Books I Forgot I Owned

and the New Year's Resolution I make and break every year

Every single year, some version of this happens:

I’m embarassed to say how many books are on my shelf (books I want to read, books I’m excited to read, books I went to some kind of effort of acquire), that have just been sitting there waiting hopefully to be chosen as my next read. Some of them have been there for months, and some have been waiting for years.

I make bold declarations. This is the year of reading all those books I actually own! I’m going to alternate—for every library book I read this year, I’ll read a book I own and I’ll turn a whole shelf of unread books into read books.

But when it comes down to the wire, nine times out of ten, a library book wins when I’m choosing my next read. The library book has to be returned, after all. And I’m doing a civic service by checking out so many books—it shows the people in charge how important the library is!

Civic service aside, Laura Rennie and I decided to challenge ourselves to read at least ten books off of our shelves in 2025. To give ourselves some guidance and accountability, we picked our books for the year, and we’re posting about it!

So here it is—my 2025 book basket, full of books I forgot I owned but am excited to read. (See what Laura picked here).

If you stop to count, you’ll notice there are actually twelve books in the basket. We left a little wiggle room to account for the kind of reading moods we might find ourselves in (or in case we feel motivated to go for extra credit)!

Here are the books I chose, in no particular order:

Rules of Civility by Amor Towles: I read The Lincoln Highway by this author several years ago and really enjoyed it, so I’m looking forward to another one of his books (A Gentleman in Moscow is also on my to-read list)!

The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman: I picked this up at a cute little bookstore at the beach a couple of years ago because I’d heard Neil Gaiman recommended on The Lazy Genius podcast several times. However, I’d taken a big stack of library books with me to the beach, and after the beach, this one got tucked away on my shelf where it’s been waiting ever since.

Inheritance by Dani Shapiro: I don’t even remember where or when I got this one, but I love Dani Shapiro’s writing and I love memoirs, so it seemed like a win!

Bread & Wine by Shauna Niequest: I’ve heard people talk about how wonderful this book is for years, so I grabbed a copy… which has now been sitting on my shelf for years. I’ve read and enjoyed several of Shauna Niequest’s other books, but this is the one I hear people reference most frequently, so I’m excited to finally read it!

Still Life With Bread Crumbs by Anna Quindlen: I’ve picked up several Anna Quindlen novels at Little Free Libraries and enjoyed all of them, so this seemed like a solid option to add to my lineup.

The Middle Place by Kelly Corrigan: I loved Tell Me More and though I don’t listen to her podcast regularly, I’ve really enjoyed the handful of episodes I have listened to. When I realized I had two Kelly Corrigan books on my shelf that I had yet to read, I knew I needed to choose one.

Something Rich and Strange by Ron Rash: I picked up a book of his poetry at the library on a whim a few months ago and knew I wanted to read more of his work. So it was a fun surprise to discover I already had one of his books on my shelf!

The Preacher Had 10 Kids by Frances Bradsher: This one’s extra-special… it was written by my great-grandmother! I’ve read it before, but it’s been years and years. I have several family-history-related projects on temporary hiatus and I’m hoping re-reading this book about my great-grandmother’s life might help me jump back into one or two of them!

How Did You Get This Number by Sloane Crosley: I love a good essay collection, but the bear on the cover is what caught my eye when I was pulling books off my shelf in my quest to decide what should make it into my 2025 stack.

The Writing Life by Annie Dillard: Annie Dillard seems like one of the people you are supposed to read to be a “real writer,” but with the exception of a few essays, I’ve never read anything of hers. Last summer, I was thinking about how I really should read some Annie Dillard as I walked up to a Little Free Library. This book was waiting for me (synchronicity)!

Heating & Cooling by Beth Ann Fennelly: I’m not going to lie, part of the reason I chose this book is because it’s short. It’s so short, I feel silly for having had it on my shelf for at least three years, and never picking it up.

Searching for Sunday by Rachel Held Evans: I’ve been meaning to read this one for years as I’ve struggled through my own questions about faith and church, and I’m not sure why I haven’t.

So there they are. The books I forgot I owned that I’m going to prioritize reading this year. I’ll report back in December and tell you how I did (and please tell me I’m not the only one with dozens and dozens of books I own but have yet to read on my bookshelves)!

My other reading-related resolutions for the year are to make the switch from GoodReads to StoryGraph (come be my friend!) and to read 100 books.

What reading resolutions do you have this year? I’d love to hear them. And I’m curious—how many TBR books would you guess you have sitting on your bookshelves?

If you enjoyed reading this, don’t forget to hop over and see what Laura Rennie’s planning to read in 2025!

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