Picky Pledge

I noted in a couple of wrap-up posts that I wanted to join Hannah and Alexa in their Picky Pledge, which is where they read books from their shelves and limit book buying. I’ll admit that I definitely don’t have a book buying problem because of how picky I already am, but I DO have a problem with not reading backlist books on my shelves. I *used to* have a book buying issue, which has led to a lot of books on my shelves that I either (a) will never read or (b) still definitely want to read but haven’t yet. I’ve already embarked on this for January and February, as you saw in the linked Bulletins, but I thought I’d run through some ideas for a Picky Pledge TBR. For more details on the project, be sure to read Alexa and Hannah’s posts I linked earlier!

Both of the books below could be interchanged because they fit both categories – I bought both books because they’re book two in a series or duo, and I love both of the authors. I just put them this way arbitrarily.

Because there are 12 prompts for the Picky Pledge, I decided to read one book from my shelves each month to finish up the challenge. Below are some ideas that I pulled from combining and cross-referencing my “to read” and “own physical” shelves on Goodreads.

A book you bought for the cover

 

The Last Little Blue Envelope by Johnson | The Summer After You and Me by Doktorski

I used to buy quite a few books for the covers but a lot of those are below in other sections. Both of these were on my TBR when I bought them, but I specifically bought them for the covers. ENVELOPE was absolutely bought because of the adorable cover redesign. SUMMER was just too pretty to resist.

A book you bought based on a recommendation

   

First There Was Forever by Romano | The Orphan Queen by Meadows
Before I Go by Oakley | It’s Not Me It’s You by McFarlane 

I can think of specific recommend-ers for these, like Ginger and Andi and Hannah, which is why they’re here! I specifically bought the last two because of Hannah’s reviews. ORPHAN could easily go in the hype section too, since everyone loved that book/series.

A book you bought for the hook

  

A Week of Mondays by Brody | Once Upon a Kiss by Palmer | Everything Must Go by Davis

I kind of keep confusing the “hook” and “topic” categories because they’re kind of similar for these. Most of these have a specific hook, like a read-bait topic for me. MONDAYS has the Groundhog Day trope. KISS has the timey/parallel universe kind of trope, where she falls from 1986 to 2016. EVERYTHING is not really a hook-related thing, in terms of the book’s premise, but just that it’s compiled of letters/emails/etc. That’s always a hook for me to read a book!

A book you bought because it was on sale

   

Everything All at Once by Leno | Eight Hundred Grapes by Dave
She Regrets Nothing by Dunlop | Feral Youth edited by Hutchinson

All of these except GRAPES was purchased in a B&N sale last year. I don’t remember what it was but there was some dollar amount off. Otherwise I definitely wouldn’t have purchased any! I’m so picky about buying books. GRAPES was definitely one of those $5 sale hardcovers at Books-a-Million or something. (I liked Dave’s other novel so I should read this backlist option soon!)

A book you bought in a different format

  

In a World Just Right by Brooks | How to Love by Cotugno | Eligible by Sittenfeld

I have WORLD as an egalley but never read it because of mediocre reviews. Somehow I acquired the hardcover? I honestly don’t remember if I bought it or was gifted it, but whatever – it kind of works here because I have it in two formats. LOVE and ELIGIBLE are both books I own via Kindle and hard copy. Not sure why.

A book you were gifted

  

Saga #5-9 by Vaughan | Crazy is My Superpower by Brooks | Zodiac by Russell

I got the SAGA comics from my Secret Santa and hope to read a few by the end of the year. I got CRAZY from another Secret Santa year, I believe, when I first was getting into wrestling. ZODIAC also happened through a book exchange of some kind, where you gifted a few different books to someone.

A book you preordered… but haven’t read yet

 

Royce Rolls by Stohl | Windwitch by Dennard

I’ve been meaning to read both of these but I’m terrible. ROYCE has been on my TBR forever and ever. I also have plans this year to catch up on the WITCHLANDS series, via audio/physical alternating. I’ve had this one since preordering it and there are *two more* after it. Whoops.

A book you bought more than three years ago

  

The Unexpected Everything by Matson | Emerald Green by Gier
Lola Carlyle’s 12-Step Romance by Younge-Ullman

My blogging days from 2014-2015 were the years I acquired the most books, so this was a very easy category to populate. I moved a few others around though! UNEXPECTED will hit the three year mark in May, so that counts, and the other two are definitely right around there too.

A book you bought because of the hype

  

The Art of Lainey by Stokes | Splintered by Howard | Girl Before a Mirror by Palmer

Like I said, some books in the recommended section could be here, and vice versa. LAINEY was widely enjoyed and recommended back when it came out. Everyone seemed to be reading the SPLINTERED series in my early days and I bought this one back then. And of course, GIRL was highly discussed among the Liza Palmer fangirls that I love so much. I bought this one and *then* read NOWHERE BUT HOME first? lol

A book you bought because of the topic

  

Dirty Rush by Bell | Blythewood by Goodman | Boys of Summer by Brody

Again, this is another that gets a little duplicate-ish: the book’s topic and the book’s hook can sometimes work the same for me. I think all of these were sort of read-bait-ish too, but more because of the topic? Not just a style? I don’t know. I bought DIRTY RUSH on a whim and don’t know if I’ll ever read it, but the sorority thing is intriguing. BLYTHEWOOD is a magical boarding school, so gimme it. BOYS is a summery book I couldn’t turn away from buying.

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