MOUNT TBR READING CHALLENGE 2012

(A list of books I've read and links to reviews (if reviewed) can be found at the end of the post.)

I'm going to try not to go overboard on challenges for 2012, because I'm cutting it awfully close with my 2011 challenges. I want to keep them fun and not feel like my reading is being directed by the challenges I signed up for. So many of them sound so fun and so tempting, until I run out of hours in the day.

However, this challenge is one that I really need. It's a challenge to read down the pile of books I already own. I'm constantly acquiring books that I want to read. Books that I just have to have. Books that I imagine I'll jump right into. And then they go onto the shelf and sit there for months. Even years.

So here's the challenge. Hosted by My Reader's Block. The details and rules are:

Challenge Levels

Pike's Peak: Read 12 books from your TBR pile/s
Mt. Vancouver: Read 25 books from your TBR pile/s
Mt. Ararat: Read 40 books from your TBR piles/s
Mt. Kilimanjaro: Read 50 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

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, 2012.

*You may sign up anytime from now until November 30th, 2012.

*Books must be owned by you prior to January 1, 2012. No ARCs (none), no library books. No rereads. [To clarify--based on a question raised--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 may count if they are yours and they are one of your primary sources of backlogged books.]

*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 at  My Reader's Block. Non-bloggers, please leave a comment declaring your challenge level.

*A progress site for reviews will go up in January and a link will be posted in the sidebar at My Reader's Block for easy access.

I'm going to aim low -- the Pike's Peak challenge because I know I'll be continuing to acquire and read new books in the new year. I can always raise my level if I'm especially good. But if I do manage to clear 12 "old" books off my TBR list, I'll be so proud of myself.

The books I've read for the challenge are:

1. Dreams of Significant Girls by Cristina Garcia
2. By Fire, By Water by Mitchell James Kaplan
3. Wildflower Hill by Kimberley Freeman
4. Unbroken by Lauren Hillenbrand
5. An Imaginary Life by David Malouf
6. The Good Soldier by Ford Maddox Ford
7. Lost Illusions by Honore de Balzac
8. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
9. Christine de Pizan: Her Life and Works. A Biography by Charity Cannon Willard
10. The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson
11. The Imperfectionists by Tom Rachman
12. The Divine Sacrifice by Tony Hays