Melanie/Grab the Lapels: This year, you’ve noted on your blog, Reading Matters, that you’re hunkering down and reading books you own. Why now?

Kim/Reading Matters: I’ve always tried to read from my TBR, with mixed results, but last year I was a bit more focused and actually read 43 (out of 62 books read). This year’s effort is largely because I need to curb my spending. I’m the sole breadwinner and we’ve recently purchased a puppy, so my money is being diverted to dog food, toys and vet bills (instead of books). In an effort to puppy-proof our apartment I also had to put all the (unread) books lying about the house — on the low reaching shelves of our TV unit, on the bedside table, coffee table and the floor — into a secure storage box. I was amazed there were more than 60 books — that’s a year’s reading just there! I really have no more room for new books, so it seems logical to just read the ones I have.

Melanie: I never thought about how puppies and books don’t mix, but a good friend of mine recently got a puppy, too, and she hasn’t read since the puppy arrived! Part of it is the new pet steals her attention, the other part is puppy keeps trying to eat the books. I’m also trying to read books I own in 2026. I used to have a rule that I could buy physical books so long as they fit into this one clear-plastic tote. Well, now there are two more totes. I also tried being sneaky with myself and buying e-books, so I have to get around to those, too. Do you own a lot of e-books, and if so, how do you keep track of what you own?

Kim: I do own a lot of e-books … 596 in fact, purchased over a 15-year period (I was an early adopter of Kindle). But I cancelled my Amazon account last year and no longer buy ebooks. I don’t have a method for keeping track of what I own, although the ebooks are arranged in collections — Australian, Irish, contemporary fiction, BIPOC, non- fiction etc. I’m hoping to read more of these books over the coming year but I admit that sometimes I go through my Kindle and wonder why the hell I bought half of it because I think my reading tastes have changed a little over time and I’m less interested in reading best sellers or what were clearly popular books at the time I purchased them.

Melanie: Right?! It’s incredibly easy especially when authors will sell you the first book in a series for 99 cents and then $10 a piece after you’re hooked. I keep a Google Sheet of all the books I own because I got mad one day when I couldn’t find a novel I swore I had. It was quite a project initially. Now, it’s easy peasy, though to be fair to everyone, I did buy a book in December 2025 and then read the library copy in January 2026… How are you choosing which books to read this year? Does that match or interrupt any book challenges you do throughout the year (reading Irish, November novellas, etc.)?

Kim: I’m very much a mood reader, so there’s no real plan to what I will read when. I’ll participate in Reading Ireland month in March because I have loads of Irish books in my TBR and I’m also reading an Iris Murdoch book every second month as part of A Year with Iris Murdoch (which I’m co- hosting with Cathy from 746 books) … I already had those Murdoch books in my TBR. I should probably point out I’m not reading exclusively from my TBR. I do borrow books from my excellent local library and receive a few ARCs from publishers, so they will work their way into the mix, too.

Melanie: Even though I own loads of books (I just checked, and it’s over 300), I start getting anxious about getting on to the next book. Like, I’m reading Book A and enjoying it, but the little anxiety monster in my brain thinks I should be moving on to Book B because I just bought it, and I don’t want to be that person who owns “new” books that have sat on my shelf for years. Are you choosing books you’ve owned for longer or those newer purchases? Why?

Kim: Haha, I have an “anxiety monster” in my brain but it’s never about books, it’s usually about other things like, will I be able to find a car parking space if I visit that store, or how am I going to get that work project done in between all those meetings etc! As to how I’m choosing books to read, it very much depends on mood. I guesstimate I have 1,000 or so in my TBR, some of which I’ve had for 15-plus years and have crossed hemispheres with me. It will probably just be whatever’s easiest to get my hands on at the time.

Melanie: Wait, but how do you literally find the book that you want to fit the mood, especially if they’re tucked up in different places and you don’t have a spreadsheet of what you own to confirm your suspicions — that you do indeed own the book?

Kim: Most of my books are “on show” in the sense that they’re all in the living room — I have one entire wall that is lined with bookshelves behind glass doors — so I can pretty much find what I want. I have a good memory for covers and because the books are arranged thematically (Irish, Australian, Persephones, Penguin Modern Classics etc) I can usually locate things pretty easily. I also have a few in a cupboard and two boxes in the wardrobe and they’ve been in there so long unopened I have no idea what’s in them! If I ever open them, it will be like Christmas!

Once upon a time, I did use a spread sheet but that got too unwieldy and then I switched to GoodReads but cancelled my account a year or so ago. I haven’t missed either.

Melanie: Alright, last question — once you’ve read a book that you own, what do you do with it? I’ve made an argument for letting go of books that is one of the most popular posts in GTL history.

Kim: Kim: Great question… and I’m totally with you on the need to let books go. When I lived in London I had such a poky little one-bedroom flat that I simply didn’t have space to hoard books so they were given new lives. Every few months I’d have a therapeutic culling session and would take the selected titles to my local charity shop, give them to friends or post to family. For many years I was also a member of Book Mooch where you list all the books you are happy to swap with other people, but it turned out that didn’t help me get rid of books; it simply fed my addiction to acquiring more, because I’d see other people’s lists and request titles I was interested in!

At one point, I also helped a colleague set up the equivalent of a little free library in the office and stocked an entire cupboard with my books.

Now, many years later, and happily repatriated, I still believe that books need to be given away even though I do have a bit of extra space to keep them. I do keep those titles I know I would have trouble tracking down again or mean something personally to me (because I bought them on holiday etc). I collect, in the loosest possible sense, Penguin Modern Classics (although it annoys me that they keep changing the spine colours from silver to green to white), Persephones, Text Classics and other “sets” that look good on the shelves. But the majority of my books are donated to the Little Free Libarary in the basement of my apartment block, or I give away to family and friends. I also donate to local charity shops. It pleases me to think the enjoyment I experienced in reading those books gets passed on to other people instead of gathering dust — or as your post points out, attracting bugs! — on my shelves.

Melanie: Thanks so much for your time, Kim. Here’s hoping we both succeed in read more books we own, and if anyone out there is looking for some motivation to read their own books, maybe they’ve found some here. If you’re not already, be sure to follow Kim’s blog, Reading Matters.