Clear-off-Your-Shelves Challenge
Last September I committed to reading books I already own in the Clear-off-Your-Shelves Challenge. I didn’t include re-reads, which would have padded my list in a lovely way. Recent purchases also didn’t make the cut. All books had to have been sitting on my shelf for at least six months to be considered challenge material.
Out of all the books I’ve read this last year, guess how many qualified?
Five.
Here they are:
Zel – Donna Jo Napoli
Cordelia Underwood – Van Reid
Bury Me Standing: The Gypsies and Their Journey – Isabel Fonseca
The Sign of the Beaver – Elizabeth George Speare
The Shadow of the Wind – Carlos Ruiz Zafon
Sad, isn’t it? Though the official challenge is long over (it actually ended sometime last fall), I solemnly swear I will continue reading through the books I already own.
Are you with me? I’d love to hear what books are languishing on your shelves.
umm, yeah, I have way too many books waiting to be read. I keep telling myself “One of these days….”
I recently moved all those books (or most) onto a separate too-be-read shelf. And I’m going in! :)
Actually, not too many. I have stacks by my bed though. Most of them I’ve read. I just don’t have room in my house to collect books. I’ll give them away or donate them to my library.
Oh, it will take me forever to get through all the books languishing on my shelves. I need to buy new books, to keep up with the great new releases, to rescue them from thrift stores, to collect for my kids… But I have fun trying to get through them and I love knowing they are there. :-)
Isn’t that a bummer? I’ve not been doing that challenge but a quick look at my last year’s GoodReads list shows I’ve read about 7 that I owned for at least 6 months prior to reading. Sad. I’m never going to make much of a dent in my shelves at this rate!
I am ridiculously bad at reading what I already own. I have a habit of going to the library even though I have 40+ books that I haven’t read yet.
When I just packed all my books for my move, I realized I had 3 full boxes of books I have yet to read. o.O Doubt I’ll ever get to most of them, sadly.
I’ve got ridiculous stacks of books that need to be read. So why do I keep buying more? It’s a sickness. Really.
Yes, I have a few of those. Some are books in series I have started that I haven’t felt motivated to finish. I’m finally reading Going Bovine, by Libba Bray and wondering why it took me so long to pick it up.
Twice a year we have a library books sale and I buy boxes full of books. My shelves are crowded with books I haven’t read. But I also keep buying more.
There are always a few of those books sitting around waiting for me :) I’ll have to read a few more!
My books-to-be-read pile, like the laundry, is always with me. I try to make my peace with their ever-growing nature by telling myself that a clean house and empty bookshelf means I haven’t been doing enough writing :)
i am trying to do that too but i just love wandering around bookstores and then once you start wandering you find something you really want to read and then…
I am happy that on my cyber shelves (Kindle) I have a couple of novels for the INSPY awards. I’m judging for the historical category, and so I have an excuse to do some reading even in the middle of my edits and revisions.