I don't think Evie from the Bookish Blog still carries this on, as I can't find it on her page but her words with which she started this challenge are still true: "We all have those books. We buy them, win them, they're gifted to us. Then we put them up on a bookshelf and there they stay, collecting dust, waiting for the time when we'll finally decide to pick them up."
As I mention every year, even now, after several years of participation, my TBR (To Be Read) pile is still a lot longer than it should be because I just can't resist buying any new books and going to the library though I have tried to attempt reading more old books than buying new ones (without success). But I read lately that buying books, collecting books and reading books are three completely different hobbies. And I have them all.
Here is the challenge:
1-10 A Firm Handshake
11-20 A Friendly Hug
21-30 First Kiss
31-40 Sweet Summer Fling
41-50 Could This Be Love?
50+ Married with Children
I could, of course, try to tackle the 50+ challenge but we all know that is not going to happen, instead, I tried to do at least 11-20 old books in addition to the new ones I'm buying and those I get from the library and wished to be pleasantly surprised at the end of the year. That happened, I have did reach 11-20 (A Friendly Hug) for the last three years, hopefully I can get to 41-50 (Could This Be Love?) one day.
I have read
37 books in 2016,
32 in 2017,
38 in 2018,
23 in 2019,
25 in 2020,
39 in 2021,
15 in 2022,13 in 2023 and
16 in 2024
of the books that had been waiting to be read for more than a year.
I hope I will manage more in 2025.
So far, I have already read two of my "old books" in 2025:
Hopmann, Sophie/Heidelore Mais "Gurkensandwich im Handschuhfach" [Cucumber Sandwich in the Glove Compartment] - 2019
Clarke, Stephen "Talk to the Snail. Ten Commandments for Understanding the French" (Überleben unter Franzosen. Ein Schnellkurs in zehn Lektionen) - 2006
Wilde, Oscar "Only Dull People Are Brilliant at Breakfast" - 1946
Good luck with this challenge. I should probably work on reading more of my own books, but I don't feel like it this year. I do like knowing that they are there in case of a bookish emergency though. ;D
ReplyDeleteHaha, Lark. A bookish emergency! That's a good one. I doubt that we will ever be in that situation. LOL. Even on long weekends, I take lots of books with me in case I run out. :D
DeleteOur TBRs will never be empty. It is our curse, lol
ReplyDeleteYou're right there, Sarah. Nope, we will always have something to read. I once saw a meme saying, we will come back as ghosts reading all our TBR books. That's good, I'll have hundreds of years of reading material then. ;)
DeleteI do wonder, from time to time, just how BIG my physical TBR is... I have *thought* about actually counting them (which I might actually DO one day) but the logistics of it and the time it would take just put me off. I'm guessing that I have somewhere in the region of 1500-2500 books piled around the house unread... plus the one that arrived today.... [grin]
ReplyDeleteProbably a good thing if you don't count them, Kitten. ;)
DeleteI could just let Word do a quick count for me but I don't dare to. LOL
Good luck with the challenge. I usually read around 50 books from my shelves, but that also include new purchases. I tend to read the new ones before turning to the older ones. Wrong way, I know. I have read 6 books from my shelves so far this year.
ReplyDeleteI think we're all guilty of that, Lisbeth. As you can see, I have only read two books from my old shelves so far. Mind you, I don't count those from last year as TBR.
Delete