This post is part of a series on reading women 2019 hosted by Lonely Cryptid Media’s Narrative Designer, Dan Michael Fielding.

The list of books I want to read is, quite frankly, ridiculous.

It’s way too long for me to ever be able to read all of the books on it. (Especially because every few weeks I go add a dozen more books that strike my fancy.) At this point my to-read shelf is more of a shrine to the kind of person I would be if I had more time on my hands.

But just because I can’t read all of those books doesn’t mean I won’t read some of them.

For this leg of the reading women challenge the goal is to read a book that has been languishing in the “to be read” pile for a long, long time. This could be a book you added to your goodreads shelf a decade ago, or something you bought and put on your bookshelf at home to gather dust.

This challenge prompt will help fulfill a promise past-me made to future-me. I hope the challenge helps you as well!

I went through my goodreads shelf and there are number of books I added quite a few years ago that I would want to read now. Kindred by Octavia Butler, The Dream Years by Lisa Goldstein, China Mountain Zhang by Maureen F. McHugh, A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin, and Ain’t I a Woman: Black Women and Feminism by bell hooks all have prominent places early on in my to-read shelf.

What’s on your to-read shelf right now? Let us know in the comments and introduce us to more books to add to our own shelf!

I would be excited to read any of these books, but I decided to go with Ain’t I a Woman because I’ve been in a nonfiction mood, and because my library has a copy available! Being able to get access to a copy is a very important part of the reading process.

Reading just one of the books far, far back on my to-read shelf may not make much of a dent in the pile, but it’s still pleasing to be able to check of a very old to-do. I’m looking forward to this book by hooks as well.

What do you plan to read for this leg of the challenge?