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:

February 2021 TBR Tackler Shelf:

I may have been a little overly optimistic for my January selections. Deadhouse Gates is fantastic so far but going MUCH slower than I’d anticipated because I’m reading it at a snail’s pace. Not to mention I had a baby this month and the combination of sleep deprivation and taking care of a tiny human doesn’t leave me a lot of reading time. In any case, I bumped a title off my list for February to give myself a chance to finish DG, then on to another Abercrombie and a much-anticipated buddy read for Malice. I don’t think I’m going to get through them all this month, but at least I’m focusing on the best books first. Progress not perfection, as they say.

I did some reading analytics at the end of 2020 and realized 90% of the books I was rating poorly were YA, yet I read almost 20 of them last year. On the flip side, almost all of the fantasy books I read got high ratings (I was really selective in choosing my titles, so this didn’t surprise me). It occurred to me that all of that effort I’m spending on books I’m not really liking could be much better spent on ones I’m statistically more likely to enjoy based on my analysis. So 2021 has become the year of as many fantasy novels as I can possibly cram in. Consisting of Malazan, Faithful and the Fallen, First Law, and many others I’ve been “saving” for a rainy day. I’m cashing in for the rainy year that was 2020. So far this change has served me well. 

Have a great month in reading!

by Niki Hawkes