Tackling the Pile of Shame: A Reading Challenge

keithy23's profile picture keithy23 Host

19 participants (144 books)

01 Jan 202531 Dec 2025

Overview

Have you ever started a book, set it aside, and somehow never picked it back up? Maybe life got busy, the timing wasn’t right, or you just weren’t feeling it. We all have them—those books sitting in our “pile of shame*,” waiting for a second chance.

This year, I’m challenging myself (and anyone who wants to join!) to tackle those unfinished reads. The goal? To finally finish 10 books that I’ve softly DNF’d and give them the attention they deserve.

Whether you’ve got a handful of books you’ve paused on or an entire stack calling your name, this challenge is for anyone who wants to turn unfinished pages into completed stories. Let’s dust off those books and see where the journey takes us—because it’s never too late to finish what we started!

Are you ready to face your pile of shame? Let’s do this together!

*quoted by Emily Fox

Challenge Books

All books added

198 pages2019 53 editions

fiction lgbtqia+ romance science fiction adventurous emotional mysterious medium-paced

414 pages2021 69 editions

fiction fantasy historical lgbtqia+ adventurous dark tense medium-paced

32h 23m1871 369 editions

user-added

fiction classics historical literary challenging emotional reflective slow-paced

5h 37m1953 399 editions

fiction classics dystopian science fiction dark reflective tense medium-paced

14h 24m1976 183 editions

fiction fantasy horror dark mysterious reflective slow-paced

9h 35m2012 81 editions

fiction contemporary mystery adventurous funny mysterious medium-paced

277 pages2024 3 editions

user-added

fiction fantasy romance

951 pages2024 116 editions

user-added

fiction fantasy romance adventurous emotional tense medium-paced

8h 3m2022 7 editions

nonfiction economics challenging informative medium-paced

670 pages2024 77 editions

fiction fantasy romance adventurous dark emotional medium-paced