When I’m not complaining about how many books I haven’t read this year, I lament the fact that there are still so many books on my TBR list.
So while I don’t normally participate in blogger challenges, maybe it’s time that I do to try and clear some of the TBR backlog – you know, those books that have been on the list or the shelves for YEARS.
Oh you don’t have this problem? You sir/madam, are a liar.
Amanda and Holly at Gun in Act One inspired me to participate in the 2015 TBR Pile Challenge as hosted by Roof Beam Reader:
In a nutshell, I’m going to put together this list of 12 books I’ve been meaning to read for at least a year (with two alternates if I so choose) and then I’m going to do my best to actually read (and review) them in 2015.
Apparently just setting a reading goal wasn’t enough to make me nuts. Although instead of just competing with myself, I’m competing with other book nerds (and I say nerds with love) for a $50 gift card to Amazon.com or The Book Depository.
Night Film by Marisha Pessl (2013)The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell (2000)A Train in Winter by Caroline Moorehead (2011)White Teeth by Zadie Smith (2000)And the Mountains Echoed by Khaled Hosseini (2013)East of Eden by John Steinbeck (1952)The Silent Wife by A.S.A Harrison (2013)Charles Dickens: A Life by Claire Tomalin (2011)Happier At Home by Gretchen Rubin (2012)Confessions of a Fairy’s Daughter: Growing up With a Gay Dad by Alison Wearing (2013)- The Teleportation Accident by Ned Beauman (2012)
The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins (1859)
Alternates:
The Bone Season by Samantha Shannon (2013)- The Beautiful and the Damned by F. Scott Fitzgerald (1922)
Well there we have it. A sense of calm has come over me. This seems doable AND will go a ways to clearing some of the bookish backlog that currently clogs my head. I have ready access to at least 6 of those. And I have no issue bringing 6 more books home.
I’m looking forward to 2015 already!
if you need me, I’ll be over here, reading.
The Paperback Princess 
A good selection of books there! Some I’ve read, some I haven’t. Looking forward to hearing your thoughts on them in the upcoming year.
I’m encouraged to know that there are some good ones on the list. Will make it easier to stick to the challenge. I can be a bit nomadic when it comes to my reading.
Nomadic, haha, yes I know that feeling.
Ooooh! I enjoyed the Woman in White – you’re in for a treat! But I will say The Moonstone is still my favourite Wilkie Collins novel. 🙂 Good luck with the challenge!
One of my very favourite people in the world bought me a copy of The Woman in White just after my wedding. She couldn’t believe I’d never read it. It’s been on my list FOREVER and now I have a copy there shouldn’t be anything stopping me right?
Exactly! I can’t wait to hear what you think of it!!
You can do it! I’ve had And the Mountains Echoed for awhile and still haven’t read it. Maybe we can trade notes after we read the book. 🙂
Sounds like a plan!
#6 is really good, #9 is fun, and I have been wanting to read #3, 4, 5, 7, 8. I thought about joining this last year, and even made a list, but then chickened out. I’m such a mood reader, I didn’t want the pressure. Good luck with yours! You can do it!
I’m also a mood reader BUT I get really frustrated when I look at my TBR list and see all these books that have been stuck near the top for years. I’m getting to the point in the year when I’m going to have to write all the ones that are still on it into my new agenda to keep track in 2015. And some of these ones need to come off the list finally.
Yay for peer pressure! White Teeth is the only one on your list that I have read, and I remember loving it (though I can’t remember too much else about it). I can’t wait to hear about some of your other ones!
A former colleague leant me the book, sure that I would love it. Not only did I never read it, I still have it. That’s TERRIBLE book karma. I’m excited to balance out at least half of my crime.
And yeah, you guys totally peer pressured me.
Yeah! Good list! I feel like you’ll like White Teeth from what I remember. And The Mountains Echoed should be on mine too-that one makes me feel guilty when I see it on the shelf.
Have I mentioned how much I adore your avatar picture? I adore seeing a lab with a big ol’ tongue on my comments feed.
I can’t believe I haven’t read And the Mountains Echoed yet. I was SO excited when that came out.
Good list of books. I read Night Film this year, and I love the Woman in White. I need to get through some of my TBR books this next year…they’re starting to stack up. 🙂 Good luck with this challenge!
Thanks! I keep meaning to read Night Film and I never quite get there. Hopefully this challenge gets me there!
I did this challenge this year, but I don’t think I’m going to make it! I stupidly left a very big book for the end. But it’s a great challenge and it’s the one that inspired me to make up my own TBR challenge for 2015. Good luck!
PS: I like Claire Tomalin. I read her book on Jane Austen in grad school and thought it well done.
I really want to read that one too! I was in the bookstore yesterday looking for it and found Jane Austen’s England instead so now I want to read that too. Maybe 2015 will be a very Jane Austen year?
Good luck! A Train in Winter is excellent.
Thanks! I’m looking forward to actually reading it! I haven’t made the plunge yet because I feel like it will be a difficult book to read. But an important one.
The Woman in White was on my 2014 TBR Challenge List and, I have to confess it was the ONE book I didn’t read, even though I was really looking forward to it. (In my defense, I unexpectedly read War and Peace this year and it’s my excuse for anything I didn’t do.) The Woman in White is going on my 2015 TBR Challenge list too, and this year, I will read it!
War and Peace seems like a good excuse for just about anything. I’m looking forward to seeing what you think of The Woman in White – it’s definitely one of the books on my list I’m most looking forward to reading.
Incidentally, I’ve tried commenting on your blog before and it never lets me! Do you know why that might be??
Oh gosh, I have no idea – what happens when you try to comment? I will check my settings.
And the Mountains Echoed has been hanging out in my Kindle making me feel guilty – I can’t wait to hear what you say about it and hopefully it will convince me to read it! (I know I’ll like it – just haven’t been in the mood)
Another one of those serious subject matter reads that you do kind of have to be in the right mindset for, you have to be mentally armed to deal with whatever happens. I feel really guilty about not having read it yet too – I was so excited when I heard that he had written a new book!
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