We all have one, don't we? That huge, teetering pile of books which we fully intend to read at some point. I was thinking of my TBR pile today and wondering whether I really ought to have a system and if I did whether that would help with the crushing weight of responsibility a TBR has for a reader.
Actually, not to show off or anything, but I have two TBR piles. There's a pile of books which I have to review for my guest reviews for Wave's blog. I try to be as systematic as possible with that pile. At some point I have to review them all so I try to read them in the date I was given them. This doesn't always happen, especially when a book comes out that I HAVE to read then and there and it gets bumped up the pile ahead of those which I may not be so bothered about reading.
My second TBR pile is my personal one which consists of books which I may or may not review for my blog or just read for my own pleasure - this does happen, you know. Just occasionally. This is a very ramshackle pile, much larger than that for Wave's reviews and I'm much less disciplined in the way I pull books from it. Books frequently get bumped up the pile, especially new releases for which I've been waiting eagerly - the new Josh Lanyon is calling to me from it at the moment, even though there are many other books that I should probably read first. This is the pile which I was thinking about today. It all started when a post at Kris' blog reminded me that I have Windows in Time by M. Jules Aedin in my TBR pile. If I had a system of trying to read the books in order of adding them, then I would have read this book months ago - and I'm rather embarrassed that it's still in my TBR pile, as I've heard lots of good things about it.
The thing is, I know - absolutely know - that any attempt by me to impose a system on my TBR pile is doomed to failure. I'm too capricious in my personal reading, picking and choosing books from the pile which just happen to appeal to me at the time or buying and reading a new book straight away, just because it's intrigued me, rather than putting it into the pile and choosing one that's languished for months. So whilst I may start out with good intentions, I know that I'll be back into my old bad habits in no time at all. It's just like my attempts to give up chocolate, or start exercising. I may do it for a while but in the end chocolate just tastes too good, and exercising is just too dull and the newest release is just too tempting to resist.
Do you have a system for your TBR pile? Does it work? Or are you like me, haphazard in picking and choosing from it?
Hmmm, I'll be interested to hear what you come up with. Nothing helpful I can add as I'm afraid I gave up and waved the white flag on almost everything back in July. LOL.
ReplyDeleteMy TBR pile is a mess. I usually grab 3 books at a time from it then sit down and figure out which one to read first. If I don't like the first one, I move on to the next. The plan is to at least finish the 3 books I grabbed that week.
ReplyDeleteSystem?! *falls down laughing*
ReplyDeleteUm, yeah, not so much. I have probably 5-6 shelves in my bookcase (some double rowed) devoted to TBR. O_o Plus there's my library queue, which I can manage by setting whether the request is active or not. Unless I screw up and end up with 10 books that arrive at once. (Like I just did...)
Then there's the virtual TBR "pile" of files.
*goes to hide under covers*
My TBR "pile" is actually a small bookcase with 2 of the shelves nearly filled! :D I keep saying "stop buying", but then I'll be browsing an online site and something that's always out of stock is in stock, so I have to get it! And then the Mills & Boon ones are only in the shop for a month... or I'll be browsing a second hand book shop and you've gotta grab something when it's there in those. Or one of those book discounters sets up a stall where I work... etc, etc, etc. :D
ReplyDeleteI'm not terribly systematic in how I read them. It's just "what do I fancy next"? I try to vary between them so I don't get a glut of one type of book. But I'm known to have crazes where I just devour one author's books, or a type of book.
I systematically chose to read War and Peace this month though. To get it out of the way before my 2010 100 books challenge (I know, 100 books is probably feeble to you, Jenre! :D) since I'm not exactly going to got through that in an afternoon! 1,400+ pages!
Goodreads, which I started using this year is both a blessing and a curse! It's great to see the "Read" list going up, that motivates me no end. But between recs from friends, and how easy it is to find all an author's other books there, and how easy it is to click on one of the "buy at..." links, it certainly keeps my To Read stack from getting too small.
I'm laughing along with Chris. Right. I should, I too have that same book sitting. Why haven't I read it? No clue, it just hasn't called my name.
ReplyDeleteMy system involves me looking at the file/pile and going "Hmmm, what appeals today? Contemporary? Paranormal? How long is it? How much time do I have to read it right now? Is that an author I know and like or someone new? Is the cover cool? Do I want to read a paper book or e-book? Did I buy it because I wanted to read it or someone said I should?" So all that races through my head in about 3.78 seconds and I decide. I do try to read a bunch of books before I go on a buying binge. I won't buy books if I have 20+ sitting in the file, but once I get down to a dozen, some of which have been languishing unable to catch my eye despite flashing a good bit of man flesh, then I start shopping to see what will catch my eye.
So there is my system. It's non-existent. Sigh.
No, unfortunately I do not have a system for my TBR pile. My only system seems to be adding to it not decreasing it - LOL. I am very haphazard in choosing from it. I go between my stack and my library loot.
ReplyDeleteI too failed at starting to exercise...I would do my workout tapes all the while looking at a few of my TBR stacks wishing I was reading!!!
Damn. I really don't have a good excuse for not exercising in the winter, since I could actually read while on the exercise book.
ReplyDelete*looks at exercise bike in corner of the room and wonders if it could be replaced with a bookcase*
Chrissy: You can't have given up on everything in July cos I read your Advent short yesterday (and very good it was too) :)
ReplyDeleteMsM: That's still a good system though. It forces you to read at least three books out of the pile. I have to read 3 books for Wave a week so that tbr pile actually goes down really quickly.
Chris: Most of my tbr books are e-books. This is where the problem started. My tbr pile was pretty tame when I had to find storage for all of them but sort of exploded once everything could be easily contained on my hard drive.
ReplyDeleteI'm looking at my exercise bike now. It sits in the same room as the computer and accuses me of neglect.
JFM: I'd noticed on GR that you were reading War and Peace. I can see why you might have wanted to get that out of the way before committing to a challenge.
ReplyDeleteTam: At least you are being strict with yourself down to 20 books. I should try that, except I worry that I might forget about a good book if I don't buy it then and there.
Kara: I've given up on requesting books from the library. I have a book out at the moment that I've already renewed once and ought to read but I've lost interest now. Fortunately the author isn't that popular so I don't feel guilty for having had it for so long.
ReplyDeleteI feel your pain Jen. My TBR is huge and keeps growing.
ReplyDeleteI don't really have a system for it. When I get frazzled with the size of it and want to get organized I'll read one book for each letter of the alphabet in order. Although I've never made it all the way through without something new and shiny catching my eye. :D
I have 2 TBR piles. One for the books I must read, as in I am really interested or I promised the author or pub I would.
ReplyDeleteMy second pile are those books that are my secondary go to books if the first pile doesn't interest me that day.
I have actually made a seperate file last month or so for my TBR pile.
ReplyDeleteBecause I have one large file with all my books and they disappeared in the masses. So i picked them out and stored them somewhere else.
But there is always another book that catches my interest first ..
As I have said before, my TBR pile is threatening to topple and crush me. And I truly will be dead if that new brick of a book by Stephen King lands on my head.
ReplyDeleteIt doesn't help that I keep going and re-reading favourites as well.
Ingrid: I put all my new books in a file called TBR (original huh?) and then once I read them they get filed by author. But that's about as organized as I get.
ReplyDeleteJen/Chrissy: I really enjoyed Season's Greetings yesterday as well. I loved Russ, and his bunny.
Word Veri: huffi - I'm not, I swear to god, I'm in a decent mood today.
I just let 'em keep lining up and then pull something out of the line-up when the mood strikes me and I have the time. However, if I get a book by an author friend, I try to get to it ASAP. Those matter more to me than works by people I don't know.
ReplyDeleteI'm embarrassingly unorganized when it comes to my TBR pile--the pile that's currently blocking out sunlight. There's no system, and worse is when a week or two goes by without a chance for me to read for pleasure (I always specify these days, b/c I have sooooo much reading for school) and then I have a moment to read and I go to my TBR pile and I can't even remember what I had planned on reading next. In that case, I'll read something by an auto-buy author first (like Lanyon, ZAM, Mitchell, etc.) and if there's nothing from those authors, I'll just pick randomly. It's completely haphazard, and I don't recommend it. *g* I think it would be different, though, if I were reviewing, as I'm sure I'd feel pressured to develop an actual system.
ReplyDeleteAs an aside, I noticed on your sidebar that you said you weren't going to buy the DP Advent calendar stories but did anyway. Will you be reviewing some of them? I felt the same way, I didn't want to buy the whole package this year, but I would like to try a few of the unknown authors (I already bought the ones individually by authors I enjoy, like London, Munder, etc.)
System? Whoa, I try ... but it can be hard with e-books even to remember where they are (on the Sony? On the iPod?). You know how it is: out of sight, out of mind. With paper books, I can't forget about their physical presence as easily. The one thing I've done that sort of helps is to log the titles on a list with the dates when I first obtain them, and then check that list frequently!
ReplyDeleteVal reminded me that I have something at least vaguely related to a system! Whenever I acquire an ebook (or any book), I add it to my librarything. That way I can make sure I'm not buying duplicates, plus I can page through the stuff I haven't read more easily.
ReplyDeleteEbooks end up being way more costly than print books (for me). Before ebooks, my TBR pile is at most 10 books, with books I buy and some from the library. Now that I've gotten a Sony reader (and even before when I was just reading on my laptop), my TBR list has exploded. Something about ebooks and how cheap they are just makes me splurge.
ReplyDeleteLily: One book per letter of the alhpa bet seems a fair way to get through books, especially if there isn't one which leaps out and grabs your attention. Good plan.
ReplyDeleteKB: Don't you feel compelled to always choose stuff off the first pile though? I always read the 3 books for Wave first before I dip into my own tbr pile - which is probably why my pile is so huge.
Ingrid: I do that. I have one file for books to read for Wave, one file for books for me to read, one file for books I've read and reviewed for Wave, one file for books I've read for me and then another couple of back up files. It sounds complicated but at least I know what I've read and reviewed and what still needs doing!
ReplyDeleteSean: I have to keep re-reads to a minimum. Which is a shame to be honest cos sometimes I just fancy losing myself in a set of keeper books, but can't allow myself to do it.
ReplyDeleteKZ: I do that too. Favourite authors get automatically bumped up to the top of the pile.
Dakota: It's hard to justify reading for pleasure when you've got college work. I can sympathise with that. When I was in my final year at uni, I saved up several books for after my finals and then fell on the like a starving dog to a bone when my exams were finally over!
ReplyDeleteRe: the DSP Advent stories. I wasn't going to get the whole anthology as I'd had a number of disappointments with the June anthology but then changed my mind when I added up all the books I'd probably buy vs buying the whole thing. I usually do a round-up of my favourite stories at the end of the month and then occasionally do a post on particular stories which have caught my attention. I suppose I could do a post a week about the ones I've read highlighting my favourites, just for you, sweetie. I'll have a think about it.
Val: I have to be disciplined when it comes to making sure I know where the books are and which books need reading. I'm too absentminded otherwise and would forget that I've bought a book and then buy it again at a later date!
ReplyDeleteChris: Your system sounds good. I try to do that with my GoodReads shelves but forget on occasion.
Caitlin: That's so true! Lack of shelf space made me really tough on buying paperbacks and I would often sell off the books which weren't absolute keepers to make room for new books on the shelf or otherwise get books from the library. With ebooks I can't sell on, plus I don't need to so I've got no checks to how many I'm getting!
ReplyDeleteTBR systems are for wusses.
ReplyDeleteKris: I note how you managed to sidestep - through the use of insult - the issue of how you manage your TBR pile. I can't believe that you of all people, with your OCD tendencies, don't have a system :P.
ReplyDeleteI spy a troll from Australia! ;p
ReplyDeleteSystem - what system.... I am barely able to pass mine...
ReplyDeleteIt actually fell down on me the other day, I marked that as a sign that I am loving my hard drive too much....
Funnily its the ebooks that are calling me and my prints have been woefully negected on shelfs that are groaning under their weight and no light in sight for a change in the status quo...
Happy hunting my dear.... When you find a system that works let me know...
E.H>
Chris: You stirrer! You're so gonna get it.
ReplyDeleteEH: I'd take nearly being maimed by your TBR pile as a sign to sell all your paper books and buy the ebook versions with the proceeds! I've sold loads of books at www.greenmetropolis.com. You sell each book for £3.00, which isn't too bad a price for selling a second hand book.
I think I'm beginning to despair at finding a system :).
Oh God, I'm wracked with guilt! I have so many TBR but I'm totally disorganised. Who said they just go with what they fancy at the time? That's me.
ReplyDeletePrint books - I've had to cull them recently because I ran out of space. Plus I'm sure when my mum returns the ones she's borrowed from me she adds a few to the pile that were never mine in the first place :). I no longer keep every book as a hallowed treasure - I try only to keep the ones I adored and will re-read, or TBR ones that are calling to me as of NOW.
Same with the ereader, when I'm scrolling through, there are some titles I keep passing over with a 'maybe next time'. But why don't they appeal at the time?
I also know there'll be ones that I *never* read. Not for any bad reason, just that the initial spark has gone and they never recapture me. It's bizarre.
:)
Clare: My mum is always passing books on to me, most of which I never read but keep for a few weeks before sending to the charity shop.
ReplyDeleteI have some books in my tbr pile that I know are quite heavy going or will have me in tears. I pass those over every time, even though I know they are very well written books because I don't know if I can face the emotional turmoil!
*takes the high road* Hmpf!
ReplyDelete*Sigh* your post made me think about my TBR pile-- which I have no system for, btw. After your post, I decided I needed to move all my TBR books to the front of the list on my ereader so I wouldn't forget about them. When I finished, I discovered I had 200 books in my TBR. Yikes! Now I feel like I need to read those before I buy any more. And already I'm feeling tempted by the Christmas shorts at Dreamspinner.
ReplyDeleteRichelle: 200!!! Wow, that's impressive. It puts my 50 or so to shame :)
ReplyDeleteMy TBR pile is usually ordered by a combination of the FIFO queueing system and what's due back at the library soonest. Which, if you think about it a second, is also a FIFO queue, except with a certain degree of renewability...
ReplyDeleteHi Trek
ReplyDeleteI'm in awe of your organisational skills. You are the first person commenting here who has a system that works - good for you! :)