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| Does your TBR pile look like this? |
A while ago, I posted about Struggling to finish that book that you’ve been trying to read since forever, well this time I’m going to talk about that dreaded To Be Read (TBR) pile!
If you’re anything like me, you have a list that is too long to count. Why are these TBR piles so high?
Some thoughts:
1) A true book lover will see a book in a book store and for whatever reasons it’s calling them to purchase and read it. However, by the time they finish at the bookstore about a million (exaggeration but you get the idea) other books have said the same thing. A true book lover will also buy one or two of these (maybe more depending on budget) and take them home with every intention of reading them and then….
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| Or this? |
2) Your favorite author releases a new book…well all current books in the TBR pile gets shoved to the bottom while this one is voraciously consumed.
3) I’ve noticed a bit of a trend that some of my favourite authors books end up being released roughly about the same time every year. This then creates a book binging type senario where nothing but these author’s book are read and for a while the TBR pile doesn’t even exist!
4) Then, I find that if I read a particular genre (like inspirational suspense) I find it very, very hard to start another book in a different genre and once again the book/s don’t get read.
5) Finally, it’s been so long since I intended to read said book/s on TBR list that I’ve forgotten why I want to read them…
and so the vicious cycle continues!
Recently I gave away a section of my TBR pile, as I looked over it and asked myself honestly:
“Jessica, are you EVER going to read these books?”
The practical, quiet but sure answer was no. The reader is me was screaming…YES! One day! Well it’s been two years and that one day still hasn’t come..so bye, bye books.
My current TBR pile is still high, but I feel like the books there I will actually read. To that end, I got so sick of seeing the pile grow, or get less from giving away that I was determined to move books from the list by actually…shocker…reading them! Two books have been moved and I’m going to start another very soon. I feel productive, happy and less guilty!
What about your TBR pile? How high is it? Do you experience any of the above problems? I’d love to hear from you!
She is currently writing her first novel, a contemporary women’s fiction/romance set in a small country town.
Jess is a mum of two children and married to the calmest man alive. She loves to bake and go for walks. A writer of contemporary romance, Jess write stories about the heart and where love is worth the journey.
My TBR pile has gone up and down through the years and last year I decided to make a goal of having, for at least one day, absolutely no books in my TBR pile. And as of right now I am down to two books that I am currently in the middle of and once I finish them (if more books don't arrive) I will finally have reached that goal! I'm pretty excited!
I hope that you are able to get your pile down!
Well done Abbie! I'm totally amazed by how small your TBR pile is!! Even when I culled mine, it still sits at like 60!!! I will eventually get this pile smaller…it might never be as small as yours, but it will get smaller! Thanks for dropping by! 🙂
My TBR pile is now mostly virtual, which has the advantage that I don't have to move it or vacuum around it.
This year I started a Mount MBR challenge on Goodreads – I challenged myself to read 48 books off the pile in the year. The challenge rules were that I could only count books I already owned on 1 January and couldn't count review copies or books I'd already read more than 50% of. But I can count books I don't finish (as I read enough to decide I'm never going to finish them).
I've read 40 off the pile so far this year, so I'm pleased with my progress. What is slightly less pleasing is that I've bought around 20 new books … and downloaded countless Kindle freebies.
I haven't reviewed any of the TBR pile, so I think that's what I'll do next year: request fewer NetGalley review copies and review the best of Mt TBR. And I'll do the challenge again next year – it's the only way I've got any chance of reducing the pile.
You might be interested to know that I never had a TBR pile before I got an ereader – I read books as I borrowed or purchased them, then got some more.
I can totally relate. My TBR pile has books in it that I bought years ago! I recently did the same as you, sorting through them and putting the ones I'll probably never get to in the 'take to the used book store' pile. : )
I also tend to go to my favorite authors when they have a new book come out. It's just to hard not too!
We sound very similar Cathy! I too go straight for my fav authors when a new book comes out!
I also have a virtual TBR Pile…as much as i LOVE NetGalley, it's also a curse too….too many books to read!
Lots of self control Iola…just buying and reading with no TBR pile! 🙂
I'm with you Helen. I have an entire bookshelf of books to be read! Not to mention my ebook downloads…I don't know that I'll ever get to the point where I don't have a stack waiting on me…but I kind of like it that way? What would I do without a book to read? 😉