Mount TBR Challenge 2023 discussion

I am so stoked! Can't wait to figure out what I shall be starting 2023 with. I will pledge 50 books for Goodreads annual challenge instead of 30 as I have consistently exceeded that for a few years now. And this is my second attempt at 36 books off my TBR mountain knowing that I will definitely read some newly acquired books along the way.

Maslela wrote: "I am so stoked! Can't wait to figure out what I shall be starting 2023 with. I will pledge 50 books for Goodreads annual challenge instead of 30 as I have consistently exceeded that for a few years..."

Welcome back to the climbing crew!

Bev wrote: "Maslela wrote: "I am so stoked! Can't wait to figure out what I shall be starting 2023 with. I will pledge 50 books for Goodreads annual challenge instead of 30 as I have consistently exceeded that..."

Thank you, Bev! I'm all amped up and ready to hike! =D

Happy New Reading Year!!
My 1st book is short, sweet, and hopefully it keeps the happier book train going because last year was all about sad, depressing books apparently. I enjoyed the classic Pollyanna by Eleanor H. Porter. I received for Christmas a 112 year old copy, which was also a Christmas gift to a girl 98 years ago. How delightful!

My 2nd choice is a mysterious and very interesting tale, successfully staying away from depressing books - The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins. I love starting the year with delightful classics. I'm almost done with it and I've no idea who stole The Moonstone although I suspect it's Rachel...
and I was so wrong! Fantastic writing and plot. Nothing written today could be as good.

3rd pick will be a murder mystery from 1859! The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins. What superb writing. I can't get enough of Collins so I'm very happy to move on to another title of his.

I didn't want to part with Wilkie Collins because I have a couple more books by him. However, book club meeting is coming up and I have to be ready. Lucky for me it's one of the books from my shelves. So my 4th book is Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier. It's my first time reading du Maurier's work and it's a really good modern classic to have between the older classics as a palate cleanser.

My 5th book is a Victorian gothic I have never heard of until recently through recommendations on a classic literature page on FB. I'm so glad I found it, and read it! Wuthering Heights fans rejoice for here is one more story filled with madness, cunning, and strange happenings - incomparable to Bronte but similar in the feels... Uncle Silas by J. Sheridan Le Fanu. It was SO good!

My 6th book is one I have been trying to get through since 2018 :( it's a parenting book and I hate it so much because it just makes me feel inadequate and a bad parent no matter what I think is right. This book basically screws up anyone who thinks discipline is important. Well, I say screw them. I'll discipline my kids however I see fit. I'm chucking this The Importance of Being Little: What Preschoolers Really Need from Grownups by Erika Christakis in the bin!

My 7th book is.... SURPRISE! Another mystery by from the 1800s! LOL My third Wilkie Collins *wooop wooop* The Law and the Lady - what an original, and what fantastic characters!

My 8th book *gleeful claps for self* is ANOTHER story by Wilkie Collins! That makes four. "i Say No," or the Love-Letter Answered: And Other Stories. Lets see how good this is.
Update: Amazing, again! Original whodunit with a little splash of romance this time.

My 9th book is one that I thought I should either enjoy quickly or eliminate even quicker due to the multiple negative reviews I came across. Icy Sparks by Gwyn Hyman Rubio. I'm more than fifty percent done and have not tossed it aside yet. However, I have to admit that I don't find anything educational about it, but rather more focused on disturbing descriptions of a ten year old discovering that she is mentally challenged and feeling lonely. I'm not sure it helps understand those afflicted better because all one could think of while reading is that she's crazy. Job not very well done.

My 10th book is another mystery from the 1800s! I'm reading Poor Miss Finch by Wilkie Collins. I wonder how this story about a blind girl is going to turn out!
Update: good but not his most imaginative.

Knocking out some of Wilkie Collins' short stories!
11th book - My Lady's Money - interesting; it was obvious at first to suspect the thief but to prove it was quite challenging.
12th book - Mr. Percy and the Prophet - not too interesting.
13th - Mrs. Zant and the Ghost also called The Ghost's Touch - it was just alright.

14th book down! It's a newer title - The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid, and it was disappointing. How unsurprising. I am annoyed that it has absolutely no thriller in it. That was a completely missed opportunity for husbands under the floorboards a la John Wayne Gacy. Ugh.

15th book is a birthday book from 2022 art theme, a biography - You Must Change Your Life: The Story of Rainer Maria Rilke and Auguste Rodin by Rachel Corbett. Pretty good - I enjoyed the history and story of how Rilke and Rodin became friends, and grew apart. The unstructured life of artists is certainly not for everyone.

16th book is The Post-Birthday World by Lionel Shriver. I thought her We Need to Talk About Kevin was extremely creepy and good. This one was a good read too and focuses on the way we process our options and decision-making, and then exploring those options in a parallel universe. It was very cleverly written!

17th book is Madras on Rainy Days: A Novel by Samina Ali. I enjoyed it and thought it was a pleasant surprise because I was ready to put it aside thinking it wasn't going to be worth my time. I love discovering a good read like this.

18th book is Indian Tango by Ananda Devi - it was beautiful prose but the story got boring when it's halfway through and it's just droning on her confused emotions and rambling thoughts. There were tidbits of exciting conflict within her but there weren't enough details for a reader to be fully invested in her inner turmoil. Since I couldn't muster enough in me to care about her dilemma any further, I dumped her.

19th book is Tropic of Cancer by Henry Miller. I tried twice but it's just so much vulgar words I can hardly form the scenes and imagine what he is trying to describe. I have read some gay stories like Cleanness, and A Little Life, and also a biography of a pimp and prostitution (Iceberg Slim's book) but this is not getting through to me. Unfortunately.

20th book is Tropic of Capricorn by Henry Miller. If I cannot get through Capricorn maybe I cannot deal with this one either. I bought them together when I was feeling ambitious. Now I'm disheartened. There's so many good books to read so maybe I'm not missing out if I don't care for Henry Miller.

21st book is Milkman by Anna Burns. I know this book won the Man Booker Prize but maybe it doesn't matter what award a book wins if some of us cannot get into it. I just cannot get invested in the nameless characters and just reading words on the surface is so boring. I've tried twice and I think that's a lot.

22nd book is I Shall Not Hear the Nightingale by Khushwant Singh. It's going pretty good.
Update: Very pleasant to read his work. A political plot but the family drama and characters add colour to the story.

23rd book is The Weight of Heaven by Thrity Umrigar. Her work is flawless so I know I'm in for a good time.

Also, woe is me because I managed to reduce six out of the pile so quickly and then was promptly filled with the desire to add more Indian novels and now my number is back up. Very silly of me!

24th book is The Good Children by Roopa Farooki. It's not as enthralling as I thought it would be. The story is a disappointment but the language is a beauty.

25th book is A House Without Windows by Nadia Hashimi. A story set in Afghanistan almost similar to Khaled Hosseini's works except it has less of a plot but was much prolonged. The consolation is that it's good quality writing.

26th book is Mosquitoes by William Faulkner. My very first one of his. I enjoyed it very much but I also know that all his other books aren't like this as he progresses into the realm of his creativity. I might give his other books a shot sometime later.

10 more books on this mountain to get to the peak! I don't know if I can make it but I'll push hard this next six months. Currently reading a few library books because it's summer and there's a summer reading bingo for prizes at the library and the book club I'm in.

27th book is All the Ugly and Wonderful Things by Bryn Greenwood. Excellent - almost Lolita vibe but a real love story instead of cunning, wily characters.

28th book is The Heart of the Matter by Graham Greene. I've heard so much about Greene lately in the classic group so thought I should finally pick up the copy I've had for over four years. It's pretty good, almost Hemingway-esque in it's colonial setting and detached love.

29th book is A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving. So excited to finally get into it but apart from some hilarious parts it's mostly disappointing. Done and dusted.

30th book is The Awakening by Kate Chopin. I enjoyed it!

31st book is a rereading of Twilight by Stephanie Meyer. It's been a little over 10 years. Good and fast but not as delicious. First time is always the best.

32nd book is New Moon by Stephanie Meyer. Impatient to get to the reunion. I don't remember most of it so it's interesting. On to the third book!

33rd book is Eclipse by Stephanie Meyer. Argh... I was so young and ridiculous when I fell in love with this story, I didn't even care about the language.

34th book is Breaking Dawn by Stephanie Meyer. Okay at this point, I really prefer the movies over the books. I cannot believe how much I have grown in a little over a decade!

35th book is Midnight Sun by Stephanie Meyer. This is definitely SO much better - well-written, mature, deep, and evokes all the good Twilight feels. I don't know why it took me so long to get to it!

36th book is Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone by JK Rowling. I suddenly need to read it after 2 decades and a bit. It's as good as I remembered it!!!
And yeay, I reached the peak of Mt. Vancouver!!!