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In 2021 I tried about three times to read 100 books I own before buying any. EPIC FAIL. All I accomplished was book-binge-buying beyond my wildest dreams. SO! Here I will read 100 books I already own without buying any new. Maybe public embarrassment can save me from myself.

Any book posted has been read.

1 We Own This City: A True Story of Crime, Cops and Corruption in an American City
2 The Riesling Retribution
3 Complications: A Surgeon's Notes on an Imperfect Science
4 Magical Midlife Madness
5 Magical Midlife Dating
6 Killer Comfort Food
7 The Mystery of Mrs. Christie
8 You Made Me Kill You
9 Muffin But Trouble
10 Double or Muffin
11 Malibu Rising
12 Death, Taxes, and Cheap Sunglasses
13 Cooked Goose
14 The Name Below The Title: 20 Classic Movie Character Actors From Hollywood's Golden Age
15 Death, Taxes, and a Chocolate Cannoli
16 Jingle Bell Bark
17 The Best of Friends
18 I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter
19 In the Name of the Children: An FBI Agent's Relentless Pursuit of the Nation's Worst Predators
20 Leave Out the Tragic Parts: A Grandfather's Search for a Boy Lost to Addiction
21 Death on the Nile
22 The Final Days
23 Track of the Cat
24 A Catered Mother's Day
25 A Catered Tea Party
26 A Catered New Year's Eve
27 Killer Stuff
28 A Catered Book Club Murder
29 Hounded to Death
30 Raining Cats & Dogs
31 Savannah Breeze
32 The Last Bookshop in London: A Novel of World War II
33 Diagnosis: Solving the Most Baffling Medical Mysteries
34 The Eustace Diamonds
35 Drop Dead Divas
36 The Marriage of Opposites
37 The Mountaintop
38 The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics
39 The Collector's Daughter
40 Grounds for Murder
41 Rivers of London
42 Death in the Stacks
43 Off The Grid
44 The last piecechang
45 Hard Hit
46 The Last Correspondent
47 If this was happiness
48 Normal People
49 One Lavender Ribbon
50 Unhinged
51 Murder and Metaphors
52 Moonshine and Magic
53 Everything my mother taught me
54 Watchdog
55 Death of a Dog Whisperer
56 Bark before Christmas
57 Riviera House
58 In every moment we are still alive
59 Magical Midlife Invasion
60 Dance of the Winnebagos
61 Sorry I missed you
62 Doggie Day Care Murder
63 Eden Mine
64 Subway people
65 Righteous
66 Sister to Sister
67 Every Body on Deck
68 Duchess
69 Dog eat dog
70 Hair of the Dog
71 Hot Dog
72 Krakatoa
73 Hush Puppy
74 Chow Down
75 Gone with the Woof
76 Social Graces
77 Reading between the Crimes
78 Hotel Riviera
79 Meet me in venice
80 Invisible Client
81 40 Love
82 this pen for hire
83 letters from home
84 At Random
85 Valentino will die
86 The Bishop’s Wife
87 Dixie Diva Blues
88 Inside the white house
89 Poisoned Prose
90 Sugar and Spite
91 Ordinary life
92 How to Start a Fire
93 Matriarch
94 There’s Something about St. Tropez
95 90 minutes at entebbe
96 Nasty Breaks
97 Second Mrs Astor
98 Bodily Harm
99. Killing Patton
100. Killing Lincoln

Stick a crowbar where!!!??? 🤣🤣🤣🤣

Oh, Jen! You're a bibliophile; all hope is lost!! I try not to buy too much; but then I cave, because i feel like I deserve it. 😩😩🤦‍♀️

Alondra wrote: "Stick a crowbar where!!!??? 🤣🤣🤣🤣

Oh, Jen! You're a bibliophile; all hope is lost!! I try not to buy too much; but then I cave, because i feel like I deserve it. 😩😩🤦‍♀️"

DUDE! You have no idea how many books I can buy and *still believe* I've spent less than 100 bucks. Math-challenged! Seriously, some days I think I'm lucky if I can count to 12 without lifting my shirt.

I also try not to buy too much. I was so successful in 2021 that I bought 3X more books than I read.. *sigh* Mind you, I have traded in 250 books this year, so that's keeping my bookshelves from collapsing too badly.. Good luck with your challenges.

Good luck, Jennifer!
There’s no way I can not buy books as hard as I try when I see them. Trying to stay on a budget…not with books. I can’t even go into a bookstore without grabbing something! And I just ordered more today! 😱
What’s a reader to do? 🐾

I also wish my self control could come back when it comes to book buying (well, not just books, it's just the scented things/coffee go really well with books) - however I've bought 12 this weekend! I console myself with the fact I only buy books on offer, so its cheaper than buying them when I might read them and pay 5 times more. I say I have a budget of £10 a month, but that is only for the monthly deal, daily/big deals/charity shops/library sales don't get included in that. I do think the most is £20-30 a month, and as I don't go out drinking, it's not the worst habit to have.

Have you read Howards End is on the Landing: A Year of Reading from Home where Susan Hill wrote about her year of not buying books? Same problem we all have. (That's another book to add to your TBR!)

Carolien -- that was the most brilliantly passive-aggressive post I've ever read. LOLOLOLOLOLOLOL. and yes I added it.

@ Bill -- LOL! bought three times more than you read -- yes, you've captured it exactly!

@Emily, take comfort in SF author Robert Heinlein's edict: Budget the luxuries first.

@Desley - YES, coffee and scented things, plus if I go into Bath and Body Works I walk out with way more varieties of soap than anyone could possibly need...

Ann_R wrote: "Good luck, Jennifer. I don't think I could read 100 books before buying anymore either, lol. I don't buy a lot of books. But still.... who could pass up a good book sale?"

Heh, well, so far I haven't been able to..... we'll see.

Oh my goodness, I love this challenge so much. I mean, not enough to attempt it myself...but certainly enough to cheer you on, and get some ideas for my next shopping trip. Oh, sorry, is that not what this thread is for? :-) Carolien already has me started!

Lea wrote: "Oh my goodness, I love this challenge so much. I mean, not enough to attempt it myself...but certainly enough to cheer you on, and get some ideas for my next shopping trip. Oh, sorry, is that not w..."

LOL I don't know whether to virtually smack you or virtually hug you. LOLOLOL

Jennifer wrote: "LOL I don't know whether to virtually smack you or virtually hug you. LOLOLOL"

IRL, most people want to do both at the same time, so it figures that things aren't too different online? :-)

True story.

This has made me actually want to track how much I do spend on books. My personal goal is to make it all the way through the month of January before I stop tracking!!!

At which point you'll either be happier with yourself than you expected or you'll be covering your eyes and afraid to look. :)

That sounds scary Jackie!!

Jennifer wrote: "DUDE! You have no idea how many books I can buy and *still believe* I've spent less than 100 bucks. Math-challenged! Seriously, some days I think I'm lucky if I can count to 12 without lifting my shirt...."

*snort*..... I am cackling at work... stop it!

Jennifer wrote: "Carolien -- that was the most brilliantly passive-aggressive post I've ever read. LOLOLOLOLOLOLOL. and yes I added it. .."

I even added that book; it sounds fabulous!

Jennifer wrote: "At which point you'll either be happier with yourself than you expected or you'll be covering your eyes and afraid to look. :)"

You are so right!

Desley (Cat fosterer) wrote: "That sounds scary Jackie!!"

I'll see how it goes, Desley.

Day two of the challenge..... she appears stalwart in having resisted both the audible.com daily deal AND the kindle daily deals for two days running, when in fact it's just that neither of them has had anything in it she wanted......

Jennifer wrote: "Day two of the challenge..... she appears stalwart in having resisted both the audible.com daily deal AND the kindle daily deals for two days running, when in fact it's just that neither of them ha..."

LOL!

100? Wow!

John wrote: "100? Wow!"

Haven't been able to make it so far... and I've tried several times...

Jennifer wrote: "Day two of the challenge..... she appears stalwart in having resisted both the audible.com daily deal AND the kindle daily deals for two days running, when in fact it's just that neither of them ha..."

Good for you, lol... I've already failed. Due to the new challenges here, he specifically points to the Poetry / etc challenge, I've ordered a book of poetry and a book of essays both by Dorothy Parker, and they weren't necessarily cheap. Don't tell my wife.. :0)

I would have failed this challenge as of yesterday. Got a $50 gift card for Christmas and spent it all on books...lol But I would win today as it is too cold to venture out to the thrift store today when it is 50% off all books.

Razors pain you;
Rivers are damp;
Acids stain you;
And drugs cause cramp.
Guns aren’t lawful;
Nooses give;
Gas smells awful;
You might as well live.

:) I like Dorothy Parker too. By any chance is what you ordered the Viking Portable? Because there are some theater reviews she did in that book that are HILARIOUS.

Jennifer wrote: "Razors pain you;
Rivers are damp;
Acids stain you;
And drugs cause cramp.
Guns aren’t lawful;
Nooses give;
Gas smells awful;
You might as well live.

:) I like Dorothy Parker too. By any chance is..."

The book of poetry is Enough Rope

And the essays is Dorothy Parker: Complete Broadway, 1918-1923

I previously read Not Much Fun: The Lost Poems of Dorothy Parker

"Myrtilla's tripping down the street
In Easter finery.
The Easter blooms are not more sweet
And radiant hued than she....."

"As down the street Myrtilla trips,
I hope she breaks her neck!"

lol

Jennifer wrote: "Day two of the challenge..... she appears stalwart in having resisted both the audible.com daily deal AND the kindle daily deals for two days running, when in fact it's just that neither of them ha..."

Hang in there!

I'm impressed with your challenge & will be watching & rooting for you! To prove how pathetic I would be at such a challenge, when I read Carolien's recommendation for the Susan Hill book, I found a copy on abebooks & ordered it. (In my defense, I did check my library first. Alas, they have no copies.) Now, why do I want to read that book when I know I won't go a week, never mind a year without buying a book? Just to see how such a feat is managed, I guess.
Happy Reading!

Patricia wrote: "I'm impressed with your challenge & will be watching & rooting for you! To prove how pathetic I would be at such a challenge, when I read Carolien's recommendation for the Susan Hill book, I found ..."

Gotta see how the other half lives, eh? LOL!

Bill wrote: "Jennifer wrote: "Razors pain you;
Rivers are damp;
Acids stain you;
And drugs cause cramp.
Guns aren’t lawful;
Nooses give;
Gas smells awful;
You might as well live.

:) I like Dorothy Parker too...."

Oh, the broadway essays should be good. Constant Reader is what she went by when she did book reviews, and the most pithy of them was a review she did of something completely insipid and childish that she was disgusted by -- I WANT to say it was actually by A. A. Milne but don't quote me on that -- and the line I remember from it was: "Tonstant Weader Fwowed Up."

Denise wrote: "I would have failed this challenge as of yesterday. Got a $50 gift card for Christmas and spent it all on books...lol But I would win today as it is too cold to venture out to the thrift store toda..."

Wow, that sounds a lot to spend on books!

Congratulations on making it this far and finishing three books! That's great progress!

I'm at 43 as of today, with four more started but unfinished. I have *not* paused my audible membership, so I got two books yesterday from my normal membership credits. I've also picked up a couple of free kindle books, and I spent 2.99 on a kindle book written by a friend of mine in order to score him the sale. But given that I usually buy books nearly daily (curse you, kindle daily deals!) I'm doing pretty well.

The cursed kindle daily deals have actually cooperated by offering me things I"m either not interested in, already own, or have already read.

That is good Jennifer. I like it when the daily deals have nothing I want, it's the big deals that get me!

Sigh. I made it into the 90s and then caved like a mining disaster. But I did get a good 6 weeks in of no book buying, so I'm going to start it over. I actually felt good reading stuff I already have and controlling some of my spending.

Jennifer wrote: "Sigh. I made it into the 90s and then caved like a mining disaster. But I did get a good 6 weeks in of no book buying, so I'm going to start it over. I actually felt good reading stuff I already ha..."

Good for you. Stay strong. :0)

6 weeks is mega impressive, not sure I can go 6 days! Glad it felt good, and you are going to try again

Starting over again............ Audible had a site-wide sale and I caved like a mining disaster.

Sales are different!

You're so close! Have you really read 98 books already?

Actually I need to update that. I'm at 126. But for purposes of this challenge (2nd round) I'm now back at two.......

Desley (Cat fosterer) wrote: "Sales are different!"

"Sales are different" is what has me with 10K books on my kindle and almost 5K in my audible collection. IT'S A SICKNESS!

It's how I justified a ridiculous amount of money on candles and wax melts last week! A friend asked what my next obsession would be, so I splurged on nail varnishes when I saw some on offer (less than half price!). And I'm going to go over my budget on the monthly deal this month

See? We're practically twins! I went into bath and body works in October in a fit of, I don't know, sudden onset insanity? And wound up with enough bath soap and candles to last me two years because they were on sale!!

I dread to think how many years my wax melts would last me! My current logic is to try all the ones I've bought and haven't opened, in the hope that I won't like some and can give them away - it's worked with the first one at least.

I love it. LOL

The downside is that I go to see my sister and give her the wax melts I don't like, and she gives me ones she doesn't like in return!! Cleaner does quite well out of me as well!

Desley (Cat fosterer) wrote: "The downside is that I go to see my sister and give her the wax melts I don't like, and she gives me ones she doesn't like in return!! Cleaner does quite well out of me as well!"

Heh. I recently moved, and I ended up giving a friend of mine my unstarted cross-stitch stuff because I don't do it anymore. I thought, great, less to pack! Then she gave me all her mom's unused baking stuff because she can't bake anymore, and I wound up with just as much or more to pack than I started with....