or more if you like) of the following:
A. Post a picture of your favorite cover so far.

Isn't this one a beauty? The jellyfish-like shape is actually embossed. The book is one hell of a read, too, by one of my favorite authors.


B. Who has been your favorite character so far? And tell us why, if you like.

I have a few all-time favorite characters from the books I re-read this year, most notably Remus Lupin and Sirius Black from the Harry Potter Series and Ellie Creed from Pet Sematary.

Of the new reads, there is the wonderful Holly Gibney (first introduced in Mr. Mercedes) who actually turns up as a supporting character in The Outsider. I do believe that Holly is one of Stephen King's strongest characters and I was overjoyed to meet her again outside of her own trilogy. The other character that springs to mind is Uncle Hugo from The Witch Elm. What an absolutely magnificent creation! And Sia from Judastöchter remains a favorite character also in this, the last book in her trilogy.

C. Have any of the books you read surprised you--if so, in what way (not as good as anticipated? unexpected ending? Best thing you've read ever? Etc.)

I thought One of Us Is Lying was surprisingly good, a really solid debut. On the other hand, I had really high hopes for The Problem with Forever and found it somewhat lacking; it was not until well past the 50-percent mark that it really took off for me and was, overall, a satisfying read. And another curious thing: I was really looking forward to The Teacher, and the book as such was quite brilliant, but I was thrown by how badly it was written.

D. Title Scrabble: See if you can spell a word using the first letter of the first word in the titles of some/all of the books you have read so far. Feel free to consider "A," "An," or "The" as the first word or not as it helps you with your word hunt.

My word:

TBA

(available letters: LFHL SSTF HRJS BVST WTBF JIDC EDAI OPRO DTKC HHHH HHH)

Check in time
I am finished with
Benjamin Lay, so four of 13 read.
OTOH I am also committed to a 14th book, Zuleika Dobson, l by Max Beerbohm.
Not sure how this works but I seem to be backing into an 18 book challenge.

Pleased to say I have just finished
The Cat's Pajamas: Stories
and
Parodies: An Anthology from Chaucer to Beerbohm--And After
This one a faster read and less rewarding than expected
So six of what was to be 13 titles, but as of now 14.
Yeah Yeah I know I swore not to buy anything until I was done, and everyone believed me right?

Hard to think folks have stopped checking in.

I now have 8 of 13 done, Deer Park the most recent.
Of my goat chokers, Parodies is done and American Senator about 1/2.
The 8 of 14 in the rear view and two more well under way. I think I may get to 24 depending on how much Trollope and my last door stop slow me down.

And yeah I am behind on posting reviews..

The count as of today is , of the original 13
10 read, Nemesis as of just now. I added a 14th (Also finished) and have started what will become no 15.
Of the first declared goals, 1 is over 1/2 way, 1 will be a real challenge and one I will start later today.

Assuming there is a rule, at what point do I declare I Pike's Peak as climbed and Mt Blanc is the new goal?

FYI, you can set up your own thread under the level you pick and keep track of your reading there. I think it’s your personal preference when to level up; I’m ahead of where I need to be for my goal of 48 and may change to Mt Kilimanjaro (60), but I’d rather wait until later in the year to do that because I’m hoping to fit in some longer books like The Three Musketeers and don’t want to overcommit ;).

I get it. My potential over commit is the one giving me probs. Likely I will be at it for weeks, or it will get the best of me and I may never finish,
Pagans and Christians

Phrodrick wrote: "Assuming there is a rule, at what point do I declare I Pike's Peak as climbed and Mt Blanc is the new goal?..."

Once you've read 12 books, you can stop there or move on to the next mountain.

This is my first year and I started at the first one (Pike, not Wycheproof) and just keep making my goal the next mountain as I achieve the previous one. By the end of the year I'll be able to judge what to strive for in 2020.

Phrodrick wrote: "Hard to think folks have stopped checking in..."

I believe this thread is only for the first quarter check-in. Most people are maintaining a personal thread in the topic on the mountain they're looking to achieve. And I assume there will be a separate second quarter check-in thread soon.

Did not know thanks