Tuesday, February 17, 2015

Mount TBR Reading Challenge 2015 (4th Year)

This is the fourth year I will be participating in the Mount TBR Reading Challenge hosted by Bev at My Reader's Block. I have been working on the challenge in spirit since January 1st  but today I join in officially.


My goal this year will be  Mt. Ararat: 48 books. As I look back at the last three years, my total of books read from my TBR piles, boxes, shelves is always around 50, so 48 is fairly safe. I usually read around 100 books a year, so I don't know why my count of TBR books is only about half of that. This year I plan to pay closer attention to that.

I am always complaining about my TBR piles but really the problem is that I keep buying books. How can I resist, when I see other bloggers' recommendations for books and authors that I had missed before of maybe just forgotten about?

You can check out the rules at this post. The goals start at 12 books and go up to 150+ books. Bev is allowing re-reads to count this year, but only under certain conditions.

I have already made a good start on the TBR piles, because I am reading only from my TBR piles in January - March 2015 for the TBR Double Dog Dare Challenge at James Reads Books. The only exceptions have been two ARCs from NetGalley and there will be one or two more of those.

18 comments:

Prashant C. Trikannad said...

Tracy, 48 is an impressive number. I wish you good luck. It's probably less than half my collection of paper books that I hope to read this and next year.

Clothes In Books said...

Good luck with this - look forward to hearing about your progress.

col2910 said...

Good luck - I think you'll sail through! I'll try and end up this year with less books unread than at the start, that would do me!

Anonymous said...

Tracy - I admire you for taking on this challenge as you have. I'll be really interested in your progress and in reading your review of the books you choose from your TBR.

Cath said...

Good luck! I'm doing Mont Blanc having failed at Mount Ararat last year. It's a challenge I really love and find motivating so I hope you do too.

Ann Summerville said...

I think the only way I can read all the way through my TBR list is to stop looking at book review blogs and adding to it. There are just too many wonderful stories out there.
Ann

Anonymous said...

I really need to join this, Tracy. My mount TBR is embarrassing.

TracyK said...

To make it really challenging, Prashant, I would up the number to 60, and maybe I will later on in the year.

TracyK said...

In the ideal work, Moira, I would read only TBR books this year. I certainly have enough I bought last year and the year before to keep that going. Of course I do have some to borrow from my husband and son this year, and they don't count.

TracyK said...

I probably won't meet that goal (less books unread at the end of the year), Col, because I always buy enough at the Planned Parenthood book sale to negate any I read. But I just keep trying.

I wish I could come up with a count of unread books. I have been working on that shelf by shelf but reading and blogging (and a few other activities) keep getting in the way.

TracyK said...

That was supposed to be the ideal world, not work. Work is too much with me these days... guess it was subconscious.

col2910 said...

I know what you mean. I'm kind of enjoying recording my books, but it is time-consuming and a bit relentless - I'm kind of surprised I've stuck at it, because it has eaten into my reading time, but then I think the positives will outweigh the downside as I should know what I have and where it is.........though I do then have to tackle a load of printed PDF files and copied books from other outlets, then there's the books on my kindle and laptop....its never ending

TracyK said...

Thanks, Margot, It is interesting to me to see which books I pick from the vast TBR piles... the ones I have had for years and years or the ones I just bought last year.

TracyK said...

I love this challenge too, Cath. This one and Bev's Vintage challenge were major motivators for me to start blogging, and I am grateful for that.

TracyK said...

I will never get through my TBR piles, Ann, unless I stop buying books, which seems to be impossible. But I do need to either go back and read the books I bought years ago or decide to pass them on. And whenever I do that, I find lots of books to read from the piles.

TracyK said...

Sarah, my TBR piles are embarrassing also. Any sane person would stop buying piles of used books to add to the current piles, but somehow I cannot resist the book sale every year.

Anonymous said...

Well, my New Year's Resolution was to read from my TBR stacks. But then blogs keep doing rave reviews and generous readers and bloggers keep giving me books. And the stacks keep growing.
I'm not buying books unless several people write raves. I go to the library, but I'm even trying to cut back on that so I don't keep bringing books home with a deadline for returning them.
I am trying. I am. But life, tasks, deadlines, bills, not to mention fantastic British, Italian and Nordic TV series keep coming my way, all conspiring to prevent me
from culling my TBR piles. I guess I'm just used to them and they're part of the decor now.
I should read one a month, so that will be my goal for the TBR stacks.

TracyK said...

You are so right, Kathy. Everywhere I look I see new titles or authors I want to try (or even ones I have been wanting to read for a while but forgot about). There are always too many books to get to and sometimes I get frustrated.