20 November 2007

The Towering TBR Pile of Doom

On the 9th of October 2008 I set a goal for myself to read every book on my shelves that I hadn't yet read within a year. What I didn't realise at the time of making that goal was the sheer monstrous number of books I own that I haven't yet read: as of October 9 2008, 157 books.

In December 2009 I did a recount: about 230 books. Ouch. I think books must breed in the dark. So I moved on to a new challenge: get the pile of books down below 200 by Jan 25, 2010, when I started a new full time job. I didn't quite make it - discounting the new books added to the pile, I had 3 books to go - but I did smash my previous number of books read in a year, so that's something.

The 2010 challenge (besides to really seriously get the list under 200!) is to read 50 books this year. That way it will only take me 4 years to read all the books I own, instead of seven... o.O

July 2010 Update: Due to the overwhelming amount of books lurking around in my 'study', I have decided - lo! gasp! behold! - to cull. I've given away about 90 books to various places, and have a couple I may offer as prizes here on the blog. But either way, the list is looking much more respectible now - to a degree O:)


  1. A Breath of Snow and Ashes ~ Diana Gabaldon
  2. A Study In Scarlet ~ Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
  3. A Zest for Herbs ~ Caroline Holmes
  4. Across the Top ~ Sorrel Wilby
  5. An Eye For Dog ~ Robert W. Cole
  6. And Another Thing... ~ Eoin Colfer
  7. And The Angels Were Silent ~ Max Lucardo
  8. Artificial Sunshine ~ Maureen Dillon
  9. Assassination: Political Murder Through The Ages ~ Xavier Waterkeyn
  10. Australian Bush Ballards
  11. Bakewise ~ Shirley O. Corriher
  12. Beowulf
  13. Bewitched & Betrayed ~ Lisa Shearin
  14. Black Markets ~ Goodwin
  15. Bridget Jones’s Diary ~ Helen Fielding
  16. Buy-ology ~ Martin Lindstrom
  17. Christ in the Old Testament ~ James A. Borland
  18. Christmas Every Morning ~ Bergren
  19. Collapse ~ Jared Diamond
  20. Collected Short Stories of Henry Lawson ~ Henry Lawson
  21. Command Decision ~ Elizabeth Moon
  22. Cordelia’s Honor ~ Lois McMaster Bujold
  23. Courageous ~ Jack Campbell
  24. Crime in Literature ~ Vincenzo Ruggiero
  25. Cure For The Common Life ~ Max Lucardo
  26. Dark Alchemy ~ Various
  27. Darksong ~ Isobelle Carmody
  28. Dead White Males ~ David Williamson
  29. Death's Acre ~ Bass & Jefferson
  30. Deep Water ~ Debi Gliori
  31. Desire of Ages ~ Ellen G. White
  32. Do I Really Have To Teach Reading? ~ Chris Tovani
  33. Emma ~ Jane Austen
  34. Engaging The Enemy ~ Elizabeth Moon
  35. Eucalyptus ~ Murray Bail
  36. Fallen Gods ~ Quintin Jardine
  37. Fearless ~ Jack Campbell
  38. Flying Stories ~ Various
  39. Fool's Fate ~ Robin Hobb
  40. For The Love Of A Dog: Understanding Emotion In Your Best Friend ~ Patricia McDonnell
  41. Grimm's Fairy Tales
  42. His Last Bow ~ Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
  43. His Needs, Her Needs ~ Willard F. Harley
  44. How Dogs Learn ~Burch & Bailey
  45. How To Behave So Your Dog Behaves ~ Yin
  46. How Weather Works ~ Rene Chaboud
  47. Huckleberry Finn ~ Mark Twain
  48. Hunting Down the Universe ~ Michael Hawkins
  49. Ice Bird ~ David Lewis
  50. In The Living Forest
  51. Intelligence in Animals ~ Reader's Digest
  52. Ironside ~ Holly Black
  53. Jane Eyre ~ Charlotte Bronte
  54. Johnny and the Dead ~ Terry Pratchett
  55. Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell vol. 2 ~ Susanna Clarke
  56. Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell vol. 3 ~ Susanna Clarke
  57. Jurassic Park ~ Michael Crichton
  58. Just One Look ~ Harlan Coben
  59. Lady Susan ~ Jane Austen
  60. Last of the Wilds ~ Trudi Canavan
  61. Life, The Universe and Everything ~ Douglas Adams
  62. Light - Science and Magic ~ Fil Hunter
  63. Love & Respect ~ Eggerichs
  64. Lucky Man: A Memoir ~ Michael J. Fox
  65. Malafrena ~ Ursula Le Guin
  66. Malicious Cryptography: Exposing Cryptovirology ~ Young and Yung
  67. Malinche ~ Laura Esquivel
  68. Mansfield Park ~ Jane Austen
  69. Marque and Reprisal ~ Elizabeth Moon
  70. Marrying Mozart ~ Stephanie Cowell
  71. Mercy Alexander ~ George Tiffin
  72. Midnight's Children ~ Salman Rushdie
  73. Mission Canyon ~ Meg Gardiner
  74. Mostly Harmless ~ Douglas Adams
  75. Mrs Dalloway ~ Virginia Woolf
  76. Murano Glass ~ Gianfranco Toso
  77. Murano: The Glass-Making Island ~ Rosa Barovier Mentasti
  78. Must Love Hellhounds ~ Meljean Brook (ed)
  79. Mysteries of the Rainforest ~ Reader's Digest
  80. Nature and Art ~ Inchbald
  81. Nature's Masterpieces ~ Reader's Digest
  82. No Wonder They Call Him Saviour ~ Max Lucardo
  83. Northanger Abbey ~ Jane Austen
  84. Notes from A Big Country ~ Bill Bryson
  85. One Night With The King ~ Tommy Tenney
  86. Only You Can Save Mankind ~ Terry Pratchett
  87. Parasite Rex ~ Carl Zimmer
  88. Patriot Games ~ Tom Clancy
  89. Persuasion ~ Jane Austen
  90. Possessions ~ Nancy Holder
  91. Pretty Little Devils ~ Nancy Holder
  92. Rampant ~ Diana Peterfreund
  93. Relentless ~ Jack Campbell
  94. Resistance to Civil Government ~ Thoreau
  95. Search for Life ~ Monica Grady
  96. Secrets of the Sea ~ Reader's Digest
  97. Sense and Sensibility ~ Jane Austen
  98. Seven Little Australians ~ Ethel Turner
  99. Shaman’s Crossing ~ Robin Hobb
  100. Ship of Destiny ~ Robin Hobb
  101. Six Hours One Friday ~ Max Lucardo
  102. Smokescreen ~ Robert Sabbag
  103. So Long, And Thanks For All The Fish ~ Douglas Adams
  104. Somebody’s Horse ~ Morrison
  105. Son of a Witch ~ Gregory Maguire
  106. Speaking For Myself Again ~ Cheryl Kernot
  107. Spook’s Mistake ~ Joseph Delaney
  108. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer ~ Mark Twain
  109. The Architecture of Happiness ~ Alain De Botton
  110. The Art of Racing In The Rain ~ Garth Stein
  111. The Brain That Changes Itself ~ Norman Doidge
  112. The Conspiracy Club ~ Jonathan Kellerman
  113. The Count of Monte Cristo ~ Alexandre Dumas
  114. The Da Vinci Decode ~ Kent & Rodionoff
  115. The Dark Is Rising Sequence ~ Susan Cooper
  116. The Dead-Tossed Waves ~ Carrie Ryan
  117. The Five Love Languages of Children ~ Chapman & Campbell
  118. The Forest of Hands and Teeth ~ Carrie Ryan
  119. The Ghost With Trembling Wings ~ Scott Weidensaul
  120. The God of Small Things ~ Arundati Roy
  121. The Golden Fool ~ Robin Hobb
  122. The Great Game ~ Frederick P. Hitz
  123. The Hunger Games ~ Suzanne Collins
  124. The Intelligence of Dogs ~ Stanley Cohen
  125. The Jesus I Never Knew ~ Philip Yancey
  126. The Lizard Cage ~ Karen Connelly
  127. The Mad Ship ~ Robin Hobb
  128. The Making of Love ~ S & S Biddulph
  129. The Man With The Lead Stomach ~ Jean-Francois Parot
  130. The Name of The Rose ~ Umberto Eco
  131. The Official CIA Manual of Deception and Trickery ~ Keith H. Melton
  132. The Physical World of Late Antiquity ~ Sambursky
  133. The Picture of Dorian Gray ~ Oscar Wilde
  134. The Prelude ~ William Wordsworth
  135. The Restaurant at the End of the Universe ~ Douglas Adams
  136. The Ruins of Gorlan ~ John Flannagan
  137. The Sense of Being Stared At ~
  138. The Shipping News ~ Annie Proulx
  139. The Silmarillion ~ J.R.R. Tolkein
  140. The Ultimate Encyclopedia of Fantasy ~ foreword by Terry Pratchett
  141. The World’s Most Mysterious Places ~ Readers’ Digest
  142. The Zookeeper’s War ~ Steven Conte
  143. Thunderhead ~ Mary O’Hara
  144. Tithe ~ Holly Black
  145. Tommo and Hawk ~ Bryce Courtney
  146. Trading in Danger ~ Elizabeth Moon
  147. Trainspotting ~ Irvine Welsh
  148. Travels in the Genetically Modified Zone ~ Mark Winston
  149. Turtle Island ~ Sergio Ghione
  150. Unseen Academicals ~ Terry Pratchett
  151. Valiant ~ Holly Black
  152. Valiant ~ Jack Campbell
  153. Vellum ~ Hal Duncan
  154. Victory Conditions ~ Elizabeth Moon
  155. Walden ~ Thoreau
  156. Weather ~ Various
  157. Weatherwise ~ David Ellyard
  158. What Colour Is Your Parachute? ~ Bolles
  159. Why Spy? ~ Frederick P. Hitz
  160. Why Youth Is Not Wasted On The Young ~ Bjorklund
  161. Wicked ~ Gregory Maguire
  162. Wicked: Curse ~ Nancy Holder
  163. Wicked: Legacy ~ Nancy Holder
  164. Wicked: Resurrection ~ Nancy Holder
  165. Wicked: Spellbound ~ Nancy Holder
  166. Wicked: Witch ~ Nancy Holder
  167. Wild Animus ~ Rich Schapero
  168. Wild At Heart ~ John Eldridge
  169. Wings ~ Aprilynne Pike
  170. Wolves ~ L. David Mech
  171. Wormwood ~ G.P. Taylor
  172. Young Miles ~ Lois McMaster Bujold
  173. Young Zaphod Plays It Safe ~ Douglas Adams
  174. Zombies vs. Unicorns ~ Holly Black (ed)

2 comments:

Jessica Kate said...

Goodluck for reading all of Paradise Lost...

Amy Laurens said...

Well, I read the first ten chapters when I was doing the essay on it in '07, so I only have two to go....

I'm more worried about the fact that I've added at least another 20 books to my collection since I made this list, combined with the fact that I'm averaging maybe a book a fortnight!

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