The Best Books Club: Reading from the “To Be Read” Pile

Instead of selecting a specific book for this month, I invited readers in the June issue of The Best Years to read a book that has been on their To Be Read (TBR) pile the longest. I suggested that anyone who belongs to that rare breed of people who read a book fairly soon after acquisition should read a book they’ve “always” wanted or intended to read, instead.

My own selection, “In His Own Steps” by Charles Monroe Sheldon, was the very first ebook I downloaded, back in October 2013. Like a kid in a candy shop, I had downloaded every free and inexpensive book I could find that looked appealing when I uploaded the Kindle app to my iPad, certain I would read every one of them in short fashion. That didn’t happen.

Now, more than nine years later, I was ready, excited even, to read the book that held the distinction of having resided the longest on my TBR pile. And doing so impacted me in several ways.

First, I was reminded again of the importance of not being so weighed down by stuff that special, impactful things are lost in the mix. When I began reading this month’s book, I owned 60+ physical books and a whopping 956 ebooks. The number of physical books wasn’t an issue for me.

But 956 ebooks?! I didn’t have the slightest clue what books I’d downloaded over the years. I’d never scrolled down the list to see if there was something I might want to read; instead, I downloaded new books. Reading my TBR selection made me wonder what other gems laid undiscovered. As a result, I’ve spent a couple of minutes every few days this past month scrolling through my electronic TBR pile, deleting books I have zero desire to read or that I’ve read and don’t want to keep, as well as tagging some books to be read sooner rather than later.

As I’ve often confessed, I enjoy purging things from time to time, but this book caused me to look beyond “stuff” that is readily visible. I’ve begun considering binned items that fit specific categories: vintage linens and quilts, kitchen stuff, craft supplies, etc. I unpacked treasured quilts made by my grandmother and now display them in my home, and I’m in the process of giving to family and friends items I know they will use or display. Both displaying or using items myself and knowing they’ll be used or displayed by others brings me joy.

This book also impacted my spiritual walk. From the first page, I was intrigued by how the premise of the book is not only still relevant in a general sense but in a very personal way. As I read, I pondered the characters, their thought processes, their decisions. I considered my own values and beliefs and how I do — or do not — live according to them. As a result, I’ve been rethinking more than a few things.

Stepping away from a specific book selection this month resulted in far more than the one expected result of checking off a book that had been on my TBR pile the longest. Instead, it impacted me in a variety of ways totally unrelated to reading in general or to the book specifically.

And that, in my humble opinion, is what reading does!

__Questions we’ll discuss when we meet at our Facebook Live chat on Tuesday, July 11, at 4:30 p.m. include:__

1. What do you think is the primary reason you have put off reading the book you chose from your “To Be Read” pile?

2. How did finally reading this book make you feel?

3. What was your reaction to the book itself? Did it live up to

your expectations?

4. Did reading this book serve as the impetus to do something else? For example, did reading it energize you to finish some task you’ve delayed completing or possibly even starting?

5. For you, what elevates a “good” book to a “best” book?

__Up Next__

Our next selection takes us to the summer of 1972. Teenager Billy Tupper has run afoul of the law one too many times, so instead of spending time with his friends — days at the lake and evenings at the local drive-in restaurant — he’s working all summer for crotchety Old Lady Baxter, a rumored child-murderer.

With strong recommendations from a couple of reader-friends and an intriguing Amazon blurb, I’m looking forward to reading our July selection, “I Know an Old Lady,” by Margaret Standafer. Join in the conversation on Facebook, as well. Look for us at “The Best Books Club!”