Tackling the TBR: November 2015 [4]

I won’t lie: school kicked my ass in September and October. I rarely had time to sit down and blog, let alone read for fun and so my goals for these last two months are nowhere near where I would like them to be. Between August and September, the number of books I read decreased by 50% and it was the same downward trend for October as well. School came first of course, and so I really couldn’t do anything about my reading habits until late October. But by then it was a little too late to salvage my Fall TBR Goals.

For September and October, I had 5 targets:

1. Read a total of 2 ARCs per month
2. Read 1 TBR jar item a week for the rest of September; 2 for October
3. Read only 1 Library Book per week
4. Read 7 of my 10 selected trilogy series for Trilogy Termination
5. Only add books to my On Hold list at the start of each month

So, was I successful? Here’s how I actually did!

Rule #1: Read a total of 2 ARCs/Review copies per month

I read 5 review requests in September alone and had another 5-6 in October. This was way more than I anticipated but so many great opportunities presented themselves. In the end, I was really overwhelmed and in turn decided to close my Request option down until December so I could focus solely on my TBR in November. I really have to learn how to say no! When it comes to Netgalley, I’m going to regroup and reevaluate how many books I want to read in December.

Rule #2: Read 1 TBR jar item a week for the rest of September; 2 for October

I’m really bummed that this one never came to fruition. I was really positive heading into September that I would be able to get some of my purchased books read but catching up on ARCs/requests really bogged me down.

Rule #3: Read only 1 Library Book per week 

Besides a few exceptions, I really did only have one book out a week for October. The problem became a backlog of ARCs which led to a backlog of library books. It was really unfortunate because I had some books I had been dying to read come into my hands but had to return them before I could read them :'(

Rule #4: Read 7 of my 10 selected trilogy series for Trilogy Termination

SIGH…this was my main goal for October and I failed miserably. This one hurts the most because I was really hoping to make a dent in this. Perhaps I will have to shelf this goal until my Christmas Holidays…

On the bright side though, I did update quite a few series with their newest books AND finished a trilogy that I had its last book finally release after 2 years of waiting so that was really exciting.

RULE #5: Only add books to my On Hold list at the start of each month

I did this for September but then October came and I swear, every book I’ve been waiting to read this year came out in a two week span. So, for a time I did have more than 5 (it was probably 7) books on hold. However, they were all pre-releases and I knew that if I didn’t put my name early on that list, I probably wouldn’t get a chance to read them until next October.

So what did I learn?

That I was very naive when I set these goals near the end of August. It had been 4 months since I had been in school and I think that was enough time to forget how strapped down for time I am when I’m busy with classes and other commitments. I really put too many things on my plate for these last two months and so I think I have to scale things down a bit and slowly work my way to where I want to be.

My Game Plan for November:

With school now in full swing and finals nearing, I really have to make every concession to reduce the stress in my life. My posts’ schedule for November and December is pretty much set (the exception is my yearly and monthly recaps) so in that respect I don’t have any pressing deadlines to complete. I’m going to set some hard rules for myself for November and then play it by ear for December once I know what I am doing for break.

So here’s my new game plan:

• No requests/ARCs in November
• No putting books on hold at the library in November
  • I’m just going to read the books I currently have on hold when they come in but not replace them with new holds when finished
• Read 5 TBR books in November
• Generally: Not starting a new series by an author I already have an unfinished series/sequels for

Has the new school year affected your reading? let me know below!