Mount TBR Mountaineering Checkpoint #2

The year is half-way over....Wait! What? How did that happen so quickly? I must have lost track of time just concentrating on the mountain trail ahead of me. But--it's that time again. Your mountaineering guide is calling for a second quarterly check-in post. Let us know how your climb has been so far. Seen any mountain goats? Any particularly pretty wildflowers? How about the abominable snowman? For those who would like to participate in this checkpoint post, I'd like you to do two things:
 

1. Tell us how many miles you've made it up your mountain (# of books read).  If you're really ambitious, you can do some intricate math and figure out how the number of books you've read correlates to actual miles up Pike's Peak, Mt. Ararat, etc. And feel free to tell us about any particularly exciting adventures you've had along the way.

 

I'm not quite half-way up Mt. Olympus. I got distracted by a few too many library books and that's slowed me up a bit. I still hope to finally plant my flag on Olympus this year.

2. Complete ONE (or more if you like) of the following:

 A. Choose two titles from the books you've read so far that have a common link. You decide what the link is--both have strong female lead characters? Each focuses on a diabolical plot to take over the world? Blue covers? About weddings? Find your link and tell us what it is.

Spice Island Mystery by Betty Cavanna and Deception Island by M. K. Lorens--both take place (surprise!) on an island. One is the Caribbean and the other is in the middle of New York.

 B. Tell us about a book on the list that was new to you in some way--new author, about a place you've never been, a genre you don't usually read...etc. 

Death of a Racehorse  by John Creasey--the first book I've read by Creasey (under any of his noms de plume...). It won't be the last. A very satisfying police procedural.

 

 

 C. Which book (read so far) has been on your TBR mountain the longest? Was it worth the wait? Or is it possible you should have tackled it back when you first put it on the pile? Or tossed it off the edge without reading it all?

Death Cracks a Bottle by Kenneth Giles [on TBR since 12/11/08]. Well worth the wait. Kenneth Giles writes a very nice British mystery.

 

 

OR (Counts as both part 1 and 2)

 

Use titles from your list to complete as many of the following sentences below as you can.  If you haven't read enough books to give you good choices, then feel free to use any books yet to be read from your piles. I've given my answers as examples. Feel free to add or change words (such as "a" or "the" or others that clarify) as needed.

 

My Life According to Books

1. My Ex is/was The Snake on 99  (by Stewart Farrar)

2. My best friend is Zadok's Treasure (by Margot Arnold)

3. Lately, at work [I've had to deal with the] Decision at Delphi  (by Helen MacInnes)

4. If I won the lottery, [I'd go searching for] The Hidden Planet (by Donald A Wollheim, ed)

5. My fashion sense [is] Fit to Kill (by Hans C. Owen)

6. My next ride [will be told in] Thrilling Stories of the Railway (by Victor L. Whitechurch)

7. The one I love is [a] Mystery in White (by J. Jefferson Farjeon)

8. If I ruled the world, I would Search for a Scientist  (by Charles Leonard) [or several hundred...to work on climate change]

9. When I look out my window, I [wonder] Who Is the Next? (by Henry Kitchell Webster) 

10. The best things in life are [done] All for the Love of a Lady (by Leslie Ford) 

 

Please post your answers on your blog and link up your post in the linky below. And what do you get for all that hard work (and distraction from the actual climb)? The link will close at 11:59 pm on Sunday, July 9.  On Monday, July 10,  I will crank up the Custom Random Number Generator and pick a winning climber. He or she will have the chance to add to their TBR stack via my gently-used book vault (prize list will be sent). Just think, if you win a book you can start up a pile for next year's Mount TBR Challenge. 

Even if you're not in the mood for a prize or if you've only got one leg of the journey under your belt, I'd love to have you check in and tell us how your climb is going!

***Please note--the linky is for Checkpoint posts only.  The link must be to a specific Checkpoint post (not your blog's home page in general). Links that are not Checkpoint-specific will be removed--to make it easier for me to track a winner.