Mount TBR Challenge 2012: Wrap Up Post

The first challenge I ever participated in and the first one I joined this year was the 2012 Mount TBR Reading Challenge. I had already planned to read a lot of books that I already owned in 2012, but this challenge was a great motivator. I signed up at the Mt. Vancouver level: Read 25 books from your TBR pile/s.

I completed this challenge on July 4, 2012, when I finished reading The Sleeping-Car Murders by Sebastien Japrisot. However, I continued tracking novels I read this year from my To Be Read stacks.

At the end of last quarter I had completed 39 books for the challenge, and this quarter I read 12 more books that count toward the challenge, for a total of 51 books (out of 80 books read this year). I finished The Vault by Ruth Rendell a couple of days ago, and have not reviewed it yet. I am currently reading a book from my TBR stacks, so I should reach 52 books before the end of the year. My complete list is at this post.

I wish I could say that reading all those books made a big dent in my TBR stacks, but I bought many more than 52 books in 2012. On the other hand, if I had not read those books, the situation would be worse.

I have already joined the Mount TBR Reading Challenge for 2013, and hope that I do as well.

Quarterly Checkpoint #3 for Mt. TBR Challenge

This quarter I have read 17 books that count toward the 2012 Mt. TBR Reading Challenge. Combining that with the 22 books read for this challenge in March, April, May and June, I have completed a total of 39 books.

I completed this challenge on July 4, 2012, when I finished reading The Sleeping-Car Murders by Sebastien Japrisot. I will continue tracking novels I have read this year from my To Be Read stacks, because I want to know how well I have done in reducing my TBR stacks. Unfortunately I don't get rid of most of these books and I still don't have enough room to store all my book, read or unread.

Books I have read (with links to reviews):

1. Whiskey Sour by J. A. Konrath
2. The Information Officer by Mark Mills
3. The Sleeping-Car Murders by Sebastien Japrisot 
4. Flesh Wounds by John Lawton 
5. Death of a Russian Priest by Stuart Kaminsky
6. The Suspect by L. R. Wright 
7. Under World by Reginald Hill 
8. Bullet for a Star by Stuart Kaminsky 
9. A Lily of the Field by John Lawton
10. Night at the Vulcan by Ngaio Marsh
11. The Property of a Lady by Anthony Oliver
12. Birds of a Feather by Jacqueline Winspear
13. Pardonable Lies by Jacqueline Winspear
14. The One from the Other by Philip Kerr
15. A Quiet Flame by Philip Kerr
16. Lament for the Bride by Helen Reilly 
17. Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley

This challenge is hosted by Bev at My Reader's Block and it was the first challenge I ever joined. It has been a great motivator for me to really dig into my TBR stacks, shelves, and boxes, and I am looking forward to continuing it next year. Check out the fun at this post and the quarterly checkpoint post.

Answering two questions from Bev for this quarterly summary of progress...

Looking ahead to next year's challenge: Is there a level that you'd like to see added?  

I think a level at 30 or 35 books would be good (but I have no suggestions for names for those levels). I would probably challenge myself to 30 or 35, but I would not go as high as 40... even though I will surpass that level this year.

Have any of the books you read surprised you--if so, in what way?

I had two surprises. One was my reaction to Whiskey Sour. I expected to like it better. It was a quick read and enjoyable. But... I don't generally go for humor in mysteries, and there were creepy and graphic elements, and for me, they did not blend well. I liked the dynamic between the two partners, they reminded me of Jane Rizzoli and her partner in the Rizzoli & Isles TV show (not in the books). That part seemed very realistic, believable. If I read more books in a year, I would probably continue this series. As a slow reader, I have to pick and choose and I don't think I will find time to continue it.

I was also surprised by my reaction to the two Jacqueline Winspear books: Pardonable Lies and Birds of a Feather. On the one hand, I loved the setting and the theme. The novels are set in Europe in the time period following World War I and revolve around life following the war and the effects it had on people's lives. But I found the solution of the mystery to be less satisfying than the overall story in both books. I did not like the emphasis on Maisie's feelings or intuition. There were far too many coincidences. Usually I am not this picky with mysteries and I know there are other mysteries with these "problems" that I have enjoyed. So it is hard to figure out exactly why I was so critical of these.

This quarter I only read three books for the Vintage Mystery challenge (one was not from the TBR stacks), and I have to pick up my reading in that area. On the other hand, I read 5 books by authors I have never read before, so that is a boost to my progress on the New Authors Challenge.

June Quarterly Checkpoint for Mt. TBR Challenge

This quarter I have read sixteen books that count toward the 2012 Mt. TBR Reading Challenge. Combining that with the six books read for this challenge in March (I started late), I have completed a total of twenty two books.

Since my goal is 25 books from my TBR stacks, I am feeling confident that I will reach my goal. This year I had already set a personal goal to read more books from my stacks and buy less, before I saw this challenge and decided to join. But I say that every year. I firmly believe participating in the challenge has made a difference. I could increase my goal to 40 or 50 books. We will see.

Books I have read (with links to reviews):

1. Second Violin by John Lawton
2. The Redbreast by Jo Nesbo 
3. Dying Light by Stuart MacBride
4. A Duty to the Dead by Charles Todd
5. The Thief Who Couldn't Sleep by Lawrence Block
6. Cop Hater by Ed McBain
7. In the Woods by Tana French
8. A Coffin for Dimitrios by Eric Ambler
9. Political Suicide by Robert Barnard
10. The Guards by Ken Bruen 
11. The Light of Day by Eric Ambler 
12. A Fall from Grace by Robert Barnard 
13. Nero Wolfe of West Thirty-fifth Street by William S. Baring-Gould 
14. Spy Hook by Len Deighton 
15. Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie 
16. An Empty Death by Laura Wilson 

Of these book, the one that featured my favorite character is Spy Hook, part of a nine book series by Len Deighton. The character is Bernard Samson, an intelligence officer in the British Secret Intelligence Service (MI6). He is the narrator of the story. I enjoy Bernard Samson's company almost as much as Archie Goodwin, the first person narrator of the Nero Wolfe mysteries by Rex Stout. And that is high praise.

I am doing pretty well with this challenge. One challenge I am not so successful with is the New Authors challenge. The goal is to read authors that are new to me. Four of these authors are new to me: Jo Nesbo, Ed McBain, Tana French, Ken Bruen. I am reading another new author now: Mark Mills.  And I need to read 15 new authors before the end of the year. I guess I am on track if I can read five new authors in each quarter.

Mt. TBR Challenge Quarterly Checkpoint

This quarter I have read only six books that count toward my goal of 25 books for the 2012 Mt. TBR Reading Challenge. (Actually, I have read 11 books from my TBR stacks, boxes, and bookcases, but I did not start the challenge until February 26th and thus am only counting those I read this month.)

Since my goal is 25 books from my TBR stacks, I still am on track to reach my goal. Every year I say I will read more books from my stacks and buy less, and every year I have a hard time doing that. And I really think joining this challenge has been a motivator to accomplish this goal.

Books I have read (with links to reviews):

1. Do One Thing Different by Bill O'Hanlon
2. Winter by Len Deighton 
3. The Company of Strangers by Robert Wilson
4. Heads You Lose by Christianna Brand 
5. Green for Danger by Christianna Brand
6. Bluffing Mr. Churchill by John Lawton

In progress:  Second Violin by John Lawton

My goal this year (until September) is to limit my fiction purchases to books written by authors that I have read previously. Preferably, don't buy books in series that I have not started, even if I have read the authors. Even though that still leaves a lot of books I could buy, my preference is to work down the TBR piles. In September I go to a yearly book sale where I can get books really cheap and it benefits a charity, and I don't plan to limit myself there.

Based on my records (not complete), of that set of books, I have had The Company of Strangers the longest, about five and a half years, and bought the copy at the book sale in 2006.  It is the first book by Robert Wilson that I have read and I really enjoyed it. Which is a good thing, since I have six other books that he wrote in my TBR stacks.

Of these six books, the one I enjoyed the most was Bluffing Mr. Churchill, the fourth book in the Inspector Troy series. It was also my favorite book in the series.  Partly because of the subject matter (events in World War II) and setting (London), but really because it kept me interested the whole time and I cared about the characters and the outcomes.

Winter: A Berlin Family 1899-1945 by Len Deighton

This novel by Len Deighton was written following the first Bernard Samson trilogy, Berlin Game, Mexico Set, and London Match (reviews here and here). In a sense, it is a prequel to those books. It provides some background information on a few of the characters that are prominent in the trilogy. That was a major motivator in my decision to read it. And I did enjoy it from that point of view, as a look back at what came before. The Game, Set, and Match trilogy takes place in the 1980’s in London and Berlin (primarily); Winter is set in the first half of that century. But this novel stood well on its own.

 Winter is the story of two German brothers, both born around the beginning of the twentieth century. Both grow up in Germany, and both fight on the German side in World War I.  By the end of World War II, the brothers end up on different sides, one a member of the Nazi party, the other working for the Allies. This is believable in part because they are half American by birth. Their mother is from a wealthy American family, the father is a well-to-do German industrialist.

Deighton uses this story of family and friends to show the rise of the Nazi party in Germany and how it affected Germans and how they dealt with the changes in their society. There are some limitations. The story focuses on the wealthy family and does not spend much time on how Germans of lower classes were affected. Because the novel covers events over such a long span of time (1900 - 1945), characters were not always fully fleshed out, some periods and events were glossed over. Even at 571 pages, the author could not cover everything. The book ends at the Nuremberg trials.

What did I like about Winter?

The topic of World War II and Germany is a favorite of mine; thus, I found it very interesting and illuminating. Reading the book gave me a better perspective of the events in Germany's history and broadened my knowledge in that area. From what I have read, the author did a lot of research on this book. The limitations I note above are not criticisms. I enjoyed the book from beginning to end.

Reading this book makes me want to read other books on the subject. I am currently reading The Company of Strangers by Robert Wilson (a spy novel which begins in the early 1940’s and continues into the Cold War). My husband has a lot of non-fiction books about this time period. I would like to read In the Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler's Berlin by Erik Larsen, and Richard J. Evan's Third Reich trilogy, especially The Coming of the Third Reich.

This counts as one of my books for the following challenges:
Mt. TBR Challenge
Read Your Own Books Challenge
A-Z Challenge
Chunkster Challenge
European Challenge

Do One Thing Different: Bill O'Hanlon

From time to time I throw a non-fiction book into my reading queue. I like to read mystery reference books, books about World War II, and some self-help books.And books about health. I am real sucker for the "Health, Fitness, and Dieting" category of books.

I had purchased this book, Do One Thing Different, years ago. Don't remember why, other than it is an intriguing idea. The subtitle is "... And Other Uncommonly Sensible Solutions to Life's Persistent Problems." The author proposes that one can solve problems better by finding solutions, rather than looking for why they are happening or blaming others. Sounds reasonable and obvious, but it is a different approach than most therapists use.

I enjoyed reading the book because I have experienced such occurrences in my own life, where I made a change and that change caused other improvements. Now to be able to do that in the future, intentionally. The author also suggests looking for other similar situations where you have found a solution that worked, and trying to adapt that solution to the current problem.

At times I found the format of the book frustrating. Some reviews I read said the content was repetitive. I felt like the summaries for each type of problem solution to be a waste of space. Perhaps I will appreciate that more when I go back and re-read the book, looking for a way to work on a particular problem. And if I don't go back and try a few, what was the point of reading it in the first place?

Actually, starting this blog was "doing one thing different." I had thought for years about a way to share book reviews, track my reading, and have a creative outlet. Yet I never felt ready or that I would do it well enough to please myself. Just recently I got interested in reading challenges and thought it would be fun and a way to motivate and direct my reading. I just bit the bullet and said "now is the time to take a chance." And that feels good.

This counts as one of my books for the Mt. TBR Challenge and also the Read Your Own Books Challenge. Also a choice for the A-Z Challenge.

Today I join my first challenge(s): To Be Read Challenges

 Bev at My Reader's Block is hosting the 2012 Mt. TBR Challenge.  I am signing up at the Mt. Vancouver level: Read 25 books from your TBR pile/s.

I think that I can easily reach this amount in the next 10 months. I am curious to know if  I can count books that I have read between Jan. 1, 2012 and today, since I have read several of my TBR books since the beginning of the year. Doesn't matter really, because I really want to get through my own books and not buy a lot of new ones this year.

I am also joining the 2012 Read Your Own Books Reading Challenge at Tales From the Crypt.

I am partial to images of skulls or skeletons, and I love this image.

For this challenge I will attempt Level 4, 21 or more books. 

At the post where Bev describes her motivation for setting up the blog, she mentions that she read Susan Hill's book, Howard's End is on the Landing, where she describes reading only her own books for a year. I am currently reading that book, at a leisurely pace. A chapter at a time in between other reading.  I am a fan of Susan Hill's Simon Serailler series, which I devour as soon as the novels are available in the US.

I have no idea how many books I have in my TBR stacks, bookshelves, and boxes in the garage. I do have all of my fiction cataloged, but not all of the books have been accurately marked as read. If I read them many years ago and plan to read again, I don't mark as read. So it would take a while to get an accurate count (or even an estimate). But it is a lot. 

My goal this year (until September) is to only buy books written by authors that I have read previously. In other words, don't buy books for new authors (and preferably not new series, even by authors I have read). That still leaves a lot of books I could buy, but the preference is to work down the TBR piles.  In September I go to a yearly book sale where I can get books really cheap, and I don't plan to limit myself there.

Books I have read (with links to reviews):

1. Do One Thing Different by Bill O'Hanlon (03/01/2012)
2. Winter by Len Deighton (03/05/2012)
3. The Company of Strangers by Robert Wilson
4. Heads You Lose by Christianna Brand 
5. Green for Danger by Christianna Brand 
6. Bluffing Mr. Churchill by John Lawton
7. Second Violin by John Lawton (04/04/2012)
8. The Redbreast by Jo Nesbo 
9. Dying Light by Stuart MacBride
10. A Duty to the Dead by Charles Todd
11. The Thief Who Couldn't Sleep by Lawrence Block
12. Cop Hater by Ed McBain
13. In the Woods by Tana French
14. A Coffin for Dimitrios by Eric Ambler
15. Political Suicide by Robert Barnard
16. The Guards by Ken Bruen 
17. The Light of Day by Eric Ambler 
18. A Fall from Grace by Robert Barnard 
19. Nero Wolfe of West Thirty-fifth Street by William S. Baring-Gould 
20. Spy Hook by Len Deighton 
21. Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie 
22. An Empty Death by Laura Wilson 
23. Whiskey Sour by J. A. Konrath
24. The Information Officer by Mark Mills
25. The Sleeping-Car Murders by Sebastien Japrisot 
26. Flesh Wounds by John Lawton 
27. Death of a Russian Priest by Stuart Kaminsky
28. The Suspect by L. R. Wright 
29. Under World by Reginald Hill 
30. Bullet for a Star by Stuart Kaminsky 
31. A Lily of the Field by John Lawton
32. Night at the Vulcan by Ngaio Marsh
33. The Property of a Lady by Anthony Oliver
34. Birds of a Feather by Jacqueline Winspear
35. Pardonable Lies by Jacqueline Winspear
36. The One from the Other by Philip Kerr
37. A Quiet Flame by Philip Kerr
38. Lament for the Bride by Helen Reilly 
39. Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley 
40. A Touch of Frost by R. D. Wingfield
41. Bimbos of the Death Sun by Sharyn McCrumb
42. Zombies of the Gene Pool by Sharyn McCrumb
43. The Affair of the Mutilated Mink by James Anderson
44. To Play the Fool by Laurie R. King
45. With Child by Laurie R. King
46. The Secret Adversary by Agatha Christie
47. The Judas Sheep by Stuart Pawson
48. The Cape Code Mystery by Phoebe Atwood Taylor
49. Kindness Goes Unpunished by Craig Johnson
50. The Monster in the Box by Ruth Rendell

Completion of Challenge: I completed this challenge on July 4, 2012, when I finished reading The Sleeping-Car Murders by Sebastien Japrisot. I will continue recording novels I have read this year from my To Be Read stacks on this post.