May TBR Strategy

I always feel like I’m drowning under the weight of my TBR pile, but never really had a strategy for reading it down.  I really liked what I tried for April – I think it helped me manage my reading nicely and definitely cut back on the number of books bought during the month.  I’m going to keep my April strategy of reading two books before I can buy another one and continue to track titles that way.  Book bans don’t work for me, as seen in March, because they just make me want to rebel against my own rules and buy ALL the books instead.

The rules for May

I’m also going to see if I can stick to my actual TBR pile and not read anything that’s not currently on my little nightstand. Don’t get me wrong, there are loads of books on my shelves.  But I feel like targeting my reading this way just makes more sense.  I added some that I bought in April and took away a couple that are the first in a series.

I struggle a bit with these kinds of rigid rules because I’m the kind of person who constantly changes their mind about what to read after even a few days.  I figure I’ll give it a shot anyway and see if this works for me.

I’m going to aim to have the following finished or underway by the end of the month:

The Power by Naomi Alderman

Ninefox Gambit by Yoon Ha Lee

Sleeping Giants by Sylvain Neuvel

Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor

False Hearts by Laura Lam

Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman

Nasty Woman by 404Ink

This is made a little tougher because I’m going on holiday for about 10 days and decided not to bring any physical books with me.  That means ARCs!

I have quite the list going for ARCs and need to power through them.  I recently got approved for some amazing titles, which just makes my list even longer.  I’m currently reading Sea and should have that done soon enough.  I’ll also aim to read at least a few of the following:

A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles

Skullsworn by Brian Staveley

Flame in the Mist by Renée Ahdieh

Spontaneous by Aaron Starmer

When Dimple Met Reshi by Sandhya Menon

 

That’s a LOT of books to read in one month.  I’m only aiming for 10 (physical copies and ARCs combined), so I know I wont get to all of them.

 

What are your reading goals for May?  Do you have a particular strategy for handling your TBR piles?