Bybee's TBR Dare: Smells A Bit Like Fail

One of my Book Year resolutions was to participate in the TBR Dare at James Reads Books and only read my own books -- books that already belonged to me from the beginning of the year till April 1.

 Things went belly-up pretty quickly.  I hit a new record for succumbing to temptation (Jan 17). There were just too many new page-pretties out there, and I couldn't keep my hands to my shelf.  In between diversions, I managed to read 10.5 TBRs:

1. My Brother Sam is Dead - James Lincoln Collier (January 1)
2. The Shining - Stephen King (January 2)
3. The Caine Mutiny - Herman Wouk (January 5)
4. The Devil's Knot: The True Story of The West Memphis Three - Mara Leveritt (January 10)
5.My Name is Mary Sutter (January 14)
6. Before We Were Free - Julia Alvarez (January 20)
7. Dear Coca-Cola - Terry Ravenscroft (February 7)
8. Doctor Sleep - Stephen King (February 14)
9. Esther Waters - George Moore (February 20)
10. Man's Search for Meaning -Viktor Frankl (March 14)
10.5 A Vindication of the Rights of Woman - Mary Wollstonecraft

I don't know why, but I still think that I can complete this challenge successfully.  Next year.

The TBR Triple Dog Dare Challenge

Yes, I'm brave enough to take the dare hosted by James at Ready When You Are, C.B.  It's not bravery I lack; it's perseverance; it's discipline; it's a good attention span.

To read only books I already own from Jan. 1-April 1 shouldn't be that difficult, right?  Yet for the past three years that James has done this challenge, I've let myself be distracted.  Last year, I only made it 11 books into the new year. I even remember the day: February 9, then I was blown off-course by A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian, (and it wasn't even worth it).  I tried to right myself with a long-promised copy of Sharp Objects, but then Teri dangled the audiobook of Founding Mothers before me as well as an ebook of Where'd You Go, Bernadette -- What?  I was supposed to ignore lovely literary files dropping into my emailbox? -- anyway, that was that for the TBR Double Dog Dare.

Here I go again, but one thing that Operation Carb Face has taught me is that I need to mentally prepare. I've got 22 days. What steps can I take that will help me stick to my own shelves and not be beguiled by all the nice page-pretties that pop up on other blogs and on Goodreads and in a thousand other places?