The Official TBR Pile Challenge Returns! (Sign-Up Post) #TBR2022RBR

Posted on January 1, 2022 by

74 Comments

The Goal: To finally read 12 books from your “to be read” pile (within 12 months).
About: I am pleased to announce that Roof Beam Reader’s official TBR Pile Challenge is back for its NINTH 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.
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 1/1/2021 or later (any book published in the year 2020 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 ends up in the “did not finish (DNF)” 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. You can participate via blog, Instagram, Goodreads, Tumblr, etc.
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 31st, 2022.
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 2022 TBR LIST! Every person who successfully reads their 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 in 2020 or earlier!

*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 #TBR2022RBR

My 2022 TBR Pile Challenge List:

Image of book stack with 12 main choices and 2 alternates.
  1. Chicago Poems (1916) by Carl Sandburg
  2. Crush (2005) by Richard Siken
  3. Rimbaud: Complete Poems and Prose (2002) by Arthur Rimbaud
  4. Nature Poem (2017) by Tommy Pico
  5. Madness (2017) by Sam Sax
  6. When My Brother was an Aztec (2012) by Natalie Diaz
  7. A Book of Common Prayer (1977) by Joan Didion
  8. If Beale Street Could Talk (1974) by James Baldwin
  9. Sing, Unburied, Sing (2017) by Jesmyn Ward
  10. Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance (1974) by Robert M. Pirsig
  11. A People’s History of the United States (1999) by Howard Zinn
  12. A Poet’s Guide to Poetry (1999) by Mary Kinzie

Alternates:

  1. A Short History of Nearly Everything (2003) by Bill Bryson
  2. The Warmth of Other Suns (2010) by Isabel Wilkerson (not pictured)

Category: 2022 TBR Pile Challenge

74 Comments on “The Official TBR Pile Challenge Returns! (Sign-Up Post) #TBR2022RBR”

  1. I’ve read five of yours, heard of a couple of others and never heard of the rest–will look forward to your reviews. My fear of failure will prevent me joining the contest, but I do think I will really put the effort in on Middlemarch. And I like Joan Didion and could maybe read that one from your list since I haven’t and we lost her this year. Thanks for the nudges.

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  10. OK, I swore I wouldn’t do any challenges this year (still debating if I’m even going to host my own!) but my only real reading goal this year is to read books off my own shelves. As always! Off to make my list.

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  20. A very diverse list of books, of which I have only read Hamnet and I am stuck in the middle. No light reading! I have moved my TBR from the floor and from radiators to other places, and I feel as if that is an accomplishment. I am working on a master’s Capstone and the collection I am writing about got water damage recently at the library where they abide. I am trying to figure out if I have to pick a new topic and redo all my research and a whole semester of writing and the curator keeps saying not to worry, that she is replacing everything, but I am not good at trusting.

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  26. I’m so rusty at blogging but my intention for the year was either to get back into it or shut down the site I’ve been nursing along since around 2007 – give or take. Thank you for lighting a fire under my ass. I rebooted my internet and my laptop now connects, which means I have zero excuses now! It’s slap-dash, but the post is up: https://bluestalkingjournal.com/2022/01/10/2022-chapter-one-in-which-our-heroine-accepts-a-challenge/

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  27. OK, I’m in. About half of my pile is made up of Classics Club books, and the other half is mostly made up of books I received from a mystery-of-the-month club years ago. Away we go!

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  33. i will try to participate, i just hope it’s ok if the book was in tbr pile in 2020 but that i marked it as such only during my reorganisation of my shelves on goodreads ( i totally forgot to update my book list in 2020^^;;)

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  34. Great challenge! I found out about this through Karen K’s blog. I don’t have a blog, so I created a Goodreads shelf (which I linked to in the Linky) to track my progress, and shelved my 12 books and 2 alternatives. I’ve added your blog to my feed so that I remember to take place in the monthly check-ins. Thanks for hosting 🙂

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  36. Great idea, and the premise is good, but after reading your, and all the others posted so far, I don’t think the readership and my own reading tastes are a match. I read mostly old SFF and mysteries, so that’s what’s on my TBR. Last read off it was Rex Stout’s The Rubber Band. So enjoy, but not for me, I think.

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    • Hi Rick! Not sure what you mean… everyone’s TBRs and reading tastes are their own. It doesn’t make a difference to me (us)! You might even end up encouraging someone to try something new, and vice versa.

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  38. Well, despite knowing full well that I probably won’t actually read more than a couple off this list (even though I really need to!), I’ve finally decided to join in again. Maybe this year the challenge will actually keep me accountable? Thanks for hosting again!

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  64. definitive list in the sign up post ( somehow i had put a 2021 in the list i’m glad i checked on time) so 12books chosen the two alternate as well and i’ve started on tackling my list so i’m happy

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    • Oh no! I wondered— I’ve had trouble with them the last few times.

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      • they close end of the month so we can order until the 26but preorder releasing after that date won’t be sent….my world is crashing down a little ( i only 2troubles with them in what 10y? and they always reacted quickly)

        Liked by 1 person

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