The Picky Pledge 2017

Two days ago, I shared my official 2016 book stats. Yesterday, I reflected on what I've learned from The Picky Pledge and what my main goal for 2017 is. And today, well, today is the day that I'm officially announcing that The Picky Pledge is back and better than ever in 2017! 

The Picky Pledge is a pact I make with Hannah of So Obsessed With on a yearly basis, inspired by a discussion we had in 2014 about how we wanted to be more intentional about our book choices. We've both made a lot of progress since this project was first conceived, but there's definitely plenty of room for improvement - so we bring you this newly updated 2017 version!

We, Alexa and Hannah, hereby pledge to return to the reading days of old - to browse the backlist, to revisit old favorites and to remember that it’s not ALL about acquiring more books to read. With this pledge, we commit to reading a limited number of review books this year, to being more selective about what books we buy and to holding each other accountable when bright and shiny things tempt us to stray from this course. And now, by the power vested in us, we declare 2017: “The Year of The Picky Pledge.”

GOAL: review books will be 50% of books read in 2017

I was going to go with a numerical goal for this, but then I realized that I was going to have a difficult time keeping my numbers down with the 2017 review book TBR that I already have on my hands. So, instead, I'm going to choose to focus on the percentages. I want to make sure that I don't go past the 50% mark when it comes to the review books versus owned/bought/borrowed books.

• Any review book published in 2017 counts in the overall total - no matter when or how it was acquired. 
• When given the opportunity to read something for review, we must consult with one another before: 
• accepting a publicist/publisher review request. 
• hitting the “Request” button. 
• borrowing an ARC with the intention to read for review prior to the book’s publication.* 
• Review books procured at an event, such as BEA, will only count if you read the book. 
• If you do not finish a review book, you may remove it from your overall total. 
• Exceptions can be made for books in a series if we have already reached the review book limit. 

* Exceptions may apply, and borrowed ARCs will be decided on a case-by-case basis.

GOAL: 100 books

• Any books we personally purchased count towards our monthly book limit. 
• When faced with the urge to purchase books, we must consult one another. Alternatively, we may also consider the use of this handy book buying chart. 
• Books procured via gift cards do not count towards the overall total. 
• Exceptions can be made for books we've already read, if we've already reached the monthly book limit. 
• If we exceed the monthly limit, we must cull the same number of books we went over off of our shelves. 

One new aspect that we thought would be a fun addition to The Picky Pledge is the addition of an official The Picky Pledge Reading Challenge! Together, Hannah & I came twelve prompts (one for each month) that describe books that are already currently on our TBRs. We're hoping this will help facilitate us reading more of our own acquired books, and whittle down our TBRs! If you feel like jumping in and joining us for any of these, feel free to do so!

As always, I'm really looking forward to tackling The Picky Pledge in 2017 (despite the fact I did not do too well in 2016...). I'm definitely more determined than ever to have more balance in my reading life, to acquire less books for review and to hopefully save a bit more money by not acquiring as many books. Feel free to make a Picky Pledge of your own, and join us in being more intentional with your reading and book acquisitions!