Read What You Own 2026

[ÚlldemoShúl]

This is a brand shiny new thread for those of us who want to continue reading what we own in 2026.
My aims for 2026 are:

• At least half my reading will be from books I already own on 1st January 2026
• I will buy less than a quarter of my reading new including kindle deals😱 and book club books
• I will wait when prize lists are released to see if the books appear in the library within a week. I will not read full longlists unless I love the sound of each and every book on it.
• For the first two months I will only read what I own- focusing on the older books on my kindle while allowing myself to read newer (but already owned) physical books

What are your RWYO aims for 2026?

If you have it on kindle as well it synchs up so wherever you stop on one it picks up on the other. I only really do it for the Strike books - I find them so daunting in size that having both seems to be necessary to get me through them - the last one I did almost entirely on audible though and that can work out an expensive proposition if you’ve paid on both (I used my monthly audible credit but I’ve still paid!)

It also meant once I inevitably got sucked in (to the Robyn/ Strike storyline if not the case) I can keep reading/ listening in situations where the other option isn’t practical - listening in the car or when walking home from school run but reading when I was on the train for example.

Also - I’ve not picked anything up since finishing the last one. This is how I end up with such a huge list to get through and keep falling into reading slumps, even when I’m going great guns I suddenly get choice paralysis and a week or more can go by before I pick something else up, I go back to the mindless scrolling instead, can’t let that happen this time!

@CassandraWebb completely counts!

@AliasGrapeI swap between reading and listening too, and often you can pick up the audiobook cheaper if you have the kindle version.

I also get decision paralysis when deciding on my next read. Even when I’ve got several books lined up to read next. None of them take my fancy and I end up flicking through my virtual TBR pile.

Same here! They were a lovely transition. I read a few Catherine Cookson too. Not quite so sweet and gentle by today's standards though.

I think I went from them via the Dragonriders of Pern series by Anne McCaffrey straight to Wilbur Smith. Now those were bloodthirsty!

I was in a large city waterstones today...
and I didn't buy anything! 😀
Tbh, there were several books I fancied, then realised I either had the Kindle book, or its in my tbr pile 😬🫣
Hoping to finish A month in the country today.
Its a lovely book...very moving.

I read that last year. It's rather lovely isn't it

Has anyone read Beautiful Ugly ? Currently reading it
Technically not on my RWYO, however it was free on Prime reading 😉 I also now have an iPad so I can read on libby

Ooh hello, can I join you? I'd love to keep track of how many physical books I'm reading that I already own! I won't share anything acquired in 2026 but I have no doubt I will continue to acquire...

1. The Will of the Many by James Islington
2. Mistborn

Welcome @OkyDoke

I went to the library today to return a book. I'm avoiding reserving any to try and make a dent on what I own, but I saw 2 wishlist books on the shelves so had to pick them up! I'll need blinkers in future!
At least I didn't buy them I suppose, but it won't help RWYO progress!!

Finished The Glass House. Felt it was ok. But got abit annoyed with it really! Thinking about what to read next.

Welcome @OkyDoke !

I’ve just finished my 6th RWYO book and n purchases made so far. As mentioned up thread I wasn’t expecting to like Queen Victoria’s Youngest Son. The Untold Story of Prince Leopold by Charlotte Zeepvat as it was a soft DNF a few years ago, but I’m glad I gave it another go as I really enjoyed it.

Finished A month in the country.
Going to start the sittaford mystery by Agatha Christie.

I'm going to try and finish 4 books this month 😊

...and I've found a book - the white ship - that I've read.
Another one for the local school library 😀

Private- Keep Out by Gwen Grant. A book written for children with a child as narrator. Absolutely hilarious and cleverly written as an observation of working class childhood set just after WW2. A joy to read! And I will be keeping it on my bookshelf to dip into again.

Finished another two- that’s me up to 6 RWYO. (2 audio, 2 ebook, 2 paperbacks). Next up is a chick lit- Who’s that Girl by Mhairi McFarlane and I suspect I’m going to DNF my current audio (Blitzed- non-fic about the Nazis and their use of drugs) mainly because I’m finding the narrator annoying.

Starting His and Hers. Still reading 2 others in between.Off to look at Private Keep out!

That was the last NF 2014 purchase, so now onto 2015, and RNG (or in this case DD) has selected The Wolf of Wall Street. I loved the film and found it very funny so looking forward to this one.

Currently resding list. It is a read what you own for me. I brought last summer. Quite enjoying it although very strange in places

Just finished Speak No Evil by Sally Rigby. A relatively recent read as I bought it in 2024. Still have some unread on my kindle from 2011.

Only two down so far
Rainforest by Michelle Paver (disappointing)
Addie LaRue by V E Schwab (hard dnf)

I'm about to start Forever, Interrupted by Taylor Jenkins Reid (been on my tbr for two years)