I have 550 books on my to-read list on Goodreads. Partly this is because GR makes it so easy to click "Want to Read" on anything that sounds even remotely interesting, but this list is just out of control. My reading project for the rest of this year and into next is to try (as much as possible) to read ONLY books that are on that TBR list while trying not to add (too much) to it. Also, as I go through the list, I will take a look at books I marked as "Want to Read" four or five years ago and ask honestly, "Do I still want to read this book? Or was it a passing fancy that no longer interests me?" If the latter, I will remove it from the list.
I usually read about 100-120 books a year, so in theory I could accomplish this in under 5 years, but probably less because of culling books from the list. However, I'm not willing to commit to that long-term of a project: I'm saying this is my goal for the rest of 2026 and then for 2027. After that, we'll see where the list is.
I will try NOT to be led astray by interesting books that catch my eye as I wander through bookstores or roam around the internet. I will not be led into buying $1.99 ebooks that sound "kind of interesting" on the premise that even if it's not, I've only lost $1.99. I will ruthlessly make my way through this list -- obviously not expecting to read 550 books in a year and a half or so, but trying to cull this list down into something more manageable. It should be an interesting journey through my own past taste and interests, if nothing else!
Anyone else have a to-read list (or physical pile of books) that is out of control?
I read one of the books on my TBR pile, but today I went to the library and got four more...
This is the very thing I am trying to avoid doing. Today a friend messaged me about a book she was reading that was just great ... the temptation to add it to the list was strong!
I’m toying with the idea of choosing books at random to read this summer (like, “Echo/Siri, give me a number between 1 and 20/etc.” and go down the line on the shelf left to right to that one, and then, if it’s one I’ve not read, read it).
I have a Kindle, which currently has 375 unread books on it. And I keep an Amazon list of books I want (never buy form there, of course) with another 75 books - I probably acquire one a year off that list, and add one or two a year.
I have a Kindle, which currently has 375 unread books on it. And I keep an Amazon list of books I want (never buy form there, of course) with another 75 books - I probably acquire one a year off that list, and add one or two a year.
I’m toying with the idea of choosing books at random to read this summer (like, “Echo/Siri, give me a number between 1 and 20/etc.” and go down the line on the shelf left to right to that one, and then, if it’s one I’ve not read, read it).
Oh, I love this idea ... but I agree with Eigon, I'd do it by rolling a D20 or another many-sided die.
I might try doing some random picks from my list as I progress through this exercise of whittling down my TBR list.
My next major book on my TBR pile is Values by Marc Carney. I usually have at least one fiction book on the go while I am meandering through long non-fiction works.
@ChastMastr Why ask Siri? Why not get a D20 (or however many dice correspond to the number of books in your pile) and roll the dice?
I’d have to buy one. And have/find/make a clean flat surface to roll it on. When I’m in the store or the car and debating about something I can’t make a quick conclusion about, I will often go, “Hey Siri, heads or tails?” (Or “Give me a number between 1 and [however many options I need to choose from].”) It’s always with me, or Echo is, in the bedroom.
Sometimes I go by the day of the month as a “random” number with some things, if there are sufficient options to pick from.
Inspired by watching The Other Bennet Sister recently, I'm now half way through Longbourn by Jo Baker. Basically it's P&P from the point of view of the servants. The Bennet family only appear fleetingly. What has come home to me most is the appalling drudgery of most of the servants' work - especially the laundry. (For five young women ...)
Inspired by watching The Other Bennet Sister recently, I'm now half way through Longbourn by Jo Baker. Basically it's P&P from the point of view of the servants. The Bennet family only appear fleetingly. What has come home to me most is the appalling drudgery of most of the servants' work - especially the laundry. (For five young women ...)
I really loved Longbourn. I think it's my favourite "reimagining" of Austen.
I prefer The Other Bennet Sister to Longbourn, actually. There is, how shall I put this, less intrusion of the author's 21st century views.
Also the author of the former has a point. Everyone *is* really horrible to Mary, and Mr and Mrs Bennet really are dreadful parents.
Update on the TBR pile: returned two books to the library today. Got out three more, and I'm not even going to mention the three I bought yesterday... 🤦♀️
I've just finished Space Crone, a collection of feminist essays by Ursula le Guin, which I enjoyed very much, and I'm about to start Powsels and Thrums, an autobiography of Alan Garner.
I got both books on a recent trip to Manchester, at a wonderful bookshop called The House of Books and Friends.
HOW posted: 'Enough Said, Alan Bennett’s latest (perhaps last, as he will be 92 in May) collection of diary entries and essays. He is a great favorite of mine. I have his previous collections of diary entries and essays, along with some of his fiction and plays.'
I too have ready practically everyting AB has written, and was given 'Enough said' for my birthday.
I've just finished it. Alas, it shows a sad decline from his previous diaries and shows his decline, both pysical and menta,l in the six or so years covered. Anecdotes are repeated, he is obsessed with dates and the observations less interesting as his life becomes more and more constrained by his ailments. The editing too could have been better with quite a few untidy sentences I had to read several times to make sense of. But still a good read and I've bought a DVD of 'The Choral' (which has had mixed reviews).
Agreed, @RockyRoger. Enough Said is a diary of physical and mental decline. It saddened me, but it’s still worth reading, if only to get a close look at what advanced old age is like—loss of mobility, the death of friends, words not coming like they used to, etc. But it appears that AB still gets pleasure from life, and much of that is due to his long-term partner, Rupert Thomas, whom he thanks repeatedly throughout the text.
I hope you like The Choral. Ralph Fiennes was wonderful, ably supported by a raft of some great character actors and fresh new faces. I cried throughout the whole performance of Elgar’s The Dream of Gerontius which is the climax of the movie. AB was well into his 80s when he wrote the screenplay.
Agreed, @RockyRoger. Enough Said is a diary of physical and mental decline. It saddened me, but it’s still worth reading, if only to get a close look at what advanced old age is like—loss of mobility, the death of friends, words not coming like they used to, etc. But it appears that AB still gets pleasure from life, and much of that is due to his long-term partner, Rupert Thomas, whom he thanks repeatedly throughout the text.
I hope you like The Choral. Ralph Fiennes was wonderful, ably supported by a raft of some great character actors and fresh new faces. I cried throughout the whole performance of Elgar’s The Dream of Gerontius which is the climax of the movie. AB was well into his 80s when he wrote the screenplay.
Being just a bit younger than AB I noted his 'loss of mobility, the death of friends, words not coming like they used to, etc' with empathy and understanding. I too mourn absent friends and have noticed in my writing that words come less easily. And as for mobility ... I can no longer jog or play and coach table tennis and a 'walk around the block' with Mrs RR one side and a stick on the other is now about my limit.
I still get pleasure from life but my other current books include, 'In the Waiting Room' by whatsisname (excellent) and 'The gentle art of Swedish Death Cleaning (soppy!).
I had been reading Jo Walton's The King's Peace, and finally finished it. (It's long and dense, though a good read). I have ordered the sequel through Thriftbooks.com, and while I'm waiting for it am rereading a book which I first read many years ago when I was a bit young to understand it, Star Rider by Doris Piserchia.
Finally got round to finishing The Second Sleep by Robert Harris. I very much enjoyed the first few chapters but I felt the denouement was not really worth the build-up. Overall its structure resembles that of Fatherland but I think Fatherland is considerably better.
I felt with The Second Sleep Harris got bored with the premise and just went for an easy option to finish it off. It reminded me of the Handcock's Half-Hour episode The Bowmans. I enjoy Harris' work, but do think some books are much better than others.
There's a short story, 'After Hours' in her collection 'Buried Deep.' I wish she'd write more too, but I suspect she's said everything she wants to say... we might get the occasional short story if we're lucky.
I am in a non-fiction stretch. I just finished "Bourbon Land" which is basically an introduction to bourbon merged with a cookbook (all recipes using bourbon in cooking). It was a Christmas gift and I felt obliged to read it.
Now I have started a book about local history. Very, very local. Well, basically one house and its grounds. The owner turned the house and grounds into a museum and he provided a weekly newsletter to the volunteers operating it. In the newsletter, he would run columns reminiscing about growing up on the property and about his family and life--in the theory that it would give tour guides something to talk about to the visitors. These little columns were then gathered and printed in book form.
Maybe someone here will be interested in my current book, Francis Spufford's (might be familiar from the excellent IMV Christian apologetic 'Unapologetic') 'Nonesuch'. Fantasy historical-magical thriller with quite a lot of sex in it. My 18 yr old daughter (when presented with that summary) just said 'but why are you reading that?' - which is a fair comment since this is the kind of thing she likes and I, generally, don't.
Well, I liked 'Unapologetic', and quite a few other things he has written, he has an interest in science and technology so does a bit of a Nevil Shute from time to time in his fiction as well as in his choice of topics for non-fiction, and he is a Christian so handles a book centering on bizarre occult ritual (! I know...) without too much sympathy for the devil. This will probably make it feel safe, or quaint, to people who usually like this kind of thing, which I do not. I'm enjoying it, but for me the attraction is the author and I doubt it will be a gateway drug to Dennis Wheatley.
I felt with The Second Sleep Harris got bored with the premise and just went for an easy option to finish it off. It reminded me of the Handcock's Half-Hour episode The Bowmans. I enjoy Harris' work, but do think some books are much better than others.
Yes - I found The Second Sleep very odd; it intrigued me to start with but I soon got bored. Maybe the author felt the same. I have borrowed his Act of Oblivion from our mobile library but haven't started it yet. His Pompeii is one of my very favourite books.
I'm currently ploughing through one of my real life book club books - The Rose Code by Kate Quinn. Again, it's an interesting premise (the story of three women who worked at Bletchley Park during the Second World War) but it's going on for far too long. I'd consider reading another of hers - she's a new author to me but I think she writes well and I'm sure she can do better than this.
I picked up a memoir by Hank Idsinga, a Toronto Police homicide investigator who retired in 2024 as the Inspector in charge of the homicide unit. It’s called The High Road and worth a read if you’re interested in contemporary issues in policing. It’s more memoir than about TPS politics (of which there has been no shortage in recent years), but he does have some commentary on the political issues along the way.
I’ve also been reading some books by Yasha Mounk (The People vs Democracy etc) which are worthwhile reading about the political situation we’ve found ourselves in in the last decade.
Maybe someone here will be interested in my current book, Francis Spufford's (might be familiar from the excellent IMV Christian apologetic 'Unapologetic') 'Nonesuch'. Fantasy historical-magical thriller with quite a lot of sex in it. My 18 yr old daughter (when presented with that summary) just said 'but why are you reading that?' - which is a fair comment since this is the kind of thing she likes and I, generally, don't.
Well, I liked 'Unapologetic', and quite a few other things he has written, he has an interest in science and technology so does a bit of a Nevil Shute from time to time in his fiction as well as in his choice of topics for non-fiction, and he is a Christian so handles a book centering on bizarre occult ritual (! I know...) without too much sympathy for the devil. This will probably make it feel safe, or quaint, to people who usually like this kind of thing, which I do not. I'm enjoying it, but for me the attraction is the author and I doubt it will be a gateway drug to Dennis Wheatley.
Nonesuch is coming up soon on my to-read list. I loved Spufford's novel Golden Hill (which I think was a Book Club selection here in Heaven, almost 10 years ago) except for absolutely hating the twist in the epilogue -- I could only reconcile it by pretending it wasn't part of the book. Definitely going to give his fiction another try, but I hope he doesn't throw in an epilogue that ruins everything again.
I was thinking if Golden Hill today and how much I enjoyed it. I’ve never got on with Spufford’s other stuff so maybe I should give it another go. @nenya, Pompeii is one of my favourite books too and I think Act of Oblivion is very good too. My friend who is an English Civil War geek thought the history was pretty accurate.
At the moment I’m reading a very silly 1920s thriller by Patricia Wentworth.
I finally finished Powsels and Thrums by Alan Garner - which is definitely a keeper! Some very good essays in there. But it's worth it for one very short piece alone - he talks about going running with a mathematician from Manchester University in the early 1950s. He liked the man very much, but in 1952 he was visited by the police who ordered him to stop associating with the mathematician without giving any reason why. And then in 1954, he heard that Alan Turing had died by cyanide poisoning.
Next book on my pile is a book I've been asked to review (I have a local blog). It's a self-published supernatural mystery set during the First World War - The Second Light by JG Donagh.
I finally finished Powsels and Thrums by Alan Garner - which is definitely a keeper! Some very good essays in there. But it's worth it for one very short piece alone - he talks about going running with a mathematician from Manchester University in the early 1950s. He liked the man very much, but in 1952 he was visited by the police who ordered him to stop associating with the mathematician without giving any reason why. And then in 1954, he heard that Alan Turing had died by cyanide poisoning.
Next book on my pile is a book I've been asked to review (I have a local blog). It's a self-published supernatural mystery set during the First World War - The Second Light by JG Donagh.
God have mercy. May light perpetual shine upon you, Alan Turing!! 😢 (And on Garner as well.)
@nenya, Pompeii is one of my favourite books too and I think Act of Oblivion is very good too. My friend who is an English Civil War geek thought the history was pretty accurate.
I'm mostly a big fan of Robert Harris, having started with his Cicero trilogy after seeing the stage adaptation in London. I like some of his books better than others but there's never been one I didn't at least like to some degree. I read Act of Oblivion last year when I was doing a lot of Civil War-era research and I really loved it; it might be my favourite of his.
@ChastMastr Yes, Alan Garner wrote Weirdstone of Brisingamen. I grew up in Manchester, so he's one of my local authors. He wrote mainly around the area to the south of Manchester - Alderley Edge where Jodrell Bank is.
In Elidor, he describes the "slum clearance" - the destruction of entire areas of terraced houses in Manchester and the communities that lived there, and I remember that happening.
He's still alive, and lives in an amazing late medieval house close to Jodrell Bank.
A large new bookshop has opened in my city and I paid my first visit there today. Once again, the TBR pile is in danger from my elbow.
So... I've decided to take the TBR pile off the list of things I need to control. A life where I have run out of new things to read would not be worth living!
I think Act of Oblivion is very good too. My friend who is an English Civil War geek thought the history was pretty accurate.
I can't say I enjoyed it much, maybe because I'm not particularly interested in that period of history. I've finished The Rose Code and found it a good story (with some real-life people making their fictional appearances) but thought it could have been cut down by at least a quarter in length. It'll be interesting to see what the book group next week makes of it.
Currently reading an obscure John Wyndham - Prepare for Chaos. A totally unrealistic story about an attempt by Nazis and eugenicists to take over the world.
I first read “The Tenant of Wildfell Hall” over 40 years ago and am revisiting it. I must have been too ignorant to appreciate it. Can’t put it down! Anne Bronte’s remarkable insights into sexism. misogyny and abuse (amongst other themes) seem all the more remarkable to me given her sheltered life. She died at only 29. Which means the book was written in her mid twenties.
I think she’s always been the least celebrated of the remarkable Brontë sisters, and that’s a shame. A very much recommended read (I got it on Kindle for next to nothing, that particular text has a lot of typing errors, but I got so involved in the narrative they don’t bother me.)
Rats and Gargoyles by Mary Gentle. I started it a very long time ago, and didn't get very far in and lost track of it. I'm very glad to have figured out what book it was and get a copy of it, cause I always remembered the bit I had read.
Anne Bronte did not lead a particularly sheltered life. She was a vicar's daughter in the days when they were expected to visit the sick and poor of the parish. She worked as a governess: many if not most of the incidents in her other novel (Agnes Grey) were drawn from her own experiences of employment. By the time she died, she had suffered the loss of her brother and one of her sisters. I agree she's underrated: I think both her novels are well up to her sisters' standards.
Comments
Yes. Tons. Plus ones that were Cubby’s.
This is the very thing I am trying to avoid doing. Today a friend messaged me about a book she was reading that was just great ... the temptation to add it to the list was strong!
I have a Kindle, which currently has 375 unread books on it. And I keep an Amazon list of books I want (never buy form there, of course) with another 75 books - I probably acquire one a year off that list, and add one or two a year.
So I am probably set for another few years.
Nice to know I'm not the only one!
Oh, I love this idea ... but I agree with Eigon, I'd do it by rolling a D20 or another many-sided die.
I might try doing some random picks from my list as I progress through this exercise of whittling down my TBR list.
I’d have to buy one. And have/find/make a clean flat surface to roll it on. When I’m in the store or the car and debating about something I can’t make a quick conclusion about, I will often go, “Hey Siri, heads or tails?” (Or “Give me a number between 1 and [however many options I need to choose from].”) It’s always with me, or Echo is, in the bedroom.
Sometimes I go by the day of the month as a “random” number with some things, if there are sufficient options to pick from.
I really loved Longbourn. I think it's my favourite "reimagining" of Austen.
Also the author of the former has a point. Everyone *is* really horrible to Mary, and Mr and Mrs Bennet really are dreadful parents.
Update on the TBR pile: returned two books to the library today. Got out three more, and I'm not even going to mention the three I bought yesterday... 🤦♀️
I think I agree about Longbourn. The whole section dealing with James' adventures in the Napoleonic War was unnecessary, I skipped most of it.
I got both books on a recent trip to Manchester, at a wonderful bookshop called The House of Books and Friends.
I too have ready practically everyting AB has written, and was given 'Enough said' for my birthday.
I've just finished it. Alas, it shows a sad decline from his previous diaries and shows his decline, both pysical and menta,l in the six or so years covered. Anecdotes are repeated, he is obsessed with dates and the observations less interesting as his life becomes more and more constrained by his ailments. The editing too could have been better with quite a few untidy sentences I had to read several times to make sense of. But still a good read and I've bought a DVD of 'The Choral' (which has had mixed reviews).
I hope you like The Choral. Ralph Fiennes was wonderful, ably supported by a raft of some great character actors and fresh new faces. I cried throughout the whole performance of Elgar’s The Dream of Gerontius which is the climax of the movie. AB was well into his 80s when he wrote the screenplay.
Being just a bit younger than AB I noted his 'loss of mobility, the death of friends, words not coming like they used to, etc' with empathy and understanding. I too mourn absent friends and have noticed in my writing that words come less easily. And as for mobility ... I can no longer jog or play and coach table tennis and a 'walk around the block' with Mrs RR one side and a stick on the other is now about my limit.
I still get pleasure from life but my other current books include, 'In the Waiting Room' by whatsisname (excellent) and 'The gentle art of Swedish Death Cleaning (soppy!).
It is a clever book, and a good read.
Now I have started a book about local history. Very, very local. Well, basically one house and its grounds. The owner turned the house and grounds into a museum and he provided a weekly newsletter to the volunteers operating it. In the newsletter, he would run columns reminiscing about growing up on the property and about his family and life--in the theory that it would give tour guides something to talk about to the visitors. These little columns were then gathered and printed in book form.
Well, I liked 'Unapologetic', and quite a few other things he has written, he has an interest in science and technology so does a bit of a Nevil Shute from time to time in his fiction as well as in his choice of topics for non-fiction, and he is a Christian so handles a book centering on bizarre occult ritual (! I know...) without too much sympathy for the devil. This will probably make it feel safe, or quaint, to people who usually like this kind of thing, which I do not. I'm enjoying it, but for me the attraction is the author and I doubt it will be a gateway drug to Dennis Wheatley.
Yes - I found The Second Sleep very odd; it intrigued me to start with but I soon got bored. Maybe the author felt the same. I have borrowed his Act of Oblivion from our mobile library but haven't started it yet. His Pompeii is one of my very favourite books.
I'm currently ploughing through one of my real life book club books - The Rose Code by Kate Quinn. Again, it's an interesting premise (the story of three women who worked at Bletchley Park during the Second World War) but it's going on for far too long. I'd consider reading another of hers - she's a new author to me but I think she writes well and I'm sure she can do better than this.
I’ve also been reading some books by Yasha Mounk (The People vs Democracy etc) which are worthwhile reading about the political situation we’ve found ourselves in in the last decade.
Nonesuch is coming up soon on my to-read list. I loved Spufford's novel Golden Hill (which I think was a Book Club selection here in Heaven, almost 10 years ago) except for absolutely hating the twist in the epilogue -- I could only reconcile it by pretending it wasn't part of the book. Definitely going to give his fiction another try, but I hope he doesn't throw in an epilogue that ruins everything again.
@nenya, Pompeii is one of my favourite books too and I think Act of Oblivion is very good too. My friend who is an English Civil War geek thought the history was pretty accurate.
At the moment I’m reading a very silly 1920s thriller by Patricia Wentworth.
Next book on my pile is a book I've been asked to review (I have a local blog). It's a self-published supernatural mystery set during the First World War - The Second Light by JG Donagh.
God have mercy. May light perpetual shine upon you, Alan Turing!! 😢 (And on Garner as well.)
I'm mostly a big fan of Robert Harris, having started with his Cicero trilogy after seeing the stage adaptation in London. I like some of his books better than others but there's never been one I didn't at least like to some degree. I read Act of Oblivion last year when I was doing a lot of Civil War-era research and I really loved it; it might be my favourite of his.
In Elidor, he describes the "slum clearance" - the destruction of entire areas of terraced houses in Manchester and the communities that lived there, and I remember that happening.
He's still alive, and lives in an amazing late medieval house close to Jodrell Bank.
So... I've decided to take the TBR pile off the list of things I need to control. A life where I have run out of new things to read would not be worth living!
I think she’s always been the least celebrated of the remarkable Brontë sisters, and that’s a shame. A very much recommended read (I got it on Kindle for next to nothing, that particular text has a lot of typing errors, but I got so involved in the narrative they don’t bother me.)
Criticism accepted!