TBR Challenges

I've got two TBR challenges to join this year.  I'm joining up with Bev at My Reader's Block for the second year, and I'm also joining Adam at Roofbeam Reader.  They're very nearly the same thing, but the more the merrier, and anyway there are differences!

Bev says:

I don't have a TBR shelf. Oh, no. I have "Mount TBR"...actually a whole mountain range.  And it doesn't matter that I've just spent the last year working on my mountain range with the Mount TBR Reading Challenge.  They just keep on sprouting up.
 
So, once again, I 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 (I've adjusted the levels just slightly this year):

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.

*Challenge runs from January 1 to December 31, 2013.

*You may sign up anytime from now until November 30th, 2013.

*Books must be owned by you prior to January 1, 2013. 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 2013.  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.

*A blog and reviews are 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 below. Non-bloggers, please leave a comment declaring your challenge level--OR, if you are a member of Goodreads, I will once again put together a group for the challenge there. Feel free to sign up HERE.  And, finally, I am contemplating a review tracker for this year.  I will post a link if that works out.


I'm signing up for the Mount Blanc level of 24 books.  I made it to 25 this year so I think I can do it!



Adam's challenge is more stringent.  He says:

This is my fourth year hosting and participating in the annual “TBR Pile Challenge.”  It started after I realized I had such an issue buying books but never reading them (not because I don’t read – but because I have so many!).  So, year after year, books would sit on my shelf, untouched, and I would end up reading newer ones first.  I realized I was missing out on a lot of great books because I let them sit there gathering dust instead of reading them as I bought them.



The Goal: To finally read 12 books from your “to be read” pile (within 12 months).
Specifics:
1. Each of these 12 books must have been on your bookshelf or “To Be Read” list for AT LEAST one full year. This means the book cannot have a publication date of 1/1/2012 or later (any book published in the year 2011 or earlier qualifies, as long as it has been on your TBR pile – I WILL be checking publication dates). Caveat: Two (2) alternates are allowed, just in case one or two of the books end up in the “can’t get through” pile.
2.  To be eligible, you must sign-up with Mr. Linky below – link to your list (so create it ahead of time!) and add updated links to each book’s review.  Every listed book must be completed and must be reviewed (doesn’t have to be too fancy) in order to count as completed.
3.  The link you post in the Mr. Linky below must be to your “master list” (see mine below).  This is where you will keep track of your books completed, crossing them out and/or dating them as you go along, and updating the list with the links to each review (so there’s one easy, convenient way to find your list and all your reviews for the challenge).  See THIS LINK for an idea of what I mean.  Your list must be completed by December 31st, 2012.
4. Leave comments on this post as you go along, to update us on your status. Come back here if/when you complete this challenge and leave a comment indicating that you CONQUERED YOUR 2013 TBR LIST!  Every person who successfully reads his/her 12 books and/or alternates (and who provides a working link to their list, which has links to the review locations) will be entered to win a $50 gift card from Amazon.com or The Book Depository!
5. Crossovers from other challenges are totally acceptable, as long as you have never read the book before and it was published pre-2012!
*Note – You can read the books on your list in any order; they do not need to be read in the order you have them listed. As you complete a book – review it, and go back to your original list and turn that title into a link to the review - that will keep the comments section here from getting ridiculously cluttered.  For an example of what I mean, Click Here.
  
Here is my master list:
  1. The Souls of Black Folk
  2. The 13th Element
  3. The Last of the Mohicans
  4. St. Thomas Aquinas/St. Francis of Asissi (biography by G. K. Chesterton)
  5. The Middle Window
  6. The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man
  7. The Forgotten Man
  8. Making Their Own Peace
  9. The Echoing Green
  10. The Chemical History of a Candle
  11. Botchan
  12. When Ladies Go A-Thieving
  1. Meditations (Marcus Aurelius)
  2. Bible and Sword      

Comments

  1. Oh my! I'm sort of liking Adam's challenge since I have a few on my shelves. Have to give it some thought.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I'd made two reading resolutions for 2013: to limit challenges to the Classics Club, and to quit buying books and read from the 100-odd books I have at home that I haven't read yet. So... I'm thinking Mount TBR might be an acceptable way to break the first resolution. :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Welcome back for another round of mountain-climbing!

    And, Amy, yest the Mount TBR Challenge is just the thing to help with your second resolution. And really since it equals the second resolution, it's not breaking the first one.

    ReplyDelete

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