Down the TBR Hole #23

One of these weeks, I’ll post something other than Down the TBR Hole. This is not that week.

Down the TBR Hole was originally created over at Lost in a Story.

Most of you probably know this feeling, your Goodreads TBR pile keeps growing and growing and it seems like there is no light at the end of the tunnel. You keep adding, but you add more than you actually read. And then when you’re scrolling through your list, you realize that you have no idea what half the books are about and why you added them. Well that’s going to change!

It works like this:

  • Go to your goodreads to-read shelf.
  • Order on ascending date added.
  • Take the first 5 (or 10, if you’re feeling adventurous) books
  • Read the synopses of the books
  • Decide: keep it or should it go?
  • Keep track of where you left off so you can pick up there next week!

The Race Underground: Boston, New York, and the Incredible Rivalry That Built America’s First Subway by Doug Most
Published: February 4, 2014
On TBR Since: January 11, 2014

Still interested in this slice of history

Stay or Go: Stay

My Life in Middlemarch by Rebecca Mead
Published: January 28, 2014
On TBR Since: January 11, 2014

I should probably read Middlemarch first, and that’s not likely to happen for a while.

Stay or Go: Go

Adventures in Yarn Farming: Four Seasons on a New England Fiber Farm by Barbara Parry
Published: November 12, 2013
On TBR Since: November 24, 2013

Did someone say yarn?

Stay or Go: Stay

The Traitor’s Wife by Allison Pataki
Published: February 11, 2014
On TBR Since: December 20, 2013

Meh.

Stay or Go: Go

The Case of the Baker Street Irregular by Robert Newman
Published: 1978
On TBR Since: January 6, 2014

Sherlock Holmes for kids. I’ll get my hands on a copy eventually.

Stay or Go: Stay

Muppet Sherlock Holmes by Patrick Storck, Amy Mebberson
Published: March 1, 2011
On TBR Since: January 6, 2014

Wait a second. I read this! But I never marked it as read. And I want to read it again, anyway.

Stay or Go: Stay

The Inheritor’s Powder: A Tale of Arsenic, Murder, and the New Forensic Science by Sandra Hempel
Published: October 15, 2013
On TBR Since: January 8, 2014

There’s definitely a theme this week.

Stay or Go: Stay

Fan Phenomena: Sherlock Holmes edited by Tom Ue, Jonathan L. Cranfield
Published: July 15, 2014
On TBR Since: January 23, 2014

And continuing the theme….

Stay or Go: Stay

Sherlock Holmes of Baker Street: The Life of the World’s First Consulting Detective by William S. Baring-Gould
Published: 1962
On TBR Since: January 26, 2014

I actually started reading this last year, but set it aside so long that I just bumped it back to TBR.

Stay or Go: Stay

Play: How It Shapes the Brain, Opens the Imagination, and Invigorates the Soul by Stuart M. Brown Jr., Christopher Vaughan
Published: March 5, 2009
On TBR Since: May 3, 2014

There are a couple more recent books that look more at how this ties to children’s librarianship.

Stay or Go: Go

Seven staying, three going. And one of those staying will be a re-read.

Down the TBR Hole #22

Posting two weeks in a row! Go me.

Down the TBR Hole was originally created over at Lost in a Story.

Most of you probably know this feeling, your Goodreads TBR pile keeps growing and growing and it seems like there is no light at the end of the tunnel. You keep adding, but you add more than you actually read. And then when you’re scrolling through your list, you realize that you have no idea what half the books are about and why you added them. Well that’s going to change!

It works like this:

  • Go to your goodreads to-read shelf.
  • Order on ascending date added.
  • Take the first 5 (or 10, if you’re feeling adventurous) books
  • Read the synopses of the books
  • Decide: keep it or should it go?
  • Keep track of where you left off so you can pick up there next week!

Mirror, Mirror Off the Wall: How I Learned to Love My Body by Not Looking at It for a Year by Kjerstin Gruys
Published: May 2, 2013
On TBR Since: May 29, 2013

As much as I enjoy a “Do A Thing For A Year” memoir, I’m not feeling this one anymore.

Stay or Go: Go

The Holy or the Broken: Leonard Cohen, Jeff Buckley, and the Unlikely Ascent of “Hallelujah” by Alan Light
Published: December 4, 2012
On TBR Since: July 23, 2013

“Hallelujah” is one of two songs I’ve learned a fingerpicking pattern for on ukulele. And I still want to read this.

Stay or Go: Stay

The Case For Make Believe: Saving Play in a Commercialized World by Susan Linn
Published: April 1, 2008
On TBR Since: August 14, 2013

This was under Professional Reading, but there are other, newer, more library-focused titles.

Stay or Go: Go

Focus: The Hidden Driver of Excellence by Daniel Goleman
Published: October 8, 2013
On TBR Since: August 21, 2013

I want to want to read it, but I just don’t.

Stay or Go: Go

Counterclockwise: My Year of Hypnoisis, Hormones, and Other Adventures in the World of Anti-Aging by Lauren Kessler
Published: June 4, 2013
On TBR Since: August 21, 2013

This one still looks like fun.

Stay or Go: Stay

All Joy and No Fun: The Paradox of Modern Parenthood by Jennifer Senior
Published: January 28, 2014
On TBR Since: October 28, 2013

Speaking of “fun”. And still interesting

Stay or Go: Stay

Chasing Shackleton: Re-creating the World’s Greatest Journey of Survival by Tim Jarvis
Published: January 7, 2014
On TBR Since: October 28, 2013

This is not even up for questioning. Next.

Stay or Go: Stay

A Wild Justice: The Death and Resurrection of Capital Punishment in America by Evan Mandery
Published: August 19, 2013
On TBR Since: October 28, 2013

I have feelings about capital punishment. I would like to have better-informed feelings.

Stay or Go: Stay

Ninety Percent of Everything: Inside Shipping, the Invisible Industry That Puts Clothes on Your Back, Gas in Your Car, and Food on Your Plate by Rose George
Published: August 6, 2013
On TBR Since: October 28, 2013

The reviews suggest this is more “stunt memoir” than “investigative journalism”, and I’m good with that.

Stay or Go: Stay

One Summer: America, 1927 by Bill Bryson
Published: August 1, 2013
On TBR Since: October 29, 2013

I generally enjoy Bryson’s writing, but I can’t quite get excited about this one.

Stay or Go: Go

Six staying, four going. Again. I wonder what was happening in June of 2013 – I seem to have abandoned GoodReads that month.

Down the TBR Hole #21

I started drafting this post in January. Good gracious.

Down the TBR Hole was originally created over at Lost in a Story.

Most of you probably know this feeling, your Goodreads TBR pile keeps growing and growing and it seems like there is no light at the end of the tunnel. You keep adding, but you add more than you actually read. And then when you’re scrolling through your list, you realize that you have no idea what half the books are about and why you added them. Well that’s going to change!

It works like this:

  • Go to your goodreads to-read shelf.
  • Order on ascending date added.
  • Take the first 5 (or 10, if you’re feeling adventurous) books
  • Read the synopses of the books
  • Decide: keep it or should it go?
  • Keep track of where you left off so you can pick up there next week!

The Filter Bubble: What the Internet is Hiding From You by Eli Pariser
Published: May 12, 2011
On TBR Since: April 20, 2013

This topic has definitely stayed relevant. Sadly.

Stay or Go: Stay

Paleofantasy: What Evolution Really Tells Us about Sex, Diet, and How We Live by Marlene Zuk
Published: March 11, 2013
On TBR Since: May 1, 2013

Still want to read this one.

Stay or Go: Stay

Out Behind the Desk: Workplace Issues for Lgbtq Librarians edited by Tracy Nectoux
Published: 2010
On TBR Since: May 6, 2013

I’ll get to it. Eventually.

Stay or Go: Stay

The Riddle of the Labyrinth: The Quest to Crack an Ancient Code by Margalit Fox
Published: May 14, 2013
On TBR Since: May 6, 2013

“In the tradition of Simon Winchester and Dava Sobel”… how am I supposed to resist that?

Stay or Go: Stay

Spam: A Shadow History of the Internet by Finn Brunton
Published: March 29, 2013
On TBR Since: May 9, 2013

Not only do I still want to read this, but I’ve just put in a request for my library to get the ebook.

Stay or Go: Stay

The Cool Impossible: The Coach from “Born to Run” Shows How to Get the Most from Your Miles—and from Yourself by Eric Orton
Published: April 2, 2013
On TBR Since: May 11, 2013

Just not happening.

Stay or Go: Go

Expect More: Demanding Better Libraries For Today’s Complex World by R. David Lankes
Published: January 12, 2012
On TBR Since: May 17, 2013

I probably should have read this when it came out. But I’m just not going to get to it.

Stay or Go: Go

The Book Whisperer: Awakening the Inner Reader in Every Child by Donalyn Miller
Published: January 1, 2009
On TBR Since: May 26, 2013

How have I not read this yet? Right, off to download it now.

Stay or Go: Stay

This Book Is Overdue!: How Librarians and Cybrarians Can Save Us All by Marilyn Johnson
Published: January 15, 2010
On TBR Since: May 26, 2013

The moment has passed.

Stay or Go: Go

Children’s Play: The Roots of Reading by Edward F. Zigler
Published: March 22, 2004
On TBR Since: May 28, 2013

The topic is good, but there are newer books on my list.

Stay or Go: Go

Six staying, four going. We’re not going to talk about how many books I’ve added to the TBR this week.

Down the TBR Hole #20

Down the TBR Hole was originally created over at Lost in a Story.

Most of you probably know this feeling, your Goodreads TBR pile keeps growing and growing and it seems like there is no light at the end of the tunnel. You keep adding, but you add more than you actually read. And then when you’re scrolling through your list, you realize that you have no idea what half the books are about and why you added them. Well that’s going to change!

It works like this:

  • Go to your goodreads to-read shelf.
  • Order on ascending date added.
  • Take the first 5 (or 10, if you’re feeling adventurous) books
  • Read the synopses of the books
  • Decide: keep it or should it go?
  • Keep track of where you left off so you can pick up there next week!

Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking by Malcolm Gladwell
Published: January 11, 2005
On TBR Since: March 30, 2013

I think I’m one of about 10 people on the planet who haven’t read this book yet.

Stay or Go: Stay

Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions by Dan Ariely
Published: February 19, 2008
On TBR Since: March 30, 2013

See Blink, above.

Stay or Go: Stay

Confronting the Classics: Traditions, Adventures, and Innovations by Mary Beard
Published: March 1, 2013
On TBR Since: April 1, 2013

That’s quite a cover, isn’t it? From the reviews, this is really a collection of Beard’s published reviews, which isn’t quite what I’m looking for.

Stay or Go: Go

The Men Who United the States: America’s Explorers, Inventors, Eccentrics and Mavericks, and the Creation of One Nation, Indivisible by Simon Winchester
Published: October 15, 2013
On TBR Since: April 1, 2013

Winchester stays.

Stay or Go: Stay

A Curious Man: The Strange and Brilliant Life of Robert “Believe It or Not!” Ripley by Neal Thompson
Published: May 7, 2013
On TBR Since: April 3, 2013

I remember being endlessly fascinated by Ripley’s show as a kid.

Stay or Go: Stay

True Refuge: Finding Peace and Freedom in Your Own Awakened Heart by Tara Brach
Published: January 22, 2013
On TBR Since: April 3, 2013

I really should read this sooner than later.

Stay or Go: Stay

Foodopoly: The Battle Over the Future of Food and Farming in America by Wenonah Hauter
Published: January 1, 2012
On TBR Since: April 3, 2013

Still interested in the topic, but not so much this book.

Stay or Go: Go

Sixpence House: Lost in a Town of Books by Paul Collins
Published: 2003
On TBR Since: April 3, 2013

I’ll get around to this one eventually.

Stay or Go: Stay

Kings of the Road: How Frank Shorter, Bill Rodgers, and Alberto Salazar Made Running Go Boom by Cameron Stracher
Published: January 1, 2013
On TBR Since: April 15, 2013

Another one where the topic is still interesting, but this particular book doesn’t sound like one for me.

Stay or Go: Go

The Atlas of New Librarianship by R. David Lankes Published: April 4, 2011
On TBR Since: April 28, 2013

Is it still new librarianship?

Stay or Go: Go

Six to stay, four to go. Ending last week: 1827 . Beginning this week: 1838. Ending this week: 1834.

One of these weeks, I’ll remove more books than I add. Visit my to-read shelf to see how very far I still have to go!

Down the TBR Hole #19

Down the TBR Hole was originally created over at Lost in a Story.

Most of you probably know this feeling, your Goodreads TBR pile keeps growing and growing and it seems like there is no light at the end of the tunnel. You keep adding, but you add more than you actually read. And then when you’re scrolling through your list, you realize that you have no idea what half the books are about and why you added them. Well that’s going to change!

It works like this:

  • Go to your goodreads to-read shelf.
  • Order on ascending date added.
  • Take the first 5 (or 10, if you’re feeling adventurous) books
  • Read the synopses of the books
  • Decide: keep it or should it go?
  • Keep track of where you left off so you can pick up there next week!
Book cover showing a small airplane flying over a deserted beach

Globetrotter Diaries: Tales, Tips and Tactics for Traveling the 7 Continents by Michael Clinton
Published:  February 16, 2013
On TBR Since:  February 16, 2013

As much as I love both travelling and reading about travelling, I’m not entirely sure why this was even on here.

Stay or Go: Go

Book cover showing an illustration of an open human mouth

Gulp: Adventures on the Alimentary Canal by Mary Roach 
Published:  January 4, 2013
On TBR Since:  February 27, 2013

Mary Roach is another automatic stay for me. Her writing is just so much fun.

Stay or Go: Stay

Book cover with blue ichthys with feet and the words "The Happy Atheist"

The Happy Atheist by P.Z. Myers
Published:  January 1, 2013
On TBR Since:  March 9, 2013

I kind of love the cover, but I think I can skip the book.

Stay or Go: Go

Book cover

O My America!: Six Women and Their Second Acts in a New World by Sara Wheeler
Published:  January 1, 2013
On TBR Since:  March 9, 2013

Now this is a travel book I definitely still want to read.

Stay or Go: Stay

Book cover

Gates of Excellence: On Reading and Writing Books for Children by Katherine Paterson
Published:  1981
On TBR Since:  March 18, 2013

This is a collection of essays and articles that falls into Professional Reading.

Book cover with orange background and a dandelion in the base of a light bulb

Stay or Go: Stay

Contagious: Why Things Catch On by Jonah Berger
Published:  March 1, 2013
On TBR Since:  March 22, 2013

This is one of a number of business books that will start appearing in the TBR. Letting it go.

Stay or Go: Go

Book cover

Salt Sugar Fat: How the Food Giants Hooked Us by Michael Moss
Published: February 26, 2013
On TBR Since: March 22, 2013

I am really torn on this one. I suspect it’s going to make me really mad. But I’ll keep it on for the moment.

Book cover

Stay or Go: Stay

The Lady and Her Monsters: A Tale of Dissections, Real-Life Dr. Frankensteins, and the Creation of Mary Shelley’s Masterpiece by Roseanne Montillo
Published: February 01, 2013
On TBR Since: March 22, 2013

I have absolutely no recollection of ever hearing about this book. But it sounds fascinating.

Stay or Go: Stay

Book cover

Outliers: The Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell
Published: 2008
On TBR Since: March 30, 2013

Yeah, I’m going to read it. Eventually.

Book cover with the word "DRiVE" in red text

Stay or Go: Stay

Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us by Daniel H. Pink  
Published: December 29, 2009
On TBR Since: March 30, 2013

I’ve heard a lot of good things about Pink’s work. This still sounds good.

Stay or Go: Stay

Seven to stay, 3 to go. Ending last week: 1807. Beginning this week: 1830. (That’s a subject for another post.) Ending this week: 1827.

Visit my to-read shelf to see how very far I still have to go!

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Down the TBR Hole #18

It’s ba-ack!

Where does the time go? The last time I did this was October 2018?!? Let’s pick up where we left off, shall we?

Down the TBR Hole was originally created over at Lost in a Story.

Most of you probably know this feeling, your Goodreads TBR pile keeps growing and growing and it seems like there is no light at the end of the tunnel. You keep adding, but you add more than you actually read. And then when you’re scrolling through your list, you realize that you have no idea what half the books are about and why you added them. Well that’s going to change!

It works like this:

  • Go to your goodreads to-read shelf.
  • Order on ascending date added.
  • Take the first 5 (or 10, if you’re feeling adventurous) books
  • Read the synopses of the books
  • Decide: keep it or should it go?
  • Keep track of where you left off so you can pick up there next week!
Book cover showing a house with silhouettes of people in all the rooms

The Big Disconnect: Protecting Childhood and Family Relationships in the Digital Age by Catherine Steiner-Adair
Published: August 13, 2013
On TBR Since: February 3, 2013

I wanted to read this partly for professional reasons and partly for personal reasons. But there are more recent books that will fill the niche.

Stay or Go: Go

Book Cover

Slim by Design: Mindless Eating Solutions for Everyday Life by Brian Wansink
Published: March 19, 2013
On TBR Since: February 4, 2013

I kind of thought I read this already, but I was probably thinking of his previous book. In any case, I’m letting this one go.

Stay or Go: Go

Book cover showing gold shield under the words "The Song of Achilles"

The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller
Published: September 20, 2011
On TBR Since: February 4, 2013

I just recently acquired a hardback copy of this, and I’m planning to read it after I read the copy of The Iliad I have coming on hold at the library.

Stay or Go: Stay

Book cover showing black and white photo of two women

Passionate Commitments: The Lives of Anna Rochester and Grace Hutchins by Julia M. Allen
Published: June 1, 2013
On TBR Since: February 4, 2013

This is one of those that if I haven’t gotten to it yet, I’m not getting to it.

Stay or Go: Go

Book cover showing people wearing face masks under the word "FLU"

Flu: The Story Of The Great Influenza Pandemic of 1918 and the Search for the Virus that Caused It by Kolata, Gina Published: 1999
On TBR Since:  February 4, 2013

I’d forgotten about this one, and now I want to read it. Get your flu shot.

Stay or Go: Stay

Book cover showing a stack of books

A Family of Readers: The Book Lover’s Guide to Children’s and Young Adult Literature by Sutton, Roger
Published: September 28, 2010
On TBR Since:  February 6, 2013

I really need to get to this soon.

Stay or Go: Stay

Book cover showing a black and white photograph of San Francisco

A Crack in the Edge of the World: America & the Great California Earthquake of 1906 by Simon Winchester Published: January 1, 2005
On TBR Since:  February 6, 2013

Simon Winchester always stays.

Stay or Go: Stay

Bright pink book cover with the words "A Little F'D Up" Why Feminism is not a Dirty Word" in white

A Little F’d Up: Why Feminism Is Not a Dirty Word by Julie Zeilinger
Published: April 3, 2012
On TBR Since:  February 7, 2013

This was on a recognition list the year it was published, but I’m not feeling a need to read it 8 years later.

Stay or Go: Go

Book cover showing a block of processed cheese

Pandora’s Lunchbox: How Processed Food Took Over the American Meal by Melanie Warner
Published: February 26, 2013
On TBR Since:  February 11, 2013

Much like F’d Up, the moment has passed. There are more recent books on the topic on my TBR.

Stay or Go: Go

Book cover showing woman knitting

Homeward Bound: Why Women are Embracing the New Domesticity by Emily Matchar
Published: January 1, 2013
On TBR Since:  February 11, 2013

In the GoodReads reviews, someone posted a drinking game to go along with this book. As much fun as that sounds, it mostly convinced me to pass.

Stay or Go: Go

Four to stay, six to go. Beginning: 1813. Ending: 1807
Visit my to-read shelf to see how very far I still have to go!

Down the TBR Hole #17

Down the TBR Hole was originally created over at Lost in a Story.

Most of you probably know this feeling, your Goodreads TBR pile keeps growing and growing and it seems like there is no light at the end of the tunnel. You keep adding, but you add more than you actually read. And then when you’re scrolling through your list, you realize that you have no idea what half the books are about and why you added them. Well that’s going to change!

It works like this:

  • Go to your goodreads to-read shelf.
  • Order on ascending date added.
  • Take the first 5 (or 10, if you’re feeling adventurous) books
  • Read the synopses of the books
  • Decide: keep it or should it go?
  • Keep track of where you left off so you can pick up there next week!

Visit my to-read shelf to see how very far I still have to go!

Minders of Make-Believe: Idealists, Entrepreneurs, and the Shaping of American Children's Literature Minders of Make-Believe: Idealists, Entrepreneurs, and the Shaping of American Children’s Literature by Leonard S. Marcus
Published: May 1, 2008
On TBR Since: January 4, 2013

Professional Reading that I have been meaning to read forever.

Stay or Go: Stay

The Wand in the Word: Conversations with Writers of FantasyThe Wand in the Word: Conversations with Writers of Fantasy by Leonard S. Marcus
Published: February 14, 2006
On TBR Since: January 4, 2013

This is part of my TBR Pile Challenge list, so I should probably get cracking on it.

Stay or Go: Stay

Dear Genius: The Letters of Ursula Nordstrom Dear Genius: The Letters of Ursula Nordstrom edited by Leonard S. Marcus
Published: March 31, 2000
On TBR Since: January 4, 2013

I was clearly on a Leonard Marcus kick of some sort.

Stay or Go: Stay

The Willpower Instinct: How Self-Control Works, Why It Matters, and What You Can Do to Get More of It The Willpower Instinct: How Self-Control Works, Why It Matters, and What You Can Do to Get More of It by Kelly McGonigal
Published: December 29, 2011
On TBR Since: January 4, 2013

I’m pretty sure I’ve read books that cite this book, and that’s why it ended up on my TBR.

Stay or Go: Go

Magical Journey: An Apprenticeship in Contentment Magical Journey: An Apprenticeship in Contentment by Katrina Kenison
Published: January 8, 2013
On TBR Since: January 9, 2013

Not feeling this one anymore.

Stay or Go: Go

Jews and WordsJews and Words by Amos Oz
Published: November 20, 2012
On TBR Since: January 9, 2013

This one does still sound interesting.

Stay or Go: Stay

Mindfulness in Plain English Mindfulness in Plain English by Henepola Gunaratana
Published: January 25, 1992
On TBR Since: January 9, 2013

Kind of a classic on meditation.

Stay or Go: Stay

The Great Work of Your Life: A Guide for the Journey to Your True Calling The Great Work of Your Life: A Guide for the Journey to Your True Calling by Stephen Cope
Published: September 25, 2012
On TBR Since: January 11, 2013

This is another one I suspect might make its way back onto the TBR at some point, but it’s going for now.

Stay or Go: Go

The Parent App: Understanding Families in the Digital Age The Parent App: Understanding Families in the Digital Age by Lynn Schofield Clark
Published: October 9, 2012
On TBR Since: January 31, 2013

This hits topics on both the personal and the professional side.

Stay or Go: Stay

Prairie Silence: A Memoir Prairie Silence: A Memoir by Melanie Hoffert
Published: January 8, 2013
On TBR Since: January 31, 2013

I never got around to this memoir when it was new, and I don’t think I’m going to.

Stay or Go: Go

Four going, and six staying. Chip, chip, chip.

Down the TBR Hole #16

Down the TBR Hole was originally created over at Lost in a Story.

Most of you probably know this feeling, your Goodreads TBR pile keeps growing and growing and it seems like there is no light at the end of the tunnel. You keep adding, but you add more than you actually read. And then when you’re scrolling through your list, you realize that you have no idea what half the books are about and why you added them. Well that’s going to change!

It works like this:

  • Go to your goodreads to-read shelf.
  • Order on ascending date added.
  • Take the first 5 (or 10, if you’re feeling adventurous) books
  • Read the synopses of the books
  • Decide: keep it or should it go?
  • Keep track of where you left off so you can pick up there next week!

Visit my to-read shelf to see how very far I still have to go!

The Violin: A Social History of the World's Most Versatile Instrument The Violin: A Social History of the World’s Most Versatile Instrument by David Schoenbaum
Published: December 10, 2012
On TBR Since: December 26, 2012

Fun fact: I played violin from fourth grade through my first year of college. Every now and again, I still take it out of the closet and give it a go.

Stay or Go: Stay

Generosity: An Enhancement Generosity: An Enhancement by Richard Powers
Published: September 29, 2009
On TBR Since: January 3, 2013

Powers is an automatic add to my TBR. And it seems I went on an adding spree at the beginning of 2013.

Stay or Go: Stay

The Echo Maker The Echo Maker by Richard Powers
Published: November 1, 2006
On TBR Since: January 3, 2013

Same as above.

Stay or Go: Stay

The Time of Our Singing The Time of Our Singing by Richard Powers
Published: Jan 22, 2003
On TBR Since: January 03, 2013

This is part of my TBR Pile Challenge list.

Stay or Go: Stay

Genie Genie by Richard Powers
Published: November 8, 2012
On TBR Since: January 3, 2013

Stay or Go: Stay

The Annotated Sandman, Vol. 2 The Annotated Sandman, Vol. 2 by Neil Gaiman
Published: October 1, 2012
On TBR Since: January 3, 2013

Neil Gaiman is a favorite author, and Sandman is where it all started for me.

Stay or Go: Stay

The Annotated Sandman, Vol. 1 The Annotated Sandman, Vol. 1 by Neil Gaiman
Published: January 27, 2011
On TBR Since: January 3, 2013

Stay or Go: Stay

The Battle Of The Sun The Battle Of The Sun Jeanette Winterson
Published: November 2, 2009
On TBR Since: January 3, 2013

Another favorite author.

Stay or Go: Stay

Weight: The Myth of Atlas and Heracles Weight: The Myth of Atlas and Heracles by Jeanette Winterson
Published: October 5, 2005
On TBR Since: January 3, 2013

This one is also on my TBR Pile Challenge list.

Stay or Go: Stay

The Theory of EverythingThe Theory of Everything by J. J. Johnson
Published: October 1, 2012
On TBR Since: January 3, 2013

I’ve enjoyed the other books of Johnson’s I’ve read, but I’m not drawn to this one.

Stay or Go: Go

Only one book going this week. Some weeks are like that, I guess.

Down the TBR Hole #15

Down the TBR Hole was originally created over at Lost in a Story.

Most of you probably know this feeling, your Goodreads TBR pile keeps growing and growing and it seems like there is no light at the end of the tunnel. You keep adding, but you add more than you actually read. And then when you’re scrolling through your list, you realize that you have no idea what half the books are about and why you added them. Well that’s going to change!

It works like this:

  • Go to your goodreads to-read shelf.
  • Order on ascending date added.
  • Take the first 5 (or 10, if you’re feeling adventurous) books
  • Read the synopses of the books
  • Decide: keep it or should it go?
  • Keep track of where you left off so you can pick up there next week!

Visit my to-read shelf to see how very far I still have to go!

The Signal and the Noise: Why So Many Predictions Fail – But Some Don’t by Nate Silver

Published: September 27, 2012
On TBR Since: October 9, 2012

I’m pretty sure I started this at some point, and then had to return it to the library before getting back to it.

Stay or Go: Go

Antifragile: Things That Gain from Disorder by Nassim Nicholas Taleb

Published: November 27, 2012
On TBR Since: October 24, 2012

Just not feeling this one anymore.

Stay or Go: Go

Fear: Essential Wisdom for Getting Through the Storm by Thích Nhất Hạnh

Published: January 1, 2012
On TBR Since: October 24, 2012

I think I may need to read this one as soon as I’m done with the Woodward book.

Stay or Go: Stay

The World Until Yesterday: What Can We Learn from Traditional Societies? by Jared Diamond

Published: October 19, 2012
On TBR Since: October 24, 2012

The moment has passed.

Stay or Go: Go

Fairy Tales from the Brothers Grimm: A New English Version by Philip Pullman

Published: September 27, 2012
On TBR Since: October 24, 2012

I’m considering making this part of my Classics Club adventure.

Stay or Go: Stay

Bringing Home the Dharma: Awakening Right Where You Are by Jack Kornfield

Published: December 6, 2011
On TBR Since: October 29, 2012

Oh, man. I tagged this for a task in the 2016 Read Harder Challenge and still didn’t get to it. Time to let it go.

Stay or Go: Go

Reflections: On the Magic of Writing by Diana Wynne Jones

Published: May 3, 2012
On TBR Since: November 7, 2012

I had totally forgotten about this. Now that I’ve been reminded, I still want to read it.

Stay or Go: Stay

The Myths of Happiness by Sonja Lyubomirsky

Published: January 1, 2012
On TBR Since: November 26, 2012

There are other, similar books on my TBR that I’m more interested in.

Stay or Go: Go

The Great Agnostic: Robert Ingersoll and American Freethought by Susan Jacoby

Published: December 3, 2012
On TBR Since: November 26, 2012

This one still sounds interesting, and it may dovetail with some Classics Club reading.

Stay or Go: Stay

Alone on the Ice: The Greatest Survival Story in the History of Exploration by David Roberts

Published: January  21, 2013
On TBR Since: November 30, 2012

I actually listened to the audiobook of this a while ago, though I never recorded it in GoodReads. I’d still like to give it a re-read.

Stay or Go: Stay

The Last Explorer: Hubert Wilkins, Hero of the Great Age of Polar Exploration by Simon Nasht

Published: September 6, 2006
On TBR Since: December 14, 2012

Me and my polar explorers. What can I say?

Stay or Go: Stay

Scott of the Antarctic: A Life of Courage and Tragedy by David Crane

Published: January 1, 2005
On TBR Since: December 14, 2012

Same as above, really.

Stay or Go: Stay

Half and half – 5 going and 5 staying this week.

Down the TBR Hole #14

Down the TBR Hole was originally created over at Lost in a Story.

Most of you probably know this feeling, your Goodreads TBR pile keeps growing and growing and it seems like there is no light at the end of the tunnel. You keep adding, but you add more than you actually read. And then when you’re scrolling through your list, you realize that you have no idea what half the books are about and why you added them. Well that’s going to change!

It works like this:

  • Go to your goodreads to-read shelf.
  • Order on ascending date added.
  • Take the first 5 (or 10, if you’re feeling adventurous) books
  • Read the synopses of the books
  • Decide: keep it or should it go?
  • Keep track of where you left off so you can pick up there next week!

Visit my to-read shelf to see how very far I still have to go!

Comic-Con and the Business of Pop Culture: What the World’s Wildest Trade Show Can Tell Us About the Future of Entertainment by Rob Salkowitz

Published: May 17, 2012
On TBR Since: August 22, 2012

This is more of an academic business book than popular non-fiction, which is not what I’m looking for.

Stay or Go: Go

Dreamland: Adventures in the Strange Science of Sleep by David K. Randall

Published: August 6, 2012
On TBR Since: August 23, 2012

There are several books on sleep hanging out on my TBR, so I can let this one go.

Stay or Go: Go

The White Darkness by Geraldine McCaughrean

Published: September 1, 2005
On TBR Since: August 28, 2012

Not to be confused with David Grann’s The White Darkness, which comes out this month. And which is also on my TBR. One word: Antarctica.

Stay or Go: Stay

Crockett Johnson and Ruth Krauss: How an Unlikely Couple Found Love, Dodged the FBI, and Transformed Children’s Literature by Philip Nel

Published: January 1, 2012
On TBR Since: August 28, 2012

This one falls under Professional Reading.

Stay or Go: Stay

Too Big to Know: Rethinking Knowledge Now That the Facts Aren’t the Facts, Experts Are Everywhere, and the Smartest Person in the Room Is the Room by David Weinberger

Published: January 1, 2012
On TBR Since: August 31, 2012

“Now that the facts aren’t the facts”… and this book is from 2012. Still feels important.

Stay or Go: Stay

The Well at the World’s End: The Epic True Story of One Man’s Search for the Secret to Eternal Youth by A.J. Mackinnon

Published: July 28, 2010
On TBR Since: September 12, 2012

I might come back to this one eventually, but it goes for now.

Stay or Go: Go

The Story of Ain’t: America, Its Language, and the Most Controversial Dictionary Ever Published by David Skinner

Published: October 9, 2012
On TBR Since: September 26, 2012

This book got a mention on the Dictionary War episode of the Annotated podcast. I went to add it to my TBR and discovered it was already there.

Stay or Go: Stay

Nonbeliever Nation: The Rise of Secular Americans by David Niose

Published: July 17, 2012
On TBR Since: September 26, 2012

I think too much time has passed on this particular one.

Stay or Go: Go

The Year of Learning Dangerously: Adventures in Homeschooling by Quinn Cummings

Published: August 7, 2012
On TBR Since: September 26, 2012

Another stunt memoir that I’ve kind of lost interest in since I put it on the list.

Stay or Go: Go

The Impossible Rescue: The True Story of an Amazing Arctic Adventure by Martin W. Sandler

Published: February 14, 2012
On TBR Since: September 27, 2012

Hey, an 1890s Artic expedition sneaked into the list!

Stay or Go: Stay

Half and half – five going and five staying – this week.