Saturday, April 4, 2015

Mount TBR Challenge: First Quarter 2015

This quarter I have read 20 books that count toward the 2015 Mount TBR Reading Challenge. My goal for the year is 48 books -- Mt. Ararat. So I am at 41.66% of my goal. The challenge is run by Bev at My Reader's Block. Bev hosts several challenges, and she reads and reviews a lot of mysteries, my favorite genre.

I did so well in this area in the first three months of the year because I also was participating in  the Double Dog Dare TBR Challenge hosted at James Reads Books. The goal in that challenge was to read only from the TBR pile in January, February, and March. 

Bev requests that we complete ONE or more of the following:
 A. Post a picture of your favorite cover so far.
 B. Who has been your favorite character so far? And tell us why, if you like.
 C. Have any of the books you read surprised you--if so, in what way (not as good as anticipated? unexpected ending? Best thing you've read ever? Etc.)
 D. Which book (read so far) has been on your TBR mountain the longest? Was it worth the wait? Or is it possible you should have tackled it back when you first put it on the pile? Or tossed it off the edge without reading it all?
My favorite cover: Villain by Shuichi Yoshida.


The book that surprised me most was The Calling by Inger Ash Wolfe. The novel is a serial killer thriller and that is not my favorite type of mystery. Yet I found the story compelling. The protagonist, Detective Inspector Hazel Micallef, is a wonderful character and I look forward to reading the next in this series, which is also on my TBR pile.




18 comments:

Anonymous said...

I am very impressed, Tracy! I need to do better with my own TBR.

TracyK said...

I made a lot of headway on the TBR piles this quarter, Margot, but I was often tempted by newly purchased books.

Debbie Rodgers said...

"The novel is a serial killer thriller and that is not my favorite type of mystery. Yet I found the story compelling." Exactly the way I felt. But, despite the fact that I liked Hazel and that the plot here was excellent, I decided not to continue in the series. I'm interested in hearing your reaction to the second book.

TracyK said...

Debbie, I do hope the 2nd novel is not a repeat of the first, mainly because that would be unrealistic in a small town setting. I think it will be interesting.

Cath said...

Wow, you're doing really well with Mount TBR. The cover of Villain is amazing, very clever indeed. Just checked out your review of The Calling and it sounds interesting. I'll see if I can track it down over here.

TracyK said...

Thanks, Cath, I am sure this will be my best quarter, although it would be nice to read 20 books a quarter from the TBR piles. Probably impossible. I hope you can find a copy of The Calling, definitely worth trying, although it is not an easy read.

Cath said...

I just checked and am very surprised to find that my town library has a copy! After The Tenderness of Wolves I'm happy to find another northern Ontario, Canadian book. I was wondering if I would be able to.

TracyK said...

I remember a lot of cold weather and snow, Cath. I have never lived in a place with so much cold weather like that.

Bill Selnes said...

TracyK: I cannot say there has been any progress on TBR. I am currently doing my best to read what I acquire within 2-3 months and add some books from TBR. However, I usually get a few more books a quarter than I get read. Mountains are hard to read down.

TracyK said...

Bill, if you are doing well at reading newly acquired books, then you are doing pretty well. I would like to buy less books than I read, but it never seems to work that way.

Clothes In Books said...

Well done Tracy! I loved that top cover when you showed it to us before, and both these books look well worth reading.

col2910 said...

Got to admire you for your commitment to your challenges - hope you stay the pace, I'm sure you will

Prashant C. Trikannad said...

Tracy, I echo what Moira and Col said. Well done on the Mount TBR Reading Challenge. I have started reading more from my own TBR pile but outside of any such challenge.

TracyK said...

Thanks, Moira. The cover of Villain is not my favorite cover ever but probably in the top ten.

TracyK said...

Col, Reading from my TBR pile is pretty easy, I have so many great books to read.

TracyK said...

Prashant, I have always read mostly from my TBR pile because I have lots of unread books. But I still can't resist buying new and used books and the number of TBR books keep going up. Maybe this year I will keep stats on TBR pile vs. borrowed, new purchases, and NetGalley reads.

Anonymous said...

Hmmm, a good reminder to hit the TBR stacks that keep growing around here. Nice bloggers have sent me books and the library has had some good new ones lately.

And I decided to give some of the books to a shelter for domestic violence victims, those I don't think I will read. And when I get to it, I'll collect books in my building.

TracyK said...

It is hard to keep the TBR piles down, Kathy. I need to seriously find some books to donate, no way I will read all the books I have now... But I always think that there is that possibility.