I’m planning to put updates on the state of my physical TBR shelf in my monthly wrap ups, and I’ll still do that, but I was about to write this month’s post and realized that I had too much to say to expect someone to stay with me for both the update and my monthly wrap up. So I’m splitting them up.

This month I whittled my TBR shelf down from 55 to 48 books. It should have been more since I read or DNFed a total of 17 books this month, but I wound up buying several books I wasn’t planning to. Oops. I’m ok with it, though, because one was to support Gail Carson Levine after she signed my beloved copy of Ella Enchanted, two were to binge read the Red Rising trilogy by Pierce Brown, and one was so I can see the movie over Thanksgiving break (Murder on the Orient Express).

But here’s where it gets tricky: I bought and was gifted several more books this month that I actually don’t want to read anytime soon for various reasons. Since they’re not books I actively want to read, I’ve decided not to add them to my physical TBR.

One of those books is The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss. I blogged earlier this month about attending his signing, and while I’m really glad I went and am really excited to read this book, I’ve said for a while now that I want to wait to read it until the third book is announced, and I think I should stick to that plan. I initially put this book on my TBR shelf anyways, but since I have other books I’ve purchased and chose not to add to my TBR, I’m taking this off my TBR, too, since it could be a while until book three.

Another one is On Her Majesty’s Frightfully Secret Service by Rhys Bowen, which is the 11th book in the Her Royal Spyness series. My sister picked this up for me and got it signed at her very first book signing (I’m so proud to see her follow in her older sister’s footsteps!), but I’ve only read the first book in the series so far. I’d like to get around to reading the rest of the series, but I’m not in a rush to do it, so I’m going to take this off my TBR for now.

I also recently purchased a copy of The Book of Dust: La Belle Sauvage by Philip Pullman. This was one of my most anticipated books being published this fall, but I actually don’t want to read it until I’ve reread the original trilogy. But I’m not planning to do that for a while since I’m in the midst of rereading Harry Potter, plus I’m not in a rush since there are still two more books for me to wait for. Because of this, I actually decided not to buy the book just yet, but then I saw that only the first edition printing will have a color plate at the front of the book. So I went for it, but I’m not adding it to my TBR because it’s going to be a long time until I read it, and I don’t feel the need to push it off my shelves.

And finally, I went to a book signing for Tamora Pierce this month! I bought a copy of Tortall: A Spy’s Guide, but this is another book where I have lots of rereading to do before I get to this. I think I’ll get a lot more out of it then, but it’s also a series I’m not sure I’ll be rereading for a while yet. Though I do want to get to it soon because of her new book coming out in February! In the meantime, though, I have no plans to read Tortall: A Spy’s Guide, so I stuck it with the rest of my Tortall books and will read it when I read the entire series.

So yeah, I’ve decided to be a bit flexible in adding books that I purchase to my TBR shelf. Obviously this is something that I don’t want to abuse, but three of these books are ones I wouldn’t have purchased or accumulated if they weren’t signed, and that’s the kind of opportunity I want to take advantage of when I can, rather than wait until I have time to read those books immediately and hope the author is doing another event soon. Plus three of these books will require a fair amount of reading before I can start on them.

But everything else I buy should be going on my physical TBR shelf and added to this Goodreads list. And I’ve created another list with those unread books that I’ll get around to eventually so that I don’t let it get too out of control.

What do you think? Is it cheating to take those books off my TBR shelf? How do you organize your TBR shelves? Let me know in the comments!