Minimalist Book Challenge

In 2017, I challenged myself to read 52 books in 52 weeks and I made it! This year I have a different kind of book challenge in mind.

I'm calling it my "minimalist book challenge."

I have been on a journey to incorporate more minimalism into my life for well over a year now, but books are my favorite things, and getting rid of them is incredibly difficult for me. So, despite my best efforts, and a couple purging sessions, my book collection continues to grow (and grow). That's where this challenge comes in. 

I was looking at my bookshelf the other day thinking about how many of the books on my shelves I would actually read again or reference for some reason. And then I thought, if I'm not going to do either of those things, then why am I keeping them? 

So, for the first six months of 2018 (I'm going to try to go the whole year, but after the first six months I can make no promises) I'm only going to read books that are already on my shelves. AND, I'm only going to read one book at a time.

Here are my rules & a couple exceptions:

Rules

*I can read anything that is on any of the bookshelves in my house, including my husband's and children's shelves.

*I can only read one book at a time, even if the books I want to read are from different genres.  

*If I don't want to reread a book that is on my shelf, I have to remove it from my shelf and donate it to the library or Goodwill. 

*If I get beyond the first six months (say a prayer for me y'all) for every 3 books I donate I can get 1 new book. 

 

Exceptions

*I can, but do not have to, reread the books by Toni Morrison and Octavia Butler for this challenge, as I have already done that a few times (you will have to pry those books from my cold dead hands). 

*If I need to read a book for the bookclub I'm in with my bestie-sister, I can request it from the library OR get it through iBooks or Kindle. If I really love the book after reading it, I can add it to a list to consider purchasing at the close of the six months (or the year). 

*If someone buys me a book as a gift (without me asking for it) I can keep the book, but I have to wait a month before reading it. 

What do you think? Anyone interested in joining me? Let me know in the comments below. 

52 Books in 52 Weeks

I challenged myself to read 52 books in 2017, one book for each week of the year. At the start of the year I was wildly optimistic and expected I would come in well over 52, BUT, life happens, and I found myself cutting it pretty close towards the end (that will happen when you have a newborn baby in tow I suppose). BUT, I did it. 

Here are the 52 books I read in 2017. This was a great year in this bookworm's life, and I enjoyed pretty much everything on the list, but my favorites are highlighted. 

1. Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo

2. In the Company of Women by Grace Bonney

3. Siege and Storm by Leigh Bardugo

4. Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates 

5. Ruin and Rising by Leigh Bardugo

6. Bad Feminist by Roxane Gay

7. Difficult Women by Roxane Gay

8. Citizen by Claudia Rankine

9. Building a Movement to End the New Jim Crow by Daniel Hunter

10. The Truth About Awiti  by CP Patrick

11. The Vegetarian by Han Kang

12. Envy by Sandra Brown

13. Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo

14. Milk and Honey by Rupo Kaur

15. An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir

16. The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo

17. The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood

18. Exit West By Mohsin Hamid

19. The Sun Is Also A Star by Nicola Yoon

20. Hallelujah Anyway by Anne Lamott

21. The Mothers  by Brit Bennett

22. Another Brooklyn by Jacqueline Woodson

23. The Flowering Woman by Q. Gibson

24. Rising Strong by Brené Brown

25. Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi

26. I'm Judging You by Luvvie Ajayi

27. Ordinary Light by Tracy Smith

28. What It Means When A Man Falls From the Sky by Lesley Arimah

29. Akata Witch by Nnedi Okorafor

30. A Million Junes by Emily Henry

31. The Girl With All the Gifts by M.R. Carey

32. Kindred: A Graphic Novel Adaptation by Damian Duffy and John Jennings 

33. Shadowshaper by Daniel José Older

34. The Ministry of Utmost Happiness by Arundhati Roy 

35. What We Lose by Zinzi Clemmons

36. All About Love: New Visions by bell hooks

37. The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Who by Junot Diaz

38. Ghost by Jason Reynolds

39. Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler

40. Parable of the Talents by Octavia Butler 

41. Patina by Jason Reynolds

42. The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz

43. Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng

44. New People by Danzy Senna

45. Sing, Unburied, Sing by Jesmyn Ward

46. Hunger by Roxane Gay

47. Electric Arches by Eve L. Ewing

48. A Thousand Mornings by Mary Oliver

49. Present Over Perfect by Shauna Niequist

50. Braving the Wilderness by Brené Brown

51.  Good Cry: What We Learn From Tears and Laughter by Nikki Giovanni

52. We Were Eight Years in Power: An American Tragedy by Ta-Nehisi Coates