Years ago, in my early attempts to write about books, I occasionally answered Book-Tag Questions. In planning my editorial schedule for this new attempt, some months have an empty space in what I’m hoping will settle as my regular book-schedule (because I’m working to a 4-week month), and so I shall resurrect the questions and update the answers. Starting with the TBR Tag. I’ve ditched some of the questions too.

How do you keep track of your TBR pile?
I used to keep them in a pile by my bed, or all together on a separate shelf. Now…they’re all a bit jumbled in with all my other books. I’d know which I haven’t read if I picked one up, but I’ve no idea where they all are. I’ll read them as I complete my reading challenge.

Is your TBR mostly print or e-book?
Print. My Kindle is mostly full of books I’ve read before, for travel purposes. Or midnight feeds when I don’t want to think too much.

How do you determine which book from your TBR to read next?
Does it need to go back to the library soon? If there are no library books in the pile, how am I feeling? Which looks the most interesting or entertaining?

Book that has been on your TBR the longest?
I can’t remember the title – something like Under the Sky, can’t remember the author (Harris, maybe? Barry?) – but I was given it for my birthday as a teenager, and I still haven’t read it…I can picture both the cover and where it is on my shelf, and I know it has something to do with WWII.
Although, now I think about it, that one may have finally found its way to a charity shop, having decided I was clearly never going to read it. Oo, a surprise awaits: is it still there to be read?!

A book you recently added to your TBR?
A Language of Dragons, by S.F. Williamson
This probably actually isn’t the most recent, but it’s one I can easily identify from the shelves as being on the TBR pile. I keep adding to the mental list every time I go to the library. Maybe it should actually be Caitlyn Moran’s What About Men?, which I started in the library the other day. I put it back on the grounds that I have enough to read as it is. But I will go back to it at some point.

A book on your TBR strictly because of its beautiful cover?
The Essex Serpent by Sarah Perry, in the Waterstones edition. So pretty! I read The Watchmaker of Filigree Street because of its cover too, and enjoyed it. Sometimes, you can judge a book by its cover…

A book on your TBR that you never plan on reading?
Oh goodness – that would involve me knowing the titles on my list. Which I don’t. Not off the top of my head.

An unpublished book on your TBR that you’re excited for?
Probably the next Cormoran Strike novel, although that isn’t specifically on my list. I don’t know which on my list are unpublished. No, scratch that: Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler’s Gruffalo Granny, coming in Sept 2026. Yes, for the Tinies; also for me. I love the rhythm of Julia Donaldson stories, and the illustrations.

How many books are in your Goodreads TBR shelf?
No idea. My Goodreads bookshelf, like my Kindle, has been neglected since shortly after opening the account… I know, I’m terrible with technology.

If you feel inclined to answer the above questions yourself, consider yourself tagged.