Kathy has it exactly right, I'd have five different lists depending on the situation :)

The three most likely to actually be read next would be:

Dead Wake -- Erik Larson

Newt's Emerald -- Garth Nix

Humans of New York: Stories - Brandon Stanton

But please don't hold me to it!

(Kathy, I really enjoyed Mr. Penumbra and if you like it, there's a prequel short story ebook titled Ajax Penumbra 1969 that further enhances the story.)

I have 2 borrowed books that I've had way too long, so I really need to read those and return them: Pylon, William Faulkner & Lords of the Middle Dark, Jack Chalker. Then 2 books that have been sitting on my bedside table for months with bookmarks about 1 chapter in on both of them: Maddaddam, Margaret Atwood, and Statistics Done Wrong, Alex Reinhart. Maybe I can use this snowstorm to make a dent in them.

(I know that was 4, not 3!)

LOL....okay, as a retired teacher and someone who was supposedly schooled in how to create unambiguous test questions, I see I've lost my touch ! !

But, my thought was that you would list the three which you are most interested in reading next :0)

I have four, too, due back at the library on February 6. One I just barely started, The Love Song of Miss Queenie Hennesey. The others are The Dust that Falls from Dreams, Louis Debernieres; Keep the Home Fires Burning, War at Home 1915, Cynthia Harrod-Eagles; and The Whispering City, Sara Moliner.

Before I get anymore library books, I have the new books by James Lee Burke and Elizabeth George to read, as well as half a dozen or so mysteries that my daughter has been reading and then bringing to me that she is getting from a super cheap second-hand book store near where she works.

Let it snow.

Yvonne - Thank you. I was not aware of Ajax Penumbra 1969. Do you recommend reading it before or after Mr. Penumbra?

When naming my 3 preferred TBRs, I did not take into account the two Christmas-gift books I need to read in the near future. Waiting too long somehow implies a lack of interest, I think, and I would not want to offend either of these gift givers. However, when you give someone a 700 page book named Albert Einstein: His Life and Universe, what can you expect? I believe the book might appeal more if the author had left out "universe."

Kathy, that is a daunting title!

Yoyobon, unambiguous test questions are no fun! LOL

I tend to read things as they strike my fancy. I have two in the nightstand that I picked up from the library sale shelf one time when I took my mom. I can't even recall the titles right now. :)

I do have three on my re-read list:

The Nonesuch Lure - Mary Luke

And the Sea Will Tell - Vincent Bugliosi (thanks to Frieda!)

Helter Skelter - also by Bugliosi

Donna

Kathy, even though Ajax Penumbra 1969 is set in time prior to Mr. Penumbra, it should be read after the main book -- there are definitely some spoilers. Enjoy!

Thanks, Sheri!

I have five:

"A Year in the World" - Frances Mayes

"Love & Hatred: the Stormy Marriage of Leo and Sonya Tolstoy" by Wm. Shirer

"A Cat Abroad" by Peter Gethers

"A Writer's Britain" - Margaret Drabble

Lastly: a biography of Isak Dinesen

Waiting to be read are:

The Shepherds Life: A tale of the Lake District - James Rebanks

received for Christmas . . . a book that has been a surprise success over here.

A Foreign Field - Ben MacIntyre

about WW1

Paris Letters - Janice MacLeod

Recommended by Sheri, so got a very reasonably priced new copy via Amazon

Dozens more possibles dotted around the house, but these three are actually on a bedside pile.

Hmmm...

Well, I'm in the middle of War and Peace, book 6. There are fifteen books in W&P. So I guess Books 7/8/9 are next on my TBR list.

But that's cheating. So, after War and Peace (which I'm reading to help me with the BBC dramatization, and which I am thoroughly enjoying), I'm going to read Knowledge of Angels, by Jill Paton Walsh. Someone on here reckoned it was wonderful - and the first chapter is amazing. So that's next on my list. Beyond that? Not sure - perhaps a re-read of Anna Karenina.

I have Janet Evanovich's "Top Secret 21" that has been sitting around for so long that the 22nd book in the series is now published. I just can't get around to reading it. I even took it on holiday with me and came back with it still unread.

I think I am a bit "over" this series, perhaps. However, I did pick up Sue Grafton's "X" on that trip and read that on the plane instead. Another series that is nearing the end but still enjoyable mostly.

I don't have TBR piles these days as I mainly borrow library books and read them quickly but I do keep lists of books I want to read eventually, mainly taken from the Stopyourkillingme newsletters.

I just realized that I have about 30 books on my combined Amazon wish lists. Good grief, that is probably my virtual TBR pile!

I suppose 2 of my top 3 would have to be the book club books that I need to finish before the last week of the month. They would be The Japanese Lover by Isabel Allende and Sherwood Nation by Benjamin Parzybok. Neither one is catching my attention so I'll probably read Something Else first. But what? That is the question.

Let me add four more TBR: How could I have forgotten "Call the Midwife"! I have, as well, "Smilla's Sense of Snow", unread, and a memoir by Tom Brokaw. This week also, I was sent two books I've not ever read: "Molokai" and "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks." Has anyone here read the last two? What did you think?

I confess, my first thought was. "my top three TBR piles?" I have TBR concealed throughout the house.

As far as actual titles, I will have to scrounge around to find out which ones currently strike my fancy.

PAM

Funny, PAM!

Mary, I have read both those books. I really liked Molokai, by the author of Honolulu which I also liked. A friend who reads a lot of non-fiction brought me Immortal Life of HL because she found it so interesting. I did, too, but I just can't get absorbed in non-fiction the way I like to do with a book. Pure escapism does it for me, I'm afraid.

Molokai deals with the leprosy colony on that island. If you read Hawaii, you will remember Michener's section on that.

I've read both Molokai and The Immortal life of Henrietta Lacks, each of which I personally found fascinating. I do like to alternate fiction with non-fiction in a ratio of 1 to 10 or so, as I find it refreshing to "stretch" my mind a bit after wallowing in chick lit, fantasy, mysteries, etc. I'm nothing if not eclectic in my reading choices, lol.

I've also read both Moloka'i and The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks and thought both were excellent. Moloka'i was a book group choice and I was initially reluctant to read it, but once I started I couldn't put it down.

Just out of curiosity, I checked this thread to see whether I had read any of my so-called top three TBRs, a claim I made last January. It surprised me to find that I happen to be reading one of them at the moment - Fatal Grace by Louise Penny - quite by chance, and only because I had an "empty week" to fill with a quick read before I start my next book club selection. I have not made any effort to get around to the other two. How are the rest of you doing with your TBRs from January?

None yet for me, though I have The Nonesuch Lure in my nightstand just waiting for the right time. :) I'm bugging DH to go on a cruise in the fall and it would be a great cruise read.

Donna

If anyone enjoys a fun light read in between try "Texas Blue" by Jodi Thomas.

vee_new ... Are you enjoying "The Shepherd's Life" which I felt we a real touch of an amazing life we'll never know.

Top three of TBR are Lives in Ruins", "The Boys in the Boat", and "White Sky Black Ice" among many others.

I read 4 out of the 5 I posted here. The only one I did not yet read is "A Writer's Britain" by Margaret Drabble. But that's because I'd placed it under my class notes at the bottom of a pile, inadvertently, so I keep forgetting it is there.

pink. I finished The Shepherd's Life a while ago and did enjoy it. I would have liked to know how a boy who had little time or inclination for school managed to get to Oxford University and what subject he studied when there . . . even if he did go back home to help on the farm as often as he could.

Revisiting my list, I've read two out of three ... still haven't gotten to Dead Wake yet.

Not in my top three but mentioned, I am just now finishing Elizabeth George's A Banquet of Consequences. I am enjoying it immensely and spending way too much time reading it.

Currently the top two are the ones I need to read right away for my two book clubs. One is A Short History of Tractors in Ukranian, supposedly humorous but so far I am finding it sad. The other is A White Wind Blew which I hope to like, since I will be meeting the author next month.

Of course what I am actually reading is something I picked up from the library instead.

This week I made the effort to actually get to the remaining two of my TBR top three. Here are the results:

The Story of My Teeth by Valeria Luisel - Tried it, didn't like it at all, returned it to the library.

Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Book Store by Robin Sloan - Reading it now and liking it very much. I must have a thing for bookstore books (Fikry & Penumbra so far).