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#BookView- Browsing the bookshelf for #TBRChallenge2020

“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

  1. A self help book- You can heal your life by Louise Hay Atomic Habits by James Clear 
  2. A book by an author whose name starts with the first letter as your name- Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir 
  3. An Audiobook /ebook or a PDF read- The Stationery Bookshop by Marjan Kamali 
  4. 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.

 


Linking up with Soumya for the #TBRCHALLENGE2020

badge for the challenge

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

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21 thoughts on “#BookView- Browsing the bookshelf for #TBRChallenge2020

  1. I look forward to seeing any recommendations from your reads. I would’ve loved to have joined but I don’t think I have unread books on my shelf that meet all the categories else I would’ve joined for sure.

    1. Thanks Sanch and you dont need unread books from your TBR only for this challenge. Add the ones you are reading – our prompts are pretty generic and thats done intentionally to keep the book selections easy.It would be awesome to have you on board 🙂

  2. That is an interesting list. I agree with you about the never ending pile of books. I’m also trying to stay away from buying books but at times I end up giving in to it. This year, even I want to finish off reading books that I already have. I hope I’ll be able to do that.

    1. Thanks Reema – come join us on the challenge and clear them away with us. I am so relieved to see my pile down in numbers now after 3 years of dedicated reading from them only and not adding books at random. Apart from some gifts, I havent really bought books in a long time and that has helped to settle this TBR a lot.

  3. Aha! You are all sorted for the challenge. Love the diverse and interesting list of books you have selected. Looking forward to your reviews and happy reading too, Shalini!

  4. That’s a superb list, Shalz! I just came up with mine and it was easier than I thought. Let’s demolish the TBR list, one book at a time!

    Looking forward to doing this with you. Again <3

    1. Thanks Somz- I am very excited by this one too! Hopefully we will rock it too!! Thank you for doing this with me!

  5. I am going to pick books from your TBR and add to mine. Anna Karenina and Becoming are good books. I liked both of them. You can heal your life will be a good one too. Good luck! I will be around cheering you and Soumya <3

    1. Thanks Parul – we do need some cheerleader too 🙂

      I am looking forward to reading Anna Kareina again!! Its a faint memory in my mind at the moment. I think I read it when I was in class 8th or something like that. I think there was a series on it too on TV but again the mind is foggy on it.

    1. Thanks so much Corinne. Totally understand on the no challenge bit this year for y ou- its great to just take some time off and do your own thing at your own pace too! 🙂

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