It's bad. You know what? I'm going to go count how many books are on the living room bookcase and see how many of those I've yet to read/finish. It's 11:03 a.m. right now, let's see how long it takes me...
It's now 11:10 a.m. 7 minutes. In 7 minutes I found out I have 124 books on my small living room bookcase. Of those 124 books, I've not read 49 books. Out of those 49 unread books, 35 are Catholic -- either philosophy, teachings, or saint lives. That means roughly 39.5% of my books have been unread and of those unread books, approximately 71.4% of them are Catholic. Yikes! And, guess what. That doesn't include the books I've checked out from the library or other books I have scattered throughout the apartment. Yes, I have a problem.
I've banned myself from looking at the TAN, Sophia Institute Press, and other Catholic publisher catalogs that arrive in the mail because I always want more... but I have so many books I've yet to read. I've never finished Interior Castle or even The Story of a Soul. Not sure why. Do you know how many books I have on my Amazon wishlist that are Catholic? More than I should. lol. I'm definitely suited for the (lay) Dominican lifestyle... but I can't keep spending money and never reading these books. I think the one sitting on the bookshelf the longest has been there for almost the decade since my reversion and has yet to be read. Tsk, tsk Emmy.
So, new goal for me: try to make it through at least 10 of those books before I return to school in a little over a month. It can be done, especially since I'm pretty much stuck in the house when it's over 85 degrees which has been after 9 a.m. the past couple of days (it's supposed to go up to 109 today).
Does anyone else want to partake in this Tsundoku Challenge? Maybe not 10 books in a month (I have waaaay too much free time these days) but perhaps making a dent in your pile of unread books? I pledge that by August 28th I will have 10 books crossed off my "to read" list. I will even blog about it, whether I did it or not.
I really need to "out" myself with things I need to change because I know some of y'all will keep me accountable. If I keep them to myself, I'll most likely not follow through. Get on my case (if you know me on a personal level)! ;)
Alright, I should probably go do something. Maybe I'll finish one of the books I borrowed from the library... or take myself a snack (spoiler alert: self-care update coming this weekend).
I hope y'all had a lovely week and have a lovelier weekend. I also hope to have something posted tomorrow but we'll see. ;)
As always, thanks for reading and God bless! :D
2 comments:
Now this sounds sooooo familiar! I stopped counting at some 80+ books that I have collected over the past few years that I want to read - and those are just Catholic nature (spiritual, historical, Saints, etc.)! I also have some 40+ other books (poetry, fiction, sci-fi, etc.) that I've also collected that I want to read (from authors I've enjoyed in the past, or who've been highly recommended to me). And like you, this doesn't include my Amazon wish-list of some 40 books or so.
The temptation to buy yet another book is hard to fight, and only struck home to me just this past winter is when I found that I had (okay, have still) 2 copies of the same book in my 'to-read' pile, and another copy on my Amazon wish-list!
I think we need some sort of support group! And yes, I'd be in for a "Tsundoku Challenge"... a way to challenge myself and also support others with similar predilection of collecting books but not reading except for at some point in the "future".
So I'm going to try and read (does finishing to read books already started count?) 5 books by the end of August.
Good luck Emmy and good reading!
Oh man, I have several books that just have different covers as well, Stephen. Welcome to the club. lol.
I wonder how many of us are in the same boat. We cannot be two or a few; I have a feeling it's a bigger problem than we can imagine. Yes, the temptation is always there and, like you, I have to be careful about not purchasing repeats.
Yes, finishing books you've started also counts. 5 is a great goal to have, especially if you have work and other things going on!
Good luck to you as well!
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