It’s once again time for my favorite feature: Tackling the TBR! There’s nothing I love more than picking out which books to read next, and this slightly organized method of reading has really amped my enjoyment to the next level. Bring on the mantras!

Read the best books first.
&
Life is too short to read books you’re not enjoying.

However you put together your TBR for the next month, the goal is to reduce the amount of obligation in reading and increase the fun.

Here’s a look at how the system works:

1. Identify the titles that take top priority in your TBR.
2. Combine them all in your own Tackling the TBR post.
3. Throughout the month pick from that pile as the mood strikes you.

Here’s what mine looks like:

September 2020 TBR Tackler Shelf:

I had a wake-up call.

And I blame my Goodreads Challenge tracker. I realized all of my reading goals were completely unrealistic based on how many books I’ve read so far this year. Because I don’t think I’m going to miraculously incorporate a ton of extra reading time between now and the end of the year, it’s pretty clear that I’ll only have a chance to get through about 20 more titles. This was hard for me to absorb. After all, I have a ton of series I want to finish, and a bunch more I want to start. Not to mention all the new releases I want to dig into. But those ambitions just aren’t going to happen based on my current reading pace. 

This calls for some organizing.

I started with a template – a new note on my phone month headers and five slots to fill with titles below each month. My review obligations with Audiofile Magazine took one slot a month. That left me with four more spaces to fill. That’s not a lot of books ::sobs:: so I really had to get a clear idea what my highest priorities were. Only the elite survived the cut, and based on that list this post is my much more realistic lineup of titles for September.

To Sleep in a Sea of Stars is my AudioFile obligation, and Colonyside is my ARC (omg soooo excited!), and all the others are books I most want to read at the moment. I’m glad for a nice mix of genres here, and am especially glad I saved a spot for a new series. I think with such basic ambitions and such good titles, I might actually increase my reading pace enough to add a few extras, but those only get added once I’ve finished my lineup. I experimented with this system in August (after my TTT post was already live, unfortunately) and it worked tremendously, so I’m optimistic for it going forward. It also coincides with my newfound focus of digital minimalism, which I’m sure will play a factor in my reading pace as well. Things are lookin good! ^_^

Have a great month in reading!

by Niki Hawkes