Getting to Zero TBR

A Year In

Still reading, but buying way too many books

I admit it, I got overwhelmed, and then I avoided updating this. It’s a personal flaw, and I own it. BUT when I was updating my list of read/to be read books, I realized something disheartening: I am buying too many books. I’ve read 38 books since my last post that I had to add to the list, versus 34 books that were on my tbr that I can now take off. So that’s 38 more books I could have reduced my tbr number by, that I didn’t. Ugh!

The one good thing is that I have been doing really well this year in NOT reading books just for the Goodreads challenges. They were fun, but now there are just too many of them. So if I have a book already that is on one of the challenge lists, I will read it, but I won’t get a book from the library or buy something just for the challenge. As a completionist, it was hard for me to not tick every box, but I’ve just let it go, at least until I get my tbr taken care of.

Now, let’s catch up:

Week 31

H: The Story of Heathcliff’s Journey Back to Wuthering Heights by Lin Haire-Sargeant – Fiction: Not Worth It

Final rating: 2 stars

Hemingway vs Fitzgerald by Scott Donaldson – Biography: Worth It!

Final rating: 4 stars

The Peacekeeper by BL Blanchard – Mystery: Not Worth It

Final rating: 1 star

Week 32

Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf – Novel: Worth It!

Final rating: 4 stars

The Restoration Garden by Sara Blaydes – Historical Fiction: Not Worth It

Final rating: 3 stars

Week 33

A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms by George RR Martin – Fantasy: Worth It!

Final rating: 4 stars

The Siege by Arturo Perez Reverte – Historical Thriller: Worth It!

Final rating: 4 stars

Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie – Mystery: Worth It!

Final rating: 5 stars

The Kill Clause by Lisa Unger – Thriller: Not Worth It

Final rating: 3 stars

The Secret of Chimneys by Agatha Christie – Mystery: Worth It!

Final rating: 4 stars

Week 34

House of Glass by Sarah Pekkanen – Thriller: Not Worth It

Final rating: 3 stars

The Last Father-Daughter Dance by Lisa Wingate – Short Story: Worth It!

Final rating: 4 stars

French Conversation and Composition by Harry Vincent Wann – Language: Worth It!

Final rating: 5 stars

Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins – Dystopian Fiction: Worth It!

Final rating: 4 stars

Week 35

We Ate the Dark by Mallory Pearson – Horror: Not Worth It

Final rating: 2 stars

The Last Tycoon by F. Scott Fitzgerald – Novel: Worth It!

Final rating: 4 stars

The Heart of Everything by Marc Levy – Domestic Fiction: Worth It!

Final rating: 4 stars

Week 36

I Remember Nothing by Nora Ephron – Memoir: Worth It!

Final rating: 5 stars

Fountain’s Edge by Paul M. Salvatore – Fantasy: Worth It!

Final rating: 4 stars

Elizabethan Demonology by Thomas Alfred Spalding – Non-Fiction: Worth It!

Final rating: 4 stars

The Haunted Mansion by Lauren Clauss – Children’s: Worth It!

Final rating: 5 stars

Sacred Hoops by Phil Jackson – Memoir: Worth It!

Final rating: 4 stars

Harrington Street by Jerry Garcia – Memoir: Worth It!

Final rating: 4 stars

Week 37

The Beautiful and the Damned by F. Scott Fitzgerald – Novel: Worth It!

Final rating: 4 stars

A Charlie Brown Christmas by Charles M. Schultz – Children’s Holiday: Worth It!

Final rating: 4 stars

Week 38

Our Violent Ends by Chloe Gong – Historical Fantasy: Worth It!

Final rating: 4 stars

Death at the Chateau Bremont by ML Longworth – Mystery: Worth It!

Final rating: 4 stars

James Herriot’s Cat Stories by James Herriot – Memoir: Worth It!

Final rating: 5 stars

Week 39

A Crown for Elizabeth by Mary M. Luke – Biography: Worth It!

Final rating: 4 stars

Week 40

The Librarian of Burned Books by Brianna Labruskes – Historical Fiction: Not Worth It

Final rating: 3 stars

An Unwanted Guest by Shari Lapena – Thriller: Not Worth It

Final rating: 3 stars

Week 41

The Air Raid Book Club by Annie Lyons – Historical Fiction: Worth It!

Final rating: 4 stars

Land of Dreams by Gian Sardar – Historical Fiction: Worth It!

Final rating: 4 stars

The Invited by Jennifer McMahon – Horror: Not Worth It

Final rating: 3 stars

Week 42

People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks – Historical Fiction: Not Worth It

Final rating: 3.5 stars

Murder in Mesopotamia by Agatha Christie – Mystery: Worth It!

Final rating: 4 stars

New Watch by Sergei Lukyanenko – Fantasy: Worth It!

Final rating: 5 stars

Week 43

The Little Friend by Donna Tartt – Southern Gothic Mystery: Worth It!

Final rating: 4.5 stars

Book of Cats by Ursula K. Le Guin – Poetry: Worth It!

Final rating: 4 stars

Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo – Fantasy: Worth It!

Final rating: 4.5 stars

Murder in the Rue Dumas by ML Longworth – Mystery: Worth It!

Final rating: 4 stars

Hidden Pictures by Jason Rekulak – Thriller: Not Worth It

Final rating: 3 stars

Week 44

Complete Hypnotism by A. Alpheus – Non-Fiction: Worth It!

Final rating: 4 stars

Week 45

The World of Ice & Fire by George RR Martin – Fantasy: Worth It!

Final rating: 4 stars

The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley – Fantasy: Not Worth It

Final rating: 4 stars

Week 46

The Moving Finger by Agatha Christie – Mystery: Worth It!

Final rating: 4 stars

Sleeping Murder by Agatha Christie – Mystery: Not Worth It

Final rating: 3 stars

The Voynich Manuscript by Unknown – Non-Fiction: Worth It!

Final rating: 4 stars

A Murder is Announced by Agatha Christie – Mystery: Worth It!

Final rating: 4 stars

Week 47

Magpie Murders by Anthony Horowitz – Mystery: Worth It!

Final rating: 4 stars

The Murder at World’s End by Ross Montgomery – Mystery: Not Worth It

Final rating: 2 stars

Week 48

Love and Freindship by Jane Austen – Short Story: Worth It!

Final rating: 4 stars

Week 49

Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen – Novel: Worth It!

Final rating: 4 stars

Week 50

The Last Labyrinth by Gwendolyn Womack – Science Fiction: Not Worth It

Final rating: 2 stars

Sleepytown by Donna Tartt – Memoir: Worth It!

Final rating: 4 stars

The Price of Honey by Liane Moriarty – Science Fiction: Not Worth It

Final rating: 3 stars

Something Ends, Something Begins by Andrzej Sapkowski – Fantasy: Worth It!

Final rating: 4 stars

Leave It Up To Love by Kristy Woodson Harvey – Romance: Not Worth It

Final rating: 2 stars

Amelia Bedelia Goes Back to School by Herman Parish – Children’s: Worth It!

Final rating: 4 stars

Helping the Wright Brothers by Suzanne Tate – Children’s: Worth It!

Final rating: 4 stars

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen – Novel: Worth It!

Final rating: 5 stars

Week 51

Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen – Novel: Worth It!

Final rating: 4 stars

Week 52

Mansfield Park by Jane Austen – Novel: Worth It!

Final rating: 5 stars

The Atlas of Languages by Bernard Comrie – Non-Fiction: Not Worth It

Final rating: 3 stars

Week 53

Emma by Jane Austen – Novel: Worth It!

Final rating: 5 stars

Lift Me Up by Milly Johnson – Romance: Not Worth It

Final rating: 2 stars

Persuasion by Jane Austen – Novel: Worth It!

Final rating: 5 stars

The Watsons by Jane Austen – Novel: Not Worth It

Final rating: 3 stars

Ada and the Wild Duck by Edith Brecht – Children’s: Worth It!

Final rating: 4 stars

The Yellow House Mystery by Gertrude Chandler Warner – Children’s: Worth It!

Final rating: 4 stars

The Secrets Below by Camilla & Vivica Sten – Young Adult Supernatural: Not Worth It

Final rating: 3 stars

And to sum up where we are now:

And until next time, happy reading!

April 23, 2026
A Brief Update

Week 30 – Stalled

This week I only got through three books, and none of these reduced my TBR (one was a new kindle 1st Read (The Night Watcher), one was a bookclub book (Days at the Torunka Cafe), and one was a book I thought I had read before and wanted to confirm that so I got it from the library and ended up reading the whole thing (The Lovely Bones)). It is a little disheartening, but I can only blame myself.

On a more positive note, I give myself grace because I am trying to read the 1st Reads as they come out so that “pile” doesn’t keep growing. And it was good to put to rest whether I had read The Lovely Bones before or not (still not sure if I read it before).

I did make a point to read some of my owned physical tbr books in the next week to make up for this kind of bum week.

These, as I said, are the books I read:

The Night Watcher by Tariq Ashkanani – Thriller: Worth It!

Rating after 50 pages: 4 stars

Final rating: 4 stars

Days at the Torunka Cafe by Satoshi Yagisawa – Literary Fiction: Not Worth It

Rating after 50 pages: 3 stars

Final rating: 3 stars

The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold – Novel: Not Worth It

Rating after 50 pages: 3 stars

Final rating: 3 stars

So, for my totals, I still have 526 books to read, but I have read 116 and DNFd 20 so far.

And until next time, happy reading!

November 14, 2025
This Week, a Win!

It wasn’t perfect, but some steps in the right direction.

First, the bad news: 4 of the 7 books I read or DNFd this week were addons, so they didn’t really reduce my TBR. But on the upside, I showed some willpower, and where I was going to get a few books sitting in my holds on Libby and read them over Thanksgiving, instead I deleted them from my holds. They’re still in my “don’t own but want to read” list, so I can go back to them later, but for now, I decided to focus on the books I have (which is supposed to be the entire point of this!).

This week I DNFd two books in a series I had a box set of, after reading the first book and not really liking it enough to continue. I also read a book I thought I had read before but couldn’t remember it enough to say for sure, plus I finished a French book I’ve been reading bit by bit for a while, and read one Halloween book I had read before and another Halloween book I received as a gift.

Here is what I read:

The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides – Novel: Not Worth It

Rating after 50 pages: 3 stars

Final rating: 2 stars

Trick or Treat in Wyoming by Eric James – Children’s: Worth It

Rating after 50 pages: N/A

Final rating: 5 stars

Corduroy’s Halloween by BG Hennessey – Children’s: Worth It

Rating after 50 pages: N/A

Final rating: 4 stars

The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart – Young Adult: Not Worth It

Rating after 50 pages: 3 stars

Final rating: 3 stars

Le Royaume Fantome by Norton Juster – Chidlren’s: Worth It

Rating after 50 pages: 5 stars

Final rating: 5 stars

And the current totals look like this:

Until next time, happy reading!

November 5, 2025
Goodreads Challenges are My Kryptonite

Somehow I just can’t say no

The thing is, I enjoy Goodreads challenges. I get excited for the next ones to be revealed. I love looking at the lists and picking a book. I love the satisfying collection of virtual bookmarks. But they just keep adding more challenges…and it’s derailing me.

Now, to be fair to myself, it’s not like those are the only books I’m reading. But in the past five weeks I’ve read five books for challenges – and that’s five more books I could have struck off my TBR.

It’s a dilemma. One I actually give a lot of thought to. Should I give up doing these challenges? What do I really get out of them? Or is it no big deal and I should just keep doing them, because, hey, I enjoy it? I don’t have the answers to these questions. Some days I think they’re not worth it, some days I think why give up something that gives me joy.

I think the answer is to make sure I’m not reading a book I don’t even want to read, just to satisfy a challenge. I have noticed there haven’t been as many good choices in the past few challenges. Used to be, there was always something on my TBR that was part of the challenge. Lately there are a couple on my “to buy” list, but a whole lot I have no interest in. I think I need to be tough and not just pick something to pick something. I need to give myself permission to pass on a challenge I’m not interested in.

The reality is, no one’s going to give me a prize for completing all the Goodreads challenges in a year. Next year, I’ll be back to zero. If I miss one or two (or five or six, or all of them) no one will care. Will I even really care? I give myself permission to just read what I want to read, and work on reading the books I have if that’s what I want to focus on right now. And if I want to read a challenge book? Well that’s okay too.

Weeks 24-28

This is what I read:

Introduction to the Short Story by Crosby E. Redman – Short Fiction: Worth It

Rating after 50 pages: 4 stars

Final rating: 4 stars

Beauty and the Beast by Jeann-Marie Le Prince de Beaumont – Fairy Tale: Worth It

Rating after 50 pages: 4 stars

Final rating: 4 stars

Cinderella by Henry Hewet – Fairy Tale: Worth It

Rating after 50 pages: 4 stars

Final rating: 4 stars

Son of the Revolution by Liang Heng & Judith Shapiro – Autobiography: Worth It

Rating after 50 pages: 4 stars

Final rating: 4 stars

The Tower of Fools by Andrzej Sapkowski – Historical Fantasy: Not Worth It

Rating after 50 pages: 2 stars

Final rating: 3 stars

The Swan Thieves by Elizabeth Kostova – Novel: Not Worth It

Rating after 50 pages: 3 stars

Final rating: 4 stars

The Bookshop on the Corner by Jenny Colgan – Romantic Fiction: Worth It

Rating after 50 pages: 4 stars

Final rating: 4 stars

Hillbilly Elegy by JD Vance – Autobiography: Worth It

Rating after 50 pages: 4 stars

Final rating: 4 stars

Diavola by Jennifer Marie Thorne – Horror: Worth It

Rating after 50 pages: 4 stars

Final rating: 4 stars

The Night Guests by Marina Scott – Paranormal Fiction: Not Worth It

Rating after 50 pages: 3 stars

Final rating: 2 stars

Crossroads of Ravens by Andrzej Sapkowski – Fantasy Fiction: Worth It

Rating after 50 pages: 4 stars

Final rating: 4 stars

Trust by Hernan Diaz – Novel: Not Worth It

Rating after 50 pages: 3 stars

Final rating: 2 stars

Catherine House by Elisabeth Thomas – Dark Academia: Not Worth It

Rating after 50 pages: 3 stars

Final rating: 2 stars

Tara Road by Maeve Binchy – Romantic Fiction: Not Worth It

Rating after 50 pages: 3 stars

Final rating: 3 stars

Tides of War by Steven Pressfield – Historical Fiction: Not Worth It

Rating after 50 pages: 3 stars

Final rating: 2 stars

Surprise Island by Gertrude Chandler Warner – Children’s: Worth It

Rating after 50 pages: 4 stars

Final rating: 5 stars

So the current totals look like:

And until next time, happy reading!

October 27, 2025
Week 22 & 23

Back in the swing of things

I went on vacation for a week, and had a few days where I didn’t do much of anything other than read. And it got me back in the swing of things a bit, got me excited for this challenge again. I was able to cross fourteen books off my list these two weeks – just one library book for a book club (though the new Goodreads challenges came out so I’ve got two on hold wah wahhh…baby steps I guess). Also DNFd two books. This is what I read the past two weeks:

The Lost Letters of Aisling by Cynthia Ellingsen – Historical Fiction: Not Worth It

Rating after 50 pages: 4 stars

Final rating: 3 stars

Eerie Basin by Ivy Pochoda – Horror: Not Worth It

Rating after 50 pages: N/A

Final rating: 3 stars

The Rise by Ian Rankin – Thriller: Not Worth It

Rating after 50 pages: N/A

Final rating: 3 stars

We Can Be Mended by Veronica Roth – Dystopian: Worth It

Rating after 50 pages: N/A

Final rating: 4 stars

The Last Chance Library by Freya Sampson – Contemporary Romance: Worth It

Rating after 50 pages: 4 stars

Final rating: 4 stars

At Bertram’s Hotel by Agatha Christie – Mystery: Worth It

Rating after 50 pages: 4 stars

Final rating: 4 stars

Oronooko by Aphra Behn – Novel: Worth It

Rating after 50 pages: 3 stars

Final rating: 3 stars

Pollyanna by Eleanor H. Porter – Children’s: Worth It

Rating after 50 pages: 4 stars

Final rating: 4 stars

Pollyanna Grows Up by Eleanor H. Porter – Children’s: Worth It

Rating after 50 pages: 4 stars

Final rating: 4 stars

Lost by Gregory Maguire – Supernatural Fiction: Worth It

Rating after 50 pages: 4 stars

Final rating: 4 stars

Four Seasons In Japan by Nick Bradley – Coming-Of-Age: Worth It

Rating after 50 pages: 4 stars

Final rating: 4 stars

I Know A Secret by Tess Gerritsen – Thriller: Worth It

Rating after 50 pages: 4 stars

Final rating: 4 stars

So the totals look like:

And until next time, happy reading!

September 23, 2025
Week 20 Update

I got through my library books this week, so that set me up to get back on track in week 21.

This is what I read this week:

The Rainfall Market by You Yeong-Gwang – Magical Realism: Worth It

Rating after 50 pages: 4 stars

Final rating: 4 stars

The Guest Cat by Takashi Hiraide – Novel: Worth It

Rating after 50 pages: 3.5 stars

Final rating: 4 stars

Ararat by Christopher Golden – Thriller: Worth It

Rating after 50 pages: 4 stars

Final rating: 4 stars

Week 21 Update

I DNF’d one Amazon FirstReads book this week, and also read these books:

West With Giraffes by Lynda Rutledge – Historical Fiction: Worth It

Rating after 50 pages: 4 stars

Final rating: 4 stars

Still the Sun by Charlie N. Holmberg – Science Fiction: Worth It

Rating after 50 pages: 4 stars

Final rating: 4 stars

The Paddington Treasury by Michael Bond – Children’s: Worth It

Rating after 50 pages: 5 stars

Final rating: 5 stars

Falling Down by Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan – Horror: Worth It

Rating after 50 pages: N/A

Final rating: 4 stars

Cut and Thirst by Margaret Atwood – Short Story: Not Worth It

Rating after 50 pages: N/A

Final rating: 1 star

Bella Tuscany by Frances Mayes – Memoir: Worth It

Rating after 50 pages: 4 stars

Final rating: 4 stars

My Favorite Terrible Thing by Madeleine Henry – Mystery: Not Worth It

Rating after 50 pages: 4 stars

Final rating: 3 stars

Lovers at the Museum by Isabel Allende – Short Story: Not Worth It

Rating after 50 pages: N/A

Final rating: 3 stars

And here’s what my totals look like as of this week:

And until next time, happy reading!

September 4, 2025
Week 19 Update

Slow But Steady

Well, this week I removed three books from my Owned TBR, and read one library book for a Goodreads Challenge. I’m feeling like I should give up doing these challenges; previously, there was usually a book already on my TBR that worked for the challenge, but more recently it’s been a struggle to find something I want to read. On the other hand, I really look forward to them. So I am on the fence. I DNFd one book this week (Wings of Fury by Emily King) – I did read half of it before I stopped, which I could have done better on, but at least I was able to DNF with no regrets, which is a win!

These are the books I read last week:

The Lost Hero by Rick Riordan – Fantasy: Worth It

Rating after 50 pages: 4 stars

Final rating: 4 stars

The Shadow Box by Luanne Rice – Thriller: Not Worth It (unless this is your type of book)

Rating after 50 pages: 4 stars

Final rating: 3.5 stars

The Eights by Joanna Miller – Historical Fiction: Worth It

Rating after 50 pages: 4 stars

Final rating: 4 stars

And until next week, happy reading!

August 19, 2025
Week 18 Update

A swing and a miss…

Unfortunately, I added four books this week. Two were this month’s Amazon First Reads (one I DNFd), and one was a library book I previously listened to the audiobook for for a book club. And one was a book which I had missed when I did my initial count of owned TBR.

So my TBR only came down by one this week. But I managed to DNF The First Witch of Boston after about 50 pages – I easily recognized based on the amount of eye rolling I was doing that I should not keep reading that one.

Here are the books I read:

What You Are Looking For is in the Library by Michiko Aoyama – Literary Fiction: Worth It

Rating after 50 pages: 4 stars

Final rating: 4 stars

Bad Date by Ellery Lloyd – Short Story: Not Worth It

Rating after 50 pages: 4 stars

Final rating: 3 stars

Devil in a Blue Dress by Walter Mosley – Historical Detective Fiction: Not Worth It

Rating after 50 pages: 4 stars

Final rating: 2 stars

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L Frank Baum – Children’s Fantasy: Worth It

Rating after 50 pages: 4 stars

Final rating: 4 stars

And until next week, happy reading!

August 11, 2025
Slumps

Help! I need an injection of something…

So it’s been a couple of weeks – I was away on vacation and then I had my final project due for my class, but now I’m back at it. Still been reading though. Buuttttttttt…I feel like my progress has stagnated. And it’s my own fault.

I’ve read nine books since my last post. This may seem like a good number, but my reading has gone soooo sloooowly. I normally read a lot more on vacation – some of that was due to schoolwork and work work I had to do, but a lot of it was that the books I was reading (that I had been very excited to read) were not as interesting as I was expecting. The Amazon First Reads I was trying to cross off my list were a mixed bag, but it was the short story I enjoyed and the full length book that was awful. Plus I read one book for a bookclub and one for a Goodreads challenge, so those didn’t decrease my TBR. Looking ahead, I am currently reading a book I had listened to the audio of for a bookclub, I have another book club book to read, and I’ve got two more Goodreads challenge books on my list. In short, my progress and motivation are wanting.

I need to get out of this “adding books slump”. Or rather, I need to make more progress on my “owned TBR” list if I also want to read additional books. AND I need to restrain myself more with adding books, or I feel like I will never get through all of my owned TBR.

Ticking books off my owned TBR, even DNFing them, gives me energy to keep going. I have to force myself back into that so I want to keep doing it. Otherwise, it will be too easy to just give it all up. I must stop prioritizing “other” books instead of the ones on my list.

I did have one win to share: I had saved a book I really wanted to read so I could have it for vacation. And. It. Was. Terrible. This was a book I’d paid money for, a book about Jane Austen and time travel. I mean, how could it go wrong? It went so, so wrong. On the minus side, I did try really hard to like it, but on the plus, I DNFd at 50%. And I felt good about it, because I was able to move onto the next James S.A. Corey on my list, which was fantastic! I didn’t regret giving it up at all (other than my disappointment that it wasn’t a better book).

Week 14-17 Update

Here are this week’s updated numbers:

And these are the books I read:

The Full Moon Coffee Shop by Mai Mochizuki – Magical Realism: Worth It

Rating after 50 pages: 4 stars

Final rating: 4 stars

The Women of Arlington Hall by Jane Healey – Historical FIction: Not Worth It

Rating after 50 pages: 3 stars

Final rating: 2 stars

The Bookstore Sisters by Alice Hoffman – Short Story: Worth It

Rating after 50 pages: 4 stars

Final rating: 4 stars

The Bookstore Wedding by Alice Hoffman – Short Story: Not Worth It

Rating after 50 pages: 4 stars

Final rating: 3 stars

The House of Lost Secrets by Anstey Harris – Fiction: Worth It

Rating after 50 pages: 4 stars

Final rating: 4 stars

The Mitford Murders by Jessica Fellowes – Historical Mystery: Not Worth It

Rating after 50 pages: 3 stars

Final rating: 2 stars

The Neverending Story by Michael Ende – Fantasy: Worth It (for nostalgia)

Rating after 50 pages: 3 stars

Final rating: 3 stars

Nemesis Games by James S.A. Corey – Science Fiction: Worth It!

Rating after 50 pages: 4 stars

Final rating: 5 stars

The Buffalo Hunter Hunter by Stephen Graham Jones – Horror: Worth It (if you are interested in the history and lore of indigenous peoples and don’t mind an unsatisfying conclusion)

Rating after 50 pages: 4 stars

Final rating: 3 stars

And until next week, happy reading!

August 4, 2025
Pitfalls!

Getting Derailed By Things I Thought Were Fun

As a counter point to last week’s post, this week I’ve been thinking about whether I’m letting myself get off track by allowing myself to acquire books.

I read one book this week that I got from the library for a Goodreads challenge, and I started another Iibrary book for a book club. I also read another book for a Goodreads challenge that I already had. Both library books I acquired were on my “want to read but do not own” list. I also bought 8 books (7 I hadn’t read before) at a charity book sale this week. So, basically, I added 9 books to my challenge this week. Was that really okay?

In the first six months of 2025, I read 80 books. My 9 additional books are 6% of what I’m on track to read in a year. Strictly numbers-wise, it doesn’t seem like it’s overwhelming my challenge or really derailing it. Will it add another month to my challenge? Yes. Will it appreciably lengthen my challenge? Not really. Unless I do it every month.

There’s the important point. Buying 8 used books once a year to support a charity? I can absorb that. Doing it every month? My challenge goes by the wayside. There must be a balance; adding books must be a treat rather than an every day occurrence.

Now on to book clubs and Goodreads challenges: can a couple of books a month set me back? I think it can. It felt like it did this week, even though it was only a couple of books really. But I think the problem really isn’t adding books to the count. The problem is that these type of things lock you into reading the entire book. Even if I really, really, really want to stop reading a book, I finish the book so I can count it towards the challenge, or so I can participate in the book club discussion. I am forcing myself to read books I don’t want to read. Which is setting me back from all the progress I’ve made in not reading books I’m not enjoying.

So what’s to be done? I think the next step is not to stop joining in on book groups, or to not do Goodreads challenges. I do enjoy both these things – discussing books with other and reaching out of my comfort zone and choosing a book I might not read (though, to be fair, I have really only been reading books from my “want to read but do not own” list for these). What I think the solution is, is to work on giving myself permission to stop reading these books. To stop participating in the book club if I just don’t like the book. To choose a different book for that challenge, instead of pushing through it. Cutting out clubs and stopping challenges I enjoy I think should be a last resort. I successfully stopped watching bad tv, I improved in stopping reading books I’m not enjoying (in general) and I have confidence I can teach myself to feel okay with letting these things go as well.

Week 13 Update

Here are this week’s updated numbers:

And these are the books I read:

The Best of Nancy Drew Classic Collection Volume 1 by Carolyn Keene – Mystery: Worth It

Rating after 50 pages: 4 stars

Final rating: 4 stars

The Clue in the Diary by Carolyn Keene – Mystery: Worth It

Rating after 50 pages: 4 stars

Final rating: 4 stars

Nancy’s Mysterious Letter by Carolyn Keene – Mystery: Worth It

Rating after 50 pages: 4 stars

Final rating: 4 stars

Weyward by Emilia Hart – Historical Fiction: Not Worth It

Rating after 50 pages: 2 stars

Final rating: 3 stars

Keep It In The Family by John Marrs – Thriller: Not Worth It

Rating after 50 pages: 3 stars

Final rating: 3 stars

And until next week, happy reading!

July 7, 2025