#SundayBlogShare: How My Perfectly Organized TBR Reading Schedule Got Screwed Up

Every month I set out a list of books I want to read by the end of the month. Sometimes I stick to the list, sometimes some of the books end up in the DNF pile, some months I deviate from the schedule altogether, and some months I get surprises. 

This was my TBR List for November:

- Glitter by Aprilynne Pike ✅

- Legacy by Cayla Kluver (DNF)

- Fiendish by Brenna Yovanoff ✅

- The Last Harvest by Kim Liggett (Returned to Library Without Reading)

- Recreated by Colleen Houck (Returned to Library Without Reading)

- The Ravenous by Amy Lukavics (Returned to Library Without Reading)

- Unearthed After Sunset by Lauryn April (Haven't gotten to)

- Legacy by Jesikah Sundin (Haven't gotten to)

So, as you can see I didn't read most of the books I intended to. So how did I get so off-track? Well I tried to flip through some of the books that I got from the library: Legacy, The Last Harvest, Recreated, and The Ravenous but none of them really grabbed me. Then I did a proofing of my print ARC of CurseBreaker, taking my time to hopefully catch any last mistakes and see if there were any changes I wanted to make.

I also got approved for two e-ARCs that I was not expecting: 

Coming May 2018

Coming Feb. 2018

But I couldn't read these right away because I was having trouble with my eyes and needed to get new glasses. Long story short, I got new glasses about a week ago and was able to use my Kindle again but then I found out I got picked for an eARC for the blog tour of...

Which became a priority since it's coming out on December 5th and I'm just finishing it now.

Speaking of December 5th, I remembered that Ever the Brave by Erin Summerill is coming out the same day and I left off at page 66 so I have to get on that PRONTO. 

And to top it off, I was lucky enough to win a copy of The Hazel Wood on Goodreads which comes out the end of January!

So pretty soon, my clean, well-structured TBR schedule became more of one of those conversations where you start on one topic and twenty minutes of rambling later you've off-shot to one hundred other subjects and you have no idea how you got talking about socks when you started off talking about the new season of Stranger Things. Does anyone else have those kind of moments? Or is it just me?

Do you plan out your reading schedule every month? How well do you stick to it? Let me know!

My Favorite "Broken Men" in Literature

Bookish Confession:

I completely swoon for the dark, moody, damaged broken men I read about in books. From Varen Nethers in the Nevermore Trilogy to Reed Royal in the Royals Series, from Lucas Wolf from the Devoured Books to Sawyer Weston in D. Kelly's Illusions Series... I love them all. 

How could I possibly think a guy with mood swings, a bad temper, and a dark past is sexy you ask? 

Maybe it's the whole bad boy thing. Maybe I think the most damaged ones are the most deserving of love. Maybe I see a lot of someone I care deeply about reflected in those characters. Yeah... it's mostly that last part, but definitely the other two points as well.

I guess part of it is that I think the "perfect" male character, like in Nicholas Sparks books are a little too perfect... like they're hiding something. Nobody is that understanding all the time, nor does someone always say the right thing and do the right thing all. the. time. It's just not possible. It's unrealistic.

The flawed guys just seem more... human. More... real? And to me, that's what makes all the difference when reading a book. You want to immerse yourself in the story and forget that it's a work of fiction and that the characters aren't actually real. 

So in honor of my guilty pleasure, here are some of my favorite sexy bad boys and broken men in literature...

1. Lucas Wolf from Devoured by Emily Snow

2. Varen Nethers from Nevermore by Kelly Creagh

3. Thorn from RoseBlood

4. The Goblin King from Wintersong by S. Jae-Jones

5. Sawyer Weston from Just An Illusion by D. Kelly

6. Reed Royal from the Royals by Erin Watt

7. Daniel Porter from Can't Hardly Breathe by Gena Showalter

8. Razor Turner from Walk the Edge by Katie McGarry

9. John from Trust by Kylie Scott

10. Shane Collins from the Morganville Vampire Series by Rachel Caine

8 Books or Series I Haven't Read (Yet)

I saw another book blogger do a post like this which made me think of some of the books or series on my TBR shelf that I'm embarrassed to say I haven't gotten to yet. Some have been due to length and trying to fit them into my reading schedule and some I just don't have any excuse for. 

Ultimately I'd like to clear my TBR shelf of at least all the current books stacked on it by the end of the year so maybe this will kick me into action.

The Red Queen Series

This series hasn't been hanging around on my TBR shelf for too long. Well, only five or six months. I have Red Queen and Glass Sword and I don't have any real reason as to why I haven't picked them up yet

A friend of mine on #bookstagram loves to pick these books apart a lot, but she rarely likes anything she reads so it's not because I don't think I'll like them. I just haven't felt like reading them just yet.

An Ember in the Ashes

I bought this book because I'd heard good things about it and I like the

cover, but so far I don't have any real interest in reading it. 

This book falls firmly in the "Books I Bought Because Everyone Else Was Reading It" category. 

The Remnant Chronicles

I'm embarrassed at how long I've been saying I was going to read these books! For months I've put them on my monthly TBR schedule only to not get to even the first one.

I am really excited to read this series and I've been eyeing them hopefully for over a year but they are really long books! Sometimes I get swamped with my ARC reading so anything fun I'd planned to read gets shoved aside, and this series seems to be the biggest one that it happens to!

City of Bones

Everyone loves this book and the series. Years ago I had bought what I think was a prequel that I never got into because I didn't understand it. 

Eventually, I decided to try again with City of Bones at the urging of another of my #bookstagram friends so I picked up a copy a few months ago. This one I might get to quicker than some of the others on this list because it falls into my "anything but high fantasy" reading wishlist right now.  

Game of Thrones

This is another series that everyone seems to have read besides me. This series first became popular long before I fell in love with fantasy novels and now I'm playing catch-up.

I plan to read at least the first book (and then maybe watching the series will make some sense) and see if I like it enough to read the rest of the series.

This is another one that's massively long which is another reason that I probably haven't jumped at the chance to read it.

The Great Pursuit

I loved the first book, The Great Hunt, but I put off reading the second book when ACOWAR came out and I absolutely had to read that first. 

I haven't gotten a chance to get back to The Great Pursuit but it will most likely be one of the first books I read after my fantasy novel ban comes to an end.

Never Die Alone

I love Lisa Jackson, she's one of my favorite authors. My grandmother read this book and gave it to me to read but until recently it wasn't on my main TBR shelf.

I'm thinking this will be a great Autumn, heart-pounding read to give a try in October if I don't get to it sooner. 

Sacrifice
This book has been on my TBR shelf for the longest. This was

also a book I picked up before I really got into fantasy and at the time I had the entire trilogy. When I didn't think I could get into them I got rid of the first two books and now tracking them down online sucks. 

Will I ever read this book? Hopefully, but I'd like to read the first two first.

###

Have you read any of these books? Are there any you think I absolutely have to read? Some you think I should skip?

Bookworm Problems: Book Slumps

So far my July reading looks like this...

"#bookwormproblems: when you've read a book so amazing you get into a book slump when you try to read something else. #amreading"

— Taylor Fenner (@TaylorFenner) July 3, 2017

Basically, I'll find one book that I breeze through and really like then when I finish it and want to move on to the next book on my TBR shelf I encounter a problem. 

Either: 

a)  I can't get into the book at all, not even past the first page.

or

b) I get maybe 40-50 pages in and the book isn't as good as it was expecting it to be so I don't see myself enjoying it enough to finish so I DNF it.

Skimming through the book doesn't help, reading ahead doesn't help, damn - reading the ending doesn't even help. I've finished one book of the four I've started reading this month (but I plan to finish the one I'm reading now so the ratio is about even). So short of going crazy, how do I get past a book slump?

Confession: I really don't have a method to my madness. 

I finished up June reading:

Hunting Prince Dracula by Kerri Maniscalco. I had won this ARC, but before I ever even entered for it I read an excerpt of the first chapter on, I believe, Entertainment Weekly's website and was immediately grabbed by the story. 

Then I started reading:

Which I ended up setting aside because I didn't like it as much as the first book. Thinking I would love this book as much as I did the first book, I didn't read an excerpt before requesting. My mistake. I might pick it back up, the book doesn't come out until December so I definitely have time, or I might read 50 or so pages a month until I finish. I got to about page 70 before I got stuck.

After setting that aside I grabbed:

Which I couldn't put down. I admit, the writing and story were a little strange but it kept my interest until the very end. I hadn't read an excerpt of this book, but I had liked another book by this writing duo and thankfully it paid off.

Feeling optimistic I grabbed:

For some reason, this book didn't even appeal to me. I couldn't even get past the second page. I'd bought it months ago at HPB and since I was rushed by my shopping companions I didn't get much of a chance to flip through it before I bought it. Mistake #2.

One of my bookstagram friends raves about this book, so I gave it a try...

I read maybe two-three chapters but I absolutely *hated* the writing. The story itself didn't make a lot of sense, so frustrated that I'd bought another book without reading an excerpt on Amazon's "look inside" feature I dropped it in the DNF pile.

Finally, feeling like I'd never find a book I liked again, I grabbed this book:

and broke my book slump (for now). I'm a little over 100 pages in and I'm loving the story so I think I'll stick with it. I'd read an excerpt of this book on Amazon before I ordered a signed copy from Book People (an Indie Bookstore in Texas which I highly recommend!) so I knew that I liked the beginning at least.

***

The moral of this confusing trip through my recent reading endeavors? If you're on the fence about buying and/or reading a book because you're not sure if you're going to like it and you want to avoid a book slump you should do one of the following:

- Read an excerpt of the book. Amazon has the "look inside" feature for books that are already on sale. Even if you don't buy from them you can still usually read the first chapter. You may also be able to find an excerpt on blogs, entertainment websites like Entertainment Weekly or Publisher's Weekly, or even on the author's website (or maybe on Wattpad). This will give you a feel for how you'll like the book.

- If you still are on the fence (you like the excerpt but are still unsure if you'll like the whole book) see if your local library has a copy. That way you can still read the book and if you don't like it you won't feel bad about spending your hard-earned cash on a book you turn out to hate. 

- Read reviews about the book. This doesn't always work for me because I tend to love books other people hate and hate books everyone raves about (see: The Raven Boys). If I decide to get a feel for the book by reading reviews about what people did or didn't like about a book, I usually go with the opposite of the consensus of people's opinions. If the majority of people loved it, I'll probably hate it so I don't waste my time. If the majority of people hated it, then I should probably grab a copy. (Like I said, this doesn't always work, but sometimes it helps when making a decision.)

***

So you've already bought a bunch of books and you're working your way through your TBR pile but nothing is appealing to you. How do you break out of your book slump?

- Switch up genres (Been reading a lot of one genre? Switch things up and read a book with a completely different genre. Example: getting sick of fantasy books letting you down? Switch to Sci-Fi or Contemporary.)

- Talk to a friend or loved one about what's not working for you with the book. They may be able to give you some insight into what might help you decide to keep reading or DNF the book. Just talking about it, in general, might help.

- Post about it on social media. Maybe send out a tweet that says: #bookwormproblems: is anyone else not feeling the relationship between x & y in "this book"? (or whatever is holding you back) - see what other people say. Maybe they picked up on the same things you did. Or maybe they can tell you that your slow read picks up and gets better.

- Take a break from reading. Maybe you've just been reading too much. (I know, I know - there is no such thing!) But maybe, in this case, there is. Set the book down and hang out with friends or watch a movie, maybe listen to some music. Then when you feel like reading again give the book another go.

***

Sometimes I feel the pressure to read at least one book a week to keep up with my "What I'm Reading" Wednesday blogs and I feel like I'm not reading fast enough if it's Tuesday night and I'm still reading the same book I was reading the previous Wednesday so I force myself to keep on with a book I'm not loving. This has caused more problems for me this year because a lot of my TBR books were purchased because someone recommended them to me. I've learned recently that I have very eclectic taste in books and I need to stop buying a book because a bookstagrammer in Omaha (or wherever) says "oooh, you have to read this book because you're going to love it!" - That approach doesn't always work out for me. 

It's time to get back to buying books that look good to me, not someone else. 

***

Do you encounter any of these problems? How do you get through a book slump?