The Mount TBR challenge, 2014 is being hosted by Bev at My Reader’s Block. It’s the most simple challenge – read your own books – that is, books you’ve owned prior to January 1, 2014, but at the same time it is a difficult one for me, at any rate. Difficult because I’m always being sidetracked by new books – see yesterday’s post for example. And no matter how hard I try the number of my to-be-reads never seems to go down each year.
Out of the 83 books I’ve read so far this year only 28 were books I’ve owned before January 1, 2013, although some of the 55 books were new books. My target this year is 48, so it’s looking very doubtful that I shall reach it by the end of December.
Next year I’ll be making a more determined effort to read from my own shelves. My target for 2014 is to reach Mt Ararat, although I’d really like to make it up Mt Kilimanjaro (60 books), or even higher (most unlikely).
These are the challenge levels:
Pike’s Peak: Read 12 books from your TBR pile/s
Mount Blanc: Read 24 books from your TBR pile/s
Mt. Vancouver: Read 36 books from your TBR pile/s
Mt. Ararat: Read 48 books from your TBR piles/s
Mt. Kilimanjaro: Read 60 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
Mount Olympus (Mars): Read 150+ 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. All books counted for lower mountains may carry over towards the new peak.
*Challenge runs from January 1 to December 31, 2014.
*You may sign up anytime from now until November 30th, 2014.
*Books must be owned by you prior to January 1, 2014. No ARCs (none), no library books. No rereads. [To clarify–based on a question raised last year–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 primary sources of backlogged books.]
*You may count any “currently reading” book that you begin prior to January 1–provided that you had 50% or more of the book left to finish in 2014. I will trust you all on that.
*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.
*There will be quarterly check-ins and prize drawings!
BooksPlease 
Your percentage of your own books read this year is very similar to mine. I’ve read 77 so far this year and I think 31 were mine. The rest were all from the library, one or two loaned by my daughter etc. Perhaps we can chivvy each other along next year to do a bit better. Good luck anyway, Margaret.
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Thanks, Cath and good luck with the challenge too. I could do with some chivvying next year. We should think of a way to encourage each other to read from our own shelves … any ideas?
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Ha, that sounds like the challenge for me – I have by now so many on my shelves (and my e-reader) that I really look forward to tackling and yet constantly put aside for other, more urgent reviews or because I need to take the book back to the library or… there’s always a reason…
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Marina, that’s the trouble isn’t it – there’s always a good reason to read books from other sources! I wish I knew the answer.
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Margaret – I’ve always thought this was a great idea for a challenge. I ought to take it on myself. I’ll be looking forward to reading your reviews as you go through it.
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Welcome back, Margaret! Here’s to a new year of climbing (and trying not to get distracted by the new, shiny books strewn along the way).
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