How Do You Solve A Problem Like A TBR?

Yes when I wrote the title I did get singing nuns in my head! I admit it! I've been trying to find ways to deal with my tbr for who knows how long now and the pile keeps getting bigger, not smaller. It doesn't take a genius to work out that you need this very complex equation for a solution.

Buy Less + Read More = Lower TBR + More Bookshelf Space

Yeah it's as easy as that huh! Well, Chuckles has decided to tackle the first part of the equation. As of next Monday, after the last of my Black Friday sales purchases have arrived, there is going to be a book ban. I will not be permitted to buy any paperbacks until after New Year *clutches desk for support*. Yes, 5 weeks of a book ban! I can accept free books of course and no Kindle books at all.  *sweats* It's the only way to get started on dealing with this chaotic tbr.

In the New Year I'm already considering other ways to keep it under better control. Maybe read 10 before I can buy a new one? Mini bans where I can't buy anything until I get a bag of books out to the charity shop? A two week book ban every month? Have you guys tried something like this to curb the buying or have you been doomed to failure?

Next is the Read More, which can be easier said than done for us when a big hairy reading slump comes along (above), or you are working overtime or a relative is sick or you have visitors, kids, pets to deal with etc. However, I don't have any of those distractions as my dad is house trained so I need to try and read as much as I can next year. I'm not going to do monthly targets for my reading as I always set too high a target and feel like I've failed when I don't reach it. Targets will be more relaxed from now on.

I'm looking at something like running a series catchup challenge all year where I start by picking three short series I want to complete then do it in my own time. After that I'll pick a few more series to tackle and so on until the year finishes. No stress, no panic, just getting through a few series throughout the year. Alongside that I'll be doing a paperback challenge. Again I'll pick a small number of books I really want to read across all my favourite genres, and get them read. Then I do another post with the next books I want to read and do that through the year. It means manageable targets and no panic about being behind on reading or a deadline to read it by, and space for mood reading. I'll do a similar ebook challenge through the year. This way I'm tackling all my favourite genres and reducing the tbr on each one without there being a set target in mind for book numbers. 

I will also be doing the Goodreads Challenge as it provides that handy graphic to see at a glance everything you've read but I'll set the target low then change it higher if need be as the year goes on. I'll be doing short individual challenges like Barb's Puppy Love and if I see other challenges on other blogs that interest me I'll consider them too. 

Now we get to More Bookshelf Space. Doing different genres every month will certainly help as my apocalypse, zombie, tudor, NF, politics, SF and thriller shelves are overflowing, meaning books are stacking up again on the floor. By reading a mix of genres each month I hope to free up shelf space for every genre in the first couple of months of the year. I'm starting this by continuing with SF reads in December along with some thrillers. Get a few of these read and to the charity shop and gaps will gradually appear on several shelves! That's the plan! It also means that none of my favourite genres will be neglected next year which means variety in the reading and the blog posts.

Do you have any plans to tackle the TBR next year?