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
Read some on your list and adding some to mine.
That’s great we can share thoughts after I finish them. I am excited to tackle books I’ve been meaning to get to.
So many good titles on this list! Animal, Vegetable, Miracle one of my favourites. No. 1 Ladies is a quick and fun read. The Red Tent is one of those books I still think about, even though I read it years ago. Looks like you are in for some good reading this year! 🙂
I think so, some of them have been sitting here unread for far too long. I wish we were closer I miss chatting with you about books and the problems of the world. I think I picked up Animal, Vegetable, Miracle after you recommended it.