Veronica's TBR Challenge

Reading all the unread books I own to become a better writer and save money.

The Plan:

I am going to read every book on my physical TBR list aka the books I own and have not read, before I buy another book.

The Why:

I want to be a writer and to do that I need to read. I’ve gotten myself into the common habit of buying a book and not reading it. Buying the book feels like an accomplishment, it’s a step towards being the kind of person who reads these books, and it’s enough to satiate my hunger to be that person while I put in the least amount of effort and stay in the same place.

Now, with everything being so expensive, I’m trying to limit my spending. I don’t splurge on a lot, I don’t impulse buy a ton of stuff, except with books. So, to kill two birds with one stone, I’m going to shop my bookshelf.

I think presenting this as a challenge will help with my motivation. I love a challenge, especially if it involves working my way down a list.

I’ve never been one for posting on social media. I’ve spent this year taking steps back from being online. I literally use a flip phone, and I just bought an ipod shuffle for f***s sake. But I don’t want to do this alone; I know I can’t. So, I’m going to post about my TBR challenge. I want the accountability, but I also want the community. Plus, I think sharing this experience will help me become more comfortable with sharing my writing eventually. It feels like a baby step towards facing my fear of being perceived.

Why I read:

I’ve been a “reader” since I was 5 years old. I hated school, hated doing homework, sitting still in class, struggled to pay attention, and would spend my time daydreaming the day away. Luckily for me, my dad hated the private catholic school I was at (for legitimate reasons) and my mom loved it (with the best intentions). As a compromise, they decided that my dad would read with me every night. The first book he brought home was The Sorcerer’s Stone (f*** J.K Rowling). One of my earliest and most vivid memories is reading that book with my dad and experiencing loving a book for the first time. I’m a very visual reader and that was the first time I experienced it. I remember so clearly seeing the story in my mind’s eye and knowing that this was magic. After that first book, my dad became too busy with work to read with me, so I took off on my own. Even as I still struggled in school, finally going to public school after the fourth grade, reading got me through.

Now almost 30 years later, I’m finally ready to admit that I’ve wanted to be a writer since I was 5. I’ve been so scared of failing at this thing I wanted, I wouldn’t even let myself admit I wanted it. But I’ve got a stable job in a career I’m ambivalent about, my country is experiencing constitutional crises every day, and the world’s on fire. If not now, when?

The rules/guidelines:

I made an excel spreadsheet of all my books and categorized them by ‘read’, ‘unread’, and ‘partial’. (The partial is for my own ego; I’m still going to start from the beginning on those).

I’m going to use a random number generator to select which book to read. Otherwise, I’ll do what I always do when trying to pick a book to read: pull out 10 books, read the first page or so in the hopes one will grab my attention, only to get distracted but promise I’ll come back to it, so I have a stack of books on night stand for months before I finally admit defeat and put them back on the shelf.

I’m also giving myself permission to reread books I’ve already read. I love rereading books and seeing how much I’ve changed, finding new things I hadn’t seen before.

I’m going to answer questions about each book before, during, and after reading it and post the answers as I go along. I’m aiming to post 2 to 3 times a week.

After I’ve read a book and have written my review/answered the post-reading questions, I will look up discussions about the book and see how that affects my view and/or reading of it. I want to make sure I get my own views down first before reaching out for other opinions and insights.

I won’t buy any books until I’ve read all the books I already own. Books I’m gifted are fine and will be added to the list, but I won’t ask anyone to buy me a book.

The set up for this might change as I go along. I’m really trying to aim for done, not perfect. I also want to do something creative after each book, I just can’t decide what yet. Maybe writing a scene I wish had been in the book or rewriting a scene I thought should’ve gone differently or even making a zine based on the book – I don’t know!

What I don’t want to do:

I am not going to read 100 books a year. I’m not that person. I don’t want this to be me reading books to check a box and move on. I know this will take a long time and that’s good. I want to take my time. This is definitely a marathon, not a sprint.

A big reason I haven’t read a lot of these books is because I feel intimidated. I usually feel like the dumbest person in the room and doubt myself into doing nothing. Knowing this is something I struggle with, I’m not going to try to be perfect or have the “right” opinions. I’m going to do this, even if I feel too dumb or inadequate. My mindset/mantra is ‘Do it stupid.’

Happy reading!