This year I’ve decided to tackle my TBR pile by reading thirty books from it that are the first in a series and assess my eagerness to read the rest of the series in terms of Yes / Probably / Maybe / No.

In January, I’ve read six of these books of which, half were for series that I’m very keen to read.

The best two where “An Accidental Death” which gives me a UK crime series to read with a strong, credible main character, and “Shards Of Honour” which kicks off an enormous space saga by a multi-Nebula /Hugo winning author.

“Cry Wolf” gets a yes mainly because it’s a spin-off from the Mercy Thompson series but I have hopes for it.

“Random” was a first-rate and very original serial killer book that gets a Probably because I can’t see where a subsequent book would go.

“The Zig-Zag Girl” gets a Maybe because I’d read it if it was around but wouldn’t go looking for it,

“Casimir Bridge” gets a No because I DNFed the book.

So that takes six books off my TBR pile but gives me at least three series that I actively want to pursue. Not so good a strategy for bringing down the TBR pile perhaps, but a good one for focusing on reading the things that will give me the most pleasure.