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We love an excuse to read the backlist! Take a dive into your To Read list and find a book that has been collecting dust. The longer it's been on your TBR, the better!

ATY Listopia: /list/show/1...

What are you reading for this prompt, and how long has it been on your TBR?

Happiness has been on the list for so long, I've forgotten what it is about. Wordslut: A Feminist Guide to Taking Back the English Language has been on for well over a year, so it will be good to finally get around to these.

So. Many. Options. Haha.

I'm probably going to change my mind a hundred times about this prompt.

I have literally a few hundred books on my Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ TBR list that would fit this prompt. I'm going with the very first book I ever put on that list, in 2015: I Must Say: My Life as a Humble Comedy Legend. I've loved Martin Short from his days on SCTV through to his hilarious work on Only Murders in the Building. I've heard so much about what a wonderful person he is that every time I see this book I think "why haven't I read that yet?" Well I'm going to read it in 2024. Or listen to it -- I don't usually enjoy audiobooks but he's reading his own story so in this case, I must.

Like most of you I have tons of choices but am planning on The City of Brass by S.A. Chakraborty. Hopefully, I like it because I have the next two books in the series lined up for the prompts an author who uses initials and going for gold.

So many to choose from!

Even though I only consider owned books as my TBR, I still will have 718 to choose from at the start of 2023. I'm really far behind on the October Daye series, so I might go with one of them.

Jillian, I read that series back when we had the Egypt/Muslim author prompt (2021?) and loved it so much. I'm hoping to read the author's newest book The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi for the sea prompt next year.

Emily wrote: "Jillian, I read that series back when we had the Egypt/Muslim author prompt (2021?) and loved it so much. I'm hoping to read the author's newest book ..."

If you haven't read it already, The River of Silver was a wonderful trip back to the world of Daevabad. I loved how she ordered the stories in chronological order so it felt more like a companion novel that short story collection!

Ooooooooo I didn't know that came out!! Adding to my list!

I love these types of prompts! My backlist is embarrassingly long. I'm actually happily surprised we have a Listopia for this prompt at all - I wasn't expecting it since it's so personal/individual. I only made a Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ in 2014 so I'm aiming to read one of the (many) books that pre-date my account (and have been taking up space on my physical shelves for over a decade).

Irene wrote: "I love these types of prompts! My backlist is embarrassingly long. I'm actually happily surprised we have a Listopia for this prompt at all - I wasn't expecting it since it's so personal/individual..."

This is a great one for me too. It was a terrific reminder for me to look back at the books I’ve had the longest. Since we voted, I read 5 or 6 books that fit this prompt.

NancyJ wrote: "Since we voted, I read 5 or 6 books that fit this prompt."

That's awesome! It's always so satisfying to finally read those books!

Emily and Ellie, I was not aware of those books. Thank you!

I have over 1,000 books that qualify for this prompt right now, not including those that will have been on there that long by March next year 😱

I decided to go for The Library at Mount Char by Scott Hawkins. It's been on my Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ TBR since 2017, there are some books that have been on there longer but nothing I was more enthusiastic about than this.

The oldest book on my Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ TBR is Me Talk Pretty One Day. If I read that and Moby-Dick or, The Whale, that clears everything added in 2010 or earlier.

Of course I also have a bunch of physical books I've owned since the 90s that I haven't read yet. Maybe even a few from the 80s.

So not sure where I'll end up going for this, but I'm certainly not short on options.

I have so many that I'm actually surprised I narrowed it down to one! But I'm using this one for another challenge as well, so it rose to the top. Strong Poison by Dorothy L. Sayers

I'm going with something that's from when I first started building my TBR, back in maybe 2017 or 2018. I still have lots of options. Possibly Midwinter, Barkskins , Tigana or Euphoria.

I'm planning on reading Yellowface by R.F. Kuang, which could also be used for One Word Title, Crime Not a Murder (plagarism) and Author Known by Initials � and maybe others.

The book that should really be on my list for this prompt is A People's History of the United States by Howard Zinn because I've owned this book for about 25 years! I started it when I got it, but I found it too depressing at the time. I'm a different reader now. I still plan on reading Zinn this year, but using Connected to a Book You Read in 2023, as this year I read A People's Future of the United States: Speculative Fiction from 25 Extraordinary Writers.

Update:
I ended up reading Yellowface for a different prompt (25. A book involving a crime other than a murder � plagiarism, theft, fraud). And I found A People's History of the United States by Howard Zinn to still be too depressing to read all at one go, so that will be a slow read, 1 chapter hear and there as I can handle it. Maybe the chapters after Chapter 1 it will be easier to bear the reality of it?

I ended up reading Entangled Life: The Illustrated Edition: How Fungi Make Our Worlds by Merlin Sheldrake (love his name!). Although this edition was on my TBR for "just" under a year (about a week short when I finished it), the original "non-illustrated" edition has been on my TBR since December 2020. I never have a "cheat" answer upon completion of the challenge, so I guess this year I'll be able to use this slight stretch of dates.

Fascinating book, AND I got to read my choice for the MUSHROOM prompt as it seems that this will not be added for 2025 either - so sad. I know a book about mushrooms and fungi sounds odd (and disgusting to some), but fungi and how they work and what they do for our world is really incredible. I see them as a potential "technology" or even Nature's AI based on some of what they can do and how they have already been used.

I feel personally attacked by this prompt. Over a year? Try these possibles that have been languishing for over a decade...or two...

- The Bullet Trick by Louise Welsh
- My Childhood by Maxim Gorky
- So Many Ways to Begin by Jon McGregor
- Perishable: A Memoir by Dirk Jamison
- Mouthing the Words by Camilla Gibb
- The Memory Box by Margaret Forster
- The Wonders of the Invisible World by David Gates
- Other People by Martin Amis

SadieReadsAgain wrote: "I feel personally attacked by this prompt. Over a year? Try these possibles that have been languishing for over a decade...or two...

Hahaha same! Some of mine go back to 2008 - and those are just the ones I actually listed on Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ.

My biggest TBR (wishlist - 1305 books) is usually where I draw the books for reading challenges rather than owned books (owned books TBR [want to read] - 193 books).

Since I use Wishlist TBR for the annual challenge to read lost (longest on TBR) books each year, I decided to use the owned books TBR for choices for this prompt in an effort to read more of my owned books.

Snow and Ice- on list since 2010
The Hornet's Nest: A Novel of the Revolutionary War - on list since 2011
The Pony Wife - on list since 2011

The oldest book on my Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ TBR is Finding Beauty in a Broken World by Terry Tempest Williams. I have a beautiful hardback that's been sitting on my shelf since 2009, possibly earlier.

The next oldest books are Fall on Your Knees, Things Fall Apart, and Scaramouche. All have been on my TBR since 2009.

I should try to knock out at least a few of these next year, either in this prompt or elsewhere.

I am planning to read The Grapes of Wrath for this prompt. This will be my first book by John Steinbeck since reading Of Mice and Men in high school. This book has been on my TBR for several years and I am trying to prioritize reading books that I own. I've heard that Steinbeck's other novels are better than OMAM and I'm looking forward to trying something else by him since he's one of the best American novelists.

I am going to read To Paradise, which i have owned since it was released because I loved A Little Life so much and wanted to jump on Hanya Yanagihara's next book......and then didn't read it because, life.

For this book I read one that has been on my TBR since 2018:

The Color of Lightning by Paulette Jiles - 1/8/24 - 4* - My Review

(also fits 14. protagonist that is a person of color)

The Jinn Daughter

I read The Wild Iris, another collection of poetry by Louise Glück. Like I said in my last review (for Ararat prompt 9) this collection didn’t speak to me the same way that one did and I just kind of skimmed it without feeling it or letting it sink in. Poet: great, this collection: lacking in her usual greatness.

I read Tribal Affairs Tribal Affairs by Matt Dallmann, on my TBR since 2018.

I am reading Mansfield Park by Jane Austen. It has been on my reading list on my Kindle for well over a year.

I read Booked To Die by John Dunning. It's been on my TBR since 2020.

I read Seven Days in June. This prompt was a perfect push to finally pick this up. After a rough start I ended up liking quite a bit. I think after hearing a lot of buzz about it around the time I added it to my TBR I am kind of glad I waited as I could go in a little with less expectations.

I read Down and Out in Paris and London by George Orwell for this prompt. It's been on my TBR for a while! :)

I read:
Oh, God! by Avery Corman

BIO: A book that has been on your TBR for five or more years
REJECT: A book where a main character is a writer, a librarian or a bookseller

Finished: 02/17/2024
Rating: 4 stars

Although the book was excellent, I must admit I liked the movie better. Maybe because of George Burns...

I ended up reading Symphony of Secrets by Brendan Slocumb which I added to my want to read shelf on Feb 1, 2023 and didn't start reading until past the middle of this month, so it qualified by just over 2 weeks :). I didn't want to use it for the 25 most beautiful cities list because I don't find NYC beautiful.

TASK #12 ~ A book that has been on your TBR for over a year


My 2024 plan is to "not plan."
BOOK 1 ~ I work at a big library and I'm just going to go with the first book that appeals to me that crosses my returns desk.
BOOK 2 ~ And I'm challenging myself to work on clearing out my old TBR shelf this year, so I'm going to read the dustiest "fits the prompt" book on my TBR shelf as well.

~ � ~

BOOK 1
The Night Tiger by Yangsze Choo
Read ~ 2.27.24
Pages ~ 372
Fits Task ~ Added to TBR in 2022

Review ~ ★★★★
I wasn't sure about this one when I started it. The print was small and it was a bit of a struggle to get into the story, but around chapter 9 things just "clicked" and I realized that this was going to be a GOOD book. Bit of mystery, bit of romance, bit of historical fiction, bit of suspense, and a bit of magical realism. They never did find the tiger, so the author left that bit hanging, but I think that in the case of this story, that was a good call on her part. Was there EVER a tiger?


~ � ~

BOOK 2
The Brave Cowboy: An Old Tale in a New Time by Edward Abbey
Read ~ 3.4.24
Pages ~ 352
Fits Task ~ Added to TBR in 2022

Review ~ ★★�
I'm not even sure why I put this book ON my TBR back in 2022. I'm sure it fit some kind of challenge task at some point, but while it was "ok" it wasn't great.

I read The Unbelieved by Vikki Petraitis. I added it to my TBR in December, 2022
(read 4th March; 4*)

I'm reading Stand on Zanzibar for this topic. I'm not even sure how it got to be on my TBR. It was nominated/won for Hugo/Locus/Nebula - but I consider those entire lists to be TBR and never put them on the actual TBR since it seems like a given.

The book I chose for this prompt

short and sweet review: 5.0
I enjoyed this book. Single Black female hit home for me. BLACK MEN DESERVE TO GROW OLD!!!

I read The Housekeepers been on my list 13 months

I read Other Birds. It has been on my shelf since September 2022. 3 stars. I didn't like it as much as I thought I would.

I read Stand on Zanzibar for this topic. Not entirely sure when it went onto my TBR list, but I suspect that it was in 2016 or 2017.

I read the final book in the Shades of Magic series, A Conjuring of Light, by VE Schwab. The three books in the series were added to be Want To Read list on November 26, 2021.

Added to my TBR in Feb 2022 ...


� - 30Jan24
The Christie Affair � Nina de Gramont � 3.5***
On December 3, 1926, Agatha Christie drove away from her home after an argument with her husband. She would be missing for eleven days. This is a novel about marriage, about motherhood, about love, about grief, about how society punishes those who fail to follow the rules, about forgiveness and justice. De Gramont took the story in a direction I wasn’t expecting, and at first, I was unhappy, but eventually the two parallel stories merge in a fashion that fascinated me.
LINK to my full review

I read The Westing Game

I did read my original choice, Happiness but for another prompt, and couldn't get my second choice, Wordslut: A Feminist Guide to Taking Back the English Language from the library. So I read All About Love: New Visions.

There were some insightful and lovely things in the first book - the trouble is I don't remember them when I read them. I do better with insights in novel form.

Moving a book from another prompt, I also read Corruptible: Who Gets Power and How it Changes Us, a much lighter and more enjoyable read than I'd expected, with some fascinating details.

I have so many books I can use for this prompt but I think I will read Don Quixote! I’m reading it as buddy read in another GR group. It’s a book I’ve wanted to read forever but it is a daunting classic at over 900 pages. I hope I can stick with it!

Really finding this one difficult to do. Sorry but books on my TBR don’t stay there long

When I reviewed this prompt, I start scouting the bookshelf in my living room in search of a book that may have been sitting for a while. Lo and behold, I came across The Bancroft Strategy by Robert Ludlum, which has been sitting on my shelf since pre-pandemic. It's been so long that I don't remember when exactly I bought this book or where I bought it. IIt came from my favourite used bookstore down the way.) This being said, I can't believe I forgot it was there. Ludlum is one of my favourite authors.

When I started reading the book, a piece of paper fell out from between the pages. It was a boarding pass stub for a flight to Punta Cana. I assume the previous owner was using this as a bookmark and left it in the book when he dropped it off at the bookstore. I hope they had a nice trip (best time to travel down south is in February!).

I'm so happy that I dug this book out of my shelves. It was great reconnecting with Ludlum's world of international espionage and conspiracies.

My review here:
/review/show...

I just finished The Switch by Beth O'Leary last night. Been on my physical tbr since February 2022.