MobileRead Users 2026 TBR Reduction Challenge on StoryGraph

[astrangerhere]

The MobileRead Users 2026 TBR Reduction Challenge is now live on StoryGraph!

RULES (that you can completely ignore if you want!):

1. The book only has to make sense to you to fit into the topic for that month. If you can justify it to yourself, go for it! There are two alternatives for each month, so you have some freedom to clear out that TBR!
2. The book should be on your TBR as we are trying to reduce TBRs, not pick new things.
3. Books can be read in any order! The monthly themes are there as an aid to picking TBR books, but if you want to read something from the October prompt in March - go for it!
4. Anything goes – fiction, nonfiction, graphic novels, collected comics, and anything else I haven’t thought of.
5. Have fun! Feel free to invite another user for a buddy read if they post something interesting.

Remember - if you would like to see what books others have added to the challenge, just enter the challenge and click on the month title and it will show you all books added, with yours at the top. You add books the same way - go to the month, and you will be taken to a page where you can add books to that month's challenge.

2026 TBR Reduction Categories

January

• The Leftovers – A book you wanted read least year that you just didn't get around to reading.
• ALTERNATIVE: Beginnings - start a new series, new to you author, or book that you got for the holidays (something new to your TBR).

February

• St. Valentines - A book by an author you love or a genre you love. Bonus if it is shorter for the shortest month of the year.
• ALTERNATIVE: Read the shortest/smallest book on your TBR, irrespective of any other topic.

March

• Ides of March – A historical or epic book, bonus if it is related to ancient Rome.
• ALTERNATIVE: St. Patrick’s – A book that can in some way be associated with “green.” Bonus if it is related to St. Patrick or Ireland in some way.

April

• April Showers - a book about rain, weather, spring, or some kind of new blossoming
• ALTERNATIVE: April Fools - read the silliest or most foolish book on your TBR. Can be the title, subject, cover or just your perception that it being on your TBR list at all is silly.

May

• Ovid's May - Ovid tells us the month of May was named for the maiores, Latin for "elders." Read something old, or a book about something or someone old.
• ALTERNATIVE - May Day! - a book that you think you might bail out on, or a book about emergencies, panics or escapes.

June

• Beached - read a book about the ocean, maritime life, coasts, or something sea-related. Bonus if it’s also fishy in some way.
• ALTERNATIVE: Fixed or Broken - read a book about things/people/places/galaxies being fixed and/or broken.

July

• Independents – A book you got via your local indie bookseller or bought used. Library loans count too!
• ALTERNATIVE - Recommendation - that you put on your TBR at someone else's recommendation.

August

• When I Grow Up - a fiction or nonfiction title about a career you dreamed of as a child. Can also be about a common career even if you had no interest in it. Bonus if you went into that career!
• ALTERNATIVE - Back to School - a book from your TBR that has something to do with schools, education (or something you bought to educate yourself about something)

September

• Shorter Days - a book with a one-word title or a collection of short stories or a short drama.
• ALTERNATIVE - Autumn - read a book from your TBR that is wholly or partially set in or about the fall season or an associated holiday/event.

October

• Masks - a book about people wearing masks, hiding, or masquerading as something they are not.
• ALTERNATIVE – Treats (no tricks!) – use this as a free space to read anything at all from your TBR (including something you might have treated yourself to this year).

November

• Indigenous - read a book from your TBR by, about, or telling the story of an indigenous population. Bonus if it is someone/something from your own country's history.
• ALTERNATIVE – Families – a book about families (real or imagined, inherited or found)

December

• Endings – Finish a book or series that has been lingering for a long time.
• ALTERNATIVE: Gifted – a book about something or someone who is gifted (in any sense of the word) or a book you were gifted.

[rantanplan]

I have something for each month, except for November. Like, I probably have multiple books about indigenous people, but nothing comes to mind. My brain is empty.

Technically, I could choose The Last of the Mohicans, but I think that doesn't really count.

[astrangerhere]

I actually let my wife wander our shelves and fill out my list for me. I knew she would pick things that I might not normally pick up, and it increases the chances of us reading things together (which we enjoy a lot but seem to struggle to manage).

I have two options for each month - one she picked and one that I picked as a backup in case of DNFs.

[rantanplan]

I let her do that last year, at least for a good chunk.