I really haven’t been at all enthusiastic about reading planning for 2022, which is a bit of a departure for me. In light of that reality, I’ve decided to forgo all new challenges, with the exception of the Mt. TBR Challenge.
Challenge Levels:
Pike’s Peak: Read 12 books from your TBR pile
Mount Blanc: Read 24 books from your TBR pile
Mt. Vancouver: Read 36 books from your TBR pile/s
Mt. Ararat: Read 48 books from your TBR pile
Mt. Kilimanjaro: Read 60 books from your TBR pile
Cerro El Toro*: Read 75 books from your TBR pile
Mt. Everest: Read 100 books from your TBR pile
Mount Olympus (Mars): Read 150+ books from your TBR pile
I have decided to shoot for the Mt. Vancouver level, with 36 books, which is three books per month. I’m going to fill this challenge only with print books that are in my personal library today. I’m going to go back through my TBR cart and swap some things out so I can post a list of my planned choices, although I am going to allow myself to swap out books one-for-one so long as the book I’m swapping in was on my shelves prior to 1/1/2022.
I have selected a number of books for my TBR project – more than 36 so that I have a few alternates thrown in for good measure. A few are re-reads from long ago, and some do double duty on my Classics Club list or as part of a Goodreads group reading project.
Here is the cart:
Now for the details:
Top Tier
From left to right:
- Testament of Youth by Vera Brittain (I am determined to finish this book this year – I’ve started it at least 3 times)
- The Matchmaker by Stella Gibbons
- Mariana by Monica Dickens
- Someone at a Distance by Dorothy Whipple
- Miss Buncle Married by D.E. Stevenson
- A Very Great Profession by Nicola Beauman (buddy read!)
- My American by Stella Gibbons
- The Last Hours by Minette Walters
- The Spoilt Kill by Mary Kelly
- The Quiet American by Graham Greene
- My Mortal Enemy by Willa Cather (this is my last unread Willa Cather, except for her short stories)
- Waiting for Willa by Dorothy Eden
- Death in Rough Water by Francine Matthews
- The Bowstring Murders by Carr Dickson
- The Bat by Mary Roberts Rinehart
Middle Tier:
- The Story Sisters by Alice Hoffman
- The Probable Future by Alice Hoffman
- The Third Angel by Alice Hoffman
- The Two Faces of January by Patricia Highsmith
- Beloved by Toni Morrison
- The Semi-Attached Couple and The Semi-Detached House by Emily Eden
- An Unsuitable Attachment by Barbara Pym
- Go Tell It On The Mountain by James Baldwin (First quarter DWS Author-in-Residence). My Library of America edition also includes Giovanni’s Room, Another Country, and a collection of short stories called “Going to Meet the Man”)
- Inspector Imanishi Investigates by Seicho Matsumoto
- Over Sea, Under Stone by Susan Cooper
- The Dark is Rising by Susan Cooper
- Greenwitch by Susan Cooper
- The Grey King by Susan Cooper
- Silver on the Tree by Susan Cooper
- Howl’s Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones
- Castle in the Air by Diana Wynne Jones
- Hotel du Lac by Anita Brookner
Bottom Tier:
- The Salterton Trilogy by Robertson Davies (this is a 3 book omnibus; Davies was selected as one of the second quarter DWS authors-in-residence)
- The Deptford Trilogy by Robertson Davies (also a 3 book omnibus; I have read this one, but not in the last 20 years at least)
- Special Topics in Calamity Physics by Marisa Pessl
- Daniel Deronda by George Eliot
- Howard’s End by E.M. Forster
- The Maine Massacre by Janwillem van de Wetering (I can’t resist these Soho Crime PBs at my favorite used book store – each tier has one)
- Shadows Waiting by Anne Eliot
- The Fruit of the Tree by Edith Wharton
- Midnight’s Children by Salman Rushdie
- Cranford by Elizabeth Gaskell (also a DWS author-in-residence for the third quarter)
- Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks
- Towers of Trebizond by Rose Macaulay (just selected by BT as a third quarter DWS author-in-residence)
- The Shadow of the Lynx by Victoria Holt
- The Road to Paradise Island by Victoria Holt
So, that’s a total of 46 books pulled. Most of them have been on my shelves for several years, and the vast majority of them are new-to-me reads. Even the ones that are rereads weren’t read in this century.
In addition, I also still have my Classics Club 2.0 list to work on next year*, and I’m sure I will read a lot of vintage mystery. I’ve been collecting the Furrowed Middlebrow releases from Dean Street Press for my kindle, & I’d like to read more of them, and I want to read more fantasy/science fiction. I feel like I need to read less crime and more other genres, since I’ve been in a bit of rut for the last couple of years.
I am not going to try for any grand gestures, like a “no book buying year,” because that’s just unrealistic. Buying books is one of my (very few) commercial indulgences (the other one is crafting supplies/fabric). But, I’m going to continue to heavily use my libraries, especially for contemporary fiction and non-fiction.
*I’m 2 years into the 5 year cycle and I’ve only read 9 books, so I have some catching up to do!
You have an actual TBR cart, that’s amazing! I have read 17 of those and can heartily recommend them all, if that helps. Happy reading! I have a mountain of a TBR (photo on 1 Jan) and have a project on the go which involves reading 53 books from it by 5 October …
Well, it is exciting to hear that you enjoyed the 17 crossovers. That’s quite a lot, actually!
Good luck on your TBR mountain, which I will go check out right now.