Saturday, September 1, 2012

Year-End Reading Challenge: Unbreaking the Shelves


Amanda and I are at it again! This time around, we're focusing on closing out the year by organizing and reading our way through our massive TBR piles!

This is a two part reading challenge:
Part 1: Actively organize, categorize, and otherwise be brutally realistic about the books you have in your pile.

So, what does this mean? Well, part one is entirely at your discretion. You can make a new shelf on Goodreads. You can choose to delete those freebies that no longer appeal to you. You can be as brutal or as gentle as you want.

The point is to look at your shelves and establish some kind of organizational system so that you have an accurate picture of how many books (that you ARE going to read) are sitting on your TBR pile and a way of dealing with incoming books.

For examples of organization goals or ways to deal with your TBR pile, visit Amanda’s or Kelly’s tracking pages.

Part 2: Actively work on bringing that TBR pile down to something that isn't threatening you with bodily harm if you don't start reading it. What? Those books are tough. They break kneecaps and take names!

Once you’re finished with part one, you should have a good idea of what your TBR pile looks like. The next step is to set realistic targets for yourself. There are four months left in the year. Prioritize the books you have on your TBR list.

Quantify your targets. One thing we learned during our All Series challenge is that we work better when we have an active list to work from. When you can see your little progress bar filling up, you're motivated to keep reading. A good example of a quantifiable target would be: Get TBR pile below [X number].

For examples of targets to set, visit Amanda’s or Kelly’s tracking pages.

Join us!




12 comments:

  1. I've already crossed off three of my organizational goals. *finger guns*

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    1. Technically, I have too. I just haven't, you know, crossed them off yet. Lol!

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    2. I crossed them off my list, and dealt with my buttons, too. I have been PRODUCTIVE this morning.

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    3. And... when was the last time you updated your review page? Just curious.

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    4. I... um... DAMN IT, KELLY. *slinks off to update review page*

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  2. I love the progress bar, it does make things faster toward the end. I keep pushing to hit the 100!

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    1. It's something tangible that you can look at and I think that helps. I also love seeing the books get crossed off on a list. It's so fun to hit that strikethrough button!

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  3. I am tackling the physical shelf this weekend! I can't delete anything from the kindle because it isn't just me (I have 4 other people on my account) but I might create a virtual shelf of books that I want on them! Let's get this party started!

    (wrote that on Amanda's wall too)

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    1. Yay! I'm trying to be realistic about my physical books. I pick up a lot at the library bookstore because they're so cheap (consistently under $1) but am I really going to read them? That's the question.

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  4. This is a great challenge! I do love the being "brutally realistic" part. That made me cull close to 150 books from my eReader and my shelves (mostly my shelves) that I will NEVER read. These are books I bought for super cheap for the reason to bulk up the home library. Once they've sat there for years unread, you know it's time for them to go!

    I'm excited for this!

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    1. I was guilty of downloading any and all freebies when I first got my Kindle. I have books on it that I have NO INTEREST in. They're getting the boot!

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