Pick-a-Shelf discussion

LOST: Longest On Shelf To-read

Here is the thread for 2014.

For Newcomers: Welcome!! The challenge is to list 10 of the ‘oldest’ books on your TBR and read them in 2014.

If you're interested in the GR Challenge Widget for this challenge; here's the link LOST Widget

We are slowly chipping away at our dusty mountain of books which is awesome! cuz you know why... you so earned the right to buy MORE! ;p

List of Participants:

Adrienne
Amy
дshləigh
Bea
Candiss
Charity
Coralie
Jennifer
Jennivie
Jo Ann
Lauren
Logan
Lyn M
LynnB
Melissa
Pigletto
Rebecca
Sherri
Susan
Talia
Tien

Tien wrote: "The challenge is to list 10 of the ‘oldest’ books on your TBR and read them in 2013."

I think you meant 2014.

My 2014 LOST TBR list:

1. √Critical Conditions - 2010
2. √Pilate's Wife - 2011
3. √The Fool's Run - 2011
4. √The Snake Tattoo - 2011
5. √Chance - 2011
6. √Finding Moon - 2011
7. √Manner of Death - 2011
8. √A Lesson in Secrets - 2011
9. √Esau - 2010
10. √The Rabbi - 2011

The last two on this list were started in the past and ended up on the To-Be-Finished List. I am not sure if I will read them or substitute two more when I get to them, but I promise I will either finish them (I seldom quit on a book - even bad ones) or mark them DNR. This is my year for cleaning up lingering things.

Speaking of cleaning up lingering things...my goal for LOST is to complete 2012 - 4 books, 2013 - 7 books plus the 2014 list. Total to read during 2014 = 21 + Les Miserables.

Oh, and wonders never cease, none of the 2014 books is over 500 pages!

My 2014 L.O.S.T. list:


1. When the Heart Waits, Kiddread 11 May
2. Dreaming Water, Tsukiyama read 22 August
3. A Fighter Pilot in Buchenwald, Moser read 14 Jan
4. Sarum: The Novel of England, Rutherfordread 28 Oct
5. The Birth of Venus, Dunant
6. The Mill on the Floss, Eliotread 26 Dec 2014
7. The Moon is Down, Steinbeck
8. The Pull of The Moon, Berg read 17 Apr
9. A Sense of the World, Roberts read 15 Aug
10 The Moonflower Vine, Carleton read 4 Feb

Completed: 8 of 10

My books were all added to my TBR in 2009, the year I joined Goodreads. This year I only have 3 non-fiction on there(#1,3,9) and only one big one (900+ pages in Sarum. I think I can get this list done (I think I can, I think I can....)

2014 LOST - Longest on Shelf TBR

1. The Templar Legacy by Steve Berry (Feb 23, 2011)
2. Waking Nightmare by Kylie Brandt (May 30, 2011)
3. Changeling Moon by Dani Harper (July 8, 2011)
4. Dark Awakening by Kendra Leigh (July 10, 2011)
5. The Empath by Bonnie Vanak (July 18, 2011)
6. Secrets of Bella Terra by Christina Dodd (Aug 3, 2011)
7. Primal Law by J.D. Tyler (Aug 16, 2011)
8. Dark Deceptions by Dee Davis (Aug 21, 2011)
9. I Burn for You by Susan Sizemore (Aug 21, 2011)
10. Witch Fire by Anya Bast (Aug 21, 2011)

Mine are all from 2011 - the year I joined GR. Should get to them, shouldn't I?

My choices were all added to my TBR between 2009-2010.


1. Steppenwolf by Herman Hesse (12/15/14)
2. Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
3. Who Was Changed And Who Was Dead by Barbara Comyns (02/25/14)
4. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie (10/06/14)
5. The Raw Shark Texts by Steven Hall (04/25/14)
6. Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones (05/29/14)
7. Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami (12/03/14)
8. Rite Of Passage by Alexei Panshin (01/06/14)
9. Wolf Totem by Jiang Rong (07/31/14)
10. Houdini Heart by Ki Longfellow (02/19/14

Read: 9/10

My impossible-looking list.

Blindness
Beggars in Spain
Winter Rose
Drood
The Sword of the Lady
The Master
A Suitable Boy
Foucault's Pendulum
No One Writes to the Colonel and Other Stories
Shades of Milk and Honey

Thanks, Bea... I'm sure that'll happen a lot for the next few months!

You guys seem to be working on books added around 2010 so that's good... I'm still working on 2008 *gasp* yes, that's how long I've been on GR.

@DG: The Bronze Horseman is also on my list!! buddy read? ha ha ha... figure it's probably the only way I'll get to it.

Editing my list (11/6/14)

The Gods of Amyrantha (Tide Lords #2) removed from my tbr as I couldn't get into the book 1 re-read
1. The Bronze Horseman I’m still shuddering from the prequel I’ve read, Children of Liberty, so I’ll see if I have the guts to tackle this one! I read the prequel because I didn't quite realise it was a prequel and it was a review book too -Read 07/30 -I must admit this wasn't so bad! Annoying characters & romance but I loved the war background & drama of it all :)
2. The New York Trilogy -Read 07/16
3. Nights at the Circus -Read 09/15
The Ministry of Special Cases I don't think I'll make it to the library…
4. The Zookeeper’s Wife: A War Story Read 07/09
5. Messenger (The Giver Quartet #3) -Read 09/10
Before Green Gables I don't think I'll make it to the library…
6. Angle of Repose -Read 09/09
The Makioka Sisters I don't think I'll make it to the library…
7. The Godfather -Read 08/14
8. My Name is Red -Read 07/16
9. The Harmony Silk Factory -Read 10/08
10. Red Azalea -Read 08/07

COMPLETED on 10/8/14

Tien - Both The New York Trilogy and The Makioka Sisters are, surprisingly, in the dozen or so books I added all on the same day. I debated them both for my LOST list but eventually chose another title. I own The New York Trilogy, and Tanizaki is a favorite author, so now you're really making me want to swap one (or both...gah!) in to my list!

Candiss, I saw your list and I thought, ooh, some interesting books there... so, I don't know how you're going to choose to swap out, good luck! lol

(Whispering: I also plan to finish Les Misérables by the end of February.)

I'll join in on this challenge. I was a latecomer to Goodreads, so mine are all from 2012.

LOST 2014 Challenge

1. The Time Traveler's Wife
2. Dune
3. The Devil Colony
4. Wild Seed
5. A Feast for Crows
6. Unearthly
7. The Passage
8. Crocodile on the Sandbank
9. Dragonsoul
10. City of Fallen Angels

Bea wrote: "(Whispering: I also plan to finish Les Misérables by the end of February.)"

I heard that! And then maybe we can attempt War and Peace later in the year?
BA ha ha ha

Coralie wrote: "My impossible-looking list.

Blindness
Beggars in Spain ..."

Coralie, Beggars in Spain is SO wonderful. You'll love it. Might be a good place to start.

Tien wrote: "You guys seem to be working on books added around 2010 so that's good... I'm still working on 2008 *gasp* yes, that's how long I've been on GR."

Wow Tien! You're worse than I. Although I even have some stuff from 2007, but they're classics that I hope to read one day. :)

Here are my 10 for 2014 (all were placed on my TBR in 2010):

1. False Accusations
2. Only Forward
3. The Yellow House
4. The Killer
5. You Slay Me
6. The Mermaids Singing
7. A Perfect Evil
8. Sleepyhead
9. The Ice Princess
10. Every Man Dies Alone

I'll join in.

Note: The dates for my tbr here don't match when I actually got the books.

1. The Devils Of Loudun
2. A Clockwork Orange
3. Beloved
4. Restoration
5. The Joy Luck Club
6. Hottentot Venus: A Novel
7. What Was She Thinking? Notes on a Scandal
8. The Memory Keeper's Daughter
9. The Poe Shadow
10. Daphne

Shoot, here I am reading down everyone's LOST list recognizing those that I have read and finding others than look interesting...and there goes my own TBR, getting bigger!

Revised my post #3 to include my full year's goal for LOST

Widget is now created, if you like to use it.

I've put today's date as start date so you can use it straight away... OR, if you're chomping at the bit, you are more than welcome to start your LOST 2014 today! psst, maybe that'll give you more time for our 2014 Challenge ;)

Tien wrote: "Widget is now created, if you like to use it. I've put today's date as start date so you can use it straight away... OR, if you're chomping at the bit, you are more than welcome to start your LOST..."

I tried to use the widget, but it won't accept my shelf's name ... and yes, I have already created the shelf.

I'm assuming your shelf is lost-2014-challenge?

I used the widget to creat my shelf so I was okay...

When you tried to enter your shelf name, did you type "lost 2014 challenge" or "lost-2014-challenge"? Not sure whether either will work / fail but just checking... maybe...

Tien wrote: "I'm assuming your shelf is lost-2014-challenge? I used the widget to creat my shelf so I was okay... When you tried to enter your shelf name, did you type "lost 2014 challenge" or "lost-2014-chal..."

Ha! You were right. When I originally set up the shelf I didn't use the hyphens; they were automatically added in. So I tried it this time with that change and it worked! Don't know why that didn't dawn on me earlier...

yay, it worked!

I only thought about the hyphens because working with url etc, it doesn't take spaces so it always adds in the hyphens ;)

I am going to try this yet again, lol. Let's see how it goes.


1. A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens
2. The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver
3. The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
4. The Fire by Katherine Neville
5. The Street of a Thousand Blossoms by Gail Tsukiyama
6. I Am the Messenger by Markus Zusak
7. The Way of the Traitor by Laura Joh Rowland
8. Déjà Dead by Kathy Reichs
9. Sweet Revenge by Diane Mott Davidson
10. His Majesty's Dragon by Naomi Novik

LOST 2014 CHALLENGE.


1. My Enemy's Cradle - 2/03/2014 - 3 Stars
2. The Help - 2/28/2014 - 4 Stars
3. Spock's World - 8/11/2014 - 2 Stars
4. If on a Winter's Night a Traveler - 11/27/2014 - 3 Stars
5. The Scorpio Races - 11/07/2014 - 4 Stars
6. Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress - 4/24/2014 - 5 Stars
7. The House Next Door - 7/18/2014 - 4 Stars
8. The Dressmaker of Khair Khana: Five Sisters, One Remarkable Family, and the Woman Who Risked Everything to Keep Them Safe - 1/06/2014 - 2 Stars
9. The Last Child - 1/13/2014 - 5 Stars
10. Sleepers - 7/4/2014 - 4 Stars

Tien - Can you remove me from the list? I've decided not to do many challenges in the coming year (unless they are of the super easy variety). I'm starting a new job next week and I don't want to spread myself out too thin!

I have to bite the bullet and admit that I just won't finish Lost 2013. I have 2 books left. I guess I will go ahead and move them to my Lost 2014 goal. Oy.

1. The Paris Wife - Read Feb. 12
2. The American Heiress - Read Aug. 23
3. Ready Player One - Read Apr. 10
4. Searching for Jane Austen - Removed because I read it years ago and forgot.
5. Beautiful Creatures
6. I Am Number Four - read June 17
7. Jane Austen: An Illustrated Treasury
8. Captain Wentworth's Persuasion: Jane Austen's Classic Retold Through His Eyes Read Feb 7.
9. All Roads Lead to Austen: A Yearlong Journey with Jane - Read Jan 21.
10. Empire of the Summer Moon: Quanah Parker and the Rise and Fall of the Comanches, the Most Powerful Indian Tribe in American History
11. The End of Your Life Book Club - To replace Number 4.

Adrienne wrote: "I have to bite the bullet and admit that I just won't finish Lost 2013. I have 2 books left. I guess I will go ahead and move them to my Lost 2014 goal. Oy.

1. The Paris Wife
2. ..."

Adrienne - I really want to read number 10 on your list. It sounds really good.

D.G. wrote: "Tien - Can you remove me from the list? I've decided not to do many challenges in the coming year (unless they are of the super easy variety). I'm starting a new job next week and I don't want to s..."

Not to worry, D.G. You can always jump back in, anytime during the year. Congratulations on your new job! All the best for your first week :)

D.G. wrote: "Tien - Can you remove me from the list? I've decided not to do many challenges in the coming year (unless they are of the super easy variety). I'm starting a new job next week and I don't want to s..."

Congrats on your new job, D.G. Good luck with the first week. :)

Congrats on the new job, D.G. :0)

Lost 2014

2/10 books completed

1. An Echo in the Bone
2. Dearly, Departed
3. Wither
4. Star Crossed
5. Falling for Hamlet
6. I Am J
7. Raised by Wolves
8. Vampire Academy
9. The Iron Daughter
10. Dead as a Doornail

Logan wrote: "Lost 2014"

I've not read one Kagawa's yet! I think that'd be part of 2014 book resolution -read a Kagawa ;p

I haven't had as much time to read since I started back to school in the summer. Audiobooks have been my savior. Hopefully this will get me to create more time for reading.

1. Withering Tights 5/7/14
2. Bonded
3. Treading Water on Ripple Creek Farm: Lily Removed from TBR
4. Enchanted 3/17/14
5. One Thousand White Women: The Journals of May Dodd 3/12/14
6. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society 3/23/14
7. My Monster Burrufu 6/26/14
8. The Life List Removed from TBR
9. I'm Nobody: My Mother Said It; I No Longer Believe It 8/9/14
10. Watership Down 4/7/14
11. The Truth About Forever 11/17/14
12. Love, Stargirl 8/12/14

Loved The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, Sherri. It was a very quick read -a single sitting for me, if I remember right.

I listened to Watership Down on audio -that was so fun!

I finished my first book for this challenge, City of Fallen Angels.

Completed: 1/10

Well done, Talia! Get it done early so you can focus on other challenges ;)

I just cleaned my LOST shelf which has the books for this challenge 2012-2014. I removed 12 that have been read: 3 in 2012 and 9 in 2013. That leaves me 19 on my shelf.

Bea wrote: "I just cleaned my LOST shelf which has the books for this challenge 2012-2014. I removed 12 that have been read: 3 in 2012 and 9 in 2013. That leaves me 19 on my shelf."

When you said 'cleaned' - do you mean completely taking it off your to-read list and gave them away somewhere?

Tien wrote: "Bea wrote: "I just cleaned my LOST shelf which has the books for this challenge 2012-2014. I removed 12 that have been read: 3 in 2012 and 9 in 2013. That leaves me 19 on my shelf."

When you said ..."

No. My GR LOST shelf was created to allow me to track the books I planned to read for the LOST challenge. OVer the past three years, when I read a book, I put it on the READ shelf but also left it on the LOST shelf. I had a total of 31 books on that LOST shelf.

For 2014, I simply removed the READ books from that GR shelf so that now it only shows the ones I NEED to read, not all the books originally planned over that three year stretch.

Besides, 19 is a more encouraging number than 31!

ooh... I thought you were talking of your physical shelf rather then GR shelf... I usually create new shelf each year :)

19 definitely sounds more achievable than 31!

Oops...I forgot to update my progress on the 6th!

1. Rite of Passage by Alexei Panshin **** (Jan. 6)

Read: 1/10

My LOST 10

1.) Shine Light added Nov 2012, read 10/02 ☆☆☆
2.) Tiger's Voyage added Oct 2012, 29/11 ☆☆☆
3.) Prodigy added Dec 2012, read 29/03 ☆☆☆
4.) Birthmarked added Oct 2012
5.) Shadow of Night added Oct 2012
6.) Sarah's Key added Oct 2012
7.) The Girl Who Fell from the Sky added Oct 2012
8.) The Five People You Meet in Heaven added Oct 2012
9.) The Orphan Master's Son added Dec 2012
10.) The Age of Miracles added Dec 2012
11.) Sisters Red added Oct 2012
12.) Across the Universe added Oct 2012
13.) A Love to Last Forever added Oct 2012
14.) Blue Bloods added Oct 2012
15.) Lethal added Nov 2012
16.) Delirium added Oct 2012

Welcome Ashleigh & Charity! Good luck with your lists!

@ Ashleigh -I just bought Champion yesterday! And I can't wait for The Book of Life :) I enjoyed Sarah's Key too!

@Charity -ooh, better read Outlander quick before the tv series start airing! Loved The Help and The Hunger Games!

Welcome Ashleigh and Charity. Hope that you both enjoy the challenge. You both have some great books on your lists.

hi... is TBR to be read?

Rebecca wrote: "hi... is TBR to be read?"

Yes it is! And the list gets longer and longer when you're on Goodreads...

Rebecca wrote: "hi... is TBR to be read?"

It sure is, otherwise known as Goodread's "to-read" shelf, or IF you are like me and a bit OCD, it can be whatever shelf you have set up as your shelf of books you want to read.