Like so many bookworms, I buy more books than I can read right away.
Part of this is intentional: I like having a stack of books waiting for me. Part of it’s a natural consequence of browsing bookstores at home or on vacation: sometimes I just can’t resist a good-looking book or five. And part of it just seems to happen, especially when I receive books as gifts.
I shared this photo on Instagram back in November: this was, at the time, my nonfiction TBR (to-be-read) stack. Generally speaking, nonfiction takes me longer than fiction, and I have Shelf Awareness review deadlines (and often, library deadlines) to meet each month. So the non-urgent nonfiction tends to pile up.
Six of these books were given to me by friends. The top two came from my trip to Oxford in October. Anne generously sent me a copy of her book, Reading People, when it came out last fall. And the other four I’d picked up on previous travels: one in London, three in New York.
All of them had been sitting there a while.
So when I heard about #theunreadshelfproject via my bookworm friend Leigh, I decided my reading goal for 2018 would be to make my way through this nonfiction stack. It sounded doable: 13 books spread over 12 months. (By the time 2018 rolled around, it was down to 11: I read and loved H is for Hawk and Reading People in December.)
I’ve since read three (more) of the books pictured here: Love of Country, Ordinary Light and Encore Provence. I’ve also added a bonus novel: Brian Doyle’s Mink River, which sat on my shelf for months after I bought it at McNally Jackson last winter. I’m in the middle of Scratch, and hoping to tackle Shopgirls or Crossing the Unknown Sea next.
With any luck, by the end of the year I’ll have either read all of these or decided they need a new home somewhere else. (But even if I don’t love Pigtails and Pernod, I might keep it around: it reminds me of a wonderful afternoon spent browsing the bookshops of Charing Cross Road with Caroline.)
Did you set any reading goals for yourself this year? Do your stacks tend to pile up like mine?
cakes, tea and dreams 
My 2018 reading goal is 36 books (I’ve already read 20, so I think I’ll make it). Last year I decided to make a goal and work toward it, and I far exceeded what I thought I could read. Actually setting a goal and writing it down (or using an app like Goodreads) really helps.
I, too, have an unread pile that keeps getting bigger. Not really sure how that happens 😉
Setting goals does help, for sure. And yes, the stacks keep growing…
What a great project! I love Peter Mayle and really enjoyed Encore Provence. (I’m currently hoarding Provence A-Z and French Lessons, the only two of his France books I still haven’t read, because I am dreading the day when I finish them and no longer have them to look forward to.)
Mayle is so much fun!
Great project, and I am now following on IG. I am unusual: a minister who reads primarily fiction. But having just downsized most of my theology to “various ports of call”, I am continually surprised of my eclectic TBR.
I do a lot of reading. My GoodReads goal is 150 this year, and I’m already almost halfway there. Keeping a paperbook going in the bedroom- where tech is banned in our house- is whittling down my 2018 Mt.TBR challenge as well.
Here’s to a fruitful year!
Yes, reading before bed does help!
Yes, my goal is modest compared to someone in the other post. i want to read at least 50 books (Goodreads). I’ve started adding the books I listen to, also. I have my stacks on my tablet. Probably a hundred books to read plus I use the library and Overdrive. I always have one or two I’m reading at all times.
Stacks of library books on the bedside table, a long list of books on request at the library, and oh-so-many books on the bookshelves and cabinets. Need I say more?
Exactly!
My TBR stack(s) on my bedside table became so unruly that I bought a bigger table…with a bottom shelf. And now there are stacks underneath and beside and in front. The stacks on top are so tall they could be dangerous. Total loss of control.
I definitely hear this!
I love that you’re doing this!! We can keep each other accountable.
I set out to read 24 books this year…I’m pretty much slacking! Thanks for the motivation to get caught up!
My reading goal is to keep books where I can see them. My bookshelves have always been in a part of the house where I don’t frequent. Seeing them everyday now is helping curb my book buying and reminding me that there’s so much exciting stuff to read! (Also, I heard David Whyte read a few times at the On Being Gathering. It was such a gift! Please let me know what you think of that book. I might just buy it myself!)
I’ll keep you posted!