The Overzealous Book Hoarder
Confession (and solution?).
I have a confession to make…I am an overzealous book hoarder.
A hoarder of ARCs.
An “ooh something shiny” and buy that new book hoarder.
Book dragon? Want to know why that name fits so well? Because I love to sit in my cave of books. Am I reading them all? No. Do I love them all? Yes.
I haven’t always been this way. 10 years ago I was someone who only bought the 1.99 or less books for my Kindle, borrowed from the library as many as I could carry, and shopped thrift stores and library sales. I never bought books because it was just too expensive.
Then I found Book Twitter and my ARC-reviewing group LitReviewCrew and the ARCs started flooding in. I found my love of championing authors and books-especially children’s books. And I discovered that buying books helps authors (something I never considered before), especially preorders.
And can I blame my partner for building me a giant bookcase? (picture is included later.)
And that brings us to today.
My shelves are overflowing, my NetGalley stats are low (33% Feedback Ratio), and I need to change my habits a bit.
I do believe buying books is a separate hobby and I will not stop, but I do need to shift my focus.
My focus:
Actually READING what I bring to my shelves-bought and ARCs alike.
Spending my money to support authors I love and want to support-being mindful of where this money goes and why.
STATS
So here are the stats of my shelves. I am being completely transparent here at the risk of embarrassment…so be kind! I am not including my Kindle Unlimited reads or library reads because that number is ever-changing. But you can assume at least 10 books are borrowed at a time.
NetGalley ARCs: 432 (245 reviewed)
Edelweiss ARCs: 31 (34 reviewed)
Libro.fm ALCs (audiobook listening copies): 472 (111 Finished)
Audible: 12 audiobooks
Physical ARCs: 325
Books I’ve Purchased: 172
Book of the Month purchases: 53
Kindle books: 555
Grand total of books to read (as best I could count):
2,052!!!
Two. Thousand. Fifty-two. BOOKS.
Making a dent
Because that is all I am going to do…make a dent. I am not going to read all of these, let’s be realistic. At least not anytime soon. But what I can do is read a few each month and also weed out ones I won’t finish.
Strategy
Let’s play a game.
If you step into my classroom, you’ll usually see me using a "random wheel spinner” of sorts because that’s how I make some really mundane lessons exciting. (Teaching the basics of Google docs and sheets? Bleh. But turn it into a wheel and it becomes exciting.)
So I am going to make a wheel to help me focus on some reads. I am not doing this for EVERY book I read, but for most. I may fluctuate each month, so I am not setting a number or that specific of a goal because reading needs to be for enjoyment. But, I will say as I was going through my books, I found a lot that I remembered wanting to read. I forget all of the books in this chaos. There was a reason I requested or bought these books and I need to at least give them all a shot.
Step 1: Spin Wheel to determine category of my read.
Step 2: Choose a random number generator and find that book on my shelf. Just count from left to right.
Step 3: Read at least 50 pages.
Step 4: Decide to finish, DNF and get rid of, or pause.
Step 5: Repeat.
Potential Hiccups
I don’t read physical books very quickly lately. I am a Kindle girl right now-so it may be slow-going on that end.
I will get distracted (shiny new book) and am easily swayed by opinions.
Other Help
Posting this publicly will hopefully keep me accountable. (Can someone comment on here in 2 months and see how I am doing?)
NetGalley’s 2025 Reading Journal has a great focus on getting through ARCs. It’s also adorable and I wish I could have it in print.
NetGalley’s Book Advocate Toolkit will help me find my “why” and motivate me to read what I have been gifted from authors and publishers.
Ending with an apology
I am sorry to the books that are collecting dust.
I am sorry to the authors who sent me their beloveds and I left them alone.
I am sorry to the publishers who were kind enough to think of me when sharing ARCs.
I am sorry to my friends who have gifted me books they thought I would love.
Send me some encouragement or ideas on how you tackle your TBR that is ever-growing and expanding? Or maybe you don’t have this problem…and I would love to know what your shelves look like instead!
