Do your TBR piles look like this? At a loss as to how to get your stacks more managable? I found this article on wikiHow. A lot of the info seems so simple. I think I may try some of this for 2010.
For me, I do not enjoy reading Mass Market paperbacks for some reason, yet I own plenty of them, so the titles I really want to read, I'll save (for the beach), and the rest will get donated---I know I won't miss them a bit. Last week I updated my TBR spreadsheet, and I had just over 650 unread books to read (in April that number was under 550). So even though I read about 15-18 books a month, somehow I am acquiring way more books than I'm reading. I'll keep you posted, but if I never write about this subject again, you can assume I failed miserably:(
If this article helps just (1) of you then I did my job ...LOL
Wow - a lot of unread books. I get anxious with just a few. Your post makes me really want to clear the shelves before I acquire more.
ReplyDeleteI like the third tip that just allows me to accept that I'm a hoarder of books. I've been content ever since! :-)
ReplyDeleteLezlie
Interesting article. However it brought me out in a cold sweat. Give books up. Aargh!
ReplyDeleteI use Paperbackswap, read one, swap it. That helps a lot. My magic number is 200 TBR books. Then I start giving them away, but to friends that really want to read them, or like this morning to bloggers that have wish lists I can find. I only put on my keep shelf books that are really 10/10 books that I know I will read again at least 2 or 3 more times. We have about 500 books in our permanent collection and no more. When those shelves fill up, we are forced to make hard decisions. Of course we have moved every 5 years our entire life, so it has forced us to live by this in all things, not just books.
ReplyDeleteRebecca
Really? You want to stop accumulating books? I just don't think I can commit to that. LOL! But I will agree that I don't love mass market sized books and once I have read them, they generally go off to find new homes. In the meantime, I am going to start researching how to build a house and make furniture from books so my existing collection will be utilitarian. Then I won't feel any guilt about having so many. ::grin::
ReplyDeleteI actually laughed out loud when I read the title of this post!! Too funny! I'll have to check it out!! :)
ReplyDeleteWow! I thought I was bad, but you've got me beat!
ReplyDeleteGood luck with your project Diane!
ReplyDeleteI'm trying to slow my accumulation or else I might never read some of my books!
ReplyDeleteThis sounds like a project that I would be willing to try. I don't like mass market paperbacks either...but I don't have many of those anymore. About once a month I go back over my TBR books and weed out the ones that I am not exicited about anymore, and post them on PBS. I really need to get organized!
ReplyDeleteI've had to move so many times that I'm O.K. now with giving up some books. If I had a permanent home and a permanent library, I might feel differently. But I can tell you that a GREAT place to pass on books is at housing for the elderly. They all try to maintain libraries, but of course funds are severly limited.
ReplyDeleteDiane - I can't believe you are so organized as to have a TBR spreadsheet! ICAN believe the number of books on it, though!)
I'm going to stop worrying about mine. Thank you!
ReplyDeleteWow! What a TBR pile! Thankfully, mine's only at about 25 right now, which is fairly managable for me. I have a hard time not requesting books online, when they are available. Sometimes, though, I have to stop to think "Do I REALLY want to read this one?" Usually, though, I give in. What can I say? I have a book weakness!!! Thanks for the link to the interesting article!
ReplyDeleteGreat photo! My own TBR stacks aren't that bad, but I vowed not to get too many more books until I'm more caught up. I will read the Wiki article.
ReplyDeleteThis is why I don't buy books. I commit to getting books from the library.
ReplyDeleteMy Goodreads TBR list is a bit out of control (about 200 books) but in real life, the number of books that I have sitting unread probably total around 20 or so. Twenty is a lot for me.
ReplyDeleteI will only keep ones that mean something to me or have been autographed so even if they were great, I will usually give them away.
LOL!! Yes they do!!
ReplyDeleteMy latest resolution in the battle to read books I already own is that I don't buy anything unless I'm going to start reading it THAT DAY! Great article...thanks.
ReplyDeleteI have a ton of unreads that I need to start whittling down, but the desire to buy more books is insatiable. Hopefully I can start reading faster and accumulating less!
ReplyDeleteI used to work in a very successful independent bookstore and reviewed books for the store. It has been years since I worked there, but they still let me come in an browse through the shelves and shelves of ARCs.
ReplyDeleteI used to be piggish about it - FREE BOOKS - WOW! - and if a book even tickled my interest, I took it. Not any more. I realized that most of those books were not ones that I REALLY wanted to read....and after a while, so many of them seemed similar...many were romance-y mysteries, not really GOOD fiction (why would publishers give away good fiction? DUH!!!) Publishers give away marginal books in an effort to get someone to blog about them. I have no time for marginal books!
So that is how I cut back on my stack of TBRs. Now my TBR pile has decent books that may not have been free, but at least are books that I want to read and that are worth reading.
I am afraid to count my TBR pile...I would rather live in ignorance. :-)
ReplyDeleteThis article is just what I needed. I tried to commit to only buying books if the library did not have them but failed pretty badly. I want to be more disciplined come next year and these tips are quite helpful. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteI recently weeded my TBR pile and got rid of--at least mentally--the ones I really feel deep down like I am not going ever want to read. There were a lot of impulse purchases in that pile.
ReplyDeleteI love the black and white photo. It's great.
There's some great suggestions here! I've got a lot of books my parents have loaned me that I just haven't gotten to and maybe it's time just to give them back.
ReplyDeleteMy TBR pile forms two stright towers in my study. They are random books that I have acquired from the stores. I don't really keep track of them on a list because I can remember what books I have bought. I do keep a list of books to be checked in the bookstore and/or to buy.
ReplyDeleteWow Diane! That is a LOT of unread books you've got there. I only have around 50 on the TBR, and intend to keep it that way. I purge a lot (like every few weeks). I used to get all panicky when I would give books away, but later realized it's all for the good, as I'm able to keep the house and my bookshelves uncluttered, and the books that are there are only my personal favourites. Books that are just okay or that I didn't really like I force myself to give away. Otherwise, they'll take over my life! Good luck!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteLove the photo!! And yes,my TBR shelves do look something like that!!! and I mean shelves, currently around 100 + just to be read soon, and about 50 right now....have no plans to stop acquiring books, either! I mean, you can never have too many books!! lol
ReplyDeleteMy TBR collection is out of control. I seem to accumulate books faster than I can read them without even trying. I've definitely slowed down on my book intake in recent months. I wish you luck with controlling your piles!
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure I want to stop accumulating books. I love that my TBR pile continues to grow, even if it is at a faster pace than I read. I just love being surrounded by books. Granted, I end up giving some books away before I read them, I'm developing better habits that keep my bookshelves relatively organized and not too full. The library really helps. Plus, I'm going to try to start looking into trading books. Not sure if or how that will work out for me, but it seems like a great way to get new books without creating an enormous heap in the middle of my room.
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