My 'to be read' pile in August 2026

It's been ages since I last posted my 'to be read' pile, so I thought that I would do a quick update, and share a bit about how each book has ended up there! 

This is what the shelf looked like in February - My February 'to be read' books - and it now looks quite different. 

There is only one book still on the shelf - Into the Silence by Wade Davis. I must admit that this book has been there for a while because it's quite hard going. It's a history of the very earliest Everest expeditions, but also looks at some of the motivation in that era behind the drive to climb and explore. I've read the first part and it's an enjoyable read but there is a lot of information to take in. I think that I need to attack it with some post-its and break it down a bit because I really do want to read it.

Testament of Youth by Vera Brittain is a book which I've read many times. It's actually a trilogy of three books detailing the memoirs of a young woman who was just twenty when World War I was declared. It upended her life completely, and it is an account of how she survived those years, despite devastating losses. Something else that I was reading inspired me to move it from my bookshelf so that I was reminded to read it again when I have the chance.

Powers of Persuasion by Winston Fletcher was an impulse second-hand purchase after I read a news article about expensive and memorable advertising campaigns. It looks really good, and it's a subject that I want to learn more about. London's Lost Rivers by Paul Talling was a similar impulse purchase. I love finding a book that I'm after for a reasonable second-hand price! It's about the hidden rivers of London that have been covered up and relegated to tunnels under the city, I find it fascinating. I've flipped through it but I want to give it a proper read.

Photo credit Daniela Muntyan via Unsplash

The other books are all charity shop purchases that I've picked up over the last few weeks. Three of them I've actually already read, but I spotted them and fancied a re-read - The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins, 100 Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez and Why Men Don't Listen and Women Can't Read Maps by Allan and Barbara Pease. There are a couple of travel books in there for when I fancy some non-fiction - Himalaya by Michael Palin and The 8.55 to Baghdad by Andrew Eames. 

Then finally a couple of vintage books which I couldn't resist because I loved the covers. I'm not sure that I'll be getting through Paradise Lost by John Milton any time soon, but it's such a beautiful copy. I'll have more luck with Tales of Mystery and Imagination by Edgar Allan Poe, in fact I've already read the first few short stories. 

There's my Kindle too of course, I loaded up with books from the Prime Reading library before we went on holiday this summer and then hardly had time to do any reading so there's plenty to keep me busy there. But I think it's a very manageable pile, and I'm looking forward to working through it!

Would you be interested in reading any of these books?

A look at my current "to be read" pile - February 2026

I feel as though it hasn't been that long since I last shared my to be read pile, but it has changed so much that I thought I would share an update!

It is certainly very manageable, even including the hidden downloaded books that I have on my Kindle.

The book that is causing me trouble is The Rose Field by Philip Pullman, the third book in the Book of Dust trilogy which forms a prequel and two sequels to the His Dark Materials trilogy. I loved La Belle Sauvage, the first in the trilogy, but I'm afraid that I found the second one a bit of a slog and I'm not enjoying the third at all. However I want to read it for completeness sake, as I do love the universe in which they are set and I want to know what happens. It's such a shame because I really enjoy the Dark Materials books, I'm hoping will pick up a bit by the end!

A weighty tome which I am looking forward to getting stuck into is IQ84 by Haruki Murakami. I've read and enjoyed a number of Murakami's books, I love the randomness of the stories, and I always enjoy Japanese books. I bought this one as it's set in Tokyo, and I'm planning to read it before we visit this summer. It is a lot larger than I expected, as it's three volumes in one book, so I know that it's going to be one that keeps me busy for a while.

Then I have The Safekeep by Yael van der Wouden. This is a bit of a wildcard entry - I had a book voucher to spend in Waterstones, I spotted a book that I wanted to buy (The Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt) on the "buy one get one half price" table, and I needed to find a second for the offer. This book jumped out at me, it had a little card with a personal recommendation on it as well as having been shortlisted for the Booker Prize and winner of the Women's Prize for Fiction. I hope that I enjoy it!

Between a Rock and a Hard Place by Aron Ralston came up while I was googling Everest books, and it made up my free book on a recent World of Books order. It's not about Everest but it does involve climbing - it's about the man who became trapped while climbing in Utah and had to amputate his own arm to free himself. I've seen the film based on the book (127 Hours), so I'm familiar with the story, and the children have both studied an extract from the book as part of their English GCSE anthology which brought the story back into my mind. I just hope that it's not too gory!

Then I have the next collection of Everest books, my current interest. Everest by Walt Unsworth is an account of Everest climbing attempts from the very beginning up until I believe around the late 1970s. Into the Silence by Wade Davis is a look at the early Everest expeditions, and High Adventure by Sir Edmund Hillary is the story of the first ascent and the work that got them there. Most of my Everest reading so far has focussed on the more recent history, so I'm looking forward to learning more about the historical climbing attempts.

Finally there's my Kindle. I rarely buy a Kindle book, so these are all ones that I've downloaded for free. There are three books borrowed from the Amazon Prime Reading Library - The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck by Mark Manson, The Story Collector by Evie Woods and the first Bridgerton book The Duke and I by Julia Quinn. 

I also have David Copperfield by Charles Dickens, inspired by my recent read of Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver. Finally two recent books which I think come from Amazon First Reads - Follow Her by Anna Stothard and Her Beautiful Life by Brianna Labuskes.

I feel that I've got a really varied selection of books to read, some are quite long and detailed books and some are lighter reads. I have a mix of fiction and non-fiction, and they are all books that I'm very much looking forward to reading.

Have you read any of these? I'd love to hear your thoughts!

How I make sure to always have a book on the go

Lately I've been making a big effort to reduce my screen time, and one way to do this has been to replace social media and endless scrolling with reading. It's been amazing - I can feel that my attention span has increased, and in quiet moments I've been happily spending time with my own thoughts. 

In order to make sure that I'm not tempted to pick up the phone I've been coming up with ways that I can make sure I always have a book one the go - something that I really want to read and which is always accessible.

I'm usually reading several books at the same time. I have a non-fiction book which requires more thought, a Kindle book which I've generally acquired for free at some point and can be a bit of a gamble. Finally I have a physical book which is usually one that I've bought myself or have borrowed, and it's one that I really want to read.

• My current non-fiction read - Enshittification by Cory Doctorow. Fascinating book which really makes you realise just how rubbish the technology that we use daily has become over time. 
• My current Kindle read - The Warbler by Sarah Beth Durst. This must have been an Amazon First Read, and so far it's one of the better ones!
• My current physical book read - The Impossible Fortune by Richard Osman. This new book was a gift - I love this Thursday Murder Club series. 

I have regular slots in my day that I can dedicate to reading. I eat over lunch as I'm generally on my own, and sometimes at dinner too if everyone else is busy. I arrive at school early for pick up and read in the car, and I always read in bed before I go to sleep. Reading regularly means that I never lose track of where I'm up to, and I'm keen to see what happens next.

Photo credit Christin Hume via Unsplash

I have an exciting to be read pile by the bed. I prioritise books that I've borrowed, and as I come to the end of a book I always know which read is going to be next! It's very rare that I run out of books because I seem to just acquire them - I have a friend that lends me lots of books, I shop in charity shops,  I have them on my wish list for birthday and Christmas, I keep an eye on Amazon for free books, and I have a large library of my own with books that I love to re-read. I very rarely need to visit the public library!

I take a book, usually my Kindle, with me whenever I go anywhere that might involve waiting - appointments, trips on public transport, even anywhere that I might be waiting to pick someone up in the car.

I don't force it with books that I'm not enjoying. There are too many more that I want to read! So I'm never slogging away trying to finish an uninspiring read.

I don't worry about what I'm reading - whether it's intellectual enough, or what other people might think. I keep track of the books that I've read for my own interest, I don't set myself reading goals like a certain number of books in a year. I never understand challenges which say to read ten pages a day or whatever - do you just stop reading at the end of ten pages? Mid-sentence?!

If you are reading a good book at the moment I'd love to hear about it - I'm always looking for reading inspiration!

Looking at my current to be read pile

A few months ago I shared a photo of my to be read pile, and with my summer reading to plan I thought I'd give an update. 

Here's what the to be read shelf on my bedside table looked like in March:

And here is how it is looking now:

I think the first thing to notice is that two large books are still very much present and correct - Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson and War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy. They are among six books on the shelf that have a bookmark in but are not finished. I think that it may be time to be realistic and admit defeat on these two, or at least transfer them to a different location. They take up a lot of space and are not likely to be read in the near future. 

But I do definitely want to read the others! There are a couple of Haruki Murakami books which won't take long to read and then there is some non-fiction which I've picked up in charity shops and a couple of older local history books which were my Dad's. 

The reason that I need to make some space is that I have been kindly lent another lovely pile of books from a friend that I am very much looking forward to reading. I would much rather have these ones stacked up by the bed! They all look so good that I can't even decide which one to start with.

Then there is my Kindle which is filled with unread books, at least twenty, that I've downloaded as free Amazon First Reads, from the Amazon Prime library or just as free Kindle books that I spotted. They are easy to forget about because they aren't as visible, but I know that there are some good ones there that I want to get to. There are even a few books on my Amazon wish list which perhaps don't really count because I haven't actually bought them yet, but they are still lurking in the background calling 'read me! read me!'

Hopefully I can make some time over the summer and get caught up a bit!

A look at my current To Be Read pile...

I've been reading quite a lot recently, but I've also developed a slight shopping addiction when it comes to buying books. I rarely buy a new book, but I do find it difficult to pass a charity shop without adding some bargains to my stash and I seem to have had a few shopping opportunities recently.

I thought I'd share a little look at my current To Be Read pile, to try and motivate myself to carry on working my way through it! The pile is stored next to my bed as that is where I do a lot of my reading. Most of the books are from charity shops, although a couple are new ones that I've received as gifts.

Three of them are books which I have previously borrowed, read and enjoyed, and I wanted to own my own copy to read before I add them to my shelf. They are All The Light We Cannon See by Anthony Doerr, The Paper Palace by Miranda Cowley Heller and Ladder of Years by Anne Tyler. These will be easy to get through because I know that I really like them!

Two of them are books which I have started and have become stuck on as they were just not grabbing me. They are Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson, which I would like to finish, and War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy which I decided I wanted to read just to say that I had and am not regretting. They do take up a lot of space and make me feel guilty when I see them, so maybe I just need to admit defeat and pass them on.

There are also two other books that are in progress - Showstopper by Peter Lovesey isn't my usual sort of book but I've borrowed it and want to read it. The Pillow Book by Sei Shonagon I've been reading for ages, I just dip in and out of it.

The Forsyte Saga by John Galsworthy is an old edition which was my Grandma's. There are two by Haruki Murakami - What I Talk About When I Talk About Running and Men Without Women which I'm looking forward to reading. My Father's House by Joseph O'Conner I picked up because I really enjoyed Star of The Sea. 

There are a few non-fiction - How to Speak Whale by Tom Mustill which I bought for my son, then The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat by Oliver Sacks and The Magic of Reality by Richard Dawkins. All of these require a little more concentration to get through!

Finally, hidden in plain sight at the very top of the pile you will spot my Kindle in it's flowery case. I try not to think about all the unread books that are in there. Every month I get at least one book from the Kindle First Reads selection and I also have a selection from Amazon Prime Reading as well as the free ones that I download occasionally. There are currently 25 books in my unread books collection...I wouldn't have the room for all of them as physical books! 

A couple of years ago I wrote a blog post full of tips on working through the pile of unread books - How to conquer your To Be Read pile - which I think has some really helpful advice which I'm definitely going to be re-visiting!