Mount TBR: Checkpoint #1

Wow!  Three months into the year already. Well, you know what that means...Your mountaineering guide is calling for the first quarterly check-in post. Let's see how our challengers are doing. Made it a couple of miles? Camping out in a cave 1/3 of the way up the mountain face? Taking refuge in a mountain hut along the way? Let us know how you're doing. 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 have read 30 of my pledged 100 books for Mt. Everest...which means I'm slightly off-track to plant that flag on the peak. [And I'm a bit behind on my pace for last year too...]

 

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

 A. Post a picture of your favorite cover so far.  

 

Here's mine (one of my beloved pocket-size books from the pulp era):

 B. Who has been your favorite character so far? And tell us why, if you like.

 

Mine: I'm actually going to choose the detective from The Odor of Violets (pictured above). Captain Duncan Maclain is a blind detective who lost his eyesight due to gassing in World War I. His heightened abilities (other senses) are much more believable than those of Max Carrados (a blind detective who first appeared in 1914). Where Carrados's ability to smell spirit gum and to read newsprint by touch seem more like parlor tricks, Maclain's abilities are explained through careful training.

 

 C. Have any of the books you read surprised you--if so, in what way (not as good as anticipated? unexpected ending? Best thing you've read ever? Etc.)

The Best of Science Fiction & Fantasy 8th Series edited by Anthony Boucher was a huge surprise, but not in a good way. I respect Boucher's opinion in both SF/Fantasy and mysteries and I was surprised to find how many of the stories he selected for this collection were sub-par.

 

 D. Title Scrabble: See if you can spell a word using the first letter of the first word in the titles of some/all of the books you have read so far. Feel free to consider "A," "An," or "The" as the first word or not as it helps you with your word hunt.

 

My word: Compact

 

Catalog of Unabashed Gratitude by Ross Gay

Odor of Violets by Baynard Kendrick

Murder Out of Turn by Frances & Richard Lockridge

Payoff for the Banker by Frances & Richard Lockridge

About the Murder of Geraldine Foster by Anthony Abbot

Cuckoo's Calling, (The) by Robert Galbraith

The Sign of the Book by John Dunning

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, April 8.  On Monday, April 9,  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.