josephine’s Comments (group member since Jan 16, 2025)

josephine’s comments from the Project TBR Zero group.

My April goals:

1. Finish rereading "Catching Fire" and "Mockingjay" – this would conclude my Hunger Games reread and I'll finally be able to get to "Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes" and "Sunrise at the Reaping", although whether I get to those two in April or later I won't be too strict about (though hopefully April or May).
2. Try to read at least six books this month. I managed this in February, so I don't see why I shouldn't manage it in April, too. I'll count my rereads towards this number if I lose the 'effective reading mood' I currently feel I'm in, but I'd prefer to read six new books in addition to those two.
3. Get back on BookTube. I was planning on doing this in March, but with my struggle with getting any reading done I lost motivation in that area, too. But it would be nice to get back into the motions of making videos.
4. I'll be moving this summer – exact date not decided – and April is really the only month where I'll have time to go through my bookshelves and get rid of books I don't want to bring with me. This might affect my physical TBR, but we'll see. The idea is to:
-first, get rid of the read books that I genuinely don't see myself ever rereading, or that I just don't feel represent me as a reader anymore (i.e. books I have no attachment to, that I've grown away from as a reader; books that I might have thought were OK at the time, but that I know if I reread them today I wouldn't enjoy).
-second, to get rid of unread books I know I will never get too. I have unread books from more than a decade ago that I no longer have any interest in reading, and they're taking up precious space. It's time to give them to someone else who will hopefully love them.
I'm the kind of reader who only wants the books I like on my shelves; I don't want books on my shelves that I don't genuinely love (or 100% think I'm going to love). I don't think we're talking about an enormous amount of books being picked away, but I'm excited to look at my shelves and only see books I love or am so so excited to get to!

I have one particularly intense work week this month, where I don't know how much reading I'll be able to get done, but other than that I don't really have too much going on, so I'm hopeful I'll be able to manage everything on my list.

Good luck with your goals this month, everyone!

March '25 reflection :
–I didn't get as much reading done as I wanted too, I ended up in a situation I find myself in every now and again where there are too many things I want to read and I can't decide which to get to first so I end up reading nothing for a bit😅 But! I have been reading some, which I'm so happy about because often I end up in almost a slump-like state and read nothing in these scenarios – but I've finished two new books and a reread (I've just started my Hunger Games reread, and got through the first book the other day). So, overall, not super happy with my progress this month, but honestly just relieved I've had any progress at all.

Quarter One reflection :
–For Q1, I'm generally very happy with my progress. I'm ahead of my reading goal, which is great, and I'm reading consistently, so even though I'm behind where I need to be to reach below 100 books, I'm optimistic about actually achieving it – or at least getting very close.
–I've not made as big a dent in my TBR as I wish, but I have added more books to my TBR since the start of the year because I'm giving some books I'd previously disregarded a second chance before I decide whether to get rid of them or not, and also I have added a few new ones too. So, while I've still got a way to go to reach my goal for the year, I'm encouraged by the reading pace I've had so far.


Bianca wrote: "Overall for Quarter One I am giving myself grace due to all the external factors and the difficulty of traveling and moving house!

Proud of myself for still reading and every month I have read at..."


Absolutely, read what you feel you want too – reading is not a chore and shouldn't feel forced! I neeeeed to get better at letting myself do rereads, I almost always feel some kind of guilt when I want to reread something because I have so many unread books to get too, but I want to lose that mindset completely.

I've been reading at a very steady pace and it's looking good for my TBR so far, which is awesome; two months in and I'm still going strong! I'm very scared of jinxing it, but if I can keep up this pace, or at least not dip too often, then my goal of getting under 100 books on my physical TBR by the end of the year is very doable! For March I have far too ambitious a plan, but again, if I can get to around the same number of books as I have in the last two months -which should be easy enough- then I'll be very satisfied.


Bianca wrote: "Hello Everyone!!

Let us know how your reading goals fared in February and what your plans are for March.

I read quite a few more books in Feb vs Jan so I was REALLY pleased about that. I feel lik..."

I currently separate my read books from my unread books, and while I like that it gives me a very clear (and sobering) overview of what I have yet to read (and moving the books from 'unread' to 'read' is definitely satsifying), it does kinda hurt my brain to constantly see series split apart, and it does get bothersome to always need to work out space for fresh books on my read shelves once I've read them. For now, I'm keeping it the way it is, but once I move I'm wondering if maybe I'll go back to sorting without separating the read from the unread?

At the end of January and beginning of February I'm doing pretty well! I'll be reading a few bigger books this year, so at some points it'll slow down a little, and that starts this month with The Way of Kings, but for now I'm feeling that my goal is still absolutely achievable. I've got two other books I'm hoping to finish this week as well/beginning of next week. I'm happy with how things are going!


Bianca wrote: "Hey everyone! Let us know here how your TBR journey has been going in January.

I had a bit of a slow start to the year, and I've been travelling overseas the whole month. So I wasn't sure I'd be ..."


I separate my unread books from my read books at the moment, and I've used this system for about a year I think? I cannot tell you how satisfying it is to move a book to my "read" shelves! It's so motivating to see your unread bookshelves emptying and your read bookshelves filling in, especially when you're getting to books that are part of a series. Physically seeing what I'm dealing with is a great help to keeping myself accountable, too :) I'll also be moving, hopefully this spring, and I'm debating whether I want to keep this system then or not. I'm leaning towards yes🤓


Laura wrote: "I've read a good amount in January given that I'm participating in Storygraph's January challenge (aka reading every day even if it's just a couple pages). Only downside is some of the books I've r..."


The Poppy War! I'm planning on getting to this one (finally!) this year as well, maybe in March? I got halfway through it last year before I fell into a slump, so I need to give it another attempt. I aim to finish the series before Katabasis comes out this autumn👀 Happy reading!

Bianca wrote: "Bianca wrote: "What is your TBR at the start of this year? How many books do you want to read by the end of the year?"

I am starting 2025 with 299 books to read!

That means I have 51 books less ..."

Good luck!

I've started 2025 with between 140 and 150 unread books.

My goal for the year is to get below 100; anywhere in the double digits would be amazing. :)

As for acquiring more books throughout the year, I'm allowing myself to get new releases I'm very excited about (provided they'll be read more or less immediately and not added to the already large tbr pile) or sequels if I make progress in a series (since I'm the kind of person that needs to get to the next one in a series quick or it'll never happen).

Hi! Thanks for the invite to this group :) Hopefully it'll help keep me accountable!
I'm not entirely sure how many unread books I have on my shelves, but it's far too many for my taste - around the 140 mark. My goal is to get under 100 this year, and then do my best to reach around 50 in 2026. I do like to have a decent amount of unread books, but I'd prefer the number to not be tripple digits xD In fact, just under 50 would be perfect! So this is definitely a long-term project, but I'm more motivated than ever^^
Good luck everyone!