Show Your Shelves Some Love Challenge - UPDATE

I'm participating in Show Your Shelves Some Love Challenge hosted by Second Run Reviews and Chapter Break. 

In this challenge we attempt to read what's on our shelves NOT buy more books. (you can find my intro post HERE)

This month we are sharing our book budget if we have one.

I'll tell you right now I don't have a budget and that's part of the problem! :)

Honestly my biggest issue is not being able to say no to review copies. I realize that's not spending money on books, so technically I'm not breaking the spending ban. BUT if I'm trying to show some love to the books I already own, I'm not doing that if I'm still asking or getting review copies left and right!

What I'm trying to do instead with books that I get without requesting:

1. I give them to the media specialist at my school to add to the school library or share with students.

2. We have several Little Libraries around town (those little enclosed cases where people put books to share and can take to read). I take some of the books I get and pass them along to those.

I also went through my bookshelves and cleared out books I had gotten that I knew I wouldn't read. I've passed those along or donated them.

What Will I Do With the Money?

Another question we can address this month is what we'll do with the money we'll save. I don't have a direct plan, but I am going back to school to get my media specialist license - any extra money helps pay for tuition!

So anyway - that's what's going on with this challenge. I'm doing ok. I've bought a couple of books but they are books in verse, and I'm writing a book in verse right now so I see them as research!

How Am I Doing in the Challenge?

Not too bad. I did buy a couple of books, but they were more for research then anything. I'm writing a novel in verse and the books I bought were novels in verse. I also bought them at Goodwill, so I saved money there!