I’m bringing back the #ShelfLove reading challenge in 2025 in an attempt to reduce the amount of money I spend on books and the number of books on my TBR.

Goal: Abstain from buying books or set a book buying limit – and focus on clearing your physical and virtual TBR bookshelves for the entire year.

Challenge Dates: January 1st – December 31st, 2025

THE GUIDELINES:

• Abstain from spending money on books for one calendar year or set a book buying limit (whether that’s monetary or the number of books you may buy).
• Gift cards are OK as well as any Audible credits you already have in your account.
• Encourage other challenge participants via blog comments and social media.
• Library books do not count for this challenge. This challenge is only for books you already own.
• Netgalley, Edelweiss, or other ARC books can count for this because you have the book, so read it!
• Read books that are in your personal library that were obtained before January 1, 2025.

NO BOOK BUYING CHALLENGE STEP 1: SELECT YOUR GOAL

• 1-10 books: shake hands with your shelves
• 11-20 books: pat your shelves on the back
• 21-30 books: give your shelves a warm friendly hug
• 31-40 books: regular date night with your shelves
• 41-50 books: your shelves are now your BFF
• 51+ books: your shelves and you are going steady – I’m choosing this goal because my reading goal for 2025 will be more than 50 books.  I’m a member of the Nightmares from Nowhere book club, so I am allowing myself to continue my subscription. These books, plus whatever books I check out from the library should be more than enough, but the key is to stay away from the book stores!

NO BOOK BUYING CHALLENGE STEP 2: Link-Up

• Create a sign-up post that includes your chosen goal on your blog or any social media platform (Facebook, X, Goodreads, Litsy, etc.).
• Don’t forget to use the challenge hashtag #ShelfLove.
• Comment on this post with a link to your sign-up post!

NO BOOK BUYING CHALLENGE STEP 3: READ THOSE BOOKS!

• Feel free to post updates on how the challenge is going and what books you’ve been reading. I’ll be providing an update every week in my “Building the Book Fort” posts, and you can comment on those posts if you would like, but updates aren’t mandatory.

I can’t wait to read all y’all’s sign-up posts and show my bookshelves some love!