Budgeting the Books: My 2016 "Book Buying Ban"

2015 was a big year in books for me.  I attended my first bookish festival (Yallwest, in April), began a Booktube channel, and started blogging for a book blog.  Needless to say, my book collection nearly tripled over the last year alone.  Which is a good thing...and a bit of a bad thing.  

I've always been the type of person that is somewhat of a minimalist.  I don't like to have too many things all at once, otherwise I get stressed out.  In 2015, I ended up with waaaaayyyy too many unread books, not enough time to read them, and a whole lot of stress coming from just looking at my bookshelf.  

So, to try and prevent that stress in 2016, as well as save money (because who doesn't love saving money?!) I am putting myself on a book buying ban! 

Well...sort of.  

2016 is going to be a year full of SO MANY AMAZING BOOKS.  It would be impossible for me to say no to new books all together, especially when so many of my favorite series will be continuing, and so many of my most anticipated releases will finally be coming out this year.  So I'm doing a limited book ban, or what I'm calling a "Book Budget".  Essentially, starting in March, I'm going to be limiting myself to only 1 book purchase for the entire month, starting in March. Yes, ONLY 1.  It's going to take a hell of a lot of self-control to do so, but I've set a schedule that I'm desperately hoping to follow.  **Note that this list does not include gifts, giveaway wins, or eBooks** 

March Pick: LADY MIDNIGHT by Cassandra Clare 

Of course I had to choose Lady Midnight as my March pick! Cassie is my #1 most favorite author, and both of her series are at the top of my favorites list.  I've been waiting for this book for years, and I couldn't be more excited to jump back into the shadow world! All the teasers have looked soooooooo good for this book and MY GOODNESS.  LOOK.  AT.  THAT. COVER.  I have no doubt that this book will be as epic as its cover, and as amazing (if not more so) than all of the previous Shadowhunter books!  

April Pick: THE RAVEN BOYS by Maggie Stiefvater 

Okay, okay, I know, I'm SO behind on the bandwagon.  I am a huge fan of Maggie's SHIVER series (like, so obsessed to the point where I used to wait up at midnight on release days to download the new books in the series to my Kindle when they came out.  I was 11 then, it was a HUGE deal lol).  It was a series that meant a lot to me when I was in middle school, so I've been dying to pick up Maggie's other books for a while now.  With the release of the fourth book in the series, THE RAVEN KING, coming out in April, I figured then was as good of a time as ever to finally pick up the first book.  I've heard nothing but amazing things about this series, and I've heard it's even twice as better as the SHIVER series, which makes me even more excited to make 2016 the year I FINALLY pick up this series!  

May Pick: A COURT OF MIST AND FURY by Sarah J. Maas

This should come as no surprise to you all, especially considering my recent post about my ACOMAF theories (which can be found here ), but of course my May book pick is A COURT OF MIST AND FURY by Sarah J. Maas!  I AM SO STOKED FOR THIS BOOK! If you know where ACOTAR left off, then I'm sure you're on board with me...I needed this book last May! I cannot wait for all the kick-ass action and sexiness to come in this book.  Plus, not to mention, it's nearly twice the size of the first book, clocking in at a whopping 624 pages!  While I could easily read that in a few days, I'm pretty glad I'm reserving the month of May for this read.  That way, I can savor it, drown in all the feels, and hopefully take in all the Tamlin/Feyre action that I can to hold me over until the final book comes out in 2017.  

June Pick: THE CROWN'S GAME by Evelyn Skye

Continuing on with the theme of fantasy reads for the year, my June pick will be this gorgeous Russian-inspired debut, THE CROWN'S GAME by Evelyn Skye. Although it comes out in May, I will be *trying my hardest* to wait until June to pick this baby up, though I am SO excited for this book, so it may be a bit hard to wait.  I'm a part of Evelyn's TSAR's GUARD, aka her street team, and my goodness, have all the little teasers for this book looked AMAZING! Evelyn is seriously killing me with all the hype! Plus, a good friend of mine, Brittany over @ Brittany's Book Rambles has been raving about this book for months now, and her hype has made me all the more stoked to get my grabby little hands on it! 

July Pick: SUMMER DAYS AND SUMMER NIGHTS by

Stephanie Perkins

I know, I totally had to throw in a contemporary at some point! This is another "sequel" that I've been looking forward to for a while now! First of all, so many of my favorite authors have contributed to this anthology, so adding this book to my list was a total no brainer.  Plus, this looked like the perfect beach read, and hopefully, *hopefully*, I will be on a beach sometime in July, and can just listen to the ocean and enjoy a good summer romance novel.  This will be the perfect read to break up my fantasy kick and give me something new, so I am SO excited to be able to indulge in all the feels that this book will undoubtedly bring! 

August Pick: FURTHERMORE by Tahereh Mafi

If you know me at all, then this pick also shouldn't come as much of a surprise.  I HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS BOOK FOR AGES NOW! It is my most anticipated read of this year by far, and I am itching for the moment when I can FINALLY hold this baby in my hands.  It is no surprise that Tahereh is one of my most favorite authors ever, and I will honestly read anything she ever writes (yes, that includes her grocery lists).  Even though this is a middle grade, an age bracket of books in which I don't read too many of, I am still just as excited for it as I would be if it were YA.  Tahereh has this incredible talent when it comes to world building and putting sentences together, and the end result is just absolutely beautiful.  It will seriously be the best day ever when I can get this book!! All the early (very,  very early) reviews have been nothing but AMAZING so far, and that only makes me so much more excited for this book to come.  August, come quicker!!!

September Pick: UNTITLED THRONE OF GLASS BOOK #5 by Sarah J. Maas

In December, I FINALLY picked up THRONE OF GLASS and oh my goodness, I CANNOT believe what I was missing!  I knew for years that I would absolutely love the series, so I have no idea why it has taken me this long to pick it up.  Nevertheless, I am flying through the books.  I am currently reading CROWN OF MIDNIGHT and I loooooovvveeee it! I'm hoping to finish the rest of the series very soon, so of course I had to make the fifth book in the series my September pick! I am so ridiculously obsessed with and addicted to this series...I just can't get enough of it! I wish I could spend every second of every day just reading it.  I am so excited to read this book...even if I'm not quite caught up in the series, yet.  

October: CARAVAL by Stephanie Garber

THIS.  BOOK.  LOOKS.  SO.  DANG.  COOL!!! I have heard SO much early buzz about this book, and it has made me so excited for its release! When I first heard the title of it, even that was enough to pull me in and want to know more.  Add the blurb on the front cover of the bound manuscript and I am all in, hook, line, and sinker.  I haven't read anything like this, but the synopsis sounds so intriguing that I know I am just going to adore it!  I was so hoping to pick this book up on release day, but with my new buying ban, I am going to have to push it back to my October read *cries* BUT that doesn't mean that I won't fly through it!  I cannot wait to see the adventure this book has in store for me, and furthermore, I can't wait to share it with you all once I read it (October, come quicker!!!).  

November Pick: DREAMOLOGY by Lucy Keating 

I have been lusting over this book for months now.  While Contemporary isn't my most favorite genre, there comes a time where I just NEED a Contemporary read.  This book has been receiving SUCH amazing reviews, and the plot looks absolutely adorable.  Although it comes out in April, I think it will be the PERFECT book to start to wrap up the year with.  After all, what better way to end what'll undoubtedly be a stressful month (with finals and the election coming around this time) than with a cutesy romance? This is yet another book that I've been looking forward to for months now, and I know I'm going to love it.   

December Pick: EVER THE HUNTED by Erin Summerhill 

When I was making this list, I realized something was missing: the perfect book to round out my list.  I knew I wanted a December release, because I feel that December releases often don't get as much love.  Usually their hype (at least, from my perspective) gets a bit swallowed by all the holiday buzz, so I wanted to show a December debut some love.  Luckily, my lovely friend Rachel over @ A Perfection Called Books recommended this super exciting debut to me!  She seemed super enthusiastic about it, and that, coupled with a synopsis that sounds like a mix of THRONE OF GLASS and THE HUNGER GAMES, I was hooked instantly!  I'm so looking forward to this book, and I think it will be the perfect fantasy to finish out my year.