Tackling the Pile of Shame: A Reading Challenge

keithy23's profile picture keithy23 Host

19 participants (144 books)

01 Jan 2025—31 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
The Shadow of the Gods by John Gwynne

The Bloodsworn Saga #1

The Shadow of the Gods

John Gwynne

480 pages • 2021 • 42 editions

fiction fantasy adventurous dark tense medium-paced
Murder Your Employer: The McMasters Guide to Homicide by Rupert Holmes

Murder Your Employer: The McMasters Guide to Homicide

Rupert Holmes

388 pages • 2023 • 35 editions

fiction mystery thriller dark funny mysterious medium-paced
All About Love: New Visions by bell hooks

Love Trilogy #1

All About Love: New Visions

bell hooks

238 pages • 1999 • 68 editions

nonfiction essays feminism gender psychology religion informative inspiring reflective medium-paced
Don't Look Now by Daphne du Maurier

Don't Look Now

Daphne du Maurier

359 pages • 1971 • 43 editions

fiction classics horror short stories dark mysterious medium-paced
What We Talk about When We Talk about Love by Raymond Carver

What We Talk about When We Talk about Love

Raymond Carver

159 pages • 1981 • 56 editions

fiction classics literary short stories dark emotional reflective medium-paced
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Díaz

The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao

Junot Díaz

339 pages • 2007 • 87 editions

fiction contemporary literary emotional sad medium-paced
The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat and Other Clinical Tales by Oliver Sacks

The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat and Other Clinical Tales

Oliver Sacks

250 pages • 1985 • 142 editions

nonfiction psychology science reflective slow-paced
The Woman Who Stole Vermeer: The True Story of Rose Dugdale and the Russborough House Art Heist by Anthony M. Amore

The Woman Who Stole Vermeer: The True Story of Rose Dugdale and the Russborough House Art Heist

Anthony M. Amore

272 pages • 2020 • 4 editions

nonfiction true crime informative inspiring slow-paced
The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah

The Nightingale

Kristin Hannah

440 pages • 2015 • 139 editions

fiction historical emotional inspiring sad medium-paced
Less by Andrew Sean Greer

Arthur Less #1

Less

Andrew Sean Greer

263 pages • 2017 • 55 editions

fiction contemporary lgbtqia+ literary funny reflective medium-paced