not quite by the book

Is it cheating? Well, maybe a little bit.

The first rule of my “Read What You Own” challenge was that I was excluding foreign language books, coloring books, puzzle books and audiobooks from my list of “what I own” for the purpose of this challenge.

Is this cheating? Yes and no. Let me go through why I decided to exclude each category.

Coloring and Puzzle Books: I don’t consider this reading. Though I wanted to track which of these things I owned (mainly so I didn’t buy any dupes), I’m not in any rush to finish either of these categories. Though at some point, I do want to make my way through these – I paid money for them (or got them as gifts) so I should use them and not just let them waste away on my shelves – I don’t really feel an urgency at this time. When I get my unread books squared away, this is definitely something I want to tackle. But, right now, it’s not a priority.

Foreign Language Books: I like to learn languages. I’ve started on a lot of languages. I always think it’s a great idea to buy books in the language I’m learning. They are inevitably too high a level for where I am in my study. And they sit on my shelf. Do I want to read them all? Yes. Can I read them all? No.

I fully intend to read the lower level books (ie the children’s books) during this challenge. But I am giving myself a pass (and a break) and not requiring myself to read all the foreign language books during this challenge. Someday…but not today. The months it would take me to get through Les Miserables in French would pretty much guarantee that I never finish this challenge.

Audiobooks: Confession time: I don’t consider listening to audiobooks reading. It’s listening. Also, I never just sit and listen to the audiobook. I am always doing something else and not giving it my full attention. I think that makes a difference. This is my personal opinion. I don’t care if you consider it reading, and count it in your read books. That’s up to you, and obviously is totally fine. I don’t judge anyone else. Obviously, there are people who need to use audiobooks. I’m not anti audiobook. But for me, it doesn’t count as reading a book.

BUT I listen to audiobooks when I’m in the car. I’ve cancelled my Audible membership and have been trying (similar to this challenge) to go through all the ones I’ve bought over the years. I don’t want to include audiobooks because, for me, they are a separate activity from reading. Sometimes I listen to a great audiobook, and then read the book, but they aren’t the same for me.

For my own sanity, I needed to make this challenge doable. So these things, that are really different activities from reading for pleasure, needed excluded. They are all categories of books I own and want to make my way through, just not as a part of this challenge. They may be the next challenge! #ReadYourAudiobooksPuzzlesColoringForeignLanguage? Well, maybe not.