I don’t know about you, but for me 2024 has been absolutely unhinged as far as collecting new books. This was the year of the preorder for me, and I’ve become addicted to getting book mail every.single.week.
I’ve read a lot of them (I give myself credit for that), but the rate at which I’ve been buying new books vs. the amount of them I’ve been reading is, frankly, unsustainable.
The problem is only exacerbated by the fact I started arc reading on netgalley this year, and I always have books cycling through the libby app (where you can check out books from your local library). Reading those free books only sets me back further from reading the ones I already have.
All of that is well and good, but I buy books because I’m so excited to read them! It makes me sad to see them sitting on my shelf, waiting for me to make time for them. I have this desperate burning feeling in my soul to get them read, to show them love, to add them to my reading journal. I want to have read them, and you can’t get there without turning pages!
And then there are those that I don’t see regularly, because they’re on digital shelves. I don’t even want to talk about how many ebooks and audiobooks I have purchased that are still unread (but I absolutely will in just a sec). There are so many great sales I have taken advantage of over the years, stuffing my shelves like a dragon hoarding gold.
It’s out of control.
But I have a plan to change that!
…uh, read them.
It’s really that simple, isn’t it? But it’s not as much fun as putting together a little challenge for myself.
So! The first thing I’ve done is write aaaall of them down. Here is where things stand right now (this includes all books I currently have preordered).
[As a disclaimer, please know that I’ve been a reader all my life and am in my mid-thirties. I’ve had lots of adult years to be collecting books. This situation did not happen overnight, nor are these only the books I’ve purchased this year. Some of these books have been on my shelves for a decade. Let’s keep this a judgment-free zone please!]
So, what’s the damage?
- Physical Books:: 159 (+54 Classics)
- Ebooks:: 85
- Audiobooks:: 145
That’s a total of 443 books.
Now, a few notes of how I’ve counted them…there are some duplicates. Some, especially classics, I own multiple copies of. I’ve only counted them under the classics category once, but I might also own an ebook or audiobook of the title, which are counted in those categories. If I own a compilation, for example the complete works of Jane Austen, I would count it as one in audiobook format, but each story separately in physical format (this makes sense to me because I’m going to listen to an audiobook front to back, but will pick and choose in a physical book). Technically I’ve included a few books that I’ve read but it’s been a reeeeeally long time (having only a vague recollection of what they’re even about) and I want to read them again. There are probably less than 20 of those altogether.
Anyway, I’ve got quite the project ahead of me!
Beyond focusing on busting through the list, I’m not imposing any further rules on myself…yet. If I need to, I’m not opposed to getting strict with my buying habits and setting a rule something along the lines of ‘read 5 books from the list, buy 1 book’, or a book buying ban in general for awhile.
And I’m beginning NOW. Carpe Diem! There’s no day like today!
It’s always tempting to push off something like this to a ‘pretty’ date, like January 1st, or even October 1st, but to hell with that. I’m not going to put anything off for an arbitrary reason that matters to no one, least of all me.
So wish me luck! I know I’m not the only reader with far too many unread books on their shelves. Do you have a system to manage your TBRs? If so, share your secrets and wisdom with the rest of the class!
If you are doing (or what to do) a similar challenge yourself, please let me know! You can tag me on instagram or threads @thelitertarian, or leave comments here, of course! I’d also love to be your friend on goodreads, where I primarily track my books publicly. Here’s my profile:: Emily (The Litertarian) (emmaleighbug) (1,203 books) | Goodreads
Happy Reading!
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