Carolyn's Finish All Unread Books on Shelves Challenge

[Carolyn]

Like many avid readers I know, I tend to buy books and then put them aside as a book pressed upon me as "you've gotta read this NOW" takes center stage. So...in the next year I'd like to finally read all the books that have been gathering dust on my shelves so that I can give 'em away and make room for more.

1. Currently reading From Heaven Lake by Vikram Seth

[Carolyn]

2. Finished Ellington Boulevard by Adam Langer. One of those books pressed upon me by a friend as "you gotta read this now." Amusing book but for some reason I kept putting it down and not picking it up so it languished on my bookshelf for about a month.

[Kathy]

Good luck on that, Carolyn. I have hundreds of unread books, and my problem is more great ones keep coming out!

[D.G.]

That's an awesome challenge, Carolyn. I've been trying to incorporate some of these books in my challenges (I even have a shelf call 'In my TBR pile 4ever, LOL!) but I won't still be done with them. Sigh...I think that's the next challenge I'll start when I'm done with the ones I'm doing now!

[Carolyn]

Thanks Kathy and Diva. Have to admit that this IS going to be a difficult challenge 'cause I just bought 2 new books...A Wolf at the Table by Augusten Burroughs and The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan. However, down to the bottom of my bookshelves they go so that I'm not distracted from this challenge to read those books that have been languishing on my shelves for years now.

Up to:

3: Evening Chats in Beijing by Perry Link

I was a member of a China studies book group many years ago and had bought a bunch of the books they had queued up for discussion. I missed a bunch of sessions AND I believe they disbanded before too long so I have a ton of unread China related books on my shelves. This one is a series of informal discussions that Perry Link had with a number of China's "intellectuals" (writers/scientists/
professors/dissidents) about their concerns for the future of their country just prior to the protests in Tiananmen Square. I was afraid it was going to be a dry academic book but it's actually quite accessibly written. I might just keep this one on my shelves after I've finished reading it!

[Brianah]

I probably need to do this challenge as well, but I honestly don't even know what books in my house I haven't read...the move has killed my organizational skills :(

I will have to inventory my books while I am cleaning this weekend.

[*Nan*]

I think this challenge is a great idea because I have at least 400 books in my house that need to be read but I have a mom that loves to read and i have been getting many of the new ones at the library. I would at least like to try to not buy any new books and see what happens. This won't include books given to me or traded. I just want to see If I can go 6 months without spending money on any more books. I am going to start this on June 1 and see how long I last.

[Carolyn]

4. Why She Left Us by Rahna Reiko Rizzuto.

This one has been sitting on my shelves for WELL over a decade. Literally had to blow the dust bunnies off of it. Got it at the Asia Society's bookstore. It's about "3 generations of a Japanese-American family whose lives are tragically affected by Second World War when they are interned in camps."

I'm a huge fan of Asian and Asian-American literature stemming from days when I worked at a nonprofit concerned with U.S.-China relations.