Having moved this past year, I am incredibly aware of the sheer volume of books I own (as are the friends who helped me move). I can’t say I regret owning as many books as I do, because, well, I don’t. But I do find myself somewhat ashamed of the number of books that I own that I just haven’t read. Some are gifts, some are book sale finds, some are, “hey I’m cleaning off my book case and thought you would be interested.” I need to give these books a chance. And this year, thanks to the TBR Pile Challenge hosted by the Roof Beam Reader, 12 will get the chance to be read.

The goal is pretty simple: read twelve (12) books from your TBR pile in 2014. That’s one a month, and feels pretty manageable to me. If you are interested in taking the challenge yourself, click on the link above for the complete details.

My 2014 TBR Pile Challenge List:

1. Running the Race: Eric Liddell Olympic Champion and Missionary by John W. Keddie (2007)

2. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald (1925)

3. The Curate’s Awakening by George MacDonald (edited by Michael R. Phillips, 1985)

4. Till We Have Faces by C.S. Lewis (1956)

5. The Heart of Racial Justice: How Soul Change Leads to Social Change by Brenda Salter McNeil and Rick Richardson (2004)

6. The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith (1998)

7. Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen (2006)

8. A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court by Mark Twain (1889)

9. Reading Lolita in Tehran by Azar Nafisi (2003)

10. The Pilgrim’s Progress by John Bunyan (1820)

11. Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte (1847)

12. Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking by Susan Cain (2012)

I’m feeling bold and a little reckless, so I am not going to have alternates. I tried to pick a wide variety in a number of categories, and I did a bit of overlap with my Back to the Classics Challenge list in hoping for success on both challenges.