Somehow, we’re already halfway through 2011. Time flies! I’ve been wanting to resurrect my month-in-review feature, and this summer seems like a perfect time to do it.

Mid-2011 Stats

Books read: 30
Pages read: 9,746
My reviews: 20
Guest reviews: 7
Posts on book reviewing: 16
(includes features like In My Mailbox, Wordless Wednesday, and Top Ten Tuesday; reading challenges; and news)

At this rate, it doesn’t look like I will hit my informal goal of 100 books in 2011. But there’s still time… especially with the new reading challenge I’m creating!

Bookshelf ROWDOWN Reading Challenge

I mentioned recently that I am trying to limit the number of books I receive each week because Jack and I will be moving soon. Though the house we planned on buying has fallen through, I’m still serious about curtailing the number of unread books crowding my shelves.

I have a tendency to buy a book so that I am later reminded to read it. Essentially, I become so guilty that I haven’t read The Age of Innocence or Huck Finn after seeing it on my shelves for years, I will finally pick it up–and really, really enjoy it.

But the number of books I buy does not equal the number of books I read, especially when you add library books to the mix. So I’m creating a new reading challenge: Bookshelf ROWDOWN!

Bookshelf ROWDOWN (which is supposed to sound kinda like “throwdown” and yes, I know that’s completely awesome) aims to reduce one row of unread books in one year. By my estimation, that’s about 25 books total, or approximately 2 a month.

I’ll be tagging each ROWDOWN review and tracking my progress in posts like these. Feel free to join me, and I can always use some cheering on!

In order to count for this challenge, the book must have been acquired at least one year prior to beginning the challenge. Re-reads don’t count unless you give it away afterward. If you want to make different rules, that’s cool, as long as the purpose is clear: to read those neglected but great (why else would you have bought them?) books gathering dust and straining the back of your poor brother on moving day.

So, let’s get to ROWing!