I got behind this month, so I wanted to write an out of regular sequence post to talk about something that I am working on this year.

I discovered the Unread Shelf Project on Instagram some time near the end of 2018. It felt like a good fit for me, and I decided to participate throughout last year. This is a reading challenge, with a very particular focus: reading the books that are already on your shelves. I have a huge backlog of books that I have collected through the years. While I do want to read them all, the accumulation of high numbers can be daunting, and it can be so easy to grab for something shiny and new rather than look through the stacks that have been waiting.

I started 2020 with my highest number of unread books ever: 270. Needless to say, this is something that I do need to focus on a bit more. I think participating in 2019 was good for me, and I am planning to participate again through 2020. I love to read and collect books, but I do have a bad habit of acquiring much faster than I consume. I could list out many reasons for that, but ultimately, a big part of the problem is that I do not always make reading time the priority that I would like it to be. I am certainly not banning myself from buying new books, but am working on being more intentional in those I choose and not just loading myself up with stacks of new books.

The idea of reading challenges has always been appealing to me. It can serve as an interesting way to choose the next read, and can be a fun scavenger hunt to find something that fits. Unfortunately, I have always had difficulty finding reading challenges that really work for me. With my very long list of books to read, I always made an effort to find books on my shelf to fit each prompt, but would inevitably end up using this as an excuse to accumulate new books. This is part of what makes this project a good fit for me: a reading challenge that is specifically designed to allow you to focus on books you already own. There is a single prompt every month, and each one is written to allow for flexibility: everyone has a book in their favorite genre, or one recommended by a friend.

For 2020, I am adding my own little personal challenge: I want to finish my chosen book and write my review post in time for my final post each month. This is one of many ways that I am hoping to stay more up to date online, as well as challenge myself to read a bit more. If I want to stick to my personal time line, I will need to read quickly enough to finish the book well before the end of the month. In January, I decided to finish off a book series that I started in December as a kickoff to 2020 reading. I have plans to post on that series a bit later in the year. This week Wednesday will be the first of my monthly Unread Shelf picks for the remainder of the year: a book that was gifted to me.

More information on The Unread Shelf Project can be found here:

• The Unread Shelf Project Blog
• The Unread Shelf on Instagram

As an overview, here are the prompts for 2020:

• January: any unread book
• February: gifted to you
• March: been on your unread shelf the longest
• April: most recently acquired
• May: a backlist title
• June: from a series
• July: voted for you by bookstagram
• August: a buddy read
• September: forget where or why you got it
• October: a book that scares/intimidates you
• November: from your favorite genre
• December: shortest book on your shelf