Hello!

As someone who spends a lot of time on BookTok and bookstagram, at the end of the month my social media is full of wrap-up videos and tbr planning videos and whilst I love making my own wrap-ups, I’ve never planned a tbr for a month and never felt the need to.

However I am very aware that I’m paying for Audible and Kindle Unlimited and I don’t think I’m really reading enough to justify paying for those services, so I’ve decided to set myself the goal of listening to two audiobooks and reading two ebooks a month, alongside my monthly bookclub pick and trying to get through as much of my physical tbr as possible.

So in merging the concept of planning a tbr and wanting to read more on the services I’m paying for, I thought I’d plan what I want to read to meet these goals!

For my book club, I have already chosen and read ‘The Butterfly Lion’ by Michael Morpurgo. My book club is called (and currently being renamed to) The Rocket Book Club and is basically a way of reading all the books my husband and I were given on our wedding day, as we asked our guests to gift us a copy of their favourite book to make a little library of our favourite people’s favourite books, so we take it in turns to pick a book every month in an endeavour to read them all! Next month’s choice is my husband’s and I’ll announce it on my Instagram and TikTok at the beginning of August.

For audiobooks, I’m currently listening to ‘A Touch of Darkness’ by Scarlett St. Clair, a modernisation of Greek mythology and an alternative story about Persephone and Hades which I’m thoroughly enjoying. For my second pick for the month I’ve decided to focus on a book that also makes a dent in my physical tbr so I’ve chosen ‘The Man Who Died Twice’ by Richard Osman, the second book in ‘The Thursday Murder Club’ series. Using multiple reading formats seems to be the best way to get through my physical tbr and I quite like listening and reading simultaneously so it’s nice to balance both of those!

Also following the multiple format train, for my Kindle Unlimited books I am currently reading ‘Gilded Cage’ by Vic James as I accidentally bought book 2 in the series, ‘Tarnished City’, in 2020 (I know) and I found book 1 on KU so figured that would be a good way to be able to read the series without having to buy book 1 directly. Another KU book I have downloaded is ‘Twisted Love’ by Ana Huang – a super popular author on BookTok that I haven’t read yet. This is another one that I own physically so would help me get through that physical tbr without reading multiple physical books at once!

So those are the books I’ve picked for the rest of July! I’ve already read a book from my physical tbr this month and I’ll probably read ‘Tarnished City’ when I’ve finished ‘Gilded Cage’, and then I get to pick another title out of my tbr jar which is always exciting.

I managed to read 11 books in both May and June but I don’t think I’ll be able to match that in July. With how much I’ve been reading this year, aiming for 6 books a month shouldn’t feel like a big ask but it still feels like a bit of a stretch for me. My lowest reading month this year has been 4 books and I’ve generally read at least 6 books a month so I think it might just be achievable? Especially over multiple formats. I don’t need to justify it, but also if I don’t meet that goal it’s not the end of the world, maybe I need to reevaluate paying for book related services! I don’t know, I’m rambling.

Having this little tbr is bringing me joy and that’s the important bit.

Thank you for reading,

Sophie xx