Bookish 5:1 Challenge – An Update

Back in January (which feels like years ago!) I set myself some bookish goals, which you can read here, one of those goals was to start the 5:1 challenge.

To re-cap the 5:1 challenge is where you have to read 5 books you already own before you can buy 1. I amended this just slightly so that when I was able to buy 1 book it had to be something on my Goodreads TBR. I think based on hauls I did over on Instagram throughout last year I was developing somewhat of a “problem” with buying books so something needed to give!

How hard could it be really!? It turns out pretty darn hard! As with most goals and challenges I set myself I did really well for about a month 😦 however once I brought the first book I started to spiral a little. I pre-ordered 2 more books after my first purchase and told myself I will read 10 books before they came out (which I didn’t do) and then I figured while I was in the book shop I couldn’t help but browse and…well, I was weak!

I think that having the challenge always in the back of my mind has made me cut down the amount I buy but not by that much. I’m pretty tempted to scrap this challenge for the rest of the year but feeling like this got me thinking about about why I started it in the first place.

Not only was I buying loads of books almost every week but I was buying books that I would eventually just give away without reading because they didn’t really excite me past the book shop door. I think my issue is a lot of books I want to read and that are on my TBR aren’t available easily here in the UK and I don’t like to buy online. I like to go to my local Waterstones and talk to the cashiers and they will often recommend books based on what I’ve brought. Since I can’t really change where books are published though I’m going to have to adjust my attitude to buying online!

I don’t think I’m going to stick to reading 5 books before buying another book but I do think I will try a lot harder to just buy books that I am interested in and that are on my Goodreads TBR. If that means I have to start reading on my kindle again or that I have to buy online then that will be another challenge too since that will be a big attitude adjustment for me!

So really, to sum up, the 5:1 challenge was a big old bust for me and it made me feel really guilty on the few occasions I broke it. It did really help me see what I can do to make sure that what I am buying will get read! I’ll not be continuing with the 5:1 challenge but I’m glad I gave it a shot and so is my bank account!

How are you getting on with your reading goals so far?

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