When a friend pointed me in the direction of The Unread Shelf Project, I immediately knew it was for me.  It’s really a very simple thing, you commit this year to reading books you already own that you haven’t read yet.  Sounds obvious doesn’t it, why in the world would anyone need a “project” to do that?  Yet sadly most bibliophiles have a problem, an over loaded ‘to read’ pile to which they can’t seem to stop adding to.  The books on my own book shelves that are unread crossed over into triple digits while ago.  While I am a firm believer there should be books you haven’t read yet, they represent the excitement of discovery and the opportunity to meet new (fictional) friends. in my case the number of those unread possibilities has gotten out of hand.

For a short time (read: a few minutes) I did consider putting myself on a book buying ban.  Honestly, we all know that would have been doomed to failure.  Instead I am going to encourage myself to be more selective in my purchases.  Although the majority of the books I pick up are second hand they still represent time and space.  I have made two other decisions that go along with embracing a more selective nature, I am giving myself permission to not finish a book if I am not enjoying it.  A DNF (did not finish) book can just quietly go away to live with someone who loves it more.  I am 95% sure the world will not come to a crashing halt if I do this.  The second thing has to do with space, this year I will work on weeding through our shelves, removing five books each month.  Baby steps, but still making progress.

I have decided to create a list here of 50 titles that have been sitting here waiting to be read.  If I can manage to read 35 of them I will declared the project a success.  Feel free to check in on my progress throughout the year.

1.  A Wrinkle in Time  ~ Madeline L’Engle

2.  The Heavenly Man: The Remarkable True Story of Christian Brother Yun   ~ Brother Yun

3.  Zoo  ~ James Paterson

4. The Final Crumpet  ~ Ron&Janet Benrey

5. When We Were Romans ~ Matthew Kneale

6. Crazy Love: Overwhelmed by Relentless God  ~ Francis Chan

7. Tigerheart  ~ Peter David

8. The Clocks   ~ Agatha Christie

9. Original Sin  ~PD James

10. The Lost Wilderness: Rediscovering WF Ganong’s New Brunswick  ~ Nicholas Guitard

11.  The Moment of Everything  ~ Shelley King

12. Oryx and Crake   ~ Margaret Atwood

13. The Year of the Flood  ~Margaret Atwood

14. Half Brother  ~ Kenneth Oppel

15. Illusion  ~ Frank Peretti

16. Desiring God: Meditations of a Christian Hedonist   ~ John Piper

17. The No.1  Ladies’ Detective Agency  ~ Alexander McCall Smith

18.  Tears of the Giraffe  (No.1 Ladies Detective Agency bk2)  ~ Alexander McCall Smith

19. Origin  ~ Dan Brown

20. Round Ireland With A Fridge  ~ Tony Hawks

21. North of Normal: A Memoir of My Wilderness Childhood, My Countercultural Family and How I Survived Both ~ Cea Sunrise Person

22. Kingdom Keepers VI: Dark Passage  ~ Ridley Pearson

23.  Marvel 1602  ~ Neil Gaiman

24. Mary Poppins She Wrote: The Life of PL Travers  ~ Valerie Lawson

26. Dead Guys Stuff  ~ Sharon Fiffer

27. Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life  ~ Barbara Kingsolver

28. Princess Bride  ~ William Goldman

29. Reflections of Eden: My Years With the Orangutans of Borneo  ~ Briute MF Galdikas

30. The Case of the Lonely Heiress  ~ Earle Stanley Gardner

31. The Princess Diarist  ~ Carrie Fisher

32. Norse Mythology   ~ Neil Gaiman

33. Having a Mary Heart in a Martha World  ~ Joanna Weaver

34. Having a Mary Spirit: Allowing God to Change Us From the Inside Out  ~Joanna Weaver

35. Beauty Tips From Moose Jaw: Travels in Search of Canada  ~ Will Ferguson

36. A Hunger For God: Desiring God Through Fasting and Prayer   ~John Piper

37. A Place of My Own: The Architecture of Daydreams   ~ Michael Pollan

38.  The Gathering Place   ~ Becca Anderson

39. The Illustrated Man  ~ Ray Bradbury

40. The Green Brain   ~ Frank Hebert

41. The Greatest Hits of Wanda Jaynes  ~ Bridget Canning

42. The Help  ~ Kathryn Stockett

43.  You’ll Get Through This: Hope and Help for Your Turbulent Times   ~ Max Lucado

44. Wolverine: Old Man Logan   ~ Mark Millar

45. Angel Catbird   ~ Margaret Atwood

46. Tuesdays With Morrie: An Old Man, A Young Man and Life’s Greatest Lessons  ~ Mitch Albom

47. The Shepherd’s Life: Modern Dispatchs From An Ancient Landscape  ~ James Rebanks

48. The Book of Lost Things  ~ John Connolly

49. The School of Essential Ingredients  ~Erica Buermeister

50. Cinderella’s Dress   ~ Shonna Slayton

51. With Christ in the School of Prayer  ~ Andrew Murray

52. The Red Tent  ~ Anitia Diamant

53. Under The Tuscan Sun  ~ Frances Mayes

54. Praying For Purpose For Women  ~Katie Brazelton

55. Praying Through Life’s Problems  ~ A compilation