How I Choose my Monthly Reads


For each month’s TBR, I decided to give myself a bit of structure. The aim is to read four books a month, but I want each one to come from a slightly different category so I do not end up burning myself out on one genre.


**Book One: The Chunky Book**

The first book will usually be a chunky one of over 400 pages. More often than not, this will come from my Illumicrate subscription because, by God, do they love to publish a beautiful brick of a book. Even if they have to make the font larger to reach the page count, the sprayed edges are usually delicious enough for me to forgive them.


**Book Two: The Horror Book**

The second book will be horror. I am subscribed to Illumicrate’s Evernight box, which arrives quarterly, so when that month’s box has arrived, the choice is made for me. In the months where there is no Evernight book, I will substitute this with a horror title that catches my attention, whether that comes from recommendations, reviews, BookTube, or something that simply looks unsettling enough to be worth a go.


**Book Three: The Classic**

The third book will be a classic. This might be classic horror, historical drama, a collection of tales, or something that has somehow escaped me until now. Part of the aim here is to build my knowledge of classic stories and storytelling, but also to understand different periods of time through the snapshots that writers left behind. Stories are never written in a vacuum, and I like the idea of slowly exploring the worlds, fears, attitudes, and ideas that shaped them.


**Book Four: The Pre-Release**

The fourth book will currently be a pre-release title, either through NetGalley or directly from a publisher. This gives me the chance to read something new before it reaches the shelves properly and, hopefully, share a few early thoughts along the way.


**Book Five: An Audio Book**

I love a good listen to music to clear the mind on the way to work. But there is nothing better than having a story to listen to to take your mind off the day's events. 

So that is the loose plan: one chunky book, one horror, one classic, and one pre-release. Enough variety to keep things interesting, enough structure to keep me accountable, and just enough danger that my TBR pile may still become sentient and consume me.


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