I’m fed up of not reading my full TBR! But life does it’s thing and gets in the way! So, new NEW plan. I refuse to have 20 books on my TBR, read 10 and feel awful that I didn’t get to all 20. So instead, I’ll have my ‘in the middle of’ if I’m reading a book at the end of the month – and possibly a priority read if I’m really excited for something in particular (for example a new release or a next book in a series I’m absolutely getting to).
Then I will have 5 books – just 5 – as my TBR. Each time I will explain how I shortlisted my entire TBR down, and then how I got to the 5 chosen books (I can’t tell you how tempted I am by the idea of a prompt jar!). After that I’ll have my Book Club reads – with the usual plan, aim to read 1 if I get to read more than that then that’s awesome.
I am hoping this way I’ll get the dopamine hit of reading ‘my full TBR’ and feeling accomplished for it, without the guilt of ‘only reading 10 books’ when that is not something to feel bad about! Just the length of my TBR post was making it feel that way. It will probably mean that there will be books in my wrap up that weren’t on the TBR and that’s fine with me!
Priority
The Knight and the Moth by Rachel Gillig – The Stonewater Kingdom #1 – This is the newest release from one of the Queens of Gothic duologies! Rachel Gillig, author of The Shepherd King duology, releases The Knight and the Moth into the wild on the 20th May and I am absolutely making it a priority to get to this in May! I don’t want to risk any spoilers accidentally getting to me.
In the middle of…
I am actually not in the middle of anything… I was when I originally wrote out the introduction to May’s TBR, but due to an unexpected death in the family I found that I wasn’t actually able to read any of the books I had started and so they got put back on the TBR. Which means this spot is actually empty.
The Chosen 5
I print out book covers as part of my experience of having a reading journal for 2025. Which naturally means there are covers that have been printed but I haven’t read yet. So to pick my 5 books for May, I put all the titles of covers I have printed but haven’t read yet and added them to a wheel.
I have 16 printed covers (that aren’t any of the covers already in this months TBR) and so I put them all on a wheel picker and the Chosen 5 are:
A Fate Inked in Blood by Danielle L. Jensen (Saga of the Unfated #1) – I believe this is a Norse mythology inspired story, but I will be honest I picked it up during the Christmas hardback sales because I liked the cover!! But I’m absolutely here for a Norse based book!
The Rose Bargain by Sasha Peyton Smith (The Rose Bargain #1) – Pretty sure this is going to be a duology, and I really want more duologies in my life so I am hopeful that I enjoy this book! Apparently, it’s Bridgerton meets The Cruel Prince and I am intrigued. I have read The Cruel Prince but don’t remember it, and I’ve never seen Bridgerton… but if those comparisons get you excited, then perhaps you should pick this up too!
Five Broken Blades by Mai Corland (The Broken Blades #1) – Do I know anything about this book? No… But let me tell you, the instagram marketing for this series clearly got me because it was added to my TBR and put on a monthly TBR within a couple days… I didn’t get round to reading it, but the wheel has spoken and it is on again for May!
Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins (The Hunger Games #0.5) – Oh the wheel did me a solid with this one, because after reading Snow’s book and finding out who one of the characters is in this book (no I did not read the blurb or anything when I got this book… I just knew it was about Haymitch – I was attempting to go in blind) I am SUPER intrigued about this and can’t wait!
Spells for Forgetting by Adrienne Young – This is a Stand Alone – the only one on my TBR chosen by the wheel (though in the wheel’s defence, there wasn’t many stand alone options) and it’s by the author of The Unmaking of June Farrow so I am beyond excited for this one! I’m again very pleased with the wheel for picking this one out!
Book Club Read(s)
First-Time Caller by B.K Borison (Heartstrings #1)
This is the May pick for Cody and James’ Fable book club! I voted for this one as I managed to pick up a kindle copy for 99p in the sales because I thought it sounded cute as heck, if a little cheesy. But some times we need that! This is an update: but after the end to April that I’ve been having, I’m really grateful for this cheesy, cute, romance to be a book club read this coming month…
Direbound by Sable Sorensen (The Wolves of Ruin #1)
Jamiee’s poll went live on the Discord and so I actually missed it. Checked in today after seeing someone comment that it was on the discord in the book club chats and saw that Direbound has been picked! This is a newer book making its rounds with the creators that I follow and I’ve heard it’s like Fourth Wing but with Dire wolves? So we shall see! I don’t want a repeat of Fourth Wing, but I’m willing to give it a shot! This has yet to be confirmed in the Fable Book Club, but I’m thinking given how close to May we are, it’ll probably go ahead.
On Wings of Blood by Briar Boleyn (Bloodwing Academy #1)
At the time of writing this, this is winning the poll in Emmy’s Fable Book Club. It is not the one I voted for, but I am also excited to read this one! I believe this is available on Kindle Unlimited in the UK also! The other option is Our Infinite Fates, which I have already read,but the poll ends after my post goes live! So, we’re just hoping for the best with this one!
How realistic is the above?
It stresses me out a little to have such a small TBR compared to normal as when I couldn’t make a decision on what to read, I would pull up my TBR and check either genres or how many pages each book had until I found one that had the right vibe or page length (long or short). It kind of made it easier to just pick up another book after putting one down.
But I like checking off a list and so to see my TBR list constantly not being completely checked off was making me feel guilty about picking up books that hadn’t been on my TBR. And so to combat that, I’m trying out a purposefully short TBR!
It did feel good to tell myself ‘just read one of the book club books’ in April – I didn’t feel so guilty about not picking them all up. So I am hoping that will work out similar for me by having a shorter TBR.
The books that ended up on my TBR wouldn’t be there if I wasn’t excited for them, anyway! So, let’s go May! I’ve got a couple days off from work in May due to bank holidays as well, so hopefully I’ll be able to make the most of those! Let’s grab our blanket and cup of tea, get comfy and start reading!
Reading With Tyler 
Leave a comment