Mount TBR Challenge 2024 discussion

As always, I'll be using this challenge partly as a way to evaluate whether the books I read off my TBR are keepers, or bound for the donation bag. Rounding up my reads so far:

1. Retail Therapy - Amanda Ford

Bought just over 2 years ago at a book sale; a very fun and compact little gift book.

2. If We Were Villains - M.L. Rio

Feels a little like cheating since I just got it in November, but then again, I also meant to read it in November and when two months slipped away from me, I was beginning to despair of when I'd get to it. So glad I did! Honestly surprised by how much I liked it.

3. Adam of the Road - Elizabeth Janet Gray

FIFTEEN. YEARS. (and a few months) That's how long I've had this sitting on my shelf since it arrived in a box of random dog books from eBay, never quite inspired to pick it up but equally unwilling to give it up unread because of the dog on the cover. Regrettably, I gotta say: meh.

(Love that I managed a book that's been on my TBR for one of the shortest amounts of time AND one of the longest in one month.)

4. The Innkeeper's House - Elizabeth Bromke

Bought 2 years ago on clearance; a sweet and comfortable read. I think I'll keep it around for a while after all.

I was going to wait until the end of the month to do my next roundup, but I have been powering through books on my shelf lately - this is by far the fastest I've ever hit a dozen for this challenge - so I better start adding titles before I forget.

5. Summer at Tiffany - Marjorie Hart
Bought at a book sale in October 2017, this gift-book-sized pile of charm was everything I hoped it would be. 💖

6. Meanwhile Farm - Margaret Cheny
Bought sometime between 2014 and the start of the pandemic, I enjoyed this unique Californian homesteading memoir but have since donated it to the same kind of library sale where I bought it.

7. Go Ask Ogre - Jolene Siana
Bought at a library sale in 2021 out of sheer curiosity at how unusual it was. Half read, half skimmed; there are no more library copies in my state so I felt duty bound to at least try before I released it.

8. Treasure of Panther Peak - Eileen Kilgore Henderson
Bought at Goodwill last January, first book buy of the year in fact, I'm glad this turned out to be a very charming children's read and am keeping it for the time being.

9. The Dirt Diary - Anna Staniszewski
Picked up in the library's bag sale last year, had a blast reading it, and re-donated.

10. Being Sloane Jacobs - Lauren Morrill
Bought at a library sale in 2021 "just to read" because my local library didn't have it. Loved both Sloanes! May donate in the future but keeping for now.

11. Seven Days of You - Cecilia Vinesse
Bought at the dollar store sometime in the last 3 years. Cute, fun read, now donated.

12. Unscripted Joss Byrd - Lygia Day Penaflor
A BookOutlet splurge last fall and SO WORTH IT. I loved this story and am so glad it's mine. 💖

It usually takes me most of the year to (barely) complete this challenge; I can't believe this year's speed! That's partly because a lot of them are kids books, but I'm the one who keeps buying those, and the alternative is them continuing to sit around for years while I think, "Those hardly take up any space and can be read quickly if I need to clear them out, what's the rush." It's been fun.

13. Unleashed - Lisa Wogan
Another bag sale buy from last year. So cute! Would like to keep, but it's better served in the Little Free Library outside an elementary school instead.

14. Jock's Island - Elizabeth Coatsworth
Bought 2 years ago at a library sale because vintage Scholastic dog story! But though I finished it, the beginning is too sad to read again, so donated.

15. For Love of a Horse - Patricia Leitch
Had this decently-well-known title on my shelf for over a decade because it was a book my best friend had but I never read; finally got around to it and it was worth the wait. Keeping.

16. Before, After, and Somebody In Between - Jeannine Garsee
Bought in 2019 at a library sale; was unexpectedly moved & impressed by this YA saga. Keeping.

17. Grief Girl - Erin Vincent
Bought same time as the above, mostly for the pretty paperback cover -- I wouldn't have spent even $1 on the original one -- but a very moving story. Keeping for now.

18. Secrets & Scones - Laurel Remington
Dollar store buy 2 years ago. Very cute; will probably donate, but first I've got to grab the sequel (at the library) because I'm Invested.

19. Big Blue Island - Wilson Gage
Picked up between 2 and 5 years ago, a quick but surprisingly pleasant rural Tennessee kids' read, for all the boy's prickliness. Keeping. (actually have a mass market paperback edition but that cover's not on GR)

I made it to the top of a mountain? In the first half of the year?? I'm definitely moving on to another one, but I'm not sure which one yet. In the meantime, the final five for this post:

20. Beauty - Robin McKinley
I probably still have unread books I've owned longer, but this has got to be close to a record: acquired summer of 2006, half my life I have carted this little mass-market paperback around! It's rather tattered and I thought I would be relieved to finally let it go, but oops, I not only loved the story, I'm attached to this specific copy, with its used-bookstore stamp, even older library due dates inside, and memories of finding it at college on the summer custodial crew, left behind in residential housing, and keeping it when no one claimed it from lost and found by the end of summer.

21. Earnest - Kristin Von Kreisler
And now a much more recent buy -- 2021 used book sale. Got the feel-good story with lots of dog focus I came for, and now I can let it go.

22. A Hundred Pieces of Me - Lucy Dillon
Also bought at that sale, a somewhat unexpected 5-star. Now I wish this copy was in better shape...

23. Acts of Love - Maureen Daly
Been wanting to read this for a while and was thrilled to find a copy last spring at a used book sale. Finally found the right time to read it, 5-star perfect.

24. A Walk in the Sun - Michelle Zink
This had also been on my (virtual) TBR, so was excited to find a $2 copy in the clearance section of a used bookstore at the end of 2022. Even more excited to have read and confirmed another 5-star!


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EDIT: so, I kept MEANING to move on to another mountain, but by the time I actually found time to update here, I was at 33 books with 3 months to go -- too much time to not feel silly "challenging" myself to 36, but possibly not enough time to find 15 books off my shelves before the end of the year (which proved true).

Still, I want a complete record because this is the most I've ever read for this challenge, so here are the rest, albeit in much shorter fashion, with notes on those I decided to unhaul after reading.

25. Up at Butternut Lake - Mary McNear (donated)
26. A Cat Called Amnesia - E.W. Hildick (donated)
27. Meet Me at the Summit - Mandi Lynn Bell
28. Dreamland - Sarah Dessen (donated)
29. Dear Bill, Remember Me? and Other Stories - Norma Fox Mazer (donated)
30. Starting With Melodie - Susan Beth Pfeffer (donated)
31. Inheriting Edith- Zoe Fishman (donated)
32. The Irresistible Blueberry Bakeshop & Cafe - Mary Simses (donated)
33. In Another Time - Caroline Leech
34. Hex House - Betty K. Levine
35. Good-Bye My Wishing Star - Vicki Grove
36. Speed of Life - Carol Weston (donated)
37. The Truth About Twinkie Pie- Kat Yeh
38. In the Shadow of Lakecrest - Elizabeth Blackwell
39. From My Youth Up: Personal Reminiscences - Margaret E. Sangster
40. The Christmas Dress - Courtney Cole
41. And We're Off - Dana Schwartz (donated)
42. The Law of Loving Others - Kate Axelrod (donated)