Tackling My TBR is a monthly post, where I share my reading plans for the upcoming month. The concept of a TBR Jar is not a new one. I’ve seen it used in various ways throughout the bookish community. I set up my jar a little different than what I’ve seen previously. Instead of putting individual book titles on a small sheet of paper to place in the jar, I wrote a month and a year on each. Each month, I intend to pull three sheets of paper from my jar which will dictate which three books I will read. The dates on the paper correspond with the date I added those books to my Goodreads account. Some months will have over 20 books to choose from, when others may have only one. From Goodreads, I’ll choose the three books from the three different monthly hauls. 

For March, I was able to tackle some of my TBR! I read Moment of Truth by Kasie West first and the contemporary romance was just okay. I've found that YA romance, especially those that involve school in some way, is just not grabbing my attention like it used to. I still own a few more unread West books, but I don't think she will be an auto-buy author for me like she used to. Unfortunately, I ended up unhauling Time Between Us by Tamara Ireland Stone. While the time traveling aspect of the book really appealed to me, I spent the whole month trying to pick it up and failing. However, I was able to finally read one of the oldest books on my TBR: I, Iago by Nicole Galland. While it was a great reimagining of Shakespeare's Othello from Iago's perspective, I feel like I would have enjoyed it if I had read it earlier. Of course, that is a lesson for me that the longer these books sit on my shelf, the more of a chance they will not be what I'm looking for as my tastes change.

For April, I picked the January 2020, March 2016, and December 2015 book hauls out of the jar. Here are the books I chose:

The Paris Key by Juliet Blackwell: I was browsing through the bookshop one day and came across this one. Honestly, I don't even know what it's about except that it may be set in Paris so count me in.

The Bone Season by Samantha Shannon: This one has been on my shelf since its release and high fantasy novels always give me pause. I know I'll probably end up liking the book, but starting it is another thing entirely.

A Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin: I know a lot of people have probably already read this one, but the size of it has stopped me from picking it up until now. Plus, with several books in the series, I know if I like the first one, there will be so many installments to pick up to. I started watching the show years ago and stopped halfway through season 1. I decided that I wanted to read the book before continuing in the show, but it's been years for me to pick this up. I hope it's as good as the hype!

The Orilium Readathon is hosted by booktuber: G at Book Roast. This readathon takes place during the entire month of April. Here is the announcement video. It’s a little complicated as participants are tasked with building their own character and then choosing a calling or career path for their character. The number of prompts or challenges vary depending on certain callings. Since this is my second year doing this readathon, I'm going to be working through the Moon Warden calling again, but if I finish the prompts for that calling, I also want to strive for the Star Whisperer calling too so I've added the prompts for each calling below. Here’s the books (and their challenges) I hope to get to.

The Paris Key By Juliet Blackwell (challenge: flowers on the cover)

Well, That Was Unexpected by Jesse Q. Sutanto (challenge: 2 letter Es in the title)

City of Nightmares by Rebecca Schaeffer (challenge: match your clothes to the color of the cover)

Windfall by Jennifer E. Smith (challenge: close your eyes, shuffle, and point)

Vespertine by Margaret Rogerson (challenge: a book between 389-415 pages)

Being Mary Bennet by J.C. Peterson (challenge: match your clothes to the color of the cover)

Love in the Time of Serial Killers by Alicia Thompson (challenge: 2 letter Es in the title)

A Little Bit Country by Brian D. Kennedy (challenge: a book on your highest shelf)

A Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin (challenge: a book with a map)

Until the Beginning by Amy Plum (challenge: a book with clouds on the cover)

I found this readathon over on Instagram, where a lot of users were posting their TBRs. It will take place on April 7th to the 9th. It is a readathon hosted by Rachel from Happy Go Lovely Sleeves, where participants read books with flowers on the cover. I know that my TBR is a little out of control this month, but I have included a few books below just in case I have time to participate.

A Wounded Name By Dot Hutchinson

Ever Cursed by Corey Ann Haydu

The Royals Next Door by Karina Halle