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2024 Build Your Library Reading Challenge
Wednesday, April 24, 2024
Top Ten Tuesday: And Still They Sit...
6:25 AM
Note: I'm late to the TTT party this week. I got sidetracked from finishing my post by a bookish event. My husband was supposed to go see Rainn Wilson talk about his new book, Soul Boom, with a buddy. His friend wasn't able to make it, so I went instead. Wilson was funny and charming as he discussed how a mental health crisis in his 20s led him on a spiritual journey that eventually brought him back to the Baha'i faith in which he had been raised. After the chat, we stood in line for an hour to meet the actor/author and get our books signed. It was a fun evening out.
This photo is a tad blurry and it's definitely not a very flattering angle for me, but alas, it's proof that I met Dwight Schrute (I mean, Rainn Wilson) :)
Anyway...
You know the drill: you're SO excited to buy or receive a new book that you can't wait to read, you stick it on your shelf "just for now," and then, ten years later, there it still sits. The poor baby is dusty, forgotten, neglected, alone, and still unread. Why do bad things happen to good books? It's a downright travesty, one that plays out constantly (in my home at least). Once I acquire a volume, it seems to lose its immediate allure, dooming it to out-of-sight-out-of-mind territory. Does this happen to you or is it just me? I suspect my bookshelves are not the only ones where lonely tomes sit year after year, just waiting to be remembered...
Good news for those sad, abandoned books! Today's TTT (hosted, as always, by Jana at That Artsy Reader Girl) is all about these sad, forgotten titles. We're being asked for the Top Ten Unread Books On My Shelves I Want to Read Soon. I'm going to tweak the prompt just a tad to feature some of the physical review books that have been lingering on my shelves for—wait for it—10+ years! Yikes. When I downsized homes back in 2022, I culled my massive book collection by donating over 1000 books. The titles in my list today made the cut and yet, I still haven't managed to read them. I want to, make no mistake; I just haven't gotten around to it. One of these days weeks years decades I'll actually do it.
Top Ten Oldest Physical Review Books On My Shelves That I Want to Read Soon Eventually
1. Anne Frank: The Book, the Life, the Afterlife by Francine Prose (acquired September 2009 from HarperCollins)—This volume of literary criticism examines the history and significance of the famous diary as an important, enduring piece of art.
2. The Lies We Told by Diane Chamberlain (acquired May 2010 from Meryl Moss Media)—Maya and Rebecca Ward are sisters who witnessed the brutal murder of their parents when they were teenagers. Always the more dynamic of the siblings, Rebecca persuades her timid sister and her husband, Adam, to join her in providing medical relief to victims of a North Carolina hurricane. When Maya is involved in a helicopter crash, she is presumed dead. In their grief, Rebecca and Adam find comfort in each other's arms, not realizing that Maya is alive, but struggling to survive in a remote wilderness...Will Maya make it home? What will happen then?
3. Scout, Atticus, and Boo: A Celebration of 50 Years of To Kill a Mockingbird by Mary McDonagh Murphy (acquired June 2010 from HarperCollins)—In this commemorative book, Murphy, a filmmaker, interviews a number of prominent people, including Oprah Winfrey, Tom Brokaw, and Anna Quindlen, about the impact To Kill a Mockingbird has had on their lives.
4. Hidden Things (later changed to A Hidden Affair) by Pam Jenoff (acquired July 2010 from Atria)—The second book in a duology, this novel features Jordan Weiss, an intelligence officer with the U.S. State Department. A decade ago, she was a coxswain at Cambridge when her crewmate and boyfriend, Jared Short, drowned the night before the team was to compete in their final race of the year. When a former classmate asserts that Jared's death was no accident, Jordan launches her own investigation into the incident. In this second book, she is still looking for answers. This time, she reluctantly pairs up with a handsome stranger whom she's not entirely sure she can trust...
5. Don't Sing at the Table: Life Lessons From My Grandmothers by Adriana Trigiani (acquired December 2010 from HarperCollins)—I've enjoyed a number of Trigiani's novels as well as her family cookbook, so I'm not sure why I haven't read this one yet. In it, the writer pays tribute to both of her grandmothers, who lived their remarkable lives with humor, wisdom, and grace.
6. No Way Down: Life and Death on K2 by Graham Bowley (acquired August 2010 from HarperCollins)—On August 1, 2008, eleven climbers died on K2, the second highest mountain on Earth. It was the deadliest day on the mountain to date. Bowley, an investigative journalist, recounts the disaster in this detailed account.
7. South of Superior by Ellen Airgood (acquired May 2011 from TLC Book Tours)—This heartwarming debut novel revolves around a woman who leaves the bustle of Chicago behind for a quiet life in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. She is charged with caring for two elderly sisters, one of whom is sweet, the other sour. As she navigates her new job and life in a small town, she finds healing, friendship, and love.
8. The Girl of Fire and Thorns by Rae Carson (acquired June 2011 from HarperCollins)—Prophecy says that each century, a great one is chosen. Elisa is supposed to be the chosen one, but she feels more like the princess of failure, with nothing special about her. With everyone counting on her to save them, she has to find the greatness within herself in order to save not just her people, but also her heart.
9. The Dressmaker by Kate Alcott (acquired March 2012 from Penguin Random House)—An aspiring seamstress, Tess is ecstatic when she secures a job as a personal maid for the wealthy, well-known Lady Duff Gordon. Not only is she working for an influential woman, but she will be traveling with her on the elegant H.M.S. Titanic. When the ship goes down, Tess witnesses some questionable actions taken by her employer. As Lady Duff Gordon becomes subject to suspicious questioning, Tess is caught in the media whirlwind as she comes to terms with her own feelings about what she experienced on the ship.
10. The Cottage at Glass Beach by Heather Barbieri (acquired April 2012 from HarperCollins)—When Nora Cunningham's well-known husband is caught in a scandalous affair, she runs from the spotlight with her two young children in tow. They retreat to a remote seaside town on the coast of Maine, a place the locals say is touched with Irish magic. After Nora spends a lonely evening on the shore sobbing bitter tears into the ocean, she discovers a handsome, mysterious fisherman shipwrecked nearby. Is he really a selkie, summoned by her sadness, like her superstitious friends believe? Or is he simply a heartbroken soul like Nora, someone who could help her heal?
There you are, ten review books that have been sitting on my review shelf for a very long time that I still haven't read. Have you read any of them? Which forgotten titles on your shelf do you still want to read? I'd truly love to know. Leave me a comment on this post and I will gladly return the favor on your blog.
Happy TTT (on a Wednesday)!
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I have The Girl of Fire and Thorns since forever, i think almost pub day and never read it :(
ReplyDeleteGosh, reading your opening makes me feel a little less reader alone. I too have titles from 10+ years ago and while it feels a little embarrassing, the truth remains. I need to reorganize and unhaul books again (it's probably been 3-5 years since I did this) so I'm hoping I'll let go of more that I likely won't be reading at this point. :) Hope you enjoy all of these, and thanks so much for visiting my website!
ReplyDeleteI hope you find some gems among these older reads! ~ Carol @ ReadingLadies
ReplyDeleteThe Girl of Fire and Thorns is one of those fantasys from a period where I wasnt reading that now feels like it's a genre staple and I really should go back and check out.
ReplyDeleteOh wow! That's cool you got to meet Rainn! The only celeb authors I've met are Carey Elwes and Felicia Day! Would've loved to add Dwight to the list! Lol.
ReplyDeleteNice list too! I'm always ashamed when I see a TBR book on my pile for 10+ years. I have those still too! I picked books I thought I would actually try to read soonish instead of just listing my oldest titles. Although I did list a few older ones that I hope to read soon! I think at one point I even had an ARC of this Carson book but ended up trading it to someone when I decided to pass on it!
Thanks for visiting my TTT!
The Cottage at Glass Beach sounds interesting!
ReplyDeleteHere is my Top Ten Tuesday.
It's true that once you buy a book it seems to lose all its original allure. I, too, have many 'lonely tomes' sitting forgotten on my shelves. No Way Down is one that I would most like to read on this list.
ReplyDeleteThat book signing event must have been a hoot. That guy is always interesting and entertaining. I went on a weird book-buying binge in 1987. I know because I still have a bunch of pristine hardcovers from that year sitting on my shelves unread. "I feel your pain."
ReplyDeleteYou always have such interesting stories! I'm glad that you got to accompany your husband to meet Rainn Wilson, and I never knew that he was of the Baha'i faith. This is such a cool list, and all of these books are new to me. Some of them sound really interesting, and I'm going to have to add them to my TBR.
ReplyDeleteHow amazing that you got to meet the author! One day I hope to get to an event like that. Maybe when the children are older...
ReplyDeleteI get so excited about new books then like you they linger on shelves. I see them as making the shelf look pretty...
I hope you get to read some of these books eventually!
Have a great weekend!
I haven't heard of any of these - hope you enjoy them! Thanks for dropping by my post!
ReplyDeleteHow fun to meet Rainn Wilson! He seems like a bit of an odd duck but so interesting. I'm so bad at buying books and then just letting them live on the shelf. All of these are new to me and how is there a Titanic book I hadn't heard of!
ReplyDeleteDwight Schrute! I loved The Girl of Fire and Thorns. It's been so many years since I picked that one up. I hope it stands the test of time and that you enjoy it...eventually.
ReplyDeleteI didn't know that Rainn was coming out with a new book!! How very cool to meet him! I haven't read any of these but I hope you get to them soon!
ReplyDeleteI love Rainn Wilson! So cool that you got to meet him. I haven't read any of the books you listed, but the Anne Frank one by Francine Prose looks interesting. I hope you enjoy them all when you get to them! One of these decades. 😂
ReplyDeleteI haven't read any of these, but I'm a sucker for mountain climbing disaster books. They're so riveting! And yay for meeting Dwight! ;)
ReplyDelete