This week's challenge was to tell us about a book (or books) you have been meaning to read. What is it? How long have you wanted to read it? And, why haven't you read it yet?
Thirty-six geeks participated and there were lots of excuses explanations for the books gathering dust on TBR shelves or waiting patiently to be snatched up and read:
- Book Sexy admits to being "a compulsive book buyer" and lists The Nautical Chart by Arturo Pèrez-Reverte (current shelf life: 1 year, 1 month), The Lost City of Z: A Tale of Deadly Obsession in the Amazon by David Grann is a different kind of mystery story altogether (current shelf life: 4-6 months), and Mellon: An American Life by David Cannadine (current shelf life: 1 year, 5 months) as books that are calling out to be read.
- Elena from All Booked Up (a first time geeker - welcome!) writes: "I've got almost too many books to chose from to answer this question. Enough so that I've made a list of the books and posted it to try and prune it down." But she did pick one book which she's had since 2005 - Diana Gabaldon's Breath of Snow and Ashes. The delay in reading this book? She need's to re-read the sequel first!
- Deanna from Kitsch Slapped admits to a tendency to hoard. She writes: "I think sometimes my desire to own, the reality of time to read, and the love of books have given me a false sense of security when I buy books. It’s as if when I grab a book, clutch it to my bosom, and greedily pay for it, I loose all sense of reality… I cling to the fantasy of Someday." Deanna got a bit philosophical in her post and shares her world view: "If it doesn’t matter to me how much time has passed between when the book is written & when the book is read, how can it matter how much time passes between when you bought a book & when you read it?" I couldn't agree more!
- Trisha at Eclectic/Eccentric has put off reading The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco for over a year and a half (after having bought it for $7 "in a rather dirty, unorganized book/old junk shop"). After putting it aside a couple of times, she finally picked it up right before this week's Weekly Geeks challenge posted...and is happily cruising right through it. Awesome, Trisha!!!
- Missy at Missy's Book Nook tends to forget about books unless they are shelved directly in her line of sight and she doesn't have to bend down to get to them. This explains why Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood has been collecting dust on the bottom shelf of her bookcase for two years.