“Adding this to my TBR !!!” – famous words uttered by every bookworm you know. For those of you new to the reading world, TBR = To Be Read. The problem with adding everything to your TBR list though, is that eventually..you have to read it!

As bookworms, I believe we create our TBR lists with the truest of intentions. We see a friend gush about a book or read a glowing review online and we immediately add it to our list. It happens the next day and then the next week; again and again and again. Before you’ve even had a chance to read the first book you added to the list, you’re now 10, 15, or 30 books deep into a list of recommendations.

As a seasoned bookworm, I wish I could tell you that I’ve finally mastered the art of the TBR list. Unfortunately, this is a problem that can never be solved. This year though, I’m challenging myself to be intentional about my TBR list. So what does that mean exactly? I’m setting a goal to read 24 out of the 59 unread books currently sitting on my shelf! I typically read between 50-70 books each year, so I know that hitting 24 books won’t be a problem – the challenge will lie in reading up to 24 books from my current TBR list!

The 24 books from my unread shelf that I’ve selected for this challenge are:

Contemporary Fiction
– Sunshine Nails by Mai Nguyen

Fantasy
– The War of Two Queens by Jennifer L. Armentrout
– River Mumma by Zalika Reid-Benta

Fiction
– The Adult by Bronwyn Fischer
– Caul Baby by Morgan Fiction
– Pride and Joy by Louisa Onome
– Yellowface by R.F. Kuang
– Age of Vice by Deepti Kapoor
– Crook Manifesto by Colson Whitehead
– Good Material by Dolly Alderton

Historical Fiction
– Let Us Descend by Jesmyn Ward
– One Blood by Denene Miller
– The House of Eve by Sadeqa Johnson

Memoir
– How to Say Babylon by Safiya Sinclair
– Everyone But Myself by Julie Chavez

Romance
– Holiday Country by Inci Atrek
– Ayesha at Last by Uzma Jalaluddin

Thriller/Mystery
– The Husbands by Chandler Baker
– Darling Rose Gold by Stephani Wrobel
– The Other Side of Night by Adam Hamdy
– A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson

Non-fiction
– Sexual Justice: Supporting Victims, Ensuring Due Process, and Resisting the Conservative Backlash by Alexandra Brodsky
– The Hundred Years’ War on Palestine: A History of Settler-Colonial Conquest and Resistance, 1917-2017 by Rashid Khalidi
– Black Boys Like Me: Confrontations with Race, Identity, and Belonging by Matthew R. Morris

I’m quite the mood reader so I have no idea when I’ll read the books listed above or in which order; I’ll simply have to let the power of ~vibes~ guide me on this journey. Keep an eye out for an updated post in June to see how my TBR challenge is going!