Having a TBR in May actually kinda worked out for me. I’m notoriously contrary and notoriously difficult to pin down, but in May I had a set list of 22 books and a Beeminder goal to get me there*, and get there I did.

I don’t want to do that again, since I did have trouble sticking to the list and not just reading whatever I feel like, but it sounds like a nice way to make sure I stick to reading the series (multiple) I’ve got on my plate, get round to reading stuff for the Hugo voting, etc, etc. So I’m going to try having a 10-book TBR; I can read anything else I want as well, but I’ve got to finish these 10.

  

Here goes the list:

• Magic Burns, by Ilona Andrews. Because I want some fluffy easy fun!
• The Tropic of Serpents, by Marie Brennan. Reread for pure love.
• Voyage of the Basilisk, by Marie Brennan. Ditto.
• Revenant Gun, by Yoon Ha Lee. Because the wife just finished it, and I need to finish it for Hugo voting as well!
• Tower of Thorns, by Juliet Marillier. I reread the first book in order to prep for finally finishing this trilogy (catching up on this series?) so I want to make sure I don’t need to do that again in approximately five minutes.
• An Artificial Night, by Seanan McGuire. I’ve been partway through this reread for, uh, a while. It’s time to press on and read this series!
• Storm of Locusts, by Rebecca Roanhorse. I’d like to read this before the first book fades from my mind.
• Lent, by Jo Walton. Assuming Waterstones ever actually manage to order my copy, that is. I really want to read this ASAP — especially since I’m replaying Assassin’s Creed 2 at the moment, and am just going up against Savonarola…
• The Bitter Twins, by Jen Williams. I was dying to read this the minute I finished The Ninth Rain, and now I can!
• A Talent for Murder, by Andrew Wilson. Agatha Christie’s mysterious disappearance + a murder mystery with her as a main character? I’m in! Also, it’s my book club pick for this month, so I better read it.

 

Wish me luck!

*If you don’t know about Beeminder, I work for them as their Support Czar, and am also a fairly hard-core user. Elevator pitch: set a quantifiable goal, set how often you want to do it, and stick to it… or pay exponential amounts of pledge money if you fail. (Or cap it at whatever level is motivating to you, of course.)