Book Talk

TBR Pile Challenge

14 Comments

If you’ve been around the blog awhile, you know that I’ve been doing the Fifty-Fifty reading and viewing challenge for a few years now. This year, I also came across a different reading challenge that I want to do, and am making it part of my larger challenge. It’s called the 2014 TBR Pile Challenge. TBR stands for To Be Read, in case you didn’t know. As bookworms, our TBR piles are huge, and often a good number of them are sitting on our own bookshelves languishing away. We own them, and yet have not gotten around to reading them. So the idea is to finally read 12 of those books, one for each month this year. Here is my list:

tbr-challenge

2014 TBR Pile Challenge
1. Good Omens by Terry Pratchett & Neil Gaiman (1990)
2. Neuromancer by William Gibson (1984)
3. Radix by A.A. Attanasio (1981)
4. Raising Atlantic by Thomas Greanias (2004)
5. Life of Pi by Yann Martel (2004)
6. Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green (2010)
7. Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert (2006)
8. The Vampire Chronicles Collection (Vol. 1) by Anne Rice (1989)
9. The Inheritance by Robin Hobb & Megan Lindholm (2011)
10. The Blade Itself by Joe Abercrombie (2006)
11. Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger (2009)
12. A Song for Arbonne by Guy Gavriel Kay (2002)

tbr-alts

Alternates/Bonus:
In case one of the above is too terrible to finish, or I finish them all before the year is up.
1. The Drowning City by Amanda Downum (2009)
2. Confessions of a Shopaholic by Sophie Kinsella (1999)
3. Empress by Karen Miller (2007)

What do you think I should read first? Are you trying to pare down your TBR pile?
Also: Happy birthday to my wonderful mother! And a bonus picture of a pup curious as to what I was doing when taking these photos:

tbr-puppy

14 comments

  1. I am so bad about this. I get ideas for books all the time, but do I ever get around to them? Nope. Part of the issue is that I use the library more instead of buying everything, so if the wait list is too long I tend to forget about things for a while.

    1. I have that trouble, too! It’s part of why I love Goodreads, so I don’t forget about any of them. I’m always on the waitlist for something or other at the library. But when people give me B&N gift cards or I visit the Austin library sell-off store where it’s $2 for a whole bag…. yeah. My shelves at home explode, haha.

  3. Good Omens! Great choice – you can’t beat Gaiman, especially with some Pratchett thrown in. 🙂

    I love this idea! I ought to take a look at my TBR list/shelf. I have lapsed in my reading habit and really mean to get back into it this year and this would really help me finally tackle all of those books I’ve bought but have not yet read (I have a tiny book buying problem)! Good luck with your list – have fun! 🙂

  4. That’s a good idea. My TBR are so numerous that I have at least 100 of them at a friend’s apartment.
    I’m trying to read a lot in the next month and a half as I am hosting a BookCrossing table at an event during Auckland Pride Festival and there’s a lot of books that I want to give away there that I still haven’t read.

    From your pile I have read Will Grayson, Will Grayson , Life of Pi and Eat, Pray, Love.

    1. My total TBR pile is ridiculous, but even just the TBR’s that I own is a lengthy list. It was past time to try to tackle it. Have fun with your BookCrossing table! 🙂

  5. Dude, Eat Pray Love is so good. Don’t watch the movie, it’s BAD. But the book is amazingly good I think I’ve read it twice. It may be one of those books that resonates most when you’re undergoing a period of change in your life, but still, I think it rocks. Confessions of a Shopaholic is on my TBR list as well. Sometimes I love me some mindless chick lit. Looking forward to the reviews of everything!

    1. Haha, ok, duly noted – no movie. I wouldn’t watch it until after I read the book, anyway. And I know what you mean – sometimes mindless chick lit is a nice way to relax the brain.

  6. Good Omens is such an ace book. So are the first few Vampire Chronicles books.
    My book challenge for the year is too read 100 books -because I am crazy 😀

    1. My larger book challenge is 115 books, so I’m right there in crazyland with you. 😀 This is just a subset of that challenge, making up some of those 115.

  7. Oh, I can totally relate to this! My TBR pile has grown so tall that it teeters every time I walk past. I’ve told myself I’m not allowed to borrow any more library books until it’s at least half it’s current size. I’m starting with Misery by Stephen King, which I picked up at a garage sale four months ago.
    Eat, Pray, Love is also in my TBR pile! I think I’ll tackle that one next.