Book Unhaul Challenge

Hey all, Dani here.

We as members of the online book community often have photos/posts/videos where we showcase our book hauls, but it seems that unhauls are not as popular. Well, the other day I saw a video posted by emmmabooks where she did the Book Unhaul Challenge, which was created by BooksandLala. Seeing as how my bookshelves are getting a little packed and unruly, I figured this would probably be a good challenge for me to try as well.

There are ten categories for this challenge, and the technical rules say to choose one book for each category.

Unfortunately I didn’t exactly find a book to fill each category, but for some categories I found a good number of books that qualify. And then I chose some books that I can unhaul that don’t actually go with any of the categories.

But it was still an experience to go through my bookshelves and weed out some of the books I may not actually get around to or that I probably won’t read again.

Oh, and it absolutely needs to be said that just none of these unhauls are meant to be a personal attack on any book, author, or reader. If one of the books I am getting rid of just happens to be one of your absolute favorite books then I’m sorry. And because I haven’t carried them out of my apartment yet, some of these I could still be persuaded to keep and/or give another chance.

Let’s just jump into it.

1. A book you rated low

All right, so for this category I actually don’t have a book. If I rated a book low then I already got rid of it. But, I can also say that after many years of being a reader, I have figured out what kinds of books I’m likely to enjoy so I don’t really have many books that I rate low.

2. A book you changed your mind about

Okay, so I found quite a few books that I can put in this category. None of them are books that I have read, but they are ones where I am looking at them now and I just don’t feel like I need to read them like I did when I first learned about them. So let’s just go through the list.

• Good Morning, Midnight by Lily Brooks-Dalton
• The Ghosts of Heaven by Marcus Sedgwick
• Written in the Stars by Aisha Saeed
• Moth and Spark by Anne Leonard
• Magonia by Maria Dahvana Headley
• The Careful Undressing of Love by Corey Ann Haydu
• Mirror in the Sky by Aditi Khorana
• Jackaby by William Ritter
• Unhooked by Lisa Maxwell
• The Hawkweed Prophecy by Irena Brignull
• Between the Lines by Jodi Picoult and Samantha Van Leer

3. A series you won’t be completing

For one of the series I have chosen, I read the first book and I enjoyed it but wasn’t sure that I would read the second one. Then they decided to change the covers for the second one, and I didn’t feel strongly enough about the first to buy a new copy with a matching cover. The next series I technically never started, and the final two I started reading the first books and only read a handful of chapters.

• Rebel of the Sands series by Alwyn Hamilton
• Lock and Mori series by Heather W Petty
• Zodiac series by Romina Russell
• Callipe Reaper-Jones series by Amber Benson

4. A book you DNF’d (did not finish)

Umm….this was a difficult category but I came up with one book. I started it and read 50 or so pages and set it down to read something else and then ended up not picking it back up, and at this point I don’t see myself picking it up again.

• Tell the Wind and Fire by Sarah Rees Brennan

5. A book you own multiple copies of

Most of the books I have multiple copies of, there is a reason for it. Like with my different editions of Harry Potter, or my hardcover and paperback editions of You’re Never Weird on the Internet (almost) by Felicia Day. But I did manage to find two books where I could get rid of the extra copy. One I had purchased the hardcover at a discount and it was signed, but I met the author at BookExpo and have a signed and personalized paperback edition. The other I got a copy in my OwlCrate box after I had already purchased a copy; the difference is the OwlCrate exclusive cover, but I like the original cover better. (I just wish I had thought to put the signed book plate in the original cover edition).

• All the Birds in the Sky by Charlie Jane Anders
• The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue by Mackenzi Lee

6. A book you’ll never actually get to

There were several books that could have fit in this category, but I used them in other categories. If only I had a lot more time to read, maybe this category wouldn’t have to be filled. Oh well, I have to work so I can pay the bills and all that.

• The Lost Girl by Sangu Mandanna
• Words in Deep Blue by Cath Crowley
• Dream a Little Dream by Kerstin Gier

7. A book you bought because of the hype

This is probably the biggest unhaul of all of the categories. Because of watching BookTube, I have picked up so many books because it seemed like everyone was talking about it. And looking at my shelves now, I realize that so many of them are books I’m probably not actually going to read. I just don’t have enough time to read everything that sounds partly interesting.

• Burial Rites by Hannah Kent
• The Edge of Everything by Jeff Giles
• The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah
• I’ll Give You the Sun by Jandy Nelson
• The Sun is Also a Star by Nicola Yoon
• Dear Martin by Nic Stone (I read this; I just probably won’t reread it)
• Royce Rolls by Margaret Stohl
• Windfall by Jennifer E Smith
• The One Memory of Flora Banks by Emily Barr

8. A book you bought because of the cover

I don’t buy books just because of the cover. If I like the cover then I read the summary and decide to get the book. But I have a few books for this category, because looking at them now I just don’t have that same desire to read them. Oh, and a couple of these were more purchases because of the title. I’m a sucker for books about books or bookstores.

• The Book of Speculation by Erika Swyler
• Mystic by Jason Denzel
• Sorcerer to the Crown by Zen Cho
• The Bookshop on the Corner by Jenny Colgan
• City of Dark Magic by Magnus Flyte
• The Readers of Broken Wheel Recommend by Katarina Bivald

9. A book you don’t know anything about

I don’t get books if I know nothing about them. I do a lot of research on books, especially for upcoming releases. But if I am just browsing the stacks and something looks interesting, I’ll read the summary, check out the author bio, and sometimes even pop on Goodreads to look at overall ratings and such. So, I have no books that fit this category.

10. A book you didn’t buy

Okay, so most of these are ARCs I picked up on a whim at BookExpo last year and I’ve realized I’m probably not going to get around to them, and then one of them I won in a Goodreads Giveaway several years ago, and again, just haven’t gotten around to it.

• Zero Repeat Forever by Gabrielle Prendergast
• The Nowhere Girls by Amy Reed
• Caroline: Little House, Revisited by Sarah Miller
• The Last Castle: The Epic Story of Love, Loss, and American Royalty in the Nation’s Largest Home by Denise Kiernan
• Parched by Z.L. Arkadie

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So that is all for the categories given for this challenge. Now I’m adding a couple of my own.

Not going to reread

• Scrappy Little Nobody by Anna Kendrick
• Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver
• The Libarians and the Lost Lamp by Greg Cox
• The Librarians and the Mother Goose Chase by Greg Cox

Subscription Box Books

I get a book each month in a subscription box (sometimes two) and I’ve tried a couple different subscription boxes. Most of the time the books are ones that I am anticipating, but there have been a few that I’m not all that interested in, and in the case of one, I’m just not going to reread it.

• Foolish Hearts by Emma Mills (read it, enjoyed it, probably not going to reread it)
• Wild Beauty by Anna-Marie McLemore
• Evergreen Falls by Kimberly Freeman
• The Spirit Keeper by K.B. Laugheed

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Well, that is all from me today. I’m not going to tag anyone in this, but if you are looking to weed out your shelves a little bit, perhaps this challenge is for you. All of my unhauled books will be transported to my local laundromat and put on the freebie shelves there. I have started to see more people reading while doing their laundry, and other people have started to deliver books to the laundromat as well.