Mount TBR 2020 discussion

Wow! Three months into the year already. Well, you know what that means...Your mountaineering guide is calling for the first quarterly check-in post. Let's see how our 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 20 of my pledged 100 books for Mt. Everest (or about 5,800 ft up)...which means I'm slightly off-track to plant a flag. I don't know about you, but working from home and social distancing has thrown my reading all out of whack.

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

A. Post a picture of your favorite cover so far.
Here's mine

I love those pocket-size, pulp-era books from publishers like Dell, Avon, and Pocket Books.

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

Mine: Lord Peter Wimsey in the Sayers books I've read so far. I'm a died-in-the-wool Wimsey fan, so I always enjoy those books

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.) Ragtime by E. L. Doctorow. I just can't understand why this novel was a best seller. It was not that appealing at all.


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: PRISMS (I didn't have a lot of choice with only one vowel available)

Plague Court Murders, The by John Dickson Carr
Regency Buck by Georgette Heyer
Information Received by E. R. Punshon
Spin Your Web, Lady! by Frances & Richard Lockridge
Mystery of the Haunted Pool by Phyllis A. Whitney
Silver Wings for Vicki by Helen Wells

1. I've read 19 of 36 books so far, which hopefully mean I'll move up to a higher mountain!

2D. OBTUSE
Obsessed with Star Trek
Big Fish
Tokyo Ghost, Vol 1
Uncle John's How to Toilet Train Your Cat
Shockaholic
Emotionally Healthy Spirituality

1. I've read 13 of my 48 books, so currently on track.
2A No favourite cover
2B You can't go wrong with Poirot!
2C N or M? was a surprise as I wasn't a massive fan of Tommy and Tuppence in the first in the series I read, but found N or M? a massive improvement!
2D Couldn't get a word from all of them, but I came up with CHAMPS
(A) Cotswold Killing, by Rebecca Tope
(The) Hunting Party, by Lucy Foley
Anne of Avonlea, by LM Montgomery
Murder on the Orient Express, by Agatha Christie
Police at the Funeral, by Margery Allingham
Still Life, by Louise Penny

1. I've read 17/36 books so far. Nearly halfway up Mount Vancouver!

2A. Favourite cover:

2B. Favourite character: Vin from Mistborn #1-3. I really liked reading about her story.

2C. I was surprised that David Copperfield was quite easy to read and understand even though it's a big, classic book

2D. Title Scrabble - a lot of my books began with T so it was hard to find a word. This is the best I could do: DARTS.
D - David Copperfield
A - Around the World in Eighty Days
R - Rivers of London
T - Timon of Athens
S - (The) Stone Circle

1. Tell us how many miles you've made it up your mountain (# of books read).
I am 1,604 ft up Mt Vancouver with 12 books read. That's 1/3 of the climb.

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


2. B. Who has been your favorite character so far? And tell us why, if you like.
Fortune Redding in Louisiana Longshot
She was a hoot! 🤣

2.D - I have no vowels. Oh well.

43/60 for Kilamanjaro

A favorite cover

No favorite character, there's too many lol, but I always love Poppa, Kenni Lowry's grandpa's ghost in the series by the same name (Kenni Lowry, by Tonya Kappes)

Not much of a word letterwise, but on a quick glance of my word doc I keep, I found DOT

Dead & Buried
On What Grounds
To Brew or Not to Brew

10/36 for Mt. Vancouver
I'm a little behind even though I have been binge reading during quarantine times. The library holds keep popping up!

My favorite cover is of the book I'm currently reading for the challenge:

I loved Sir Richard in Puck of Pook's Hill

I'm surprised that I didn't enjoy Neuromancer more. As a sci-fi classic, it is well in my wheelhouse.

SPIN
Star-Begotten by H.G. Wells
Puck of Pook's Hill by Rudyard Kipling
In Evil Hour By Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Neuromancer by William Gibson

47/75 for El Toro but I have managed to get 28 new books so far (making the virtual progress only 19).

I have only read 4 out of 24 so I am a little behind. I am trying to work on my physical TBR but keep getting distracted with library books.

2d

J Journey Through the New Testament by Tim Christoson
U Unicorn Vengeance by Claire Delacroix
T The Woman In Cabin 10 by Ruth Ware

I've read 13 out of 24. I made more progress on the virtual TBR, even though I meant to focus on the physical TBR this year. (I'm at 26 out of 36 for the virtual TBR)

Favorite cover so far.

This is the very first checkpoint where I have something positive ot announce : I'm more than halfway to the top! I reapeat : MORE THAN HALFWAY :) I've read 7 books, and I need 12 to get up to Pike Peak. And I'm not doing the maths for how many miles/kilometers it is, maths is too ambitious for me.

Big surprise along the way : Hell's Gateby Laurent Gaudé. This books is so good it went straight to my "favourite" shelf, and it only holds 9 books… I don't even have the words to speak about this story.

My favourite characters? One of the secondary character in Uprootedby Naomi Novik, the main character's best friend, Katsya (if I remember the spelling correctly).

I'm determined to reach Pike Peak this year! And I hope you're all climbing to your moutain top too.

I've read 20 out of 48 and this is the fastest progress I've made in the years I've been doing this. But March slowed way down with the working from home. Going to try fixing that for April.

I like this cover best: (wish I could make it bigger here)

The book that surprised me the most was one that was racist and sexist and I didn't finish, not mentioning the name here, not worth it! I expected so much more....

My scrabble word: OBFUSCATE

Our House
Book That Matters Most
Feminie Mystique
Unexpected Spy
Such a Fun Age
Cuz
Angels' Share
Thunderhead
End of the Affair

(took out leading 'the' in titles)

Thanks Bev for the quarterly check in!

1) I'm making a slow start up Mt. Ararat, having read only 6 books that count toward my goal of 48, and completing 0 books toward my subgoal of reading the oldest books I own (17 from 2015). I got sidetracked by some wellness goals in Q1, but I think I will be able to make a bigger dent in Q2.

2A) Favorite cover so far:

2D) WADE
W - Well-Read Black Girl
A - Authenticity Project, The
D - Diary of a Murderer: And Other Stories
E - Everything You Are

My plan for the year was to start with Mount Blanc, and see how high I can go without stressing myself out. I did really good during January, where I had a month of break without any big responsibilities, but since then my reading of older books has been very limited.

So far, I've read 19 out of 24 books on Mount Blanc.

My favourite cover is either this: or that:

Book that surprised me the most was... hm, this is a hard one. I was delightfully surprised by a couple of books, actually.

1. Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor - I knew this would be good, but I had no idea how good. It was real good. So good that I'm procrastinating reading the second book, actually.

2. Ties by Domenico Starnone - I had no idea about this one before starting. It turned out to be my first 5-star book of 2020.

3. Kindred by Octavia E. Butler - It's great. I'm so happy that I was introduced to Butler's work. I'll read more of her definitely.

1. I'm right on track for my ascent up Mt. Vancouver (36 books) at roughly 4000 ft (9 books)

2.
Favourite Cover

This picture doesn't do it justice. On the physical book the leaves are shiny -- it's stunning!

B. Favourite Character
I would have to say Judd from Caressed by Ice. He's the most interesting to read about anyways.

C. Surprises
I've enjoyed most of what I've read so far (which makes me kick myself for putting them off) Two of the books have been 5-star reads for me.



D. Scrabble
I love scrabble!

Sadly, the best I can do is

C - Child Finder
H - Hazel Wood
I - If We Were Villains
N - No Duke Goes Unpunished

I only have the one vowel.

Pamela wrote: "My scrabble word: OBFUSCATE"

What a great word!

1. I've read 39 books out of my goal of 75.

2A.

1. I'm actually ahead of pace for once, having reading 10 of 24 books on my expedition up Mont Blanc.

2A. I love all the covers for these editions of the HP series, but of the three I've read so far this year, this one is my favorite.


2B. Most of my reading for this challenge up to this point has been nonfiction or the HP series, so my favorite character would have to be Professor Lupin from the HP books. I love how he treats his students, and how much he cares about people.

2C. Go, by Kazuki Kaneshiro, surprised me by being less of a story of teenage first love and more focused on racial and ethnic divides, which I think actually made the book more memorable than I was expecting.

2D. Somehow I've managed to read 10 books without any vowels, so no title scrabble for me!

I've read 8/36, so ever so slightly behind. But March was a terrible reading month. Half of those were from one series.

My favourite cover is definitely . I don't like people on my books, but I am a sucker for a nice font.

Favourite character so far is Marmeg from Runtime by S. B. Divya. Tor novella. An immigrant in future US, she rescues old tech and learns to program all so she can enter a wilderness race and win the money to buy her family citizenship, and access to 'benefits', like education and healthcare.

Also biggest surprise, I really liked the story, wish it were longer. Was not expecting a side discussion involving gender, in future US being androgynous is the goal, and so zie/zir pronouns are widely used.

Unfortunately no vowels in my book tiles.

29 of 36 books
8745 feet up Mt Vancouver

Favorite Cover:


Title Scrabble: Chives
C - Cascade
H - How to Date a Werewolf
I - Inhale
V - Vampire Girl
E - Easy Bake Coven
S - Surrender

1. Tell us how many miles you've made it up your mountain (# of books read).(
I'm 15/60 of the way.... right on track, I suppose, but I can't get distracted or I won't make it.

2A. Post a picture of your favorite cover so far.

Not only the cover is absolutely gorgeous, but the whole book is also beautiful with stained edges and little sparkles.

B. Who has been your favorite character so far? And tell us why, if you like. I'm torn between Isabel from Stepsister and Lazlo from Strange The Dreamer, both won me over from the start and while Lazlo has this sweetness and goodness in him that made me want to protect him at all costs, Isabel is brave and strong and I think she resonated with me more.


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 have to say Stepsister was a very good surprise. I love retellings and I enjoyed Donelly's books before, but this one had me hooked from the first few pages and I found myself tearing up or outright crying several times. Isabel as a character really resonated with me and it's so for one of my favorite reads of the year.

1. 43/100 so ahead of schedule
2. Favourite cover

My original goal was Kilimanjaro, but I did some serious reading (and DNFing, and culling) in Jan/Feb and am 2/3 up Olympus. I have met both of the numerical goals I set at the beginning of the year (though I just inched back up over one of them, which is fine). Given *waves hands wildly* everything, I haven't made a new goal yet.

C. Two surprises:

1. What Makes This Book So Great has already led me to two other great books.

2. My Lady Jane was surprisingly enjoyable. I expected to read it and get rid of it, but I laughed a lot and ended up buying it for a friend!

Tangent: I was looking for a cover for the favorite cover task, and geez, lots of awful covers this year so far. Lots and lots of gray and black.

1. 10/48 so couple books behind. 3,511 feet- submit at 16,854 feet. I get next week off for COVID relief time and will be able to get in some nice relaxing reading to catch up.

2D. Swatch

S- Shadow of Night
W-Whispering Rock
A- A Discovery of Witches
T-The Book of Life
C- The Conception of Terror: Tales Inspired by M. R. James - Volume 1
H- The Huntress

I’ve read 20 out of 75 for El Toro, so I’m on target, but my reading mojo isn’t what it usually is.

I’ll pass on the cover since I’ve read a lot of ebooks and don’t notice their covers so much.

My favorite character is Uncle Toby from Tristram Shandy, who is the kindest soul, too gentle to kill a fly, but also very funny in his innocence.

I’ve had some real reading disappointments, but one nice discovery was a book I bought on sale not knowing anything about it—
Confessions of an Innocent Man, by David R. Dow turned out to be a page-turner with an underlying message about the current U.S. justice system. I could hardly put it down, and I hope the author (who is a law professor) writes more fiction.

My word is PATH:
Penny Plain, O. Douglas (Kindle)
Amours de Voyage, Arthur Hugh Clough (Kindle)
Touch and Go, Patricia Wentworth (Kindle)
Hillsboro People, Dorothy Canfield Fisher (Kindle)

Looks like you're all doing great! Thanks for checking in.

Elyse wrote: "Iola wrote: "I'm now at 20 books, heading up Mt Kilimanjaro (target: 60), so I'm a little ahead of target - I do tend to go in fits and starts.

I haven't read them all, but the others are books I..."

I'm now at 20 books, heading up Mt Kilimanjaro (target: 60), so I'm a little ahead of target - I do tend to go in fits and starts.

I haven't read them all, but the others are books I'm happy to DNF to get off my to-read pile.

2A. Favourite cover is Can't Beat the Chemistry:


2B. Favourite character is MJ from Can't Beat the Chemistry.

2C. Biggest surprise: A Fall of Marigolds by Susan Messiner - brilliant dual timeline women's fiction with romantic elements.

2D. Yeah, nah.

Iola wrote: "I'm now at 20 books, heading up Mt Kilimanjaro (target: 60), so I'm a little ahead of target - I do tend to go in fits and starts.

I haven't read them all, but the others are books I'm happy to D..."

If you are on a desktop/laptop there is a linky above the comment box that says "add book/author." Click that then choose "cover" and search for the book: . You can't do this on the app.

Elyse wrote: "If you are on a desktop/laptop there is a linky above the comment box"

Done! Thank you :)

Hi all.

These are my checkpoint details:
9 steps up Mt Ararat by the end of March (3 books behind schedule).

I've done the sums. Mt Ararat is 16,854 feet high. If you divide that by 48, each step up the mountain is equivalent to 351.125 feet. That means I ascended 3,160 feet up by the end of March. Go Me!

My favourite character so far has been India Black, the main character in India Black, She the madam of a brothel with a cynical, but humorous outlook on life.

I've also managed to come up with a word from the titles of some of my books:

Cloud of Sparrows
Rogue
Endless Night
Duende: A Journey Into the Heart of Flamenco
India Black
The Information Officer

1. I completed my climb up Mt. Wycheproof (6/6) and I'm now working on Pike's Peak (9/12)

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

A. My favorite cover: The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo

Marni wrote: "1. I completed my climb up Mt. Wycheproof (6/6) and I'm now working on Pike's Peak (9/12)

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

A. My favorite cover: The Poet X ..."

I really enjoyed The Poet X. I also read it this year.

I have read 2 out of my 12 book Mount TBR 2020 climb.

My favorite cover is:

So I'm a little late to the check point, must have gotten lost after stopping to take pictures on the climb up. I'm at 31/36 books on my climb up Mt. Vancouver and will hopefully move up to the next peak by the next check point.

My favorite cover is:


I love spell it out challenges and this one had some new challenges for me with just using the titles of the books and having to come up with my own words to spell but I got a couple.

S - Secret Agent Girl
W - Wedding Cake Crumble
O - Odessa Sea
R - Reel Murder
D - Decorated to Death

L - A Likely Story
I - Inherit the Word
N - Nothing But Trouble
E - The Ex-Factor

L - Lucky Girl Hits the Jackpot
I - It's a Mod, Mod, Mod, Mod Murder
F - Faux Finished
T - The Tiger’s Tale: Undercover Cat Series, Book 3

G - Grime and Punishment
I - In the Drink
F - Flipped Out
T - Truffled Feathers

Linda wrote: "So I'm a little late to the check point, must have gotten lost after stopping to take pictures on the climb up. I'm at 31/36 books on my climb up Mt. Vancouver and will hopefully move up to the nex..."

Glad you found your way to the checkpoint! Doing great with Vancouver!

I just found the checkpoint oops!
i'm only at 39/150, behind where I want to be but on par to make it.
my favoruite covers are

I just joined a few days ago, so I wasn't sure if I should wait for the next checkpoint instead, but hey 🤷🏽‍♀️.

1. I've read 4 out of 24 books. If I keep up this pace, I think I could finish before the end of the year, but I feel like I usually start book challenges strong and fizzle out halfway. But I don't have much else to be doing, anyway (besides Animal Crossing and watching season 2 of Umbrella Academy when it comes out).

2A.
I like the blue!

Sahar wrote: "I just joined a few days ago, so I wasn't sure if I should wait for the next checkpoint instead, but hey 🤷🏽‍♀️.

1. I've read 4 out of 24 books. If I keep up this pace, I think I could finish befor..."

AC yeah!

Sahar wrote: "I just joined a few days ago, so I wasn't sure if I should wait for the next checkpoint instead, but hey 🤷🏽‍♀️.

1. I've read 4 out of 24 books. If I keep up this pace, I think I could finish befor..."

Glad you've joined and checked in! Next checkpoint coming at the end of June. Hope we both can keep up our pace.

Amanda Lee wrote: "I just found the checkpoint oops!
i'm only at 39/150, behind where I want to be but on par to make it.
my favoruite covers are [bookcover:A Heart So F..."

Doing great! See you at the next checkpoint (end of June).

I'm late reporting. I was probably about a third of the way up Kilimanjaro with around 20 books when the checkpoint was posted; I am almost within sight of the half-way point with 26 now.

My favorite cover (although not my favorite book) so far is

Favorite character so far? Probably the Mr. Quinn from The Mysterious Mr. Quinn or perhaps Mr. Satterthwaite from the same. Agatha Christie as a character in The Woman on the Orient Express was also quite enjoyable.

Book that surprised me: The Lacuna. I had enjoyed The Poisonwood Bible, but this one did not grab me from the start. I kept with it because I was familiar with many of the places and some of the events that took place in Mexico, although things have changed a lot from when the book was set. I became more and more interested as the story continued. I ended up loving the book and admiring Barbara Kingsolver's skill as a writer (and as a narrator). In some ways, it also served as a "book flight" for State of Fear.

You would think that with 26 titles at this point, and 4 vowels, I could come up with a longer word, but what I have is "squash". At least I used my Q! (I could have made "wild squash" as a two word phrase.)

State of Fear
Quentin Durward
Amish Werewolves of Space
Station Eleven
Howard's End is on the Landing

I’m new to figuring all of this out and I’m only 6 books in but I am hoping to complete 150+

My favorite cover of those six so far is Little Darlings

Paris wrote: "I’m new to figuring all of this out and I’m only 6 books in but I am hoping to complete 150+

My favorite cover of those six so far is Little Darlings"

Hi, Paris! Glad you're checking things out--the next checkpoint will be coming soon (very soon--end of June!). So glad you're climbing with us.