2015 TBR Jar Challenge | Introduction

The 2015 TBR Jar Challenge

 

Back in November, I came to the conclusion that I needed to make myself a TBR jar. I had begun to notice them on a lot of my favourite Youtubers' videos and couldn't believe that such an easy solution to an impossible situation was already in practise, and that I hadn't thought to do it for myself. You see, I am incredibly poor decision maker. I cannot make snappy decisions to save myself. I am a thinker and dweller, not a doer.

 

Therefore I decided to create a TBR jar for myself and I did. I wrote down the titles of all the unread books I have on my shelves (over 200 - my hands are so sore!) and put them into this old owl mug of mine. Now whenever I need to read a book all I have to do is dip my hand in the jar and it will choose for me.

 

Its brilliant!

 

The more I thought about it though, the more I become overwhelmed by the enormous amount of unread books on my shelves. I needed to get them read but I lacked the enthusiasm.

 

Now, its December and I am doing my post-Christmas room tidy and clean-out of my room. I discovered my boxes with the books my Pa gives me under my bed and realised this means that I have a lot more books to read. But there's an extra kicker. I don't want to read the books under my bed. Let me quickly explain...

 

 My Pa works at an auction house and he gets to keep all the books that don't sell at these auctions. That sounds pretty good right? Well, it isn't. The book he gets aren't our sort of book, they're the moth-eaten variety that were published ten years ago and no-one ever bothered to read them, or children's books that I have no interest in reading anymore. I don't want to just dump the boxes though. Pa knows I like reading and is kind enough to pass along a couple of books a week because he believes they will be read. I have to read them before I give them away. I must. I don't want to be rude and he always asks how I enjoyed them...

 

Its a real dilemma... but now I have a solution!

 

I am going to use my TBR jar (once I get all the "pa" books - ugh!) and pick out one "good" book - one of the books that I bought for myself and is sitting on my shelf - and one "Pa" book to read every month. If I have extra time, I will pick again from the jar, of course, but I am tying myself to at least one book a month.

 

I am going to start this challenge next January and continue for as long as I have books on my shelves that need to be read.

 

What about you guys?

 

Your 2015 TBR Jar Challenge

 

That's right, I want to extend this challenge out to everyone. Obviously you don't have the exact problem I do but I am sure you have a lot of unread books you need to read. Why not challenge yourself to get some of them read next year?

 

First you need to create a TBR jar.

 

This doesn't have to anything fancy. Grab a jar, write down at least twelve books you want to read this year on little slips of paper, fold them up, and put them in the jar. Done!

 

These titles should be of books published prior to the 1st of January, 2015 and purchased by you prior to the 31st of December, 2014. You'll need at least twelve books if you want to read one book a month. Please have more if you want to! The idea of this challenge is to read as many books on your shelf as possible so the more the merrier, really.

Comment your name and your blog link below (or a link to a Goodreads profile or something similar if you don't have a blog) so I can keep track of who is doing the challenge. If you complete the entire year and document it in someway (review each book etc.) I might be able to do some prizes at the end of the year. I haven't worked out all the details yet.

 

If you need to know anything else about this challenge, please feel free to comment below. I hope I can get a few people doing this as it really is a fantastic idea - if I do say so myself.

 

I will be letting you guys know what two books were picked out for the following month in my monthly wrap-up posts - so stay tuned for what I'll be reading in January!

 

I will also keep you updating with how I am going throughout the year. I want to count how many books I have so I'll know how many I have left to read as I am going.