Reading from my Bookshelves in 2019: a Status Update

Withdrawn library books, garage sales, charity shops, used bookstores: each a magnet and an invitation. Inevitably I find at least one gem, and these add up to a trove of books that I'm eager to read or reread.  Similarly, my Kindle is stocked with classics and deals found on bookbub.com.  

In college, I remarked that I'd feel like I'd settled down once all my books were in one place.  Now, with a husband and two kids, it seems I've settled down, but I live abroad and still have boxes of books tucked away in my sister's basement in Iowa.  Each visit to the USA I sort out some of these books (donate, discard, pack up), but I also buy picture books for my kids and books for myself at the local library's withdrawn section. Each visit, I bring back a full checked bag of books, yet inevitably leave some behind. The result is that I have well over 600 English books here in the Czech Republic.

Considering that I'm still acquiring books, even if I read 50+ books a year, it could take a few years to read what I already own. As such, one of my main reading goals for 2019 is to read from my own bookshelves. I've been surprised to see how much of my reading the last couple of years has been through Libby (formerly Overdrive). I love that it gives me access to new releases that I don't want to buy, but I hate that when I'm deep into a book on Libby, I'm constantly reaching for my phone in order to read.  Though I tell my 3-year-old that I'm reading on my phone--and not mindlessly scrolling--I'd rather have her see me with a physical book or my Kindle in my hands.  As such, I'm also actively reading through some Kindle books I've long owned.

At the beginning of the year, I broke down my reading goals as such:

1. read 65 books total
2. main goal: read books I own
3. read 10 middle grade or YA books that I own
4. read 5 Christian books I own
5. read 10 books off my shelves (not included in the above 15)
6. read the entire Bible
7. return all of V's books and read the best ones
8. (added now) read 10 books on Kindle that I already own

My current progress:

1. According to Goodreads, I've read 79 books this year. (If that number seems daunting, note that included in that count are 6 short stories and many middle grade novels.)
2. Of the above number, 60% were books I own; of the other 40%, five books were read on Kindle, 26 on Libby, and two were borrowed.
3. I have read 21 middle grade books; more if I count the 5 I read on Libby.
4. I have read four Christian books I own (mainly during Lent).
5. Complete: I've read exactly 10 of my own books in addition to the middle grade and Christian books.
6. I'm about 63% through the Bible, which means I'm about a month behind.
7. I currently have 4 of V's books (this is progress), two of which I definitely plan to read.  They are All the Light We Cannot See and Rebecca.  I also have Joan Didion's Slouching Towards Bethlehem, but as amazing as Didion is, I can only read her in small doses.
8. I've read five books on Kindle

It's definitely satisfying to look at my shelves and recognize more and more books as having been read in full.  Looking at the bookshelves next to me, I see quite a few I haven't gotten to, but would eagerly pick up: Chaim Potok's The Gates of November, Marilynne Robinson's Lila, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, Agatha Christie's Hallowe'en Party, Prairie Fires: The American Dreams of Laura Ingalls Wilder, Wendell Berry's A Continuous Harmony, and so many more.

There is the inevitable question of how many books I've acquired this year.  My instinct is to say I've done well and not bought many books, but with my spring visit to the USA, I know this isn't true. I definitely haven't bought many new English books this year (here's looking at you Book Depository), but between withdrawn library books, a local used bookstore, and some books passed on from others, I've definitely welcomed some more books into my home.

What about you? Are you able to restrain yourself from buying books? Do you read your shelves or do you know that there are far too many books for you to ever get through?