I own more than two dozen books I haven't read.
There, I said it.
Some were given to me. Some I purchased in library book sale or "used bookstore credit" sprees. A few I inherited/selected from my uncle's massive book collection when he passed away.
Some I've begun and stalled out after 20/50/70 pages; some I've never cracked the spine.
Some I've owned for years; some I just got for Christmas.
Some I'm very eager to read; some I'm dreading.
In any case, I'm sick of feeling guilty whenever I see these things on my bookshelf. And thus I've declared 2013 the Year of the Shelf-Sitter. This year I will read (or formally reject) all 25 books on the list I put here today.
Rules & Caveats:
1) I am forbidden from purchasing another book until I have read the Shelf-Sitters.*
2) Exceptions to this rule: books for The Son, and books for book club.
3) I can read off-list if I take it out from the library.
4) 20% rule. If I'm not interested in what happens next after reading 20% of the book, I will formally reject the book, and sell it to the used bookstore (for more credit to resist using).
5) The list doesn't include every single book I've never read cover to cover. I own some reference and art books that I use as needed. And a few unread books are sequels to books on the list; I didn't want to commit to reading a second book before I've read the first.
6) I'll report on each book here as I finish it.
The books:
The Snow Queen by Joan Vigne
Brothers in Arms by Lois McMaster Bujold
Ilium by Dan Simmons
The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman
Lord of Light by Roger Zelazny
Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris
Sheepfarmer's Daughter by Elizabeth Moon
Ground Beneath Her Feet by Salman Rushdie
Unearthing Atlantis by Charles Pellegrino
I, Claudius by Robert Graves
Soul Mountain by Gao Xingjian
The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
Alanna by Tamora Pierce
The Uplift War by David Brin
The Compass Rose by Gail Dayton
The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy
Ender's Shadow by Orson Scott Card
Pathfinder by Orson Scott Card
Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson
Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke
Artemis Fowl: The Lost Colony by Eoin Colfer
A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole
Outlander by Diana Gabaldon
Voices by Ursula K. LeGuin
Lost at Sea by Jon Ronson
First up will be Voices, which I got for Christmas and have already read 1/3 of. However, before I can get back to it, I need to read The Help for book club (library book, so not on the list!).
*I must confess that all day, knowing I was going to post this tonight, and knowing that I have a few household items in my shopping cart at amazon, I was so tempted to buy some books before the hammer fell.
My first thought is--25 books? Nothing! Nothing at all! But my number is probably more like 50, which is not THAT big a difference. Especially if you don't count books my husband brought into the marriage that I'd really like to read but haven't gotten around to yet.
ReplyDeleteBut this is Long Awaited Reads month, which is almost the same as Shelf Sitters. So join the fun!
And you haven't read The Golden Compass?! Give it at least 100 pages--it starts slow, I thought, and then really takes off.