"Hello, I'm still here..." Challenge

At the beginning of the new reading year, with my last having been a mess, I wanted nothing more than to start off 2013 as a much more organized reader! I had lost track of all the books and reading goals I had made for myself when 2012 had started, with the move, illnesses, and personal events. I had no idea what was on my shelves, really, and I'd even completely forgotten about series' and authors that I'd fallen in love with in the past. So armed with my laptop, my book collection, and a lot of patience, I started making a list.

I found that a lot of the books on my shelves were calling out, "Hello, I'm still here!  You forgot all about me!" Or some books were just dead silent because I don't remember why I bought them in the first place. So I boxed up some to be donated, gave others away to good homes, and then made a master list of books that I owned but hadn't read yet.

The magic number came out to be 79. There are 79 books on my shelves at this very moment that I have not had the pleasure of reading. How sad is that? I feel guilty for buying them and sticking them in their place on my shelves. I don't remember some of them and others I wanted to crack open right there and drink up. I knew I had to do something so that this number was reduced.

This year I challenged myself to read 100 books. I have also decided that at least 50 need to be from my own shelves. AND I've put myself on a "book diet" of how many books I can buy.

I'm excited about this challenge because not only is it possible, but it needs to be done! I made this challenge for myself but I want to open it to all of you. I also want to make it fun, so here's how I'll run it...

First, organize all of the books on your shelves and make a master list of books you own, have not read, but need to read. This does not include books that you have no intention of reading and that you're going to be getting rid of.

Give yourself a goal, like half your books or a number, then portion this out. So perhaps you want to read five of the books you own before investing in a new purchase. Or maybe your list is smaller than mine (good for you!) and you can alternate between new books and already owned books.

Make a post on your blog or keep track of it here on this post. (If volume increases I will gladly put up a page!) At the end of every month give us the names of the books you read and your progress for the challenge.

If lots of people join and I have an impressive number of awesome people reading their hearts out I will hold monthly giveaways for the participants! That's right, every month your name could be in the running for free books, gift cards, or other bookish swag.

I hope more people will join me in being responsible readers! It's a New Year's resolution I'm looking forward to keeping.