Announcing The 2019 TBR Pile Challenge! #TBR2019RBR

Posted on December 19, 2018 by

107 Comments

About:
As we wrap up The 2018 TBR Pile Challenge, I am pleased to announce that Roof Beam Reader’s official TBR Pile Challenge is back for its EIGHTH YEAR!
This challenge started when I realized I had some MAJOR issues with buying books but never reading them (not because I don’t read – but because I have such a book buying problem!) 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 1/1/2018 or later (any book published in the year 2017 or earlier qualifies, as long as it has been on your TBR pile). 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 the Mr. Linky below. Link to your list (so create it ahead of time!) and add updated links to each book’s review. Books must be read 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 complete and final list must be posted by January 15th, 2019.
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 2019 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 before 2018!

*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. Audiobooks count. Graphic novels count. Poetry collections? Essay collections? All good! As you complete a book – review it, go to your original list and turn that title into a link to the review. This will keep the comments section here from getting ridiculously cluttered. For an example of what I mean, Click Here.

Monthly Check-Ins: On the 15th of each month, I’m going to post a “TBR Pile Check-In.” This will allow participants to link-up their reviews from the past month and get some recognition for their progress. There will also be small mini-challenges and giveaways to go along with these posts (Such As: Read 6 books by the June Check-in and be entered to win a book of your choice!) I’m hoping this will help to keep us all on track and make the challenge a bit more engaging/interactive. I started these mini-challenges in 2014, and I think they were a great success, so I am continuing them this year!

Chat: On Social Media, please use #TBR2019RBR


My 2019 TBR Pile Challenge List:

  1. Maybe–Tomorrow by Jay Little (1965)
  2. Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi (2016)
  3. Kindred by Octavia Butler (1979)
  4. Gemini by Michel Tournier (1998)
  5. Sanctuary by Christopher Golden (1996)
  6. Timequake by Kurt Vonnegut (1997)
  7. Don Juan in the Village by Jane Delynn (1990)
  8. We by Yevgeny Zamyatin (1924)
  9. The House of the Vampire by George Sylvester Viereck (1907)
  10. Letters to a Young Poet by Rainer Maria Rilke (1934)
  11. The Funhouse by Dean Koontz (1980)
  12. The Ascent of Woman: A History of the Suffragette Movement by Melanie Phillips (2004)

Alternates:

  1. Reading Like a Writer: A Guide for People Who Love Books & Those Who Want to Write Them by Francine Prose (2006)
  2. Light the Dark: Writers on Creativity, Inspiration, and the Artistic Process edited by Joe Fassler (2017)

Sign-Up to take the 2019 TBR Pile Challenge:

Category: 2019 TBR Pile Challenge

107 Comments on “Announcing The 2019 TBR Pile Challenge! #TBR2019RBR”

  2. I was a TBR Pile Challenge failure this year — only read two books on my list and a third was a DNF. That said, I’m pretty sure I’ll be back for 2019…probably with a few of those titles I should have read!

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  6. I’m in! I was really hoping this would come back for another year, just have to finalize my list. And I love the new button!

    I also LOVED Kindred, so I’m very pleased to see it on your list. My book group is reading Homegoing in February so I’m looking forward to seeing your thoughts. Thanks again for hosting another year!

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  8. I’m happy that TBR challenge is back in 2019. I did fail miserably to read books in general this year, especially the classics. Love to join you in this challenge. I just must look for good titles. Thanks, Adam for keeping us motivated!.

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    • You bet! I didn’t do all that well, either, but I did read some great ones that had been lingering too long.

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  9. I’m definitely in! This year I’ve read 4 books out of my twelve. Doesn’t sound like a major success, but those four books have been removed from my TBR shelf after sitting there for years and years! So I’m encouraged to continue and am so glad you are hosting this challenge again!

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  10. You must be psychic. I have been looking at challenges for 2019 and wondered if you were going to do this again?!!
    2018 has been a blog-posting bust for me due to unforeseen circumstances and I can’t wait to see the end of it. So I am approaching 2019 with a great deal of positivity. Thanks!

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  11. I found this challenge late last year, but I’m excited to participate this year. Looking forward to reading as many of the books on my list as possible!

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  13. I have a question for you all: how do you decide what goes on your primary list versus your alternate list? I used to add things as alternates if they seemed easier, since they’re the ones to read if you fail on one that’s longer or more difficult. But then I’d end up reading them early on because they were so easy. They’re all books on our TBRs, so I sort of end up treating it as a 14-book list for which I only really need to read 12 books. How do you decide which ones are alternates?

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  17. I will definitely be signing up again! I’m out of town for the holidays so I will select my books when I get home.

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  18. Homegoing is fantastic! I may do this again this year—I’m trying to finish up the Classics Club and I have all the books. Thanks for hosting this challenge! Happy Holidays 🙂

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  27. I am in once again. Let’s see if I can improve on this year’s showing. 🙂 And remember to post at the check-ins!

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  28. I only managed four from my 2018 list so determined to do better this year. I’ve carried forward the ones I didn’t read to my 2019 list and added some new ones that have been staring accusingly at me from the bookshelves saying ‘Read Me’. Thanks for hosting the challenge again.

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  34. Hi Adam,
    I found out about your TBR challenge from the blog Books and Chocolate. I already have plans to read quite a number of my TBR books in 2019, so I’ve been searching for a challenge, and voila! Sounds great–Thanks so much for the inspiration and for hosting.

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  35. I absolutely SUCKED at this challenge last year but I’m signing up again! I have so many books from before 2017 that I need to read and get off my TBR that I need all the motivation I can get. Good luck with your books! The only one I have in common on my shelves in general is Homegoing and I’ve heard wonderful things about it.

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    • I only made it halfway and reviewed even fewer than that! Ha! Try, try again.

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  38. Even though I didn’t finish 2018’s list, I’m in again for 2019! I’ve found it a great way to get myself to read books that have been hanging out on the shelves for a while. Hopefully this year I’ll both post on more of them (I read more than I’ve written about) and stay better focused on the list. So many books I want to read!

    Thanks for hosting and good luck with your own list!

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  44. I am looking forward to trying this challenge for the first time this year. As I do not have a blog, i have linked to my goodreads account and plan to review books there as I go along. I look foward to reading the reviews others post and hope this helps keep me accountable to read at least Some of the Many bought but unread books o my shelves!

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  53. Hi Adam — the TBR challenge looks fun! I set up a book blog last week, specifically to participate in a couple of challenges (of which yours is one). I’ve also just signed on with Mr. Linky as your latest participant, with a link to my master list for the Challenge. I look forward to reading everyone’s reviews and hopefully posting a few of my own. Just in case, here’s the link again: https://youmightaswellread.com/2019/01/07/will-my-vaulting-amibition-overreach-itself-like-poor-macbeths-or-will-i-prevail/

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  55. After reading about this and seeing it in many of my blogger friends, I’m going to join. I’ll be working on my list soon, (it’s really easy to find 12 books plus the alternates, and I do hope I’ll follow through the titles), see you back with the link to my list.

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  68. Well, I got in under the wire this year, but I’m in!

    On your list, I’ve read Timequake and Kindred. Enjoyed the latter more than the former, but both gave me lots of food for thought. And I almost put We on the list this year. I guess I still have one day to change my mind and add it…

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  72. I just finished my first book. I mistakenly listed my review in the list of participants. I am #62 but my review is listed under # 76. Anyway you could remove that? Thanks!

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  81. I have now finished twelve books (11 original and one alternate). But–I plan to finish the last two before the year is out.

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  82. I finished my list! But one of them technically doesn’t qualify because it was published on January 2. It was on my TBR list before then though, and usually I check the dates before making the list but somehow I missed it this time. Well, in my head I finished the challenge successfully and that’s what counts.

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  83. I’m finished! All 12 books plus alternates. Yay! My original sign-up post with the titles linked and finished date recorded is near the beginning of Mr. Linky, but I’ll post it here as well: https://barbarah.wordpress.com/2019/01/08/reading-plans-for-2019/. Do we need to post a wrap-up post, or is this sufficient? Thanks once again for hosting! I was very glad to get these actually read–some have been on my TBR pile or list for a very long time.

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