Mount TBR 2022 discussion

Hi, first year I'm attempting this challenge. Hoping to make a dent in my TBR pile.

58/48

Mt. Wychproof reached 04/02/2022
Pike's Peak reached 07/03/2022
Mount Blanc reached 24/07/2022
Mt. Vancouver reached 05/09/2022
Mt. Ararat reached 29/09/2022

Books purchased in 2022:

Ebook
Farsight: Empire of Lies)
Belisarius Cawl: The Great Work
Covens of Blood
The Oubliette
Flesh and Steel
Soulless Fury
Jaghatai Khan: Warhawk of Chogoris
Konrad Curze: The Night Haunter
Titanicus
Brutal Kunnin
Dead Men Walking
The Daemon’s Curse
Dante
Valdor: Birth of the Imperium
Avenging Son
Cadian Honour
Bloodlines
Rynn’s World
Stormvault
Fear to Tread
Ghoulslayer
The Devastation of Baal
Fist of the Imperium
Dark Harvest
The Solar War
Valedor
The Interrogator
The Only Good Ork
Tower of Empty Mirrors
Fool's Ruin
Krenkha Goronga

Audiobook
Valdor: Birth of the Imperium
Darkness in the Blood

Physical
Doctor Who: Revenge Of The Judoon
The Amazing Spider-Man: New Ways To Die
O Is for Outlaw
Witch Hunter
Gothghul Hollow
Black Library Celebration 2020
Bioshock: Rapture
Last Night At The Resplendent And Other Stories
Avengers: Avengers Disassembled
The Ritual
The Walking Dead Book 3: The Fall Of The Governor Part 1
N Is For Noose
Star Trek: Enterprise - The First Mission
Haunted
Doctor Who: Festival Of Death
Doctor Who: The Space Pirates
Doctor Who: Mission To The Unknown
Judge Dredd: The Judge Child
Judge Dredd: The Cursed Earth Saga
The Imperial Infantryman's Handbook
Inferno! Presents: The Inquisition
Ghazghkull Thraka: Prophet Of The Waagh!
Imaginary Friend
Blood Ravens: The Dawn Of War Omnibus
Lupercal's War
Bodyguard
Let's Play Make Believe
Heist
The Last
The Witch Hunter's Handbook

Welcome to the climbing crew, Fran! Good luck!

1) NYPD Red 4 by James Patterson & Marshall Karp.

**
Not my favourite ongoing series from James Patterson and this was probably my least favourite of this series so far. As the series has progressed I've found the relationship between the two lead detectives start to feel more and more toxic to me. This volume did have a stand out character in the shape of Annie, the crafty senior citizen con artist, who was a highlight of the book.

2) Primeval: Fire and Water by Simon Guerrier

***

I enjoyed the television series a lot and this original tale was a fun read, making good use of not being limited to a television budget to deliver a cross continent and cross time adventure. The author also did a very good job of capturing the voices and personalities of the characters from the show.

3) The Remaining by D J Molles

**

A passable post apocalyptic tale that for me was hugely let down by the ending, which ends the book on a cliff hanger for the next in the series, rather than an ending which left me feeling unsatisfied. The book also didn't hold up against other similar books I've previously read, for a virus story I'd recommend Flu by Wayne Simmons over this or for a military/horror mix I'd recommend the Seal Team 666 trilogy by Weston Ochse.

4) Limitless by Alan Glynn
***
This story was very different to the movie it inspired. While that was a Hollywood rollercoaster for the main character, this was a much darker journey for the protagonist. I'd describe it as greed lead spiral into oblivion that you're a passenger along for the ride on.

I do think the book had some structural issues with it's pacing and quite and abrupt ending but was still a decent read.

5) My S**t Life So Far by Frankie Boyle

***

If you like dark humour then like me you'll find this a decent enough distraction, but if you don't like bad language, shocking imagery or political incorrectness then avoid like the plague. It was also surprising to me just how relevant some of the observations he made about certain politicians in 2009 are proving to be today.

6) B is for Burglar by Sue Grafton
****

This was a entertaining thriller with a flawed but endearing protagonist in Kinsey and a really interesting mix of quirky characters made this a really fun read. I'd previously read over volumes in this series (E and R) a long time ago but would say this was my favourite in this series to date.

7) The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
**

I have the trilogy in my TBR pile and hope that the sequels improve on this first volume. I'm not quite sure why I didn't enjoy this more, it may partly be because I hold Battle Royale in high regard, but also because I found Katniss so hard to connect with. I found her unlikable for more of the book than I liked her, even though she was smart and capable throughout.

I also struggled with dealing with the idea of a whole country that was full of adults so keen to sacrifice the future of the youth for the sake of peace and stability, even though that status quo was miserable for so many, although after seeing so many doing that in the real world under the guise of safety in the past couple of years it feels a lot less like fiction that it would have if I'd read it a couple of years ago.

I'm giving this one time to sink in so won't be tackling the sequel right away.

8) The Twisted Ones (5 Nights at Freddy's Book 2) by Scott Cawthon & Kira Breed-Wrisley
***

The second book in a trilogy, this picks up a while after the first book and follows Charlie and her friends trying to deal with the aftermath of the previous book, when a new horror arises. Scott Cawthon really knows his setting and lore and does a good job of creating a growing sense of dread here. His animatronic creations which are the stars of his game series seem suitable horrific here. After the open ending this book was left on I'm looking forward to reading the concluding part of the trilogy.

9) The Time Machine by H.G. Wells
****

A short novel that was very different from what I expected based on adaptions I've seen. Although this does revolve around time travel, it's more of structure around which Wells could share his ideas about class divides and the effects that can have on society when taken to it's extreme conclusion. It subverted my expectations about what it was going to be in a good way.

10) Doctor Who: Only Human by Gareth Roberts
****

A really enjoyable original Ninth Doctor tale. I liked the balance of this book's tone, where the main story has some quite dark and horrific elements to it, including genetic experiments, mutilation and body modification and humans from the future attempting to alter the past. However before it would get too heavy this was then balanced out with more humorous interludes to the B plot where Captain Jack is stuck in modern day England trying to help a time displaced Neanderthal acclimate within society after ending up in Bromley unable to return to his own era.

11) The Christmas Wedding by James Patterson and Richard Dilallo
***

I like a good chunk of James Patterson's work, but have found the quality becoming more hit and miss over time. It could be because these days everything is co written with other authors and it's now hard to tell how much is of the work is actually his voice in the books coming out now.

However I'm not much for romance and drama so approached this book with low expectations. I was pleasantly surprised, while it certainly is no masterpiece and the plot and characters were extremely over the top, I still found myself enjoying this. Maybe because this was so far out my usual comfort zone, I had fewer hopes for this book but it turned out to be an easy read and a simple and pleasant story with a happy ending, and I guess sometimes that's just what is needed.

12) Bored Of The Rings by The Harvard Lampoon
*

I hated this book so much but persevered and read the whole thing hoping to find something redeeming about it and to try and understand why I'd kept this for so long after originally reading it years ago. Unfortunately I have no idea what I had been thinking. I found this unfunny, lazily written, extremely dated and an insult to the term parody.

13) The Language Of Success by Blue Mountain Arts.
**

A collection of quotes about success that I picked up hoping it might provide some motivation but none of the selected quotes resonated or connected with me unfortunately. However I must say that the book's presentation itself is lovely, with textured paper covers and subtle patterned pages.

14) The Walking Dead: The Road To Woodbury by Robert Kirkman & Jay Bonansinga.
***

This second book of the series was an improvement over the opening book and gave an interesting tale of events taking place in Woodbury under the leadership of the Governor taking place prior to the town's introduction in the comic book series.

15 & 16) and Bedtime for Frances and A Baby Sister for Frances by Russell Hoban
*** and **

Two children's books I recently discovered I still had from my childhood and were a nice palate cleanser having just finished reading The Ritual for a book club (which doesn't count here as it was a 2022 buy). Of the two books, after all this time, Bedtime is the more enjoyable of the two and the illustrations have a real charm to them.

17) WCW: The Ultimate Guide by Cynthia O'Neill, Bob Ryder and Dave Scherer
***

Dorling Kindersley have a very fixed style for their visual guidebooks, plenty of photo's or illustrations with some accompanying text and that is no different here.

Reading this was an curious look back at a company that was enjoying success at the time this book was written, unaware of the future it would succumb to and was seeing which wrestlers the authors thought would go on to be big stars. Having that hindsight it was both interesting and sombre in equal measure, knowing the fates that befell some of these people.

18) Funland by Richard Laymon
**

This felt like reading the equivalent of an 80's budget slasher film, entertaining, trashy, exploitative in places but also leaves you feeling a bit grimy and full of mostly one dimensional characters. While enjoyable I couldn't rate it higher because it really gives me the impression that the author not only has a problem with the homeless but is also overly focused on female anatomy and writes most of his characters with their main motivating drive at all times being their libido.

19) Suicide Squad Volume 3; Death is for Suckers by Adam Glass
***

20) New Suicide Squad Volume 2: Monsters by Sean Ryan
****

21) Ghost Rider Volume 1: King of Hell by Ed Brission
***

22) Star Wars: Zam Wesell by Ron Marz
**

23) Primeval: Shadow of the Jaguar by Steven Saville
**

24) Bartman: The Best Of The Best! by Matt Groening
**

25) A.B.C Warriors: The Mek Files Volume 1 by Pat Mills
****

26) A.B.C Warriors: The Mek Files Volume 2 by Pat Mills & Kev Walker
****

27) WWE Heroes: Rise of the Firstborn by Keith Champagne
**

28) A.B.C Warriors - The Mek Files Volume 3 by Pat Mills & Henry Flint
****

29) A.B.C Warriors The Mek Files Volume 4: The Volgan Wars by Pat Mills & Clint Langley
***

30) Crossed: Wish You Were Here Volume 1 by Simon Spurrier & Javier Barreno
***

31) X-Force: Sex + Violence by Craig Kyle, Christopher Yost, Gabriele Dell'Otto & Cory Petit
***

32) X-Men: Manifest Destiny by Jason Aaron, Mike Carey, Frank Tieri, Jorge Molina, James Asmus, Chris Burnham, Takeshi Miyazawa, Ben Oliver etc.
***

33) Yu-Gi-Oh! GX, Volume 6 by Kazuki Takahashi & Naoyuki Kageyama
***

34) Yu-Gi-Oh! GX, Volume 7 by Kazuki Takahashi & Naoyuki Kageyama
****

35) Yu-Gi-Oh! GX Volume 8 by Kazuki Takahashi & Naoyuki Kageyama
***

36) Yu-Gi-Oh! GX Volume 9 by Kazuki Takahashi & Naoyuki Kageyama
***

37) Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's Volume 1 by Masahiro Hikokubo & Masashi Sato
**

38) Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's Volume 2 by Masahiro Hikokubo & Masashi Sato
**

39) Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's Volume 3 by Masahiro Hikokubo & Masashi Sato
**

40) Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's Volume 4 by Masahiro Hikokubo & Masashi Sato
***

41) Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's Volume 5 by Masahiro Hikokubo & Masashi Sato
***

42) Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's Volume 6 by Masahiro Hikokubo & Masashi Sato
***

43) Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's Volume 7 by Masahiro Hikokubo & Masashi Sato
***

44) All The Pretty Girls by J.T. Ellison
****

45) Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's Volume 8 by Masahiro Hikokubo & Masashi Sato
**

46) Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's Volume 9 by Masahiro Hikokubo & Masashi Sato
**

47) Strontium Dog: Search/Destroy Agency Files, Volume 1 by John Wagner, Alan Grant, Carlos Ezquerra, Brendan McCarthy, Ian Gibson, Keith Page
****

48) Yu-Gi-Oh! R Volume 4 by Kazuki Takahashi & Akira Ito
***

49) Tarzan of the Apes by Edgar Rice Burroughs
***

50) Yu-Gi-Oh! R Volume 5 by Kazuki Takahashi & Akira Ito
***

51) Yu-Gi-Oh! Zexal Volume 1 by Shin Yoshida & Naohito Miyoshi
**

52) V Book 2 East Coast Crisis by A.C. Crispin & Howard Weinstein
****

53) Yu-Gi-Oh! Zexal Volume 2 by Shin Yoshida & Naohito Miyoshi
***

54) Yu-Gi-Oh! Zexal Volume 3 by Shin Yoshida & Naohito Miyoshi
***

55) Yu-Gi-Oh! Zexal Volume 4 by Shin Yoshida & Naohito Miyoshi
***

56) Yu-Gi-Oh! Zexal Volume 5 by Shin Yoshida & Naohito Miyoshi
***

57) Yu-Gi-Oh! Zexal Volume 6 by Shin Yoshida & Naohito Miyoshi
***

58) Yu-Gi-Oh! Zexal Volume 7 by Shin Yoshida & Naohito Miyoshi
***