Read What You Own Challenge

[ÚlldemoShúl]

I’m going to start a Read What You Own Challenge on the 1st of July to try and reduce down my ridiculously huge TBR both physical and kindle.
My rules for me are-

• No buying any new books after midday on July 1st
• Unsubscribe from the kindle daily deals email
• I am allowed to break it for the Booker Prize longlist when it’s announced, but must check my library for the books first.
• Keep going until August 21st as my first goal. (Maybe until 2026 in total)

These rules are specific to me and anyone who wants to join me is free to make their own set of rules for their challenge. I’m going to log each book I read here to keep me accountable. Anyone else up for it? I know some 50 Bookers are considering it…

Finished Lady of Quality - Georgette Heyer which I apparently bought in March 2022.

I am very impressed Tarragon that you are down to 13! I am still trying to get down to 100!

Sovereign - CJ Sansom

Another excellent Shardlake book, from the Kindle pile that I had forgotten!

The Facebook Story - Sarah Lacy

Published in 2009, looks like I bought a paper copy second hand at some point but pretty sure it’s been on the shelf a decade or so. The author was a journalist covering Web 2.0 and all that jazz, so this was an entertaining read, if rather a historical one now 😀 (not just about Facebook but also MySpace, PayPal, all that jazz - Digg! Ning! Six Apart!)

I haven’t been doing very well on this recently- finishing the Booker longlist, my book group book and the latest Cormoran Strike all playing their part. Once they’re done I’m going to be back here for most of the remaining year.

Just completed nearly 800 pages of The Covenant Of Water by Abraham Verghese. Proud of self for taking it on and getting it off the pile. Review on 50 Books.

Finished JM Dalgliesh- Bury Your Past which I quite enjoyed
and Lucy Dillon - One Small Act of Kindness - which was very nearly a DNF

Read three from my Kindle although not sure when I bought them - Go As A River by Shelley Read (liked), Run Rose Run by Dolly Parton and James Patterson (a bit rubbish) and Burn After Reading by Catherine Ryan Howard (quite good as a holiday read).

Resisted buying any at the airport coming away although did buy a few magazines which I’m loath to read as want to read as many books as I can!

@TimeforaGandT thank you! Now down to 12!

@Peridot1 oh dear! Run, Rose Run is next on my list. I mean, I dont even know why I bought it. Oh yes, I remembered, because it was 99p! I even downloaded the accompanying album on Spotify 😂

The Counterfeit Candidate - Brian Klein (Kindle) Purchased in January 2022 and its my longest lingering kindle book. I actually enjoyed this and again, questioning why I havent read it before now. I was surprised to learn that this was his first book and he has written two follow ups in quick succession.

Down to 102 unread books on my Kindle (and let's not talk about the physical pile(s) but now finished My Family - David Baddiel (which I bought last year).

I finished my chunky Dickens and moved onto Oliver Twist, reading this at the same time as my eldest while they study it at school.
Started The Will Of the Many which hasn't been on my tbr long, but I felt tempted by it. Right chunk of a book though so will probably keep me going for a while yet!

2 more RWYO finished- Instructions for a Heatwave by Maggie O’Farrell and Stoneblind by Natalie Haynes. Both enjoyable enough reads. Now reading The Making of Modern Britain (on kindle since 2012) The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle and Lanny- both of which I’ve had for years. (And finishing the new Cormoran Strike on audio but that is definitely not reading what I owned before all this!)

I have finished two physical books (Quentins by Maeve Binchey and Shrines of Gaiety by Kate Atkinson) and charity shopped five more (one DNF and four DNS). Physical book pile now down to 54 (I started the year on 50!).

Finished The Long Walk but it comprises just a third of the “Bachman Books” so I’m not sure it counts !

@Tarragon123 - thought I replied to you the other day but it didn’t post for some reason. It wasn’t awful. I bought it as a 99p too. And who doesn’t love a bit of Dolly? Although I didn’t know there was a soundtrack…..might have to check it out!

read two more - The Guest List by Lucy Foley which has been on my Kindle since April 2020 and The Silent Ones by Anna McPartlin which is only just out and I really enjoyed.

Reading Family of Liars by E Lockhart today.

Have read Rest Stop by Nat Cassidy which was very short at 110 or so pages. A man taking a road trip stops at a gas station which appears deserted, gets trapped in the loo where he has to fight off dangerous snakes and spiders and when the toilet door opens, he has more surprises waiting. A bit crap but it gets one off the list.

I have now finished with The Bachman Books because I’ve read The Running Man and because I’m not going to bother with Roadwork the middle story it’s a slight DNF as well…

Have finished two more on kindle - Paris Echo by Sebastian Faulks - and Poor by Katriona O'Sullivan. Have bought one book on kindle this month but now planning to RWYO until the end of the year.

Having been quite good at this for a while, my appetite for piling up books has suddenly roared back. I'm rushng to get through my library checkouts so I can take out my reservations as they arrive, and I've acquired too many charity shop books and Kindle deals. And there are more I still want!

Finished reading Career of Evil by Robert Galbraith which I’ve had since 2016.
Onto something lighter and shorter now.

1 read (Lanny by Max Porter) 2 DNFs (The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle and Ghostwritten).
Loads half read and still on the go- War and Peace (chapter a day since the start of the year) The Making of Modern Britain, The Penguin Book of Modern British Short Stories, A Song for Arbonne (audio) and Madam Bovary. Too many books on the go do you think?! 🤣 Hope to finish the last 4 relatively soon.

@ÚlldemoShúlI always have multiple books on the go. When I finish one, instead of cracking on with an in progress read, I’m terrible for picking up something else 😆

I can’t have multiple books on the go unless it’s an audiobook for some reason I can’t compute it

I try to stick to one fiction and one non fiction on the go at once, though I can do two non fiction if they are on very different subjects.

I usually have at least 3 on the go- fiction, non-fiction and audio, and I can usually manage up to 5. My problem at the minute is that I have three that fit into the same category- W and P, Madame B, and the modern British short stories- all could be called classics. I need something a bit lighter. May keep the short stories on the long finger and add in a little crime fiction in its place.

Just finished The House of Doors - Tan Twan Eng which I acquired only shortly before this thread started but it's not a new purchase so counts as RWYO.