Gather Together and Read: #readyourshelf

Showing posts with label #readyourshelf. Show all posts

Wednesday, December 31, 2025

2026 Read Your Shelf Challenge

We're back for another year!

As you know (hopefully), Read Your Shelf had an overhaul in 2023. Previous incarnations weren't working for me and then I found this article on Book Riot...

PRETEND YOUR HOUSE IS A LIBRARY: A STRATEGY FOR ACTUALLY READING THE BOOKS YOU OWN.

Basically, the premise is to take one shelf on your bookshelf (or some other designated place where you can place books for this challenge) and think of it as your "holds shelf." If you buy or receive a book you haven’t read, it automatically goes onto that shelf.

Below is an image of my current holds shelf. I managed to read 12 books from the 59 books that were on the shelf starting in 2025. When I did read a book from my holds shelf, I shelved it on my main shelves and chose a book from my main shelves to replace it. I changed this up a bit in 2024. I made a list of new books as they arrived and for every third book I read from the holds shelf, I would replace it with one of the new books (I continued this practice in 2025). That way I'm still replacing the majority of books from my main shelves. (I realize this sounds confusing. Sorry!)

From the original Book Riot post (linked above): "This revolving door system has turned my bookshelves into my own mini library. Each time I finish a book I own, I return it to main circulation, and then I get to spend a few minutes browsing the stacks. I pick out a new book I’m excited about reading, and get the satisfaction of putting that book on hold (i.e. on my TBR shelf).

The best part: eventually all the unread books in my house will either get cycled onto the holds shelf, or I’ll realize there aren’t any unread books left in main circulation that I still want to read, in which case, I’ll donate them."

The goal of this yearly challenge is to see how many books you can get through on your holds shelf, and your "main circulation," by keeping track of how many you read from each. You can set a personal goal of a set number, or just see how far you get. There's no winning or losing here. It's all in fun.

Challenge runs January 1, 2026 to December 31, 2026
You can use books from your holds shelf for other challenges (this will give you even more incentive to get them read!)
Hashtag for social media #ReadYourShelf
Any questions? Leave me a comment below, or contact me via the button in the sidebar.

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Tuesday, December 31, 2024

2025 Read Your Shelf Challenge

Just in the nick of time! We're back for another year!

As you know (hopefully), Read Your Shelf had an overhaul in 2023. Previous incarnations weren't working for me and then I found this article on Book Riot...

PRETEND YOUR HOUSE IS A LIBRARY: A STRATEGY FOR ACTUALLY READING THE BOOKS YOU OWN.

Below is an image of my current holds shelf. I managed to read 13 books from the 59 books that were on the shelf starting in 2024. When I did read a book from my holds shelf, I shelved it on my main shelves and chose a book from my main shelves to replace it. I changed this up a bit in 2024. I made a list of new books as they arrived and for every third book I read from the holds shelf, I would replace it with one of the new books. That way I'm still replacing the majority of books from my main shelves. (I realize this sounds confusing. Sorry!)

Further challenge details

For this challenge, you will only read the books on your holds shelf. When you have read one of the books, you put it back on one of your other shelves (think of it as "main circulation"). By design, there is no room in main circulation for this new book (probably not the case in some instances) so you must take a book from main circulation and place it on your holds shelf.

If you want, you can leave some space on your holds shelf for any new books you might receive or buy, just be sure to set a number of spaces available so you don't go over (or you can do as I do and only replace every third book read from your holds shelf with one of your new books). Remember, the ultimate goal is to read books you already own. Not only are you reading newer books you were excited about when you bought them, but you're knocking out books that have been languishing on your shelves for years.

From the original Book Riot post (linked above): "This revolving door system has turned my bookshelves into my own mini library. Each time I finish a book I own, I return it to main circulation, and then I get to spend a few minutes browsing the stacks. I pick out a new book I’m excited about reading, and get the satisfaction of putting that book on hold (i.e. on my TBR shelf).

The best part: eventually all the unread books in my house will either get cycled onto the holds shelf, or I’ll realize there aren’t any unread books left in main circulation that I still want to read, in which case, I’ll donate them."

The goal of this yearly challenge is to see how many books you can get through on your holds shelf, and your "main circulation," by keeping track of how many you read from each. You can set a personal goal of a set number, or just see how far you get. There's no winning or losing here. It's all in fun.

Challenge runs January 1, 2025 to December 31, 2025
You can use books from your holds shelf for other challenges (this will give you even more incentive to get them read!)
Hashtag for social media #ReadYourShelf
Any questions? Leave me a comment below, or contact me via the button in the sidebar.

Sunday, December 31, 2023

2024 Read Your Shelf Challenge

As you know (hopefully), Read Your Shelf had an overhaul in 2023. Previous incarnations weren't working for me and then I found this article on Book Riot...

PRETEND YOUR HOUSE IS A LIBRARY: A STRATEGY FOR ACTUALLY READING THE BOOKS YOU OWN.

As you can see from the image below, my holds shelf has grown exponentially. I did manage to read some of the books I placed there that I received in 2022, and I've added books acquired in 2023, including those I received for Christmas. When I did read a book from my holds shelf, I shelved it on my main shelves and chose a book from my main shelves to replace it. So, out of the original 25 books I placed on my holds shelf in 2023, I managed to read six. Not great, but I'll take it.

Further challenge details

For this challenge, you will only read the books on your holds shelf. When you have read one of the books, you put it back on one of your other shelves (think of it as "main circulation"). By design, there is no room in main circulation for this new book (probably not the case in some instances) so you must take a book from main circulation and place it on your holds shelf.

If you want, you can leave some space on your holds shelf for any new books you might receive or buy, just be sure to set a number of spaces available so you don't go over. Remember, the ultimate goal is to read books you already own. Not only are you reading newer books you were excited about when you bought them, but you're knocking out books that have been languishing on your shelves for years.

From the original Book Riot post (linked above): "This revolving door system has turned my bookshelves into my own mini library. Each time I finish a book I own, I return it to main circulation, and then I get to spend a few minutes browsing the stacks. I pick out a new book I’m excited about reading, and get the satisfaction of putting that book on hold (i.e. on my TBR shelf).

The best part: eventually all the unread books in my house will either get cycled onto the holds shelf, or I’ll realize there aren’t any unread books left in main circulation that I still want to read, in which case, I’ll donate them."

The goal of this yearly challenge is to see how many books you can get through on your holds shelf, and your "main circulation," by keeping track of how many you read from each. You can set a personal goal of a set number, or just see how far you get. There's no winning or losing here. It's all in fun.

Challenge runs January 1, 2024 to December 31, 2024
You can use books from your holds shelf for other challenges (this will give you even more incentive to get them read!)
Hashtag for social media #ReadYourShelf
Any questions? Leave me a comment below, or contact me via the button in the sidebar.

Friday, December 30, 2022

2023 Read Your Shelf Challenge

Here comes 2023 and Read Your Shelf is back for another year, and another update. I haven't quite been able to get this challenge to work for me over the years and then I came upon this article on Book Riot,

PRETEND YOUR HOUSE IS A LIBRARY: A STRATEGY FOR ACTUALLY READING THE BOOKS YOU OWN.

Basically, the premise is to take one shelf on your bookshelf (or some other designated place where you can place books for this challenge) and think of it as your "holds shelf." If you buy or receive a book you haven’t read, it automatically goes onto that shelf. (I've been building my shelf for 2023 by placing there all the books I purchased or received as gifts in 2022, plus books I purchased in 2021 or earlier that have been stacked in my bedroom.)

My "Holds Shelf"

From the original post (linked above): "This revolving door system has turned my bookshelves into my own mini library. Each time I finish a book I own, I return it to main circulation, and then I get to spend a few minutes browsing the stacks. I pick out a new book I’m excited about reading, and get the satisfaction of putting that book on hold (i.e. on my TBR shelf).

The best part: eventually all the unread books in my house will either get cycled onto the holds shelf, or I’ll realize there aren’t any unread books left in main circulation that I still want to read, in which case, I’ll donate them."

Fun! I hope you think so too.

So, the goal of this yearly challenge is to see how many books you can get through on your holds shelf, and your "main circulation," by keeping track of how many you read from each. You can set a personal goal of a set number, or just see how far you get. There's no winning or losing here. It's all in fun.

Challenge runs January 1, 2023 to December 31, 2023
You can use books from your holds shelf for other challenges (this will give you even more incentive to get them read!)
Hashtag for social media #ReadYourShelf
Any questions? Leave me a comment below, or contact me via the button in the sidebar.

Monday, December 27, 2021

2022 Read Your (Book) Shelf Challenge

Welcome to the 2022 new and updated Read Your (Book) Shelf reading challenge! It's year six and this challenge was originally inspired by the #RYBSAT (Read-your-bookshelf-a-thon) which I found on Twitter back in 2017. As this challenge has been updated, if you have not previously participated, and you would like to learn about the previous format, you can read about it on last year's challenge post here.

Now...on to the new details/guidelines!

I'm assuming you own at least one bookshelf, correct? Well, if so, this challenge is for you!

Here's what you do:

Count your bookshelves. As an example, I counted mine. I have 21 (yes, that is correct!).
Depending on how many shelves you have, you will randomly pick one book from each bookshelf to total 12 books for the year. Ideally, reading one book for each month of the year, though you can decide how you want to read them. You can even choose all 12 books at once if you want to plan ahead for the year. The ultimate goal is 12 books in a year.
If you have less than 12 bookshelves, you can break it up how you like. For instance, say you have six (6) bookshelves. Then you would choose two books from each shelf to total the 12 books. If you only have one bookshelf, then you just randomly choose a book from that shelf each month.
In the case of having more than 12 bookshelves: I have 21 so I plan to assign a number to each shelf, and then randomly choose a shelf each month using an online randomizer (or you can pick from a hat, or whatever works).
You can choose three (3) times from each shelf, just in case you really aren't feeling the book you've chosen, or your first choice was part of a series you've already read, or in the middle of a series you haven't started.
If you start the challenge late, mid-year, etc., you can read the number of books coinciding with the remaining months in the year, or if you're ambitious and/or a fast reader, you can still go for the 12 books.
What an awesome way to tackle books gathering dust on your bookshelves. Right?
Challenge runs January through December of 2022.
You can cross over books from your 12 books with other challenges.
Just remember to stick to the guidelines above.
Easy peasy!
Hashtag for social media #ReadYourShelf
Any questions? Leave me a comment below, or contact me via the button in the sidebar.

Sunday, December 13, 2020

2021 Read Your (Book) Shelf Challenge #ReadYourShelf

Year five! Once again, a shout out to the awesome book bloggers/booktubers who created the #RYBSAT (Read-your-bookshelf-a-thon), which I adapted this challenge from in 2017.

I failed miserably on this one this year. All I can do is try again in 2021!

Here's what you do:

Go to your bookshelves, or stack on the floor, or on your nightstand, etc. Pick out a book that you've been wanting to read on a particular shelf.
Now continue down that line of books on the shelf (in order) until you have 12 books. (See my shelf for the 2021 challenge below as an example.) There are a total of 19 books in my chosen shelf. I have already read three of the books by Ronald Malfi so that brings my total to 16 books. That gives me four alternates.

You might notice that there are a couple of extra books in my chosen shelf (as I mentioned above). These are alternate titles. I found that part of the reason I failed at this challenge is that I didn't have any options for alternates, which I now feel is essential, especially if your sequence of books has more than one by the same author. I'm limiting the alternates to a ~~three~~ six book maximum.
You will then read your 12 books over the next twelve months, one book each month. You can read them in order (forward or reverse), or you can plug 1 - 12 (or 1 through your total number including alternates, if any) into a randomizer each month to pick your title for the month or, if you're a planner, you can plan which books you will read for each month.
If you find that one of the books is part of a series and you've already read it, I will allow a substitution of another book from the series. However, if you find this happening (a whole series, several by the same author, etc) in the stack/shelf you chose, and you don't like it, I would suggest picking a different stack/shelf.
If you find yourself unable to finish one of your books in a month's time (I recently experienced this with a book I've found will take me a bit longer to finish, as I need to read it in doses), as long as you finish it during the challenge dates (January - December of current year), it counts. So, with the alternate reads option, and this addition, I think things should be much easier.
If you start the challenge late, mid-year, etc., you can read the number of books coinciding with the remaining months in the year. For example, if you start in June, you would pick a shelf (or section of shelf) with seven books (and 2 or 3 alternates) to give you your seven books for the remainder of the challenge dates parameters.
What an awesome way to tackle books gathering dust on your bookshelves. Right?
Challenge runs January through December of 2021.
You can cross over books from your 12 books with other challenges.
Just remember to stick to the guidelines above.
Easy peasy!

Tuesday, January 2, 2018

2017 Yearly Challenges - Wrap-Up Post

I want to apologize. I did not have time to do individual wrap-up posts for the three 2017 challenges I hosted. I'm posting the links to those challenges below. If you completed the challenge (or even if you didn't) and you post a wrap-up, please link up in the original linky on the challenge sign up post. When you put your name/blog name, just add "wrap-up." Like so: truebookaddict/wrap-up

Here are the links to the 2017 challenges:

Read Your (Book) Shelf Challenge

2017 13 Ways of Looking at The Lifetime Reading Plan Reading Challenge

2017 Book to Movie Reading Challenge

Be sure to leave a comment on the post so I know you added your wrap-up.

In case you missed the sign-up for this year's year long challenges, you can find them below.

2018 Read Your (Book) Shelf Challenge

2018 13 Ways of Looking at The Lifetime Reading Plan Reading Challenge

2018 Book to Movie Reading Challenge

Hope to see you again this year!

Sunday, December 31, 2017

2018 Read Your (Book) Shelf Challenge #ReadYourShelf

Here we are...year two! Once again, a shout out to the awesome book bloggers/booktubers who created the #RYBSAT (Read-your-bookshelf-a-thon), which I adapted this challenge from last year. Thank you again!

An admission on my part. I failed miserably at this challenge in 2017. Which is why I adapted the rules a bit for this year. The new rule will be in bold, just so you know what I added.

Here's what you do:

Go to your bookshelves, or stack on the floor, or on your nightstand, etc. Pick out a book that you've been wanting to read on a particular shelf.
Now continue down that line of books on the shelf (in order) until you have 12 books. (Here's an example image - most of my books are stacked instead of shelved traditionally because I have so many!) So, I choose Donna Tartt's The Goldfinch as my first choice and then I go up the stack until I have twelve total so I would end up at up at Alice Hoffman's The Marriage of Opposites).

You might notice that there are a couple of extra books at the top...Swann by Carol Shields and that top one is The Accidental Man by Iris Murdoch. These are alternate titles. I found that part of the reason I failed at this challenge is that I didn't have any options for alternates, which I now feel is essential (there is probably no way I can read Atlas Shrugged in a month), especially if your sequence of books has more than one by the same author. I'm limiting the alternates to a three book maximum.
You will then read your 12 books over the next twelve months, one book each month. You can read them in order (forward or reverse), or you can plug 1 - 12 (or 1 through your total number including alternates, if any) into a randomizer each month to pick your title for the month. The point is that you're not specifically choosing the book each month. It's chosen for you, either by ordered reading, or random choice.
If you find that one of the books is part of a series and you've already read it, I will allow a substitution of another book from the series. However, if you find this happening (a whole series, several by the same author, etc) in the stack/shelf you chose, and you don't like it, I would suggest picking a different stack/shelf.
What an awesome way to tackle books gathering dust on your bookshelves. Right?
Challenge runs January through December of 2018.
You can cross over books from your 12 books with other challenges.
Just remember to stick to the guidelines above.
Easy peasy!

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Friday, December 30, 2016

Read Your (Book) Shelf Challenge #ReadYourShelf

Taking the lead from the awesome book bloggers/booktubers who created the #RYBSAT (Read-your-bookshelf-a-thon), I've decided to start this new challenge starting January 1, 2017!

Note: I made some changes to the rules so be sure to read through again if you've already visited this post.

Here's what you do:

Go to your bookshelves. Pick out a book that you've been wanting to read on a particular shelf.
Now continue down that line of books on the shelf (in order) until you have 12 books. (Here's an example image - most of my books are stacked instead of shelved traditionally because I have so many!) So, I choose Melissa Marr's Graveminder as my first choice and then I go up the stack until I have twelve total so I would end up at up at The Owl Killers).

You will then read your 12 books over the next twelve months, one book each month. You can read them in order (forward or reverse), or you can plug 1 - 12 into a randomizer each month to pick your title for the month. The point is that you're not specifically choosing the book each month. It's chosen for you, either by ordered reading, or random choice.
If you find that one of the books is part of a series and you've already read it, I will allow a substitution of another book from the series. However, if you find this happening (a whole series, several by the same author, etc) in the stack/shelf you chose, and you don't like it, I would suggest picking a different stack/shelf.
What an awesome way to tackle books gathering dust on your bookshelves. Right?
Challenge runs January through December of 2017
You can cross over books from your 12 books with other challenges.
Just remember to stick to the guidelines above.
Easy peasy!