'My Own Books' Reading Challenge is completed

Today is the last day of the 'My Own Books' Reading Challenge. My goal was to read at least ten books from my own bookshelves and then to decide what to do with the books now that they've been read. I didn't end up reading all the books I thought I was going to read, but I found others to fill in, so all-in-all it was a successful challenge.

The original list (click on titles for hyperlinked reviews):

1. La's Orchestra Saves the World by Alexander McCall Smith -finished March 20th. Gave to my mother.
2. Redeployment by Phil Kay- finished April 9th. Book belongs to my husband and he wants to keep it.
3. Ten Windows by Jane Hirshfield- started but decided it needed my full attention which I was unwilling to give at this time.
4. The Magic Strings of Frankie Presto by Mitch Albom- finished March 26th. Gave to my sister.
5. The Four Things that Matter Most by Ian Byock, M.D.- finished April 15th. Will keep.
6. On Chesil Beach by Ian McEwan- finished April 5th. It was a mini-book club selection so I placed it back in circulation for other club members to read. 
7. The Confessions of Fitzwilliam Darcy by Mary Street- finished on April 24th. Gave it to my daughter.
8. Small Wonders by Barbara Kingsolver- started and read four or five essays but realized that my heart wasn't into it so set it aside for another time.
9. Gilead by Marilynne Robinson- finished April 3rd, review hyperlinked here. Added to my church library.
10. The Buddha in the Attic by Julie Otsuka- finished April 12th. Want to donate to a friend who I haven't seen for a month. I'll try again soon.

I completed 8 of the original books on my list. In addition I read, or tried to read, the following books from my own shelves:

1. The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin (audiobook)- I got the audio CD set from the library book sales several years ago. I tried listening to it but the first CD wouldn't play. I could play the 2nd CD but didn't know what was going on. I decided to stop trying and threw the whole set away.
2. A Street Cat Named Bob by James Bowen- finished April 19th. A friend gave this book to my daughter years ago, she left it behind when she moved. I hope to donate it to my other daughter or I will donate it to the library for their book sale.
3. The World According to Bob by James Bowen- finished May 6th. Sequel to the above book, the two books will go out-into-the-world together.
4. The Selected Poetry of Rainier Maria Rilke, translated by Stephen Miller-I read the whole introduction which was over 30 pages but when I started reading the poetry I realized I am not sophisticated enough to like his poems, so I set the book aside.
5. East of Eden by John Steinbeck- this is sort of cheating for this challenge because I bought the book during it. I am reading this tome for another challenge, Classics Club Spin, but have only read 100 pages or so of 600. I will be working on this book for a long time.
6. The CBS Murders by Richard Hammer-I started this e-book last night. I purchased it when I got my Kindle Fire several years ago. I can't believe it is a true story and I've never heard of it before. It reads like fiction. I will finish it, but when?

In total I read ten books for the 'My Own Books' challenge and feel so good about it, I will keep going. And it is wonderful to actually free up shelf space on my book shelves by off-loading the books when I am finished. The photo shows some of my own books I want to finish by my new deadline of July 31st. As I considered the stack I realized that of the ten books shown, I purchased only three of them. All the rest were given to me or I selected from free-bins. No guarantees I will read these ten books, but my goal is to read ten more books from my own shelves by the end of July. Feel free to join me. Stay tuned.