The Top Ten Books on My TBR Pile

This is a meme from The Broke and the Bookish that looked really neat - and given my TBR pile, fairly appropriate.

The idea for this meme is to list the top ten books that you have, but haven't read yet. For me, maybe this is the kick I need to actually get one or more of them off the shelf and read.

1. The Forest Laird by Jack Whyte
   The first book in his series about William Wallace. I've read and enjoyed a number of Jack Whyte's other books and series, such as The Skystone, the first book in his Roman Britain series.
2. A Breath of Snow And Ashes by Diana Gabaldon
   Book six in the Outlander series, the sequel to The Fiery Cross. I've had this one on the shelves since it first came out (in hardcover). As much as I enjoy these books, at the same time, there's a real time commitment to reading one of them - two weeks or more per book. That's a period where there won't be other book reviews here, so I keep putting the book off, as well as the sequel An Echo In The Bone.
3. The Annotated Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien. Edited by Douglas A. Anderson
   This is one I really have to get to. I've started it several times, but never actually finished. The two column layout is wonderful, the way that all the possible sources are given, as well as excerpts from Tolkien's letters, and all of the different variants of the text that there are. I'm actually slightly ashamed to admit it, but I've had this book for probably at least five years, maybe ten or so now.
4. Stray by Rachel Vincent
   Enough people have recommended this one to me that I ended up buying it for my Kobo last year. I really should get to reading it.
5. Dreams of Joy by Lisa See
   There is actually something of a genuine stumbling block for reading this book, though I should probably do something about it given the way Snow Flower and the Secret Fan has become one of my favourite reads. Basically, I don't have Shanghai Girls yet, and Dreams of Joy is the sequel.
6. The People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks
   Another one of those books that everyone says I should read.
7. The Axe and the Oath by Robert Fossier
   Non fiction about the Middle Ages. Will have to wait until I'm finished reading the history of the Church in the Middle Ages, but this is definitely one that I want to get to soon!
8. The Midwife of Venice by Roberta Rich
   Another book I've heard a lot of good things about. I was given this copy by a co-worker who got it at a publisher event.
9. Making a Living in the Middle Ages by Christopher Dyer
   Another non-fiction book on the Middle Ages. These are the kind of book that I will only read one at a time though, as I like to be taking notes as I read them. Part of the reason I read these so slowly too.
10. The Art of Medieval Hunting by John Cummins
    Was recommended to me by a friend, and I really had to hunt to find this book. Now I just need to read it.

In making out this list, I was somewhat surprised at what I found - most of these books are books that I really have to be in the right mood to tackle. Maybe that's part of the reason they've stayed on my TBR list so long.