As amazing as it is to get arcs, I do have to admit that it’s gotten kind of draining to have some that I have to read each month. So I’m pretty excited that I don’t have any arcs to include on my TBR in January!

My goal for this month is to knock as many books off of my TBR as possible. I got it down to 36 at one point, but then I was gifted a few books and saved a few from my donation pile and bought a couple, so now I’m back up to 45. Not as low as I wanted, but not a bad place to start the year at.

It doesn’t hurt that I’m already a decent way into two books. I definitely did not finish The First Tycoon by T.J. Stiles, but I made progress, and I want to keep working on it in January. And I’m about 100 pages into The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon. It’s kind of slow going right now, but I’m hoping the pace will pick up soon!

Otherwise, the only books I have to read in January are the ones I recently acquired. That means I need to keep working on The Smithsonian’s History of America in 101 Objects by Richard Kurin — I’m about 160 pages in, so I’ve been making good progress, but I put it down in December to focus on The First Tycoon. I don’t think I’ll finish it in January, but I at least want to read a few hundred more pages.

Another recent acquisition is One Day in December by Josie Silver. I was interested in this after I saw Reece Witherspoon pick it for her book club, and then I got it in a white elephant gift exchange that my romance book club did! I’m excited to check it out.

I also bought The Obelisk Gate by N.K. Jemisin. I loved The Fifth Season, and I want to continue with the series before too long! I bought The Stone Sky, too, but I’m ok if I don’t get to that one until February. We’ll just have to see what kind of note The Obelisk Gate ends on as to whether I decide to binge these!

Other than that, I mostly want to just read as many books from my shelves as possible! I’ll admit, I’ve become a bit possessed with determination to meet my goal of a zero TBR, so I’m hoping to knock out much more than just my goal of five this month.

A few of the books on my shelves that I’m thinking I’d like to pick up this month include Hamilton’s Battalion by Courtney Milan, Alyssa Cole, and Rose Lerner, Vicious by V.E. Schwab, The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin, and The Girl of Fire and Thorns by Rae Carson.

Oh, and I can’t forget to mention the new releases coming out in January! I will definitely be reading Once Ghosted, Twice Shy by Alyssa Cole, and I think I’d like to get to Nightchaser by Amanda Bouchet as well.

Let me know in the comments what books you’re hoping to start the new year with!