Read-What-You-Own Challenge
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- čas přidán 19. 03. 2024
- Inspired by Olly from @CriminOllyBlog I decided to have my own Read-What-You-Own Challenge. It is time to make a serious attempt at kicking my book buying addiction.
Drop me a line: Dutchgreybeard@aol.com
Inherited a lot of my Aunt's books. My collection tripled a few years ago. Now I am finally getting around to reading them. Some of them are on my bookshelves but the majority of them are still packed away at my parents.
I realized I was a book collector and not a book reader when I retired in 2005 and downsized my living situation. I donated my lifetime of book purchases, around 22,000 books to the San Francisco Public Library book sale. Now, happily retired, I use our wonderful public library system in Chicago. I buy the best and check out the rest.
That's beautiful! It must have been a tough decission, getting rid of all your books (22.000!!, I thought I had a lot of books with 2700). I cannot imagine doing that, thinking that many of these books - the actual copies with my scriblings in it - are my friends.
My TBR pile is getting out of hand. My local library has a used bookstore. All paperbacks are 3 for $ 1. I just can't resist them. I can't afford new editions so I'm somewhat limited. I have stopped keeping books ive read . I sell them to a used bookstore in the area . This helps with my book budgeting. It's so much fun to go to library booksales and find treasures. Its my favorite way to spend my time .
That’s cheap 3 for $1. I couldn’t resist that either!
I'll be about 140 before I finish reading the books I have.
The perfect incentive to reach high age: buy many books!😂
LOl! me too 🤣😂
It's a great idea to donate that money to charity. Good luck with the challenge
Algorithm Gods sent you my way and boy was it right !! I’ve got the buy the book addiction too. I’ve a serious amount not read yet. I’m really going to try the commitment to not buy anymore anc read what I have after I receive my latest and last Amazon purchase (hopefully for a while) tomorrow 😅😅😅 just subbed. Thanks 💚
What ever would we do (or be) without Algorithm Gods?? Good luck with your bookbuying-sobriety!
The struggle is real! I am trying to be ‘better’ and then another book comes along 😍…..Although I would say I ‘only’ buy 5 books a month.
I do need to slow my roll nonetheless. You have inspired me! Thank you! 😊
Glad to be of help ;-) This challenge is really a great way to force yourself not to buy more books.
You are both a collector and a reader. The activities are both laudable and complementary. “Every passion borders on the chaotic, but the collector’s passion borders on the chaos of memories. …to a true collector the acquisition of an old book is its rebirth.” - Walter Benjamin 1931.
That’s beautiful! I can relate to that image of stirring something sentient, when I pick up a book.
I did something very similar for 2024. I tallied up all the books I owned that I hadn't read and saw that it came to about 250 books. That was about 50% of the total of my owned books. Not great. So I'm on a "no-buy" year for books with the exception of my two favorite authors who don't have books due this year anyway. I have kept my own audible + sub as excluded as well because I don't want to lose access to the Great Courses that I listen to. I did do some birthday shopping for books, but I went to a used book store and I traded in about $100.00 worth of books and ended up not spending any actual money. I've also been using my local library more if the need to "browse for new books" is too high.
Wow, respect! But 50% of your total is alarming, to be fair 😂. Compared to that my 360 unread books weighs a mere 13,5% of my total (2700-ish). I so hope I can live up to this challenge…
360 unread books is child’s play lol! Many of my books are for research purposes and so most of them will remain unread. I am getting to books I have owned for a while though. Blessings in your endeavor!
Glad to gain some perspective to my number of 360 (which still staggers myself, to be honest).
Love this challenge, Ed! Very inspiring to me as well. I’ll admit, my physical TBR is not as lengthy as yours, but it’s larger than it has been in a long time. Having a long physical TBR is difficult because, like you, I don’t read >100 books a year, and I also have a very funny brain that gets really excited about reading a particular book/series and then the longer that book/series is sitting on my shelf, the more disinterested I become. So I have to keep the physical TBR to a minimum otherwise I end up wasting money on books that go unread! It seems like there’s always some shiny new book that piques my interest more than the ones I already own. So I will go along in this challenge with you and try not to buy any more books until I’ve read at least half of the ones currently on my TBR shelf (which means reading 25 books before I can buy another one).
Very recognizable what you say about growing disinterest the longer a book sits on the shelf, Amanda. Great that you're joining me on this challenge. I'll do a status-video on this challenge some day. Then we can exchange experiences ;-)
@@DutchGreyBeard Looking forward to it!
Yep. My problem is the convenience of buying books on the internet.
Greetings from a fellow Dutchy
Totally agree, it is way too easy!
You are a much stronger man than I am Ed! Good luck and Godspeed! I think the inclusion of a charity incentive is amazing
We'll have to see about that, Dan (me being stronger), but I am highly motivated. My wish-list at Amazon is growing exponentially, but that is just virtual reality...
I earned a MA in English which I believe made me a book snob. Over the years I've collected books by authors I know I appreciate, such as Wilkie Collins and Sylvia Townsend Warner. But with fantasy, I have a few favourites that I periodically re-read. Between these strands, I have whittled my library down by reading and then passing it to a charity bookstore. At the moment, I am enjoying a first read of the series The Ballad of Sir Benfro, but I will be posting these to my brother-in-law in the States when I finish the series. I wish you good luck with your challenge.
Thank you. I kind of hold on to my books. Once I’ve read them it is as if a little bit of my souls ha transformed to those pages…
You’re stronger than I am DGB, good luck!
I absolutely love to find a book tuber who admits he's a slow reader. I am an obsessive reader, but I have dyslexia and I read slowly. I like to think it means I'm savoring the book.
It is! While reading I find my mind wandering, and many times I have to read a sentence 3, 4 or 5 times. If that isn’t savoring a text I don’t know what is 😂
Wow, I applaud you for this! I tried to do the same several times but I never succeeded 🥴. Greetings from a fellow Dutch (also grey bearded) booktuber who loves to read fantasy (Tad Williams’ Empire of Grass at the moment).
Don't applaud me just yet... My intention is laudable, now for the reality of actually doing it! Prettig kennismaken! Tad Williams is one of my highly anticipated new authors!
Thanks for reacting. I now subscribed to your channel as well 👌
@@DutchGreyBeard Bedankt! He’s my favorite, next to Robin Hobb, Guy Gavriel Kay and Terry Brooks. Groet!
To say i relate is an understatement (of epic proportions) im exactly the same- down to withdrawals wishlists & being a slow reader 🤣😂 Subscribed- hopefully you'll keep me inspired 👍🤝🤓
Thank you. I’ll do my utmost!! 😅
My TBR has been concerning me lately, but you have made me feel much better (rather than anxious and guilty) as I now know I'm not alone in having too many unread books and my TBR is tiny by comparison. Now that my guilt and anxiety are salved I can read and enjoy with a light heart and no worry. Thanks from the other side of Doggerland.
So glad to have eased your mind 😂😂 A TBR is one’s friend, no matter the size! Now I also know what Doggerland is (had to look it up).
I am excited to see how you progress through this trying time! And I thank you for choosing to add good to the world.
That (add good to this world) is exactly what you bring with these beautiful reactions: 🙏🙏🙏
My goal for this year!
Already up to book 6 in Pern? You are such a fast reader. Good luck with the challenge!
Thnx, going to need that. I flew through the Pern-pages. Harper Hall Trilogy is a short and pleasantly easy read.
Good luck on your challenge! I work at a food Bank charity, and we are always needing funds. I do the 52 Book Club Challenge with 52 specific prompts, so it would be hard for me to do that and not buy new books. I could commit to getting books from the library.
Thnx, one advocate for the foodbank charity noted! Thanks for bringing my attention to this 52 Book Club Challenge. Sounds interesting.
That is a VERY eye-catching book in your thumbnail, in my opinion. (: I wish you good luck and minimal suffering.
I so want to start reading that book!
Three great charities. I first discovered War Child through their collaboration with 11bit Studios on the brilliant computer game: This War of Mine.
A charity idea is to research if there is a local/national literacy organization or an organization that gives books to children that might not have easy access to books. That way the read what you own challenge still has a book related reward at the end.
That is an excellent idea! I’ll certainly add this one to the others. Thank you!
wat een top idee!
ik ga eerst lekker mijn boekenkast reorganiseren en dan lezen wat ik nog heb.
en het bespaarde geld gaat naar een goed doel
Goed voorbeeld doet goed volgen... (Ik ben door Olly van Criminolly op het idee gebracht.)
Sounds like this challenge will be helpful for you- good luck! Olly has some great tips in one of his videos- one of which is to find a positive booktube review for one of the books on your shelf to encourage you to read it. Great idea!
Thank you. Good tip, although I hardly need encouragement to read the books on my TBR 😂
a real challenge! i will read all the books i own eventually, barely reaching 30 books, but can’t hold on when i see truly intriguing ones that i don’t own already, and that cycle just keeps going!
You suffer from the same FOMO as myself, only you have much better control!
I like the donating part of the challenge
283 books... what a number, but I understand what you mean by fantasy booktuber's enthusiasm being infectious 😂 All the best with reading 50 of your books! I know it's not easy as I've been harshly culling and reading from my own collection BUT it is very satisfying.
Yeah, it is a bit too much. But thanks for the encouragement.
I am also in a similar challenge, but I allow myself to buy a new book as long as I plan to read it right away (not necessarily finishing the book though, especially for short stories or essays collections which may be read in little bits over a long period of time, and I am learning to put down books when I am not enjoying them). I try to make better use of the "want to read" list on goodreads, and will review the books on the list periodically. I hope to make this a permanent challenge and have used a countdown widget on my phone to record the numbers of days I have been in this challenge (which will recount from 0 if I failed). Today is the 304th day.
That is very cool! I’m afraid that if I allow myself a little leeway, I’ll be lost. How many books have you bought in those 304 days?
@@DutchGreyBeard probably around 5 haha I am a slow reader
Wish you luck 😁
Your voice reminds me of a narrator 😊 narrating books. I mean this in a good way 😊. Love your videos 😊. I need to actually get into more fantasy 😇 books 📚. Keep up the good work 👍🏻💪🏻
That’s a great compliment! 🙏🙏
@@DutchGreyBeard thank you very much 👍🏻
Hmmm😮
I'm currently doing this myself. I have about 40 I need to get through before the end of the year.
Great. Good luck. I'm doing fine so far, only one month into the challenge.
Your books look so new, with uncreased spines and apparently pristine pages. Do you have separate reading copies?
My books are in boxes because I don't have room to display them. I keep most of them inside clear, plastic bags to protect them from bugs and dust, and many look new. But the ones I've read, even if I put them back in their bags, don't look like yours at all. I have many reading copies (former library ones, mostly), but I also tend to annotate my books with pencil, so even if it's the only, new copy that I own and I read, it will look a bit worse by the time I'm done.
I can't do the challenge because I own thousands of books and it would take me decades to reach the half point.
Nice observation and a little bit funny, if I may say so. Perhaps you looked at my TBR bookcase. On my right (left for the viewers) are the books I've read. And I can assure you: I am a spine breaker. All pristineness is read out of these books ;-) To me a book is not an collector's item, but a utensil that I use to read a story, to savor language and to gather wisdom and beauty. I've had my books in boxes as well when I was in between places, but I'm very happy that I have them all (about 2700 in total) on display again.
@@DutchGreyBeard I thought those new-looking books might be kind of a special case; so they are your TBR bunch. I'm frankly envious because mine are still in boxes, 🤣 all of them, in the garage. I also have very little control when it comes to buying books. MUST HAVE!!! is a constant with me, therefore I keep on adding to the collection, pushing the ones in front to the back, and facing the problem of "knowing" I have a certain book, but it's buried in one of the boxes, so I proceed to buy it again.
Happy readings, DGB.
@@sid1genO yeah, buying books a second time, because you forgot you already had it. Been there, done that (even though my books are all in plain sight on their shelves. So far, only 8 days into the challenge (so what do I know), things are going great. My extreme FOMO has not yet kicked in. Still I find: one cannot possibly have enough books.
Will you marry me?? 😆😅🤣😂 I'm an addict too. Together we could go broke reading!!!!
Is there any better way downhill?? 🤣😂
sick library. what is the song in the beggining? it sounds super cool
Thanks! The music is the opening of a song called 'Centre Avenue' from the first selftitled album of Ark, A Norwegian progressive metalband. They only released 2 albums in 1999 and 2000.
Just a suggestion. Please give consideration to doing audiobooks. By that I mean making recordings. There are too many people like me who want to read but who have physical issues that prevent me doing very much reading, such as dyslexia. If your knee-jerk reaction is "Oh, no no no. I can't do that. I haven't all the skills that actors who can make their voice sound different for every character." Then consider those audiobook companies who specialize in 'the first five chapters.' That is enough to let someone know if the rest of the book is worth the struggle to read. It's entirely up to you, but good karma is always a thing to bank up on. You never know when you're going to need it.
I believe this is one of the nicest suggestions someone’s ever made to me. Thank you for that! And yes, I instantly have the knee-jerk reaction you describe (are you a mind-reader by any chance?). I will absolutely give it consideration, even though I’m not a big fan of my own voice. Perhaps this is the perfect time in my life to bank up on good karma (supposing I have any).
@@DutchGreyBeard Hi there I'm not a mind reader, just someone who really does need help with reading books. How different my life would have been if I hadn't.
Reading books that you've bought because you wanted to read them is a killjoy??? 😮 😢 do you even realise what you are saying (to yourself)? 😂😂😂
Apparently not. On the other hand I have to say: twisting one’s words is an underrated form of art 😂😂
This makes sense to me! It's like... you have less fun because it's suddenly a mandated, mapped, and in-your-face daunting thing. You can quickly take the fun out of something you love if you put certain restrictions and predictabilities on it, thereby killing the whimsy, or the illusion of whimsy. And then you want to RESIST and DISOBEY... Or at least, that's how my personality responds. Haha.
@@HomesickFaeryYour words resonate strongly with me. No restrictions, no MUSTS, no killing the (illusion of) whimsy… Being a natural recalcitrant myself, I can do nothing else but swim upstream…
@@DutchGreyBeard😂😂😂
I don't think you can do it. If you think, you will find a book you want, or is it need?
You’re probably right, because I desperately NEED more books. Still, I’m gambling on the benefit of the doubt (which I have in abundance)…
@@DutchGreyBeard Good luck.
You are reading junk. It's like eating nothing but candy bars. If you want a challenge, read better literature instead of eating more candy.
Thank you so much for sharing this insightfull and well argumented observation.
Yea! Another visit from Ed!! RWYO is hard 🫤. Especially when there are library sales where I got 5 books for $3!! Olly is a fast reader - his 100 is the equivalent of about 25 for me.
Hope Becky Chambers is on your wish list. Her SF has a literary quality that I think you'd enjoy. I'm not helping, am I? 😈 LOL!!
Trying hard to keep up with the rhythm of 1 video each 4 days. My RWYO clock started ticking 3 days ago (with Sourcerer's Legacy, Janny Wurts) and so far, so good... I guess you and I have about the same reading tempo (me being just a tiny bit slower). I have The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet on my wish list, thanks to your recommendation. Haven't bought it yet...
I have not tried Wurts. Look forward to your thoughts on the book.