Pick-a-Shelf discussion

Please post your January plan here.

Below is the main part of instruction including links to the wheels:

B. TBR only 👀

We are going to specifically focus on a random category per month and all the books read for this section must be from your TBR*

*TBR - the books must have been added to your TBR at the very least the last day of the previous month. For example, for November, I can read a book I added on 31 October.

You can spin the wheels on the 15th of current month for next month's category to allow for your planning.

For the Main Category, you can follow the below link and spin the wheel:

https://wheeldecide.com/index.php?c1=...

There are only 6 Main Categories for which then you will need to spin another wheel, depending on what you need for the Main Category you've spun:

For letters: https://wheeldecide.com/index.php?c1=...

For numbers: https://wheeldecide.com/index.php?c1=...

For continents: https://wheeldecide.com/index.php?c1=...

You will then ONLY read books that fit this category for the month.

You may have 2 categories per month, if you like, BUT each book must meet both categories to qualify for the challenge.

C. New Books ✨ (Optional)

The only "New Books" you can read for this challenge are those you can make a connection to your "TBR only" books. You may be as creative as you like with these connections BUT note that total of "New Books" read must be LESS than total of "TBR only" books read.

By "New Books", it would mean the book wasn't or hasn't ever been on your TBR so if you have discovered a new author whom you'd like to read all the backlist for, this is the space for it

You make make connections to any "TBR only" books you've read throughout the year and each of these books may have multiple connections.

Amy

Bea

CassieV

Charity

Christina (AKA Babbling)

Coralie

Joanna

Joyce

Lagullande

Lauren

Laurla

LynnB

Meg

Nat

Rosemary

Susan

Tien

I will give this a go....

Main category: Author initial
Letters: Z or P

Read:
1. The Amalfi Curse
2. The Dilemma
3.

Options:
The Dilemma*
Eating With My Mouth Open
Luminous
Behind Her Eyes
The Hounding
The Shape of Darkness
The Bee Sting
The Fraud
The Curious Charms of Arthur Pepper
Empire of Pain: The Secret History of the Sackler Dynasty*
Yours Cheerfully

ooh that's a good start, Meg! Not many Z probably but lots of P, I'm sure

2025 has been a struggle for me so while usually I'd go for the stars (like 10 TBR books or something), I'm going to start modestly at 5 (that's pretty ambitious at my current energy level lol) and this will be off my physical TBR

Main category: published in year containing
Number: 9

The Winter Ghosts by Kate Mosse pub 2009 -Read 01/06
The Hollow (Hercule Poirot #26) by Agatha Christie pub 1946 -Read 01/07
A Murder Is Announced (Miss Marple #4) by Agatha Christie pub 1950 -Read 01/08
The Odd Flamingo by Nina Bawden pub 1954 -Read 01/27
A Heart Divided (The Legend of the Condor Heroes #4) by Jin Yong pub 1957 -Read 02/03

Eyes on the TBR

Although I would like to be more ambitious in my goal, I will keep it at my usual 5. I have dropped quite a few of my challenge groups over the past year, but, since Darla, my reading amount has fallen also.

Main Category: published in year containing
Number: 3
January Books
Goal: 5

1. Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day by Winifred Watson pub 1938
2. Six Easy Pieces by Walter Mosley pub 2003
3. The Woman in Me by Britney Spears pub 2023
4. Widow's Tears by Susan Wittig Albert pub 2013
5. Weyward by Emilia Hart pub 2023

(view spoiler)[Alternatives from planned challenges:
The Apology pub 2023
Lone Women pub 2023
Tainted Sand pub 2003
Entry Island pub 2013
Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants pub 2013
Moloka'i pub 2003
Lady Tan’s Circle of Women pub 2023
Kangaroos: The Marvelous Mob pub 1993
Letters from Skye pub 2013
Murder on Ice pub 2003
Better Living Through Birding: Notes from a Black Man in the Natural World pub 2023
The House of Doors pub 2023
The Air Raid Book Club pub 2023
Zero Days pub 2023
Warrior Girl Unearthed pub 2023
The Six: The Untold Story of America's First Women Astronauts pub 2023 (hide spoiler)]

Such a useful challenge! Just what I need :) I will go for 3 per month to start, and see how it goes. One category because I need that flexibility!

Main category: Published in year ending in
Number: 6

Read:
✔ 1. To Each His Own by Leonardo Sciascia, 1966
✔ 2. In the Frame by Dick Francis, 1976
✔ 3. Death at the President's Lodging by Michael Innes, 1936

Options:
*To Each His Own by Leonardo Sciascia, 1966
Quite Ugly One Morning by Christopher Brookmyre, 1996
The Incredulity of Father Brown by G.K. Chesterton, 1926
In the Frame by Dick Francis, 1976
Bolt by Dick Francis, 1986
Faithful Unto Death by Caroline Graham, 1996
The Ghost it Was by Richard Hull, 1936
Death at the President's Lodging by Michael Innes, 1936
What Happened at Hazelwood by Michael Innes, 1946
Last Ditch by Ngaio Marsh, 1976
The Gustav Sonata by Rose Tremain, 2016
Wings Above The Diamantina by Arthur W. Upfield, 1936

*books I need to read for another challenge

I'm going to start with 3 per month and see how it goes.

Eyes on TBR
January 2026
Read: 3/3

Main category: Published in year containing
Number: 3

✅1. The Yellow Dog (pub. 1931)
✅2. Fourth Wing (pub. 2023) - 1/9/26
✅3. Iron Flame (pub. 2023) - 1/28/26

I'm going to do 3 :)

Main Category: First word of Title Starts With
Letter: B or R
January Books
Goal: 3

1. The Reluctant Queen - 1/20/26
2. Becoming Marie Antoinette - 1/24/26
3. Before We Were Yours - 1/31/26

Eyes on the TBR

Jan 1 - Dec 31, 2026

Using both TBR & considering shelves; new books also ok
MUST BE READ DURING THE MONTH THEY'RE DRAWN
AIMING FOR 5 EACH MONTH

January: Titles beginning with O or Y

Read:
✔1. Old Media - fin 1/1
✔2. One Day All This Will Be Yours - fin 1/3
✔3. One of us is Next - fin 1/11
✔4. On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century - fin 1/18
✔5. Open Season (Joe Pickett #1) - fin 1/23

Marked DNF:
The Owl Killers
The Overton Window
Our Hidden Conversations

I'll jump in and will start with a goal of 3 books per month and one category. I'd like to go for the stars, as Tien mentioned, but I know that there will be too many other challenges to try and fit together. But I like the focus of toppling the TBR!

I have been struggling with my reading lately so I will go with 3 books in one category.

AUTHOR'S COUNTRY
ASIA

Daughter of the Moon Goddess by Sue Lynn Tan - Malaysia - read Jan 12
Rakesfall by Vajra Chandrasekera
Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao - China - Read Jan 14
The City and Its Uncertain Walls by Haruki Murakami

Eyes on the TBR - January

Author's Country (born/living in) Asia

Six Days in Bombay by Alka Joshi (India)
The Lion Women of Tehran by Marjan Kamali (Turkey)
A Guardian and a Thief by Megha Majumdar (India)

I don't have a lot of books in this category on my TBR, so I'll start with 3.

January TBR 2026 only

Main Category: Author's Initial
Secondary: W or T

1.
2.
3.




(view spoiler)[B. TBR only 👀

We are going to specifically focus on a random category per month and all the books read for this section must be from your TBR*

*TBR - the books must have been added to your TBR at the very least the last day of the previous month. For example, for November, I can read a book I added on 31 October.

You can spin the wheels on the 15th of current month for next month's category to allow for your planning.

For the Main Category, you can follow the below link and spin the wheel:

https://wheeldecide.com/?c1=Author%27...

There are only 6 Main Categories for which then you will need to spin another wheel, depending on what you need for the Main Category you've spun:

For letters: https://wheeldecide.com/?c1=B%20or%20...

For numbers: https://wheeldecide.com/index.php?c1=...

For continents: https://wheeldecide.com/index.php?c1=...

You will then ONLY read books that fit this category for the month.

You may have 2 categories per month, if you like, BUT each book must meet both categories to qualify for the challenge.

C. New Books ✨ (Optional)

The only "New Books" you can read for this challenge are those you can make a connection to your "TBR only" books. You may be as creative as you like with these connections BUT note that total of "New Books" read must be LESS than total of "TBR only" books read.

By "New Books", it would mean the book wasn't or hasn't ever been on your TBR so if you have discovered a new author whom you'd like to read all the backlist for, this is the space for it

You make make connections to any "TBR only" books you've read throughout the year and each of these books may have multiple connections.

(hide spoiler)]

I'm in for 3 a month:

Main Category: Author's Country born/living in
Oceania

1. The Forgotten Garden
2. Oscar and Lucinda
3. The Rosie Project - Read 1/23/26

Eyes on the TBR (2026) - JANUARY

Official Start is January 1, 2026. Challenge will run up to December 31, 2026.

Books must have been added to your TBR at the very least the last day of the previous month.

You can spin the wheels on the 15th of current month for next month's category to allow for your planning.

Goal: 5 books per month
Main Category: First words of the title
Letters: K or S

1. The Stranger in the Library, Eva Gates, 3 Jan 2026, added Dec 2023
2. Somebody's Fool, Richard Russo, 9 Jan 2026, added Mar 2023
3. The Sunflower House, Adriana Allegri, 11 Jan 2026, added Nov 2025
4. The Storm We Made, Vanessa Chan, 16 Jan 2026
5. Silent Bones, Val McDermid, 19 Jan 2026
6. Someone Else's Shoes, Jojo Moyes, 22 Jan 2026


Some possibilities
Killing Moon - Nesbo - library
The Secret Keeper - Graham - own
Secrets of the Nile (#16) - Alexander - libby
Silent Bones - McDermid - libby
The Sisterhood (#19) - Alexander - libby
Separation of Church & Hate - Fugelsang - libby
Shelterwood - Wingate - library, DNF
So Far Gone - Walter - library
Somebody's Fool - Russo - library
Someone Else's Shoes - Moyes - library
Stellar Debut of Galactica Macfee - Smith - own
Stolen Life of Colette Marceau - Harmel - library
Storm Watch (#23) - Box - library
The Storm We Made - Chan - own
Stranger in the Library - Gates - libby
The Sunflower House - Allegri - libby
Sunflower Sisters - Kelly - own
Sweetness of Forgetting - Harmel - libby
The Sword & the Scimitar - Ball - own

Goal: 5

Completed: 1/5

Main category: First word of title starts with
Letters: U or G

1. The Unquiet Bones
2. The Undertaking of Hart and Mercy
3. Gone for Good 2/10
4. Garden Spells
5. Goldilocks

My 2025 challenge was a dismal failure, so I'm going to be slightly less ambitious this year and only do the TBR section.

January
Goal: 3 Books

Main category: Published in year ending in ...
Number: 1

Books:
✔︎ 1. The Viper by Monica McCarty (2011)
Read: 30.1.2026
Rating: 3 Stars

✔︎ 2. Outrageous by Minerva Spencer (2021)
Read: 2.2.2026
Rating: 3 Stars

✔︎ 3. Hello, Darkness by Sandra Brown (2001)
Read: 12.2.2026
Rating: 4 Stars

Eyes on the TBR: January 2026
Duration: Jan 1 - Jan 31, 2026

GOAL: 1-3 books

TBR only 👀
Main Category: First word of Title Starts With
U or G
G The Guest List by Lucy Foley 1/22/26
U Unmissing by Minka Kent 2/6/26

New Books ✨ (Optional)
Must connect to/read less than TBR books

Eyes on the TBR ❱❱ January
January - December 2026

My January Eyes on the TBR (msg 20)

Goal ❱❱ 3 books per month
Category Spin ❱❱ Last word of title ends with
Secondary Spin ❱❱ W or T

TBR only



🫧The Millionaire Daddy Project ❱❱ 01.17 ★★★★
🫧Once an Innocent ❱❱ 01.23 ★★★
🫧Rocky Mountain Heat ❱❱ 01.13 ★★★★

New Books

🫧The Inheritance ❱❱ connects to Rocky Mountain Heat ❱❱ originally published Aug

Eyes on the TBR

My reading has really dropped off over the last few years, so I'm keeping to a low target of 2 books from TBR only.

Main Category: Published in year containing ....
Number: 9
January Books Goal: 2
January Books Read: 1

✔️1. The Pearl pub 1947 finished 20/1/26
2.

January 2026

Published in year ending in 4.

1. Accidentally Wedded to a Werewolf by Isabelle Taylor 11 January 2026 ★★★★ First published October 31, 2024 December 30, 2025 – Shelved
2. Ready or Not by Cara Bastone 16 January 2026 ★★★★ First published February 13, 2024 May 8, 2025 – Shelved
3. How to Read a Book by Monica Wood 19 January 2026 ★★★★★ First published June 18, 2024 September 9, 2025 – Shelved




potential
Archangel's Lineage - 2024
Apprentice to the Villain -2024
A Spy Unmasked -2014
How to Read a Book - 2024

First month and I'm already behind! Empire of Pain is taking a long time to read.