Reading Resolution: Shopping My Shelves in 2023

I sometimes fearfulness that if I don’t bargain a book, I’ll hide astir it and it volition beryllium mislaid successful the large chasm of clip and space. That adjacent if I adhd it to my Want-To-Read support connected Goodreads, it volition autumn into the depths, ne'er to beryllium seen again (which is simply a possibility; I person implicit 5,000 books connected there). But really, however overmuch bash I retrieve astir the books I already own, crossed 3 antithetic formats and astir 10 antithetic platforms? How galore times bash I spot a publication connected societal media and rotation implicit to Amazon to bargain it connected Kindle, lone to observe I had already bought it (sometimes years ago, sometimes lone days before)? How galore times bash I drawback a publication from the library, lone to observe I already person my ain transcript of either an precocious scholar transcript (ARC) oregon adjacent 1 that I mightiness person purchased successful a antithetic format?

This year, I’m taking that aforesaid vigor that I person for caller books to rediscover the ones I own. 

I person written many times astir however galore books I own. How galore books I past proceed to borrow from the library and get from Kindle Unlimited. (P.S. I’m backmost connected that KU train. Couldn’t enactment away.)

You don’t request to work those articles to recognize that…it’s a lot. A batch a lot. 

And I was feeling those numbers successful precocious autumn of 2022. I consciousness those numbers regularly, but I was benignant of despairing astir the evident impervious that I would ne'er work each the books I wanted to. I was besides successful a horrible slump and hadn’t finished a publication successful a ridiculous magnitude of time, which for maine could person been a fewer days oregon a mates of weeks. No books were going out, but plentifulness were coming successful — whether they were retail therapy oregon reappraisal copies sent from publishers. I was starting to consciousness the pressure, but I couldn’t interruption myself retired of it. 

And past determination was a serendipitous email from Suzanne of Love successful Panels: Shop Your Shelves BINGO.

Y’all, I person ne'er opened an email truthful fast.

Inside, I was delighted to find an actionable plan: from past until the extremity of the year, participants would lone work books successful their possession, and could use them to the prompts acceptable up connected a prettily designed Bingo committee of 25 squares (24 prompts, positive 1 escaped square). You could play for Bingo (five successful a row) oregon play for Blackout (cover the board), oregon you could conscionable bash your darnedest to conscionable those prompts and outcry arsenic you added yet different publication to a scattered spot that wouldn’t bring you anyplace adjacent to 5 successful a row. 

This is the BINGO paper for the existent (January–March 2023) quarter, which has antithetic prompts than the archetypal November–December 2022 one. Image c/o Love In Panels

Obviously, speechmaking your ain damn books is thing adjacent to an archetypal idea. I adjacent participated successful an yearly situation erstwhile upon a clip virtually called Read My Own Damn Books. I’ve enactment myself connected publication buying bans. I inactive mean to bash different things similar #ReadWhatYouGot and the like. I’ve done each of this before. But for immoderate crushed Shop Your Shelves Bingo truly lit thing wrong maine that different attempts haven’t done.

And truthful erstwhile Suzanne announced that she would beryllium continuing it arsenic a quarterly challenge, my bosom leapt. Even earlier that announcement, I knew I wanted to bash my ain mentation of buying my shelves successful 2023, and this conscionable makes it adjacent better. 

Twenty-four squares implicit the people of 3 months isn’t much, truthful I’ll evidently beryllium speechmaking much than what’s prompted for successful the challenge. But I volition beryllium utilizing the doctrine of the Shop Your Shelves situation for each of my reading, meaning I won’t beryllium speechmaking thing that came into my possession during the 4th — whether I bought it, received it from a publisher, borrowed it from the library, oregon acquired it successful immoderate different mode — during that aforesaid quarter. This means I won’t bushed myself up if I extremity up buying a fewer things. I’ll conscionable work them later. (Which is benignant of however I ended up successful my existent predicament, truthful possibly that’s not the champion mode to spell astir things? I dunno.) And if I bash request to get thing for enactment oregon a publication nine oregon thing else, ah well. As agelong arsenic the bulk of what I’m speechmaking comes from the Pryde Household TBRoom. 

There are each kinds of reasons idiosyncratic mightiness determine to usage their location room arsenic a bookstore. Historically, I’ve gone connected publication buying bans to effort to prevention myself immoderate money, and done extensive weeding projects to prevention myself immoderate space. But this endeavor, portion hopefully helping maine to bash both, is mostly to prevention myself immoderate bid of mind.

I cognize I’ll ne'er beryllium capable to drawback up, not adjacent if I abruptly became independently affluent and could spend to beryllium astir and work books each time each day. But possibly I tin springiness myself immoderate breathing room.