Now that we’re halfway through the year, I want to check in on my goal to get to a zero TBR, and I figured it’d be a fun way to change it up by sharing what I currently have sitting on my shelves!

While I’m not as close to a zero TBR as I’d like, I’m actually pretty happy with my buying habits this year. I’ve been really good about not buying too many books and letting them sit on my shelves for too long after purchasing them, so even though there are a lot of books on my shelves that I haven’t read it, I’m pleased with where I’m at.

First up are my books that I acquired before 2019, which I refer to as my 2018 TBR. I was originally supposed to read five from here per month to whittle them down fairly quickly, but after culling a few more, I decided to change the pace I was reading those books and only focus on reading two per month. I’ve been pretty good about sticking to that pace, and if I keep it up, I’ll be on track to finish off these books by the end of the year! It’s weird because I do genuinely want to read these books, but they’re not necessarily ones I’m the most excited to pick up, so sometimes it feels a bit like a chore, but this process seems to be working for me.

• 1776 by David McCullough: History book about the American Revolution
• The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin: Classic scifi
• Southern Spirits by Angie Fox: Contemporary paranormal mystery/romance with ghosts
• Eleanor Roosevelt, Volume II by Blanche Wiesen Cook: Part two in a three-volume biography of Eleanor Roosevelt
• The Demon King by Cinda Williams Chima: YA fantasy
• The Samurai’s Garden by Gail Tsukiyama: I’m really not sure as this was a gift
• The Excellent Lombards by Jane Hamilton: I was gifted this along with The Samurai’s Garden
• My Beloved World by Sonia Sotomayor: Memoir by U.S. Supreme Court Justice
• City of Thorns by Ben Rawlence: Nonfiction about a refugee camp in Africa
• Devil in the Grove by Gilbert King: History book about four black men who were wrongfully convicted of raping a white woman

Separate from my 2018 TBR books are the books I’ve acquired in 2019. As mentioned above, I decided with those to treat them the way I want my TBR shelf to function once I’ve actually reached a zero TBR. By that I mean I want to read them fairly quickly within purchasing them and keep them from expanding beyond this shelf, though you can see it’s a little cramped at the moment. I’ve actually been pretty good about not buying too many books and sticking more to kindle and library copies, but then BookCon happened and I wound up with a whole stack of books. While that fact stresses me out a little, I’m mostly just excited about these books.

• The Stonewall Reader edited by the New York Public Library: Anthology for the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall riots
• The Real Deal by Lauren Blakely: Contemporary fake relationship romance
• The Last Wolf by Maria Vale: Paranormal shapeshifter romance
• As Good as the First Time by KM Jackson: Contemporary small town romance between a baker returning to her hometown and a firefighter/single dad
• Crazy Cupid Love by Amanda Heger: Fantasy romance pitched as Percy Jackson for romance readers
• Duchess by Design by Maya Rodale: Gilded Age historical romance featuring a heroine who sews pockets into dresses
• Devil in Tartan by Julia London: Highlander romance in which the heroine steals the hero’s ship
• Project Duchess by Sabrina Jeffries: Regency romance
• Destiny’s Embrace by Beverly Jenkins: Historical romance set in the American West
• The Takeover Effect by Nisha Sharma: Contemporary romance involving a corporate takeover of a family business
• Spark Joy by Marie Kondo: Sequel to The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up
• Bitter Blues by Ursula Renee: Historical romance between a husband and wife reconnecting after he returns home from WWII
• Bittersweet Bride by Vanessa Riley: Second chance regency romance
• The Last Girl by Nadia Murad: Memoir by a woman who was abducted into human trafficking
• No Judgments by Meg Cabot: Contemporary romance set during a hurricane in Florida
• I Am Malala by Malala Yousafzai: Memoir by Nobel Peace Prize winner
• The Bride Test by Helen Hoang: Sequel to The Kiss Quotient
• Come As You Are by Emily Nagoski: Nonfiction about women’s sexuality

While we’re at it, I figured I’d drop in a screenshot of my Kindle TBR shelf. I own more Kindle books that I haven’t read than this as I definitely take advantage of any freebies I see on Twitter, but I put any books on here that I’ve actually paid for, that I paid more than a dollar or two for, and that I genuinely want to read (even if I got it for free). Theoretically it’d be nice to read all of these by the end of the year as well, but right now I don’t have plans to push myself to do that. Maybe a project for 2020.

There you have it! All of the books I bought or picked up at events but haven’t read just yet. It’s a little overwhelming to see everything in one spot, but I know I’ve been making good progress on what I own, so I’m trying not to stress myself out about it.

My only other goal for the year is to read at least 30 percent books by authors of color. I was at about 34 percent at the end of June, so I’m definitely on track to meet that goal again. I’m actually considering upping my goal to 40 percent because I think I can do even better, but I haven’t decided to commit yet.

I’ve also been casually following along with the Book Riot Read Harder Challenge and the Reading Women Challenge, but I haven’t been actively trying to complete the challenges. Though I have decided to do The Ripped Bodice’s Summer Romance Bingo this summer! I keep meaning to document my progress on social media and should really get around to that soon.

Any books on here you think I need to pick up before the others? I just started No Judgments, but let me know what you think I should read next in the comments!