Well, not much has changed in the last few years. I continue to read, continue to swear I’m going to post more here, even draft a few reviews. And then – I never hit publish.

Most of the time work is so all consuming (usually at least a 10 hour work day) so I could lay the blame there. With Monday through Friday spoken for, how am I expected to do anything on the weekends except the stuff that doesn’t happen during the week? The usual adult responsibilities – groceries, laundry, cleaning, family obligations.

Here’s the catch, though. Like all book lovers I know I’m not the only one who uses what little time they do have to actually read. But, it seems, reading is all I have made much time for, not leaving space to write reviews, write my own novels or do much else for joy.

So here I am, yet again, typing an apologetic post for this blog that Katie and I came up with years ago, that she’s the only one who seems to actually commit time to.

How am I going to fix it and what started the shame spiral?

This past weekend I came across a reel on Instagram of a bookstagram account that shared her TBR pile spreadsheet, filled with graphs, charts, drop down lists, etc. It was glorious, and maybe the only spreadsheet I’d seen in years that didn’t make me hate excel. You’d think I’d get enough of spreadsheets in my work days but this one drew me in. Instead of data from work it spoke of genres, tropes, tracking books started, completed, ARC requests and so much more.

The kind content creator had made the spreadsheet available, for free or for a tip on her Ko-Fi. So, with a tip and unnecessarily bated breath, I downloaded a copy of the template and began inputting all the books I own that I haven’t yet read.

The list was… very long.

So, here’s my plan to tackle the list of unread books I already own and to be attempt to be better at actually being involved in the book community by leaving reviews, posting online and in general just trying to be more connected to what I read.

1. Reading goal lowered to 80 books for 2026.
   This will allow me to read what I want to read v. just reading as much as I can and will give me some time to reflect on what I liked and didn’t like in each book.
2. Read already owned books first.
   Essentially I’m on a crusade to read 20 already owned books before buying anything new. (Library books, gifted books, etc. don’t count.)
3. DNF books.
   I have only done this once or twice in my life. It’s time to learn the skill so I can move on from books I’m not enjoying.
4. Write book reviews!
   Again, this is an attempt to focus on working out what I enjoy in my reading and finding new authors, genres, tropes, etc. that excite me.

So, if you’re a bookworm with some shame, whether it’s similar to mine about owning way more books than you thought you did, not leaving reviews or forgetting the project you were once obsessed with, welcome to the new year. Where, hopefully, we look for positives, don’t shame ourselves and actually enjoy our books!

P.S. Shoutout to beth.readsbooks on Instagram for the spreadsheet!