I’m going to admit something here. Real talk? Here we go. Over the last couple of years, I’ve really given in to my book-buying addiction. Part of it is that I visit a lot of indie book stores, and I refuse to walk out without buying something. Part of it is that I know a bunch of incredible authors, and I want to support them and read their books. And part of it is just that, well, I FREAKING LOVE BOOKS.

Unfortunately, I’ve been buying books faster than I can read them. Which means my TBR pile became a tower, then a shelf, and then I built a new bookcase (only 2 shelves!) next to my bed to hold it … and then I stacked two-deep.

I know. I have a problem.

I was combing through my shelves today picking out titles for a friend who’s collecting books to start a library at a girl’s home in Atlanta, and I realized how much I have that a) I haven’t read and b) I’m really freaking excited about. So I started pulling books and putting them in a “read this soon!” pile. And then that pile got big. And then it almost tipped over and injured me.

Well that settled it. My 2016 reading resolution? Read the books I already have, dammit!

Can you believe that haul? If someone deposited all those books on my doorstep at once, I’d probably fall over from the excitement. Well I’ve got them all on my shelves, and yet I’m not reading them! It feels wasteful. It feels overindulgent. It feels wrong.

My other 2016 reading resolution is to get better about passing books along, either to friends (I’m a book pusher) or through donation. There are so many readers out there without access to these kinds of titles who would LOVE to get their hands on them. And so I’ll be keeping my absolute favorites, my signed books, or books I’m pretty confident I’ll read again. But otherwise, I’ll be passing them along, even books I loved. Because books are meant to be read (Pixar, I know you’re working on Toy Story 7 or something that’s all about sad unread books, and I’m already crying about it).

In case you’re wondering, yes, I’ll still be buying some new titles. Like I mentioned in my 2015 Book Superlatives post, I’ve got 5 titles I’m already jonesing for. And the haul in the picture is only 26 books, so I’ve got room to add more (though I’m a huge supporter of my local library, so lots of slots will get filled that way).

So be sure to follow along as I revisit the hype (Six of Crows! Bone Gap! The Wrath and the Dawn!) and dig into some backlist (Tiger Lily! Legend! We Were Here!) with my 2016 reading list. And this time next year, hopefully I’ll have absolved myself of being a filthy book hoarder who acquires and doesn’t read.

2016 Reading List (so far!)

(left-right)
Symphony for the City of the Dead by MT Anderson
Illuminae by Amy Kaufman & Jay Kristoff
Becoming Nicole: The Transformation of an American Family by Amy Ellis Nutt
Circus Mirandus by Cassie Beasley
Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo
Wolf by Wolf by Ryan Graudin
Juba! by Walter Dean Myers
Anything Could Happen by Will Walton
Five, Six, Seven, Nate! by Tim Federle
Bone Gap by Laura Ruby
George by Alex Gino
Every Last Word by Tamara Ireland Stone
Hit by Delilah Dawson
Another Day by David Levithan
A Snicker of Magic by Natalie Lloyd
Tiger Lily by Jodi Lynn Anderson
P.S. I Still Love You by Jenny Han
The Wrath and the Dawn by Renee Ahdieh
First and Then by Emma Mills
Harriet the Spy by Louise Fitzhugh
Tonight the Streets Are Ours by Leila Sales
Don’t Fail Me Now by Una LaMarche
(top-bottom)
Rats Saw God by Rob Thomas
We Are The Ants by Shaun David Hutchinson
We Were Here by Matt de la Pena
Legend by Marie Lu