The Forgotten Shelf- A Guide

The thing with the Forgotten shelf is that it has to be completely individualised. You can’t read the books I read and finish the forgotten shelf, as these books are not on your forgotten shelf.

Find the books
A forgotten shelf book is defined as follows:
– It is a book you already own
– It’s a book you have never read OR never finished, but you do plan to at some point.
In other words, you have the book, but you can’t personally part with it before reading. Some books you might easily gift away, those too don’t belong on the forgotten shelf. As I said, this is highly personal. The most important part is the desire to read the book someday.
Because: Knock Knock, someday is today.

The ‘rules‘

There are no rules or strict guidelines, but there are some general things to keep in mind.

Pick your books
Pick a number of books that feels good to you. It doesn’t have to be 28; it can be three. You really should not overwhelm yourself with it. It can, however, not be your whole TBR, as again that defeats the purpose. You can also make a list of the forgotten shelf books and then shortlist a number that makes you most comfortable.

There are no deadlines
We are trying to have fun with it, aren’t we? Thus, we can read other things in between. We can set the books aside, we can tell ourselves this whole thing was a stupid idea, then we take a breath and keep going. Putting the pressure on yourself to finish them in a certain time frame isn’t going to help you enjoy them in any way

You may DNF, but you can’t put the book back on your shelf.
You picked a book from the shelf, and you cannot put it back once you start. You either finish it or DNF it. There are no other options. You might be keen on one book over the other that is totally good, and you can mix them however you want, but the moment you pick a book, you have to be able to do something with it (donate or a prized place on the main shelf) before you move on to the next one. Otherwise, it won’t work. The shelf has to be empty at the end of the road, that’s the objective.

It has to be physical
If you have a lot of books on your phone, for example, I do recommend going through them, but due to the filtering system, it’s much easier not to get overwhelmed. My settings are set up so that I only see what I am currently reading. It’s really a physical delucttering project.

Read other books
You may, and I recommend that you read other books. Books you are excited for. Books that make you kick your feet or bring a smile to your face. It’s a hobby at the end of the day. We don’t have to torture ourselves while doing this project, not at all. Hence again, the timeframe.

All books count
Small books, children’s books. They are all equal. They are one forgotten shelf book.

Donate, recycle
Finally, these are the books you didn’t really want to read. Or never got around to. Now you have read them, and you need to be honest. Are they good enough to read again? If they aren’t, just donate them. You haven’t picked it up for so long, you haven’t gravitated towards it, it’s safe to say you probably won’t. Of course, there are always some hidden gems that give those a place on your shelf. Now you know, it deserves to be there. If a book is dirty, torn or written in, you obviously can’t donate it. Please do dispose of it properly by putting it in the paper bin.

Reflect
Finally, when you are finished, it might be good for you to reflect on why you got these books in the first place. Are they old? Do you pick multiple books up from an author without knowing if you like them? It can be very insightful to think about it, as it might prevent you from buying a book you won’t actually read.

Because that’s the goal, for there not to be a forgotten shelf. That you love what’s on your shelf and that you don’t buy what you don’t like. The goal, the aim, is curating your bookshelves to be the best shelves for you.