“Books are a uniquely portable magic.”
― Stephen King, On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft

I dont know about you but my bookshelf is bursting to the seams with unread books. I am a sucker for a pretty face and end up buying books all the time. Then there are all these blogger/reading friends who read some amazing books. So all in all, I have too many excuses to buy books.

Why dont I read them, you ask? Because there is always some new interesting book recommended by someone or gifted or…. You get the drift. So the pile becomes endless.

In a bid to demolish my TBR, I have been on a no-book-buying pact since last 3 years and have been 90% successful in staying true to it. I think 2020 will be the last year when I continue with this pact and then I will be able to buy books freely.

“So many books, so little time.”
― Frank Zappa

Of course I cheat at the pact! Why do you think I said 90%? I ask for books to be gifted to me. Now you know the secret of my unread bookshelf ;-)!!!!

Signing up on specific reading challenges also increased my unread piles and this year I have sworn to avoid all of them except Good Reads. Latter lets one choose and read as they want, without any specifics.

Icing on the cake is the #TBRCHALLENGE2020 that I have come up with Soumya to demolish my TBR with some very generic prompts and a doable number of 24 books in the year. Have you signed up yet with us? You can share your reads via your blog, instagram and good reads. So what are you waiting for? Join in now!!!

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Prompts for the TBR challenge 2020

1. √ A book from a genre you generally avoid –Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri  Read the review here
2. √ A book that’s a part of a series – A River of smoke by Amitav Ghosh (2nd book in the series) Strawberry Thief by Joanne Harris  Read the review here
3. √ An unfinished book – Serafina and the Black Cloak by Robert Beatty 
4. A book by an author you have been meaning to read but haven’t dared to so far – one of Gabriela Garcia Marquez or Haruki Murakami
5. √ A Classic or a book written 100 years ago- Anna Kareina by Leo Tolstoy  The Lost Stories of Sherlock Holmes by Tony Reynolds
6. √ A book picked up after reading a favorable review on a book blogger’s site or a recommendation from a book obsessed friend/relative – Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel  Once Upon A River by Diane Setterfield √  | Bellman and Black by Diane Setterfield 
7. √ A book set in the past or the future –Long petal of sea by Isabel Allende 
8. √ Re-read an old favorite- The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield 
9. √ A book to be read on a vacation or the plot is based around a holiday (could be a travelogue) – Following Fish by Samanth Subramaniam  Wild by Cheryl Strayed  Read the review here  | When God was a Rabbit by Sarh Winaman
10. √ A book that would be a foodies delight-  Strawberry Thief by Joanne Harris Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel 
11. √ A free hit (choose any book you wish here)- The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo  Read the review here
12. √ A book with the cover in your favorite color- The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern  Read the review here
13. √A book with a love triangle- Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen  Read the review here
14. √ WW1 or WW2 drama (could be a true story or fictional)- Between Shades of gray by Ruta Sepetys  Read the review here
15. A book written by a famous personality (could be an autobiography/memoir or just fiction)- Becoming by Michelle Obama
16. √ A book gifted to you-  The Rosie project by Graeme Simsion  Read the review here
17. √ A YA book- The Priory of the Orange Tree by by Samantha Shanon  Read the review here
18. A book based on mythology (Indian, Roman, greek, etc)- Jaya-Mahabharta by Devdutt Pattnaik 
19. A book that’s been on your shelf for more than 5 years- My name is Red by Orhan Pamuk
20. √ An award winning book- The Island at the end of everything by Kiran Millwood Hargrave

Bonus round

21. √ A self help book- You can heal your life by Louise Hay Atomic Habits by James Clear 
22. √ A book by an author whose name starts with the first letter as your name- Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir 
23. √ An Audiobook /ebook or a PDF read- The Stationery Bookshop by Marjan Kamali 
24. √ A crime fiction-The Devotion of Suspect X by Keigo Higashino 

So there you have it. I have more or less sorted out my 24 reads for the year and am hoping to read 40 books this year too for the Goodreads reading challenge. What bookish challenges have you taken up for 2020? Any that you would recommend to me?

Hoping to see you join in on this one to clear out that long pending bookshelf full of unread books 🙂 Happy reading in 2020!!

Sign up details

BTW we have a goodreads group for this challenge too where you can share your reads if you don’t have a blog.

You could also follow me on Instagram [ Shalzmojo ] and post your reviews there and link up with us on 25th of every month.

 

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Linking up with Soumya for the #TBRCHALLENGE2020

You can check out the signing up and other details for this challenge here

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