MY CURRENT "TO READ" LIST

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A few screenshots from my "Books" Collection on Instagram.  

It's been a long while since I've had a good "to read" list and this situation adds undue stress in my life.  Without a list, I tend to struggle with finding reading material that makes me excited to keep at it.  I end up wasting a lot of time in fruitless book browsing. 

To remedy this, I asked a few friends for suggestions and spent some time combing through saved posts in my "Books" Collection on Instagram.  I also looked at booklists via Pinterest.  I did some genre searches via Goodreads and was intrigued to learn that I've read almost all of the books that come up on the first several pages of the "literary fiction" search.  Although there is definitely some diversity in what I read, this genre seems to be my fall back. 

With a long list of potential books in hand, I spent a couple hours reading descriptions and reviews on both Amazon and Goodreads. 

Although it took a lot more time than I anticipated, I managed to compile a list of 20 books that I am excited to get my hands on.

In no particular order, these are the books on my current "to read" list:

1 / What It Means When a Man Falls from the Sky by Lesley Nneka Arimah
2 / The Year of Less by Cait Flanders
3 / Start with Amen by Beth Guckenberger
4 / And Every Morning the Way Home Gets Longer and Longer by Fredrick Backman
5 / The Book of Unknown Americans by Cristina Henriquez
6 / Tell Me More by Kelly Corrigan
7 / Born a Crime by Trevor Noah
8 / The Keeper of Lost Things by Ruth Hogan
9 / Lizzy and Jane by Katherine Reay
10 / Going Into Town by Roz Chast
11 / Matylda, Bright and Tender by Holly McGhee
12 / 101 Essays That Will Change the Way You Think by Brianna Wiest
13 / Happiness: A Memoir by Heather Harpham
14 / The Faraway Nearby by Rebecca Solnit
15 / Little Bee by Chris Cleave
16 / Exit West by Moshin Hamid
17 / Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace
18 / The World to Come by Dara Horn
19 / Camp Austen by Ted Scheinman
20 / Relish: My Life in the Kitchen by Lucy Knisley

And a few more things to share:

* This list includes two re-reads (Little Bee and The World to Come), both of which I remember that I enjoyed reading, but whose plots I don't recall. 

* Several of the authors on the list are new to me.  Once I find an author I like, I usually read more of their work.   So I am holding out hope that this list will lead me to more reading. 

* One step I didn't take when making this list was checking book availability at my local library.  I have a feeling that at least a few of these titles will not be available.  But, I'll hold out hope and consider purchasing a few, if need be. 

FAVORITE BOOKS OF 2017

I read 44 books last year.  A lot of them were good.  A few of them really weren't.  But, when it came time to pick favorites, I really felt like I could only name four.  So, four it is.  And they are all fiction.

Of those four, I have a clear top two.  These two books will definitely be on my reread list in a few years  I loved them so much that I know I will find great pleasure in reading them again, once the stories have faded a bit from my memory.

1/ The 100 Year Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared by Jonas Jonasson

Oh my.  This book was a delight.  I laughed so many times while I read it.   It has a sort of Forrest Gump feel to it, as the main character  keeps bumping up with major historical events and figures.  I'm not usually one to talk a lot about the books I'm reading, but I kept giving updates to Brian as I read.  Like, "Now Allan met Mao!" and "Now he is drinking vodka with Harry Truman."

2/ Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi

This book worked forward from life in tribal Africa in the 18th  century to present day America.  Each section moved the story forward by a generation.  There wasn't a lot of "happy" in this book, but it was so beautifully written and made me stop to think about where I come from and how my life will impact future generations.

And the next two may or may not be on my future "re-read" list, but they were wonderfully crafted and I have thought about them many times in the months since I read them. 

3/ Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese.

This is something of a coming of age story of twins that came into the world through very unexpected circumstances.  It is set in Ethiopia and the landscape and political climate are almost an additional character in the story. 

My only fault with the book is its length.  It is almost 700 pages and although it was one of my favorites, I might have loved it just a bit more if it were a hundred pages or so shorter.

4/ The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead

Much like "Homegoing" the subject matter for this book was challenging.  This book required me to physically set it aside a few times because it was just so intense.  But it was beautifully written and tells such and important story from our nation's history. 

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If you are a fan of literary fiction, I give my full recommendation to any and all of these books. 

READING IN 2017

I've heard, repeatedly, how doing the things you enjoyed as a child can make you happier.  Well, if there was one thing I enjoyed as a kid, it was reading.

I let my love of reading slowly dissipate over the last few years.  I never completely stopped reading, but I had turned into a sort of passive reader rather than an active one.  I was no longer seeking out books or making weekly trips to the library.  Basically, I had just decided that I didn't have enough time to be an avid reader and so I wasn't.

Thank goodness for a renewed desire to read, a goal and a plan.

I shifted my mindset and decided I do have enough time to read.   And with that, I was off.  And, oh what a joy it has been  - and is.  When I am between books (finished one and haven't yet started another), I sometimes still have to remind myself that I have time.  But once I get caught up in a story, it's not hard to make reading my choice over surfing the internet or checking Instagram or what have you.

Spending so many hours reading feels luxurious and nurturing.  It makes me feel more like the pre-mom version of myself.  I am learning more and my brain is hopping with new ideas and new stories.  Basically, it's fabulous.

So, let's get down to the details:

My reading goals for 2017 were to read 40 books, read the majority of them in book (not Kindle) form and to work from a book list.   

I have finished 20 books thus far, this year.  (Half way there and now hoping to end with more than 40.)  Three of those 20 were read via the Kindle App on my phone and the rest were book-books.  11 have been from my list.

In the order I read them:

After I Do by Taylor Jenkins Reid

*Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead

Miller’s Valley by Anna Quindlen

Notes from a Blue Bike by Tsh Oxenrider

*The Nightingale by Kristen Hannah

French Milk by Lucy Knisley

*Go Set a Watchman by Harper Lee

Everything, Everything by Nicola Yoon

In This House We Will Giggle by Courtney DeFeo

Loving My Actual Life by Alexandra Kuykendall

The Mothers by Brit Bennett

*The Pursuit of God by A.W. Tozer

The Girls’ Guide to Hunting and Fishing by Melissa Bank

*The Patron Saint of Liars by Ann Patchett

Today Will Be Different by Marie Semple

*A Million Miles in a Thousand Years by Donald Miller

All Grown Up by Jami Attenberg

100 Days of Happiness by Fausto Brizzi

*Secret Daughter by Shilpi Somaya Gowda

*The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri

I have also started (and given up on) seven additional books.

Astonish Me, Hillbilly Elegy, The Fran Lebowitz Reader, Organized Simplicity, Here I Am, Traveling Mercies and Something New.  (And I think there may have been one or two more.)

I read one of these past the halfway point.  The rest, I abandoned within the first 50 or so, pages.  I don't think my abandonment rate is usually quite so high, so I'm not sure what's up.  But, I have really loved some of the books that I finished, so perhaps that makes up for it.  Plus, I am thankful to not be wasting my time with books that don't feel engaging for whatever reason.

Recommendations:

As I've shared before, I really don't care to write summaries or reviews about most things I read.  Still, there are some books that I would happily encourage others to read and others that I would say are not particularly worth reading - a basic "thumbs up" or "thumbs down" type of review, I guess.  So, the starred books above are the ones I would definitely recommend.

Overall, I am just so thrilled to be reading again and don't plan to stop anytime soon.

READING IN 2016 AND A READING PLAN FOR 2017

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I read 25 books this year.

It was an (almost) even split of fiction and nonfiction - 13 fiction and 12 nonfiction.   I originally wrote that I usually have a much higher fiction to nonfiction ratio, but then I was looking back at a book related post from a few years ago and it seems that the 50/50 split is actually pretty typical for my recent years.

It was definitely a very sporadic year of reading .  I went through phases of finishing three or four books in just a week or two as well as months where I very slowly read one book or didn't even have one going at all.

I think brooke-circa-2008 would be pretty disappointed in this version of me.  At that point, I was reading 80-90 books a year.   This may not have been a great year, but 25 feels respectable considering how rarely I feel like I have time to do my own thing.  

My three favorites from the year:

All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr

A Man Called Ove by Fredrick Backman

The Slight Edge by Jeff Olson

Runners up:

Dark Matter by Blake Crouch

The Madonnas of Leningrad by Debra Dean

I've learned that I really dislike writing about books - my opinions on them, plot summaries, general themes - really anything.  I'm not sure what this says about me or about what I'm actually taking from the books, but it is what it is.  So, my list of favorites above is all you're going to get from me.
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I decided to set a 2017 book reading goal for myself, which is something I haven't done for a few years.  Doing so is in alignment with my (not yet revealed) One Little Word choice for next year and also just feels good.  It is something that I can do for myself in a time of life when it feels like there aren't many of those opportunities.  Also, I do well with goals.  In many facets of my life, they are my driving force.

My magic book number for 2017 is 40.  It's a number that, again, just feels good.  Not too big, not too small.

As an addendum to the goal, I would love to read the majority of these books in book form.  Not via the Kindle app on my phone.  I don't hate reading on my phone, but it is not my preferred way to read.  It often happens, though, because it is the easiest way to get books as no trip to the library is required.  Also, I think it's important for the kids to know about my love for reading and when they just see me looking at my phone they have no way to know how I'm spending my time.

I would totally want to rebel if I had a set-in-stone list of 40 books to read.  But, I have been intrigued with the idea of having a list of books to work from - books that I can choose or not choose, but to at least investigate further and to pick from when nothing new is calling my attention.

To be clear, I pretty much always have a "books to read" list going, but it is usually only five or ten books long and it is revised often.

So, I made a list for my new goal that is a bit different.  It's a "full" list of forty books that I intend to work from, through the year.  Not in order and not with any sort of strictness, but I think it's a strong list and I don't think it would be unreasonable to guess that the majority of my 2017 reading will be pulled from this list.  I am confident this list (both the having of it and the invested time of making it) will help me to complete this goal.

Here she goes:

1 - The Nightingale by Kristen Hannah
2 - A Million Miles in a Thousand Years by Donald Miller
3 - Girl Meets God by Lauren Winner
4 - Ghost World by Daniel Clowes
5 - The Patron Saint of Liars by Ann Patchett
6 - Fran Lebowitz Reader by Fran Lebowitz
7 - Daring Greatly by Brene Brown
8 - The Underground Railroad by Colsen Whitehead
9 - Astonish Me by Maggie Shipstead
10 - The Pursuit of God by A. W. Tozer
11 - The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin
12 - The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri
13 - Children of Eden by Joey Graceffa
14 - The Boy on the Wooden Box by Leon Leyson
15 - Present Over Perfect by Shauna Niequist
16 - A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith
17 - Nurture by Lisa Bevere
18 - Deeper by Debbie Alsdorf
19 - French Milk by Lucy Knisley
20 - Displacement by Lucy Knisley
21 - Organized Simplicity by Tsh Oxenreider
22 - What Alice Forgot by Liane Moriarty
23 - Notes from a Blue Bike by Tsh Oxenreider
24 - Irena's Children by Tilar J. Mazzeo
25 - Quiet by Susan Cain
26 - How Reading Changed My Life by Anna Quindlen
27 - Everything We Keep by Kerry Lonsdale
28 - Moonglow by Michael Chabon
29 - Rush Home Road by Lori Lansens
30 - The MounStorytain  by Lori Lansens
31 - The Sun is Also a Star by Nicola Yoon
32 - Secret Daughter by Shilpi Somaya Gowda Shilpi Somaya Gowda
33 - Self Help by Lorrie Moore
34 - Like Life by Lorrie Moore
35 - Here I Am by Jonathan Safran Foer
36 - Loving My Actual Life by Alexandra Kuykendall
37 - The Girls Guide to Hunting and Fishing by Melissa Bank
38 - Hillbilly Elegy by J.D. Vance
39 - Faithful by Alice Hoffman
40 - Traveling Mercies by Anne Lamott

A handful of these will be rereads.  One is a book that I started reading - chapter by chapter with breaks in between - this year.  I intend to finally finish it in 2017.

The only glaring "flaw" I see in the list is that it is heavily fiction based.  I prefer to find nonfiction books more organically than looking through lists of best sellers or recommended reading, so the list is a bit short on nonfiction books.

Otherwise, I am excited to get started reading with renewed energy and enthusiasm.  ...but first, I need to call the library and pay my fine for a book that Eli ripped up, so I can start checking out books again.  

ADVENT AT OUR HOUSE

Singing "Happy Birthday" with a candle squarely in the middle of a piece of zucchini bread, reheated pancake or slice of toast.  Clapping.  Blowing out the candle.  More clapping.  

An exclamation of, "One more time!"

All of that - one more time.  

Moving the big magnet to the next number on the Advent calendar.  (Unless the numbers are all in a jumble, which has happened more often than not this last week.)

Reading one or both of our "Happy Birthday Jesus" books.  

Saying a "repeat prayer" where Brian or I say a few words at a time and Sam repeats until we make our way through the prayer.

Checking to see where Topper (our Elf on the Shelf) is hiding.

Discussing the timeline of our holiday schedule of events.  And discussing it again 10 minutes later.  And again 10 minutes later.  

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This is what Advent looks like at our house.  

It has been both more and less than I anticipated.  It is really fun to see Sam learn about new topics and start to put all the different ideas together.  Repetition is definitely working in our favor.  

PS My Birthday, Jesus Birthday / The Story of Christmas   

FRIENDS (AND BOOKS)

A few friends came over for our monthly book club tonight (Tuesday) and, as always, it was wonderful. 

We are not an "accepting new members" type of group.  (We have all known each other for at least ten years and some of us for closer to 30-35 years.)  We are also not very good at reading the chosen books.  (We all like to read, but our reading habits are pretty hit and miss and often just don't include the book club book.)  We almost never talk about the chosen books for more than three to five minutes.  (It is hard to have a good discussion when only one or two people have read the book.  Also, there are things like babies, kindergarten and pre-winter holes in yards to discuss.)  

None of those points would stand up well on a "selling features" list, but they are our truth.  And, the truth is, I love our club. 

I love that I have these women as part of my life and that we have scheduled times to spend together.  I love that they are moms too and that I can ask them for advice when I have a concern about my own children. 

After everyone left tonight, I was thinking how unknowingly blessed I was through my high school and college years.  During those years, I spent hours with my girlfriends every single day.  I have so many fun and fabulous memories and I know that I enjoyed our time together, but sometimes it is hard to appreciate what you have until it is gone. 

Thanks, friends, for another successful month of (not reading or talking about the book, but) getting together and sharing life with me. 

*photo taken in October 2005 on the night we decided that we needed to start a book club 

AUGUST BOOK REPORT

My book reading has been full of fits and starts this year.  I am anxious to get into more of a regular reading routine again.  Still, irregular reading is better than no reading and I must say that I've ran across some gems in the past few months.

Recent favorites:

Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan: I read this in less than two days.  It was funny and very entertaining. 

This Is the Story of a Happy Marriage by Ann Patchett: This is a book of essays on writing and life.  I love everything by Ann Patchett, but I think this is my favorite.  By the end of it, I knew Ann was a kindred spirit and felt like she was a close friend.

Half Broke Horses by Jeanette Wall: I finished Half Broke Horses feeling like I could take on the world.  This is one inspiring story.

Girl in Hyacinth Blue by Susan Vreeland: I'm always a fan of historical fictions.  When they center around art, all the better. 

At the top of my "to read" list is Unbroken.  I've only heard good things.  Any other suggestions for me?

RECENT READING

One of the goal areas that I’ve chosen to focus on for January and February is reading.

In the past few weeks, I’ve managed to pull myself away from the computer screen a bit more than usual and have been reading during bits of downtime.  It feels great to be back in the reading habit.  I love entering new worlds through the magic of words.    

The last ten books that I’ve read:

Hyperbole and a Half: Unfortunate Situations, Flawed Coping Mechanisms, Mayhem, and Other Things That 

Happened by Allie Borsh

Love Does: Discover a Secretly Incredible Life in an Ordinary World by Bob Goff

Where'd You Go, Bernadette: A Novel by Marie Semple

The Girls: A Novel by Lori Lansens (my second time reading this book)

Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity by David Allen

The Lowland by Jhumpa Lahiri

The Wife's Tale: A Novel by Lori Lansens

The School Revolution: A New Answer for Our Broken Education System by Ron Paul

Start: Punch Fear in the Face, Escape Average and Do Work that Matters by Jon Acuff

The Gods of Heavenly Punishment: A Novel by Jennifer Cody Epstein

As seems to be my normal, my last ten books are a pretty even mix of fiction and non-fiction.  Ten years ago, I leaned much more heavily towards fiction.  I’m not sure what prompted the change or exactly when it happened, but my current reading habits feel like a nice balance of being educated and being entertained.  I’m good with that. 

I wanted to choose a favorite from the ten, but that’s pretty much impossible since they vary so much in subject matter and cross a few different genres. Instead, I’ve made up some book awards and assigned them accordingly.   

Quickest read: Hyperbole and a Half (Where’d You Go Bernadette was a close second.)

Most inspiring: Love Does

Funniest: Hyperbole and a Half

Most helpful to my everyday life: Getting Things Done

Most beautifully written: The Lowland

Best for dog owners: Hyperbole and a Half

Currently, I am reading Growing Up Amish: A Memoir by Ira Wagler and The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne.  I’ve read The Scarlet Letter three times before and think I enjoy it more each time. 

Awesomely, all but three of these twelve books were checked out from the library.  One was loaned to me by my best friend.  One was loaned to me by my other best friend (aka my sister) and one belongs in our home library.)

What are you reading?  Do you have any book suggestions to share?

MINI LIBRARY

Sam and I spent many of the last several days with my sister.  It was a wonderful time.  My very favorite bits were chatty times with April while Sam slept and watching April and Sam interact with one another.

Last Friday, April worked in the morning and I had the pleasure of perusing her personal library.  I pulled out this little stack of goodies and spent some quiet time on the couch browsing through her books while Sam napped.  

It sort of felt like the hours I used to spend (pre-Sam) sitting and reading at the actual library. 

I found lots of happy little bits of inspiration and I even managed to bring one of the books back in my suitcase.  Thanks, Pril! 

FAVORITE BOOKS - ONE YEAR TO 18 MONTHS

Throughout his infancy, it was pretty obvious that Sam enjoyed certain books more than others, but the book choices that we made were largely based on what Brian and I preferred to read, since Sam didn’t really have a way to express his own preferences. 

Once Sam hit the 12 month mark, he let his preferences be known.  We experienced a noticeable shift in what we read around our house.

He no longer seemed to enjoy most of his story-based books.  Instead, he just wanted to see/read and re-read certain pages from those books over and over.  We must have read, “The bear wakes up and the bear feels GOOD!” (from Bear Feels Sick ) hundreds of times.  When he was very relaxed or sleepy, he would still let us read him story books in their entirety, but those times were pretty few and far between. 

Instead of stories, Sam really liked:

• “Identify” type books with photos of objects and single word captions (this)
• Interactive books – lift-the-flap and touch-and-feel. (this, this)
• Books with photos of babies. (this)
• Personalized books that included photos of him/ photos from our life.
• Books he could “read” on his own – he particularly liked his Hallmark read-aloud book that my mom and step-dad recorded for him. (this)
• Small books that he could easily hold in his hands.  We have a stash of books that are even smaller than regular board books and he seemed to like holding onto those and turning the pages.
• Any books with animals.  He became verbal during this time frame and enjoyed making all of the animal sounds.  (this)

The types of books that he suddenly seemed to enjoy weren’t the most stimulating for us to read, but it was more than awesome to watch him soak in new information and start to interact with the reading material. 

He did still enjoy his nursery rhyme book (we love Out Came the Sun), but let us know which rhymes he did NOT want us to read and we learned to skip those pages.  As that was a lot more enjoyable for Brian and I to read than “one ball, two ducks, three boats,” we read a lot of nursery rhymes.

Between 18 and 20 months, Sam shifted preferences all over again and now likes his story books.  He still enjoys all of the book types listed above, but he no longer wants to read them repeatedly or seeks out those books as his first choice. 

Watching him grow and change and learn is an amazing thing.  I feel so privileged to have the opportunity to do so. 

TODDLER STORY TIME

I've always loved to read.  I've always loved books.  I've always loved libraries. 

Sam loves books, too.  We have been pretty good about taking him to the library, but our trips have been rather sporadic.  Until now. 

We have discovered the joys of toddler story time. 

Over the past year, we have "happened upon" story time three or four times at the library branch closest to our house.  I found it entertaining, but Sam never seemed engaged and would generally wonder off to do his own thing in a matter of minutes.  I think that was partly due to the setup of the story time room (which is open to the rest of the library and allowed for multiple distractions) and also due to the librarian. 

Not to say that the librarian wasn't doing a good job, it's just that now we have found Miss Sue and Miss Sue is wonderful.  Story time with Miss Sue is in a closed meeting room, which seems to be helpful and the fact that Sam is getting older with an ever increasing attention span doesn't hurt, either. 

The story time offerings through our library system consist of 20 minute sessions that involve songs and rhymes with corresponding actions and a few books.  Before and after the official event, toddlers (and their big people) are invited to look through board books and read together. 

Each day has a theme.  The books that Miss Sue reads are related to the theme and so are a few of the rhymes and songs.  There are also several rhymes and songs that are consistent from day to day and it is easy to see that Sam likes that big of continuity. He lights up when he recognizes a song. 

Sam and I have been taking advantage of story time two or three mornings per week, for the past few weeks.  Since we're already at the library, we've also been checking out a variety of books for each of us.  When we get home, we have fun singing through the songs a few more times and reading our new books. 

I am so, so thankful for this new find.  I genuinely enjoy myself at story time and I can tell that Sam does too.  Best of all, it is something fun that we get to do together. 

And one last thought: I've had trouble trying to flesh out the idea, but I keep thinking that this feels like our first homeschooling success.  I like that. 

COLLECTING QUOTES

I've been on quote collecting overdrive, lately.

I've always enjoyed keeping meaningful quotes and lately I've been considering why I find them so delightful. 

When I come across a quote that really speaks to me, I want to hold onto it.  I hand write it into my quote book and every now and then I spend an hour or so reading through all of the quotes that I've collected. 

Some quotes are inspirational.  Some are funny.  Some are eye opening.  Some are just beautifully worded.

My favorite quotes are those where the author has perfectly stated something that I've felt or experienced myself but not been able to put into words.  These kinds of quotes make my heart catch.  It is humbling to realize that my feelings are not unique.  It is gratifying to realize that someone out there has experienced the same thing I have and felt something so similar that their words can take my breath away.

Finding quotes that are meaningful to my life helps me to see my innate humanness and the connection that I have with every other person living on this planet.  Whether a quote inspires me, gives me a new perspective or speaks to my heart, reading something that has the power to make me reflect further on my own life and my own experiences is pretty amazing.  How wonderfully awesome it is to be moved to tears or laughter by something written by another person living in a different time and place.

My quote book and my Bigger Things album (where I also like to record some of the quotes that I come across) are a lot like personalized self-help books.  The recorded words of wisdom have been hand-picked by me because I find them valuable and feel a deep connection to them.  Reading back through the quotes, I learn and am inspired anew.

READING DISORDER

My goal list only contains two reading-specific goals.  This is a pretty big divergence from my previous "101 goals in 1001 days" lists which included ten to fifteen reading goals.  The current list also only requires me to read 101 books, which is significantly fewer than my previous lists.

I'm 63 days into this project and I've only finished four books.  This is not my normal. 

What's going on?  Well, it's not due to a lack of reading.  Instead, the culprit seems to be sudden, adult-onset of attention-to-books deficit disorder (ABDD).  Yes, this is a fictional disorder.  (Pun intended.)

The main symptom is the inability to finish books that you start.  You read a few chapters and really enjoy them, but then you see a new book and you decide to start that one, too.  Before you know it, you have a (giant!) pile of half-read books. 

This disorder has now perpetuated itself so far that we have in-progress books literally all over our house.  This is not new for Brian.   His books are always spread around the house and I have to ask him if I can put them back on the shelf because I am never sure if he is still reading them or if he was just looking at a chapter or two.  It is safe to say that Brian is no longer alone in this behavior.  Perhaps ABDD is contagious? 

While I have been known to read two or three books at the same time, it has never before gotten this far out of control.  The photo above shows my current pile of started-but-not-finished books.  There are ten books in that pile.  Ten!  That's one tenth of the books that I need to read for my entire goal list right there.  I have a problem.

Now that I've admitted my problem, it's time to take steps to get things under control.  I hereby vow to the internet world at large that I will not start another book until I have completed at least half of the books in this pile. 

Happy reading!