Jennifer at The Beauty of Eclecticism has a reading challenge that I decided I must join. Read Your Own Library Challenge is for all of us bibliophiles and bookstore addicts to whittle away at our piles of books we've collected, but never read.
That suddenly strikes me as such an odd thought. Why acquire a book if you don't plan to read it right away? That's what my husband would say anyway. And at one time in life, I would have agreed with it. But, somewhere in my early 20's, I got this crazy dream of owning my own bookstore, or even owning a B&N store. After that, I started my book collection in earnest.
My husband has tried over the years to whittle down my book piles, but I always make up for his decluttering whenever I visit a bookfair or library booksale. Dear old Borders also fed my book-buying addiction for awhile with their amazing clearance sections. I could easily come home with 5 or 6 books at a time.
But do I ever get around to reading these books that continue to pile up on my shelves? Sadly, not really. As a busy mom of 4 kids, it's hard to even find time to get the dishes done, let alone read all my lovely books. Sometimes I'm fortunate to read one book a month, usually my local book club's monthly selection. Then there are times when I get through 6-7 books a month, which is amazing, but then they always seem to be library books or books I'm borrowing from a friend.
And don't even get me started on my 500+ "to-be-read" list, or the hundreds of the free e-books I've downloaded in the last year!
So - here I go on this challenge. I have chosen Blessings by Anna Quindlen. I chose it mainly because it's one of the thinner titles on my shelf, and I've got 3 other books I need to finish by the end of the month. I got this book at a library booksale several years ago. As part of the challenge level of Sinking Fast, I cannot buy any more books until I finish this one. I would go with the Biblio Rehab level, but I have to be able to take my kids to the library every week or so, or they get quite upset.
Now, time to get reading!
Bean! Welcome to the challenge! So happy to have you along. I hope you enjoy it. Can't wait to read your review next month!
ReplyDeleteJNCL
I'm participating at the Biblio Rehab level, and I added another condition for myself: any books I buy, I have to read right away (or next, if I buy more than one at a time). That way, in theory, my tbr pile will never get any bigger, at least.
ReplyDeleteOf course, if I do this and read 1 book from my pile a month, I'll be in my 70s by the time I'm done, so I need to aim still higher, but this is a good basic rule I think.
New follower here!