People often tell me “I need to read the books I own before I get any more.” Of course, I believe that’s 100% false. But as a book blogger (which is a great excuse for being a book hoarder) I understand that books have a tendency to pile up, no matter how much I want to read them.

I cull my stacks a couple times a year, I give away most books after I’ve read them. Yet I’m perpetually acquiring more: from friends who are culling their shelves or as gifts, from authors and publishers give me advanced copies in exchange for my review. And then there’s all the ones I pick up on my own while thrifting and volunteering at the library book sales.

I’m constantly bringing home more books I’m excited about, even though I know I already have stacks of fantastic reads waiting for me. When it’s time to pick my next book, I often spend a ridiculous amount of time trying to choose. Or I’ll spend hours trying to organize them into some sort of order by preference.

So every once in a while, I try to slow down and make a concentrated effort to get through a bunch of books I own. This year I joined The Unread Shelf Project on Instagram, which has helped keep my unreads as a priority, but I still haven’t managed to get through as many as I’d hoped for this year.

That’s why I’ll be participating in Only Own October next month, hosted by my dear friend Holly. Last year was her inaugural October challenge, and afterward I interviewed her about it, you can find that post here.

I checked in with Holly this week about her upcoming challenge. She finished five books during her October challenge last year. She thinks she’s been reading a bit faster lately so her goal is to finish seven books next month.

Last year I started October with great intentions to participate in my friend’s challenge, then it fell off my radar. This year I am determined to read only my owned titles for the entire month! I’m usually not great about sticking with a pre-chosen stack, but here are my hopefuls for this October:

So far this year, I’ve finished an average of sixteen books per month so there’s thirteen waiting for October. I’ve got plenty on my Kindle that I can choose from too (they just don’t make for pretty photos!) The good news is, if any of these don’t keep my interest, there are about two hundred more books around the house I can pick from!

So what do you think about Only Own October? Can I talk you into giving it a try?! 

Stay tuned for an update on how I did at the start of November!!