Mount TBR Reading Challenge 2012 discussion

If you are a bookaholic like me, then you can't let a bookstore (used or new, it doesn't matter) go by without stopping in ("just to look") and walking out with at least something--if not an armload. I wait all year for the Red Cross Book Sale in October so I can cart them out by the bagful. And, well, that means that I wind up with gigantic piles of TBR books stacked up around my backroom. I don't have a TBR shelf. Oh, no. I have "Mount TBR"...possibly a whole mountain range.

With that in mind, and having read Susan Hill's Howards End Is on the Landing (where she spent a year just reading from her own shelves, I've decided to create my own TBR reading challenge and plan to concentrate on reading primarily from my own books this year. And you're invited to join me in knocking out some of those books that have been waiting in the wings for weeks....months...even years.

Challenge Levels

Pike's Peak: Read 12 books from your TBR pile/s
Mt. Vancouver: Read 25 books from your TBR pile/s
Mt. Ararat: Read 40 books from your TBR pile/s
Mt. Kilimanjaro: Read 50 books from your TBR pile/s
El Toro: Read 75 books from your TBR pile/s
Mt. Everest: Read 100+ books from your TBR pile/s

And the rules:
*Once you choose your challenge level, you are locked in for at least that many books. If you find that you're on a mountain-climbing roll and want to tackle a taller mountain, then you are certainly welcome to upgrade.

*Challenge runs from January 1 to December 31, 2012.

*You may sign up anytime from now until November 30th, 2012.

*Books must be owned by you prior to January 1, 2012. No ARCs (none), no library books. No rereads (none). [To clarify--based on a question raised--the intention is to reduce the stack of books that you have bought for yourself or received as presents {birthday, Christmas, "just because," etc.}. Audiobooks and e-books may count if they are yours and they are one of your sources of backlogged books.]

*Books may be used to count for other challenges as well.

*Feel free to submit your list in advance (as incentive to really get those books taken care of) or to tally them as you climb.

*A blog is not necessary to participate. If you have a blog, then please post a challenge sign up and link THAT post (not your home page) into the linky on my blog. Non-bloggers, please sign up in the appropriate Level Folder.

***Addendum (2/20/12): From a question...You may count any "currently reading" book that you began pre-January 1, provided that you had 50% or more of the book left to finish in 2012. I will trust you all on that.


UPDATE: I had NO idea that there would be so many people out there with TBR mountains to tackle (and what mountains!). There is no possible way I could keep up with the reviews for almost 200 of you. Not that I'm upset with the number of challengers. Wow! I love it. But--the overwhelming support for this challenge has made me rethink the progress thing. SO, instead of a review posting, I plan on doing quarterly check-ins. Keep your eyes peeled in March, June and September for the Check-Point posts. Rumor has there may be Progress Prizes.

Hi, question about the rules. Do e-books owned prior to 2012 count, or is this only for dead tree books?

Misfit wrote: "Hi, question about the rules. Do e-books owned prior to 2012 count, or is this only for dead tree books?"

I will count e-books from the "virtual" mountains stored in the ether prior to 2012.

Thank you.

I'm glad you joined us Misfit!!!

Now I have to figure out a count. I was just looking at my reads so far this year, and a huge part of them are library, then ARC's, with owned books way behind them. Argh.

I think I'll try for 40, with the possibility of bumping up a level. I read a lot of bookrings through bookcrossing, so I don't want to exaggerate. I'll work on a list tomorrow.

I'll probably start low and see how it goes. With the number of books lying around waiting for me and the way my moods change, there won't be a book plan, just a count. I assume I can just keep adding to the list as they're finished off?

Yes, you can keep adding books till the end of the year.

Thanks for the invite, Laura. I will start low (12) and see how it goes from there. I will go through the mountain and provide a list to serve as incentive.

welcome dear Wanda.

Glad to have you Wanda!

Thank you Laura.

It is great to meet you Bev. Thanks for starting a good group. I do have a feeling however that my Mountain TBR will only grow as I see other's list of books as new additions. ; )

Wanda wrote: "Thank you Laura.

It is great to meet you Bev. Thanks for starting a good group. I do have a feeling however that my Mountain TBR will only grow as I see other's list of books as new additions...."

That does seem to be the way it works.... :-)

Hi Bev, This is a great group and I like the idea of the list and trying to stick to it. I'm going to start low at 12 books

It may just get me to reduce my TBR, although somehow I doubt this as the evil fiends at GR recommendations and so many others on GR seem to conspire to make mine the size of Mount Olympus on Mars (15 miles).

Hi, Geevee! Well...if you manage to conquer a stack equal to Mt. Olympus, we may have to come up with a special prize for you. :-)

oh, feel sure I can do Pike's Peak without half trying since goodreads!! My reading increased by about 50 books a year since I got on here.

welcome Alice!!

Do rereads count if you've bought the book and they have been sitting around for ages waiting to be reread? I plan to reread some stuff this year that I read in my teens and early twenties (which was a looooong time ago and almost beyond living memory!) and the books have been sitting on Mt TBR for quite a while!

I was wondering the same thing, Jemidar.

That would make sense. If I reread say, one of my Chadwick keepers, that wouldn't count because it's only been a year or two, but something from 20-30 (or more!) years ago is a completely different thing.

That's what I was thinking but I thought I better check.

I'm having trouble lately remembering what I read last week so I'm sure these books will be "like new' to me ;-D.

Jemidar wrote: "I'm having trouble lately remembering what I read last week ..."

It's kind of okay, in a weird way... I can re-read all those mysteries, and be just as surprised at whodunnit as the first time I read it!

Many of my to-read books on my bookshelves are rather heavy-duty academic books. So, I am going to try to tackle as many as possible, but especially with the academic books (especially those in German and/or French), I am not going to make any promises. Also, I have books on my bookshelves that I need to read, but have not shelved on my GR bookshelves (some even have to be manually added to the database). Do these books count as part of the challenge?

Hayes wrote: "It's kind of okay, in a weird way... I can re-read all those mysteries, and be just as surprised at whodunnit as the first time I read it!"

Yes, it does have it's advantages. LOL.

Hello all! Just thought I would add another challenge to my life.

I am going to tackle Pikes Peak. I plan to include the following tbr (mostly classics that I have put off):

Wives and Daughters (e-book)
Sons and Lovers
The Grand Sophy
The Bleak House
Nana (e-book)
Middle March
The Way We Live
Moll Flanders
Lillie
The Ladies Paradise (e-book)
Veneita
Covenient Marriage
Dubliners
East Lynne
Evelina
Far from the Madding Crowd

I may find that I keep climbing.
Happy Reading all!

Hi Sabrina! That's an impressive list. A few of them have been on my tbr list for quite some time. :)

Mine too! I am actually reading three right now. Then I will probably be offline for a month. Need to study for my exam. YIKES!

What kind of exam?

Certified Fund Raising Executive (CFRE) Examination

zzzzzz..... huh?

(Just kidding!)

Hi Sabrina, welcome to the challenge

Good Luck! (wake Hayes up on the way out! lol)

Jemidar wrote: "Do rereads count if you've bought the book and they have been sitting around for ages waiting to be reread? I plan to reread some stuff this year that I read in my teens and early twenties (which ..."

I'm sorry, but no. I really meant it when I said no rereads. The idea is to knock off books that you've bought (or been given by family/friends/etc.)and left on your TBR pile and never read. We're on a journey to conquer new mountains.

Misfit wrote: "That would make sense. If I reread say, one of my Chadwick keepers, that wouldn't count because it's only been a year or two, but something from 20-30 (or more!) years ago is a completely different..."

Um NO, it's not completely different. If you've read it--then it's a reread. And I've specifically said that rereads don't count. If you want it to count for the challenge that I've designed (and you've decided that you wanted to be a part of) then it doesn't matter if it was the first book you ever read (10, 20, 30, 40, 50 years ago or whatever) then it's a reread and it does not count.

I really don't like to have to step in and sound all picky...but if you have a question about the rules then I'm the one to ask. It's not open to discussion or group vote. I'm very excited to have so many people want to join this challenge. But I assume that when you join that you've read the rules and you're willing to follow them--and not make decisions about them without hearing from me.

Bev wrote: "I'm sorry, but no. I really meant it when I said no rereads. The idea is to knock off books that you've bought (or been given by family/friends/etc.)and left on your TBR pile and never read. We're on a journey to conquer new mountains."

Thanks for clearing that up Bev. Guess all the rereads languish a bit longer. LOL.

Thanks Bev, for the clarification. Fortunately I don't have any rereads scheduled this year :)

Thanks for taking it so well....I rephrased that message several times because I didn't want to be too snippy.

Mine are all first reads. :)

Mine come from the "thanks to this challenge I might read them for the first time" pile :)

Well put!

I've started on a book I "inherited" from my mother's bookshelves.

Bev, what about books that have been stalled in your currently-reading pile for ages? Would these count, if I moved them back to to-read? I have a few books like that.

And for the books owned and to-be-read, do these books have to have been on your GR shelves specifically prior to January 1, 2012. I have quite a few owned books, that I owned long before January 1, 2012, but did not put onto my GR bookshelves until January, even February 2012. Would these books count for my challenge list, or should I only concentrate on books that I had added to my GR bookshelves prior to January 1, 2012?

Gundula wrote: "Bev, what about books that have been stalled in your currently-reading pile for ages? Would these count, if I moved them back to to-read? I have a few books like that.

And for the books owned an..."

Gundula: No, the books do not have to be logged on your GR shelves pre-2012. I still haven't gotten all the books I own (and are unread) logged yet. :-)

Hmmm. Let's say that I'll accept any "currently-reading" book that was 50% or less complete prior to January 1. I'll trust you all on that. (and will adjust the rules above accordingly).

Bev wrote: "Gundula wrote: "Bev, what about books that have been stalled in your currently-reading pile for ages? Would these count, if I moved them back to to-read? I have a few books like that.

And for th..."

Most of the currently-reading books I am stuck on, I have not made much headway on (and I think that all of the currently-reading books that are almost complete are library books anyhow, you know ILL ones that had to go back).

I'm still working through which books to add to the challenge. I really should do Mt. Everest, but I think that is wishful thinking (but I have so many to-read books, that Mt. Everest would definitely be good at reducing the amount, sigh). Hopefully, I will have a list by the end of the month.

I've managed to read 7 books so far on my scramble up Mount Vancouver.
That is 28% so I am on target despite a troublesome month of March being trapped in my tent due to (travel) sickness, only able to proceed very slowly.
The best scenery was glimsped early in the climb with
The Left Hand of God and A Game of Thrones the most satisfying so far.

That's great, Esther, particularly in light of the elements. I've only mustered 3 so far :(

Esther wrote: "I've managed to read 7 books so far on my scramble up Mount Vancouver.
That is 28% so I am on target despite a troublesome month of March being trapped in my tent due to (travel) sickness, only ab..."

Ester: You're doing great! Keep on climbing! If you'd like this to be considered for the Checkpoint prize drawing, then you'll need to post the comment on the Checkpoint thread.

I might have missed it, but do graphic novels count? I both want to and don't want to add them to my list, but I thought I'd check in before I do and they aren't allowed (since I can see it going both ways...perhaps I should do a Pike's Peak for GN and books as well...)

Thanks much!

Anything readable counts...graphic novels, e-books, even children's books (if they were on YOUR TBR pile--for instance, I'm reading a classic kid's book that has been on my list for a while).

I need a ruling please. I have The Magnificent Ambersons, a kindle book I purchased in 2011. However, the kindle version I am reading is for a blog tour and was not obtained until 2012. The same book, just the new one is enhanced with editor's notes and fun stuff.

May I count it off the pile when finished?

Personally, I would count it but I may have a biased opinion on that as I've just done the same thing and bought a newer version of it on Kindle. Finger's crossed it will still count!