The 500 Book Challenge: Alone With My 500 Books

[@troytradup]

The 500-book challenge is not crazy -- it's awesome! An unread book is just miserable, sitting there forgotten on the shelf (or in the plastic tote). If I have any regrets in life, it's buying books I never ended up reading (and then eventually getting rid of them again). Read! Read on! Read what you own! I have faith in you, Michael. Also: OMG, Eric Carmen lives! So to speak.

[@michaelk.vaughan8617]

Thanks for the encouragement Troy!

[@DavidWiley7]

Alone? Certainly not! I've stopped counting, but I'm still here with you until you cross that finish line! I found that counting made it so that I struggled to pick up any longer books and, well, I didn't want to do that. I think I'd be around 60 by now if I kept tracking them!

[@michaelk.vaughan8617]

Ah, sorry for the confusion. Though to be fair I’m frequently confused.

[@donnakirby6998]

Michael, you always inform me and make me smile! Roger has a great voice, btw.

[@sleestack13]

After this challenge you must BUY 500 books before you READ another one.

[@samslash9]

Probably wouldn't be hard.

[@geocraftsman]

That would be equally as challenging. So few?

[@jonnaah9683]

That makes about as much sense.

[@WhatMountain]

Agree

[@CriminOllyBlog]

Your resolve is kind of inspirational! Not enough to make me want to try this again, obviously

[@michaelk.vaughan8617]

Obviously!

[@lindachurch4555]

I have decided not to buy any books this year. I can do the paperback book exchange at our library; I can pick up free books; I can accept gifts. I have also decided to read 100 of my never-before read books before I read online or use the library. I'm at 45 right now. Because I'm a glutton for punishment I've also set myself a "60 books before I'm 60" challenge inspired by Criminolly's challenge. I have about 15 and a half months to complete that. I created a very specific list, most of which I don't own. The not buying is challenging but I'm getting adjusted now.

[@Lokster71]

Michael, I'm joining you. Steve Donoghue has been talking about you. So, I'm in.

[@ellesse3862]

Thankfully you own your own library of unread books, the 500 Challange is your own voyage of adventure and no doubt peril, like an unstable pile of books tumbling onto you, forgeting to bookmark, or the temptation of the sirens beckoning you into bookstores .. not since The Odyssey has one man undertaken such a quest.

[@BookTimewithElvis]

Gosh it pains me you are still putting yourself through this but all power to you. The Brattle will be a huge temptation and I'm quite envious would certainly love to make it there someday. 😉

[@MriInterocitor]

I’m still in it! I expect to finish book #47 this afternoon or evening. And I continue to enjoy doing it. So many good books that have been waiting for me to get to them. Hang in there, comrade KZbinr! Diligently resist reactionary abandonism! (Why did this get all Leninist in style? Beats me.)

[@michaelk.vaughan8617]

Fantastic. You are just ahead of me.

[@MriInterocitor]

@@michaelk.vaughan8617 And I’ve had more reading time thanks to disabilities. I am fairly sure you read a notch faster than I do, and if I couldn’t read any more hours than you do, I’d get left behind, waving at your receding dust.

[@sterlingreads547]

Good luck Michael! 🎩 Hats off to you. I’m so glad you’re not giving up. I plan to buy 2 books in September, a new King and Follett. 😁

[@lindachurch4555]

These challenges are crazy! But they're fun and I find they add an extra dimension to my reading!

[@jonnaah9683]

This experiment has given some of you an experience of what it would be like not to be able to buy (acquire should be the word) more books. I have long had a limitation due to lack of money, which doesn't stop me from buying thrift (average well under a dollar) books (skimping on other things), and running a little free library. So I've essentially had this experience, and at over 70 I don't feel inclined to place further limitations on my freedom of choice, especially the privilege of acquiring more fascinating books to familiarize myself with, have as immediate choices, and even add to my already impossible must read list -- books I'd otherwise be unlikely to see ever again. Good for those who feel they've learned enough of a lesson; and to those who don't yet feel so, I hope you live to be over 70, and that you can still afford the books you want whenever you choose to free yourself.

[@thomasr7292]

Good on you for staying strong Michael! Couldn’t have been easy going through that book store but you made it!

[@bookssongsandothermagic]

Love this and your determination to keep going. Also great indication of your character that you’re using the shopping trip to the Brattle to buy for other people. Keep going if you want to…abandon it if you want to hahaha

[@michaelk.vaughan8617]

I’m pretty much stuck with this challenge.

[@bookssongsandothermagic]

@@michaelk.vaughan8617 judge it by how much you're being inspired by it....drop it if it becomes a soulless obligation.

[@michaelk.vaughan8617]

@@bookssongsandothermagic I think the only soulless obligation I have is to Roger.

[@bookssongsandothermagic]

@@michaelk.vaughan8617 at least he entertains you with his singing

[@lindachurch4555]

I had a sudden impulse to join the 500 book challenge, then realized that I don't own 500 books! Maybe I'll see if I can read the rest of my as yet unread books this year!

[@philipmsearle1399]

I always begin similar challenges and the only ones i tend to stick to are short run goals like choose 25 books or read a series before adding anymore to my collection. I always like the idea that something you ve wanted for a long time might pop up suddenly and you deprive yourself of it and by the time you ve read the intended quota it s out of print again. Occasionally a book might jump to the top of a pile due to impulse or interest. Anything newly released about Robert E Howard would automatically get priority over any other book. Life is just too short to miss out on rare opportunities. Flexibility is the key.

[@jenniferr.9528]

I love Pegasus! Your self control is AMAZING! That bookstore “forced” me to stop my book buying ban several months ago. I didn’t last long on the 100 book challenge, and I certainly didn’t last the 5 month personal challenge. I am truly impressed so keep your resolve…you’ve got this! 😃

[@michaelk.vaughan8617]

Thanks!

[@M-J]

It’s a Book Battle at the Brattle! Man vs. Book - if anyone can do this, I know you can. Stay strong (but it’s okay to bow out too - you still hold the title of Last BookTuber (500 challenge) standing. 😊📚👏🏻👏🏻

[@sandyokey1019]

November 20,2022......a day that will live in infamy. Going into a bookstore right now would be torture for me. When you mentioned the Brattle I almost cried. I’m begging you to give this craziness up. If you can’t give it up, would you consider modifying it? How about this challenge continues to your trip to the Brattle. At that time, count how many books you’ve read. Add that number to how many books you buy for yourself at the Brattle, and now you don’t buy again until you’ve read an equal amount. You can still keep track of how long it takes you to read 500 but at least you’ll be doing this in a humane way😊

[@michaelk.vaughan8617]

No, that trip to the Brattle will strictly be for others. Of course If I see something irresistible I’ll con Steve into getting it!

[@wburris2007]

When I get to the end of my read what I own challenge, I plan to morph it into read what I acquire. If I buy a book or receive a book, I must read it before buying any more. I am already practicing. I read the pre-order and gift books that I recently received. The 9 books that I just received for my birthday are on the top of my to read pile, unless something else arrives and gets put on top.

[@lindachurch4555]

This is what I'll start doing when I start buying books again. I've decided that I will not buy a new book if I have more than three or four unread, not counting reference books and field guides.

[@jonnaah9683]

Why voluntarily enslave yourself to any limitation on your freedom of reading or buying choices?

[@wburris2007]

@@jonnaah9683 I have no space for more books, and my wife harasses me about spending money.

[@booknikYT]

Im about to start a year challenge with some caveats.

[@benriley6716]

I couldn’t help but notice that when speaking about the Dashiel Hammett novel your eyes were directed down and away 😜

[@binglamb2176]

You should have got the Lady of the Manor to buy the Dashiell Hammett and then "borrow" it from her. Wouldn't that be technically within the rules?

[@vesch5083]

I agree. Nothing in the rules says that The Lady can't buy books and those books then happen to reside in the Manor

[@michaelk.vaughan8617]

Probably not.

[@BookBlather]

Just bought City at World’s End… waiting for it to arrive.

[@michaelk.vaughan8617]

I really liked it. One of his best novels, I think.

[@kimesch9698]

Give it up, Mike! (It’ll ease my guilt.) I’m still on the Fancy Book Challenge.

[@CliffsDarkGems]

Awesome Michael, keep on fighting to the bitter end! I don't think I could even do a hundred book challenge with all the Danielle Steele and other crap waiting to be taken to our second-hand, book exchange store. Wait! What if you exchanged books for new ones, that doesn't count for cheating, does it?

[@samslash9]

Keep at it man! The challenge must live!

[@nunyabizness6595]

Always like when you wear your Indy getup.😮😮😮

[@withacrown3945]

If only this challenge happened during the quarantine. I read close to 300 books that year and didn’t buy any because I didn’t leave the house

[@HeyYallListenUp]

Best wishes as you continue on.

[@michaelk.vaughan8617]

Thanks, my friend!

[@lisagarrity5836]

Roger's voice is impressive. Has he considered a duet with Rhonda? With his voice and her beauty, the video could go viral!

[@michaelk.vaughan8617]

Roger is very talented.

[@bigaldoesbooktube1097]

You should have been numbering these updates so one day I can watch instalment 100 in the 500 book challenge 😆

[@jscottphillips503]

Good luck at the Brattle! I was just there on Saturday morning and dropped nearly a hundred bucks. Plus shipping! Take my advice and once you find the books you need for gifts, get yourself outta there! I found myself impulse buying even after I closed out my haul. The shop isn’t very large, but must have some kind of TARDIS technology. (Hint for Roger: The vintage science fiction mass markets are just inside the door, next to the staircase.)

[@michaelk.vaughan8617]

It’s going to be a challenging trip, that’s for sure. I wasn’t aware you lived near there, or perhaps I just forgot.

[@jscottphillips503]

@@michaelk.vaughan8617 No, I live in Anaheim. I was just visiting.

[@mediumjohnsilver]

Good for you, Michael. Keep on keepin’ on. Good luck finding more reading time. For me, the most time I had for reading was when I commuted to work on the Washington Metrorail, an hour in the morning and an hour in the evening. I read a lot of novels of _The Shadow_ in those days, plus other stuff. But that blessed time went away when my job moved to Fort Belvoir and I had to drive myself.

[@michaelk.vaughan8617]

Yeah, trying to figure out where that time can come from!

[@thekylederek]

BLESS YOU ROGER.

[@disshelvedwithadamwhite8731]

I loved Roger’s rendition of All by Myself. When’s he going to cut an album?

[@michaelk.vaughan8617]

Be careful what you ask for!

[@nightcrawler2884]

please count comic books too... Oh the humanity 😭

[@michaelk.vaughan8617]

I can’t! That would mean I couldn’t buy them!

[@angusmckeogh659]

Give it up, Michael!!! I lasted about 3 months on a non-buying streak at the start of this year. Then I started buying and selling vintage books (that I'm not going to read), I suspect, just so that I can still buy books. It's a collectible thing and I've found has little to do with reading them or not in some cases.

[@Yesica1993]

I will never understand that. The very purpose of a book is for it to be read by someone.

[@angusmckeogh659]

@@Yesica1993 Don't get testy with me Yesica1993!!! I'm merely trying to give Michael an out for buying more books under the guise of "collecting".

[@michaelk.vaughan8617]

I can’t!

[@muhlenstedt]

In my opinion, the challenge is very difficult but not stupidy. What is the point owing lots of unread books on the shelves, books that we bought because we wanted to read them and do not do it... and then adding new ones to the pile? You are strong! You have being in a book store without buying any, you will get it, go, go!

[@szaggasd]

We love you Mike with or without the 500

[@anotherbibliophilereads]

I think an old pulp paperback of Dashiell Hammett is a perfect excuse to quit the 500 Book Challenge. Now that I’m done I feel like a renewed man. Ready to hunt bookstores again. I’ve got eyes on the Strand in NYC and the Brattle on Boston.

[@michaelk.vaughan8617]

I’m glad you are feeling renewed! I hope I feel as well in my 80s when I’m done with this thing!

[@arekkrolak6320]

Your Dashiell Hammett story is a fine example of a first world problem :)

[@JBDebtFree]

You may need to start listening to audible. I read on my commute! I know people say it is not the same as reading, but they are wrong. It is the same! Word Pictures! Seriously, this has helped me to really attack my read list. I read any way I can. Kindle, audible, Comixology, and hard copies. Depends where I am at. Don’t give up the 500 book challenge! Find more time to read!

[@adrianac3258]

Just 455 book to go 🎉

[@jeremyfee]

I'm at book 79 and I had said when I got close to 100 I would decide if I would extend it into the 500 Book Challenge, but it's looking doubtful at this point. BTW, I don't know what's up with that copy of Tros of Samothrace you held up the other day; you're right it must be an edition with a bunch of other work in it because I found my old paperback of Tros and it's tiny, super thin. Peace.

[@michaelk.vaughan8617]

The whole Tros saga is pretty long. You might just have a bit of it.

[@thewritestuffofficial]

Godspeed Michael! 😄

[@AN6370]

I’ll try to do this challenge but I own about 100 books and it will probably take me 3-4 years to get through them.

[@evanames5940]

Reading a fun book, This Body is not big Enough for the two of us by Edgar Cantero. A fun premise of a Private Eye shares his sister's body.

[@peterg1646]

Congrats, I'm glad it's over. I would last one week, max.

[@jamesbarberousse8396]

Michael, You've already won the 500 book challenge by default! Everyone else dropped out, and you're the last man standing, so congratulations! However, to assuage your conscience, and since you can change the rules, change the 500 book challenge to the 100 book challenge and finish up in a month or so (esp. by reading shorter books!), and THEN you can buy new books to your heart's content! Do it!

[@michaelk.vaughan8617]

No! I must maintain the integrity of this great challenge! 😅

[@jamesbarberousse8396]

Ok, you're the boss! I'm not trying to dissuade you from your goal. On the contrary, I'm rooting for you all the way!

[@johnkobbie3835]

what is your book count at this point? I don't own 500 books, but I do like the challenge.

[@michaelk.vaughan8617]

45

[@bookmarkswithjason9445]

This thumbnail looks very similar to the NAS Illmatic album cover.

[@jamesabbiati5775]

You do you, buddy! I'll do me and chuckle along... ;-)

[@thekeywitness]

GIVE IT UP! GIVE IT UP! 😂 You should have asked your wife to buy the Hammett book and gift it to you.

[@duffypratt]

Sounds like you are still the master of your domain.

[@michaelk.vaughan8617]

Ha! More or less.

[@stevengentry9396]

Varney the Vampire was a lot of fun for about the first half or 2/3 of volume one; purple prose, repetition, long digressions, and big, stupid crowds & all. But, by the end of volume one, knowing this is just cobbled together penny dreadfuls, and it's pretty much going to be rinse and repeat from here on, I'm not continuing into volume two.

[@michaelk.vaughan8617]

Of course I must!

[@Yesica1993]

This stresses me out just hearing and thinking about it. I get stressed out looking at my own books (way fewer than 500 or even 100) that I have lying around here that I need to read. It's not a matter of not wanting to. It's just that Real Life has imploded on me the past few years. I simply cannot get to them at this time. Every time I start to chip away, something else happens. But if you have so many books that you either can't get to them or they are not capturing your interest enough to read them, why not sell/donate some of them? Reading should be fun, not a chore or project you have to accomplish!

[@michaelk.vaughan8617]

Sorry for the stress!

[@carolinec3951]

At least it's a 500-book challenge and NOT a zero TBR challenge. Hahaha

[@holzausgabe8812]

🎶 You are not alone ... 🎵 Hopefully i will finish book 25/100 tonight. On my pace i will get to 100 in the same time when you reach 500. You can do this. Rhonda will watch over you.

[@materiagrix]

Should I join this madness…?

[@michaelk.vaughan8617]

Do you have 500 book’s lying around? It is madness though. That is true.

[@materiagrix]

@@michaelk.vaughan8617 Not around, every time I gather +200 books I send the ones I have finished and the ones that feel further on my reading schedule to my father’s house, but it’s getting to a point where I might have accumulated a number around 500 probably, ha,ha…

[@dylantindall5573]

Shakespeare wrote 37plays. If you read 'The Big Book of Will,' each play being a book in it's own right, you'll knock off 9.25% of your goal AND land that whale!

[@michaelk.vaughan8617]

I would count it as one big book. Because I’m an idiot.

[@dylantindall5573]

No, you're not an idiot. You're afraid of it, rightly. Over one thousand characters in thirty seven narratives. Who does that? What man of will? Consider: a second channel over three years, a play a month, - 'MK v WS'@@michaelk.vaughan8617

[@gerarddonohoe5806]

Hang in the there Mike,you are my superhero who (thankfully) doesn't wear silly underwear...

[@marilynmcintosh2674]

As the lady of my manor, I wonder if your lady reads and how she feels about your challenge.

[@michaelk.vaughan8617]

She does and she thinks I’m crazy.

[@tommonk7651]

The fact that only you are left is a clear indication that the 500 book challenge is beyond insane. There’s no real point to it. Why deny yourself the pleasure of book buying?

[@MriInterocitor]

For someone who ho has significant hoarding and overspending problems, and who has very severe depression that’s frequently set off by all the things acquired and never used - like me - it feels *really good* to be this much in my control of my book stuff for a while.

[@frankmorlock9134]

The pleasure of buying books is only remotely, if at all, related to the pleasure of reading them. Both are important, but the comforting thought that you have them to read when you want them is perhaps the most comforting thought of all. Like a little kid wrapped in a favorite blanket, otherwise he cannot sleep.

[@MriInterocitor]

@@frankmorlock9134 Like I said. Between hoarding problems and depression triggers, *it isn’t for me, it’s the opposite*. And it’s a drag when fellow readers clearly disbelieve me, think I’m kidding, or are sure I’m exaggerating. But I’m not and I’m not.

[@monaedoyle3631]

I hate to say it but I am a very slow reader. I accomplished reading 💯books in my Goodreads reading goal. I am far away from reading five hundred books.

[@mikebrough3434]

You should measure your reading by page count rather than by book count.

[@michaelk.vaughan8617]

That seems less fun.

[@frankmorlock9134]

Couldn't you substitute something like self flagellation for this sado-masochistic torture,. ?

[@michaelk.vaughan8617]

That isn’t really my thing. I don’t judge though!

[@DDB168]

This reminds me of Legend (David Gemmell). The walls are crumbling and you're the last hold out. You need to quit work, it's over rated. 🤭🤭 You're going to the Brattle ??? When ? How do I get on that buyer list ? 🤗🤗 I'm sure your subscribers would allow you a once a year hiatus from the challenge to purchase a few books (like maybe xmas time), and then continue on with it.

[@michaelk.vaughan8617]

I don’t think Roger would let me get away with that.

[@Toracube]

Just find a book titled 500 books…read that.. then you’ll be free.

[@michaelk.vaughan8617]

Good thinking!

[@tracejefferson3169]

Why dont you count a comic as a book......?

[@michaelk.vaughan8617]

Because if I did I would have to stop buying them. An impossibility!

[@tracejefferson3169]

@@michaelk.vaughan8617 That makes sense! We all need fun in our lives, enjoy them.

[@sleepyreader666]

I think yo CAN change the rules on this challenge. It's a challenge to yourself, not a legal contract with some corporate behemoth! If you want to push ebooks out of the goal...that's a perfectly fine choice.

[@michaelk.vaughan8617]

Roger did convince me to sign a contract in blood. I feel a little uneasy about breaking it.

[@positiveimageltd]

Why not lose ALL the challenges and read whatever you want, whenever you want? Sorry if you have already considered this but... 😅

[@michaelk.vaughan8617]

Madness! 😅

[@DebMcDonald]

Why don’t you ask for books for Christmas and birthdays? Some lovely person might give you credit at the Brattle as a gift and you would be home free.

[@rdarda6794]

Too much pressure, scrap the challenge, admit defeat and get back to reading for pleasure, you got too many projects going on, Pegasus In Berkley, almost former neighbours, spent 7 years living in Oakdale, east of Modesto,

[@rdarda6794]

Im. reading The Wager, all out done, and have a bunch lined up, likely next, The Ferryman,

[@michaelk.vaughan8617]

I’ll scrap the challenge the minute I finish 500 books.