I originally did this tag back in 2017. I figured it was time to update some of the specifics. Also DZ is no longer blogging and that made me sad. Made me think of all the other bloggers I’ve seen stop blogging since then.
Saw this at Dragon & Zombies a little bit ago and decided I’d save it and do it later. Later is now Now.
Picture heavy and complicated. I had a lot of fun putting this together though, as organizing things brings joy to my heart.
How do you keep track of your TBR pile?
This is a complicated procedure, at least the setup. Once it’s setup, then it rolls along like a well oiled machine.
- Choose a book to put on my TBR
- Put said book into Calibre with the TBR tag and sort by “date added”
- Load 100’ish books onto my Kindle, sorted by Series
- Remove TBR tag from those books in Calibre.
- Repeat Steps 1 & 2
- When I finish a series on my Kindle, I remove said series from my Kindle
- Replace finished series with the next series that has the TBR tag from Calibre
- Keep my Kindle filled with 100-150 book so I’m not reading the same thing within weeks
- Keep my Calibre TBR library at 100-150. Ruthlessly not adding books does this just fine.
All picture should be clickable for more detail.
Is your TBR mostly print or ebook?
Ebook
How do you determine which book from your TBR to read next?
By whatever is next. My reading is like a grindstone. It goes slowly, but I crush that TBR into fine meal.
A book that’s been on your TBR the longest:
In Calibre, the first Warlock Holmes book, A Study in Brimstone. That’s been there since at least 2020 and I suspect since ’18 actually.
A book that you recently added to your TBR:
Cop Hater by Ed McBain. The first in the long running 87th Precinct series. Considering I probably won’t start this series this year, it’s a good thing I am a patient man!
A book that’s on your TBR strictly because of its beautiful cover:
The Stars Like Dust. I was looking for some Asimov to read (I actually haven’t read nearly as many of his books as I had thought) and this caught my eye.
A book on your TBR that you never plan on actually reading:
I’m not one of “those” kind of people. I only add book that I know I’ll read. So suck it, you pretentious jackasses. There’s a special place in Hell just for you!
An unpublished book on your TBR that you’re excited for:
The third Checquy Files book, Blitz by Daniel O’Malley. I hope it is good!
A book on your TBR that basically everyone has read except you:
Once again, I’m not one of “those” people. I only add a book if a reviewer I trust has reviewed it or if there are enough other reviews for me to figure out if it will push my button or not. The whole “popularity” reading thing is for a different generation than me.
A book on your TBR that everyone recommends to you:
Thankfully, almost all of you never recommend books to me. I’m thankful for that. I read your review and make up my own mind.
A book on your TBR that you’re just dying to read:
Hostile Takeover by Dan Willis. The newest Arcane Casebook book. I’m actually getting to this now and you should see the review next week. It has another absolutely gorgeous cover!
The number of books on your TBR shelf:
85’ish on my Kindle
140 in Calibre (not including ALL the manga and comics. I don’t count them, so you shouldn’t either)
225’ish in Total
Bookstooge's Reviews on the Road 
What about books that aren’t DNF but that you just haven’t finished yet? I’ve got some of those that have been hanging around for years.
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I don’t read like that.
Well, that’s not 100% true. I’m still working on Gulag Archipelago vol 3. but that is it own special corner case.
Other than that, I read a book until I’m finished with it, one way or another 🙂 Then on to the next
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Unfortunately I’ve got a pile in that category. I even stack them in categories of fast track, medium track and slow track. There’s some slow track titles that I haven’t picked up in ten years or more, but the bookmark’s still in them and I do plan to finish them some day.
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Yeah, you should probably just dnf those…..
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Did people used to worship Isaac Asimov’s iphone, or was it just his eyebrows?
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Ol’ Asimov was WAAAAAY ahead of his time, he just didn’t know it 🙂
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I hadn’t thought about DZ in a while. It sucks that she isn’t still around blogging. People moving on does remove some motivation to blog.
I’ve been keeping close track of the change to my TBR for a while now with my monthly (now quarterly) roundup posts. I do want to dig into the body of my TBR. Both to remove (whether that means deleting from my kindle or selling a physical book) books I am never going to read and to get an accurate count (my Goodreads to-read shelves are supposed to perform that function, but I know there are a lot of discrepancies there).
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Going over old posts is depressing me. I see so many bloggers who aren’t around any more. Not to denigrate those who have stuck it out, but it’s hard to be happy about that while I see swathes of empty spaces 😦
Good luck. Paring down is the first step. I think when I started this routine I got rid of everything and then wrote down the series/authors I could remember and added them back. THen it was training time for me as I couldn’t just add books willy nilly. Took me about a year to get over that. But here I am now, reading what I want and (mostly) enjoying it.
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Wow, so organized… I’d say you’ve made a science out of TBR management, and mine is more of an art 😉 I just have hundreds of books waiting and a vague idea where I might go next, after I finish what’s already started. It means I always spend some time deciding what to read, but I like it, so I guess both system work 🙂
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Yep, this system works for me. But only because I gave up on the idea of “mood reading”. To be honest, that book reading philosophy led to so many reading slumps that it was a nightmare for me. Ok, maybe not a nightmare, but it wasn’t fun.
On the other hand, if other people have a different reading philosophy and it works for them, then they need to stick to it. But I have stopped having real sympathy for people who say they’re in a reading slump. It’s like someone complaining about being fat and not able to walk up the stairs, while they have a 2liter of mountain dew in their hands and a party size bag of potato chips in the other. Poor lifestyle choices (and book style choices) lead to bad results. But not every fad diet works for everyone. Plus, most people are on NG, which is like someone on a diet going to a buffet bar
Anyway. If how you read works for you, great. Keep at it 😀
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Yeah, I don’t believe in reading slumps, I just get tired of specific genres for some time, but my system works in such cases, I have something waiting for each kind of mood 🙂
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See, you’re prepared too. Just differently 😉
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Same for me. I switch between fantasy, SF, graphic novels and nonfiction all the time and don’t get bored.
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Planned variety!
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What’s that I see on Calibre, is that M John Harrison mate. You’re sneakily reading him while we’re not watching aren’t you 🙂
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Hahahahaa! Good eye!
Too bad that photo is many years old 😉
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Given the size (and disorder) of my TBR, I should take example from your Calibre organization method: the “date added” feature should help me to try and read those books that are languishing on the list… Should… 😉
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Hahahahaa. Yeah, good intentions and all that….
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My TBR consists of physical piles of books in different locations around my house, all of which are inventoried in my mind.
My plan of attack is the whack-a-mole method.
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As long as it works for you. I just get antsy when people have reading slumps and like to suggest ways to avoid them 🙂
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I have a loose goal in what I read next. There series I need to finish and I know I will finish them.
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Back when I read “whatever”, I’d always lose track of what series I was reading because it was years between books. How do you handle that aspect of it?
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I don’t read new releases so it easier to keep track. Plus there Goodreads. If it been a long time since I read a book then I restart the series from book one and bench read it. The most time gap before I read the next book is two to three years. Otherwise I have given up on the series.
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I salute your systematic approach to your TBR! Wow! 😁 *fist bump*
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Thank you. It took about a year of tweaking to get it just right but once I was in, I was IN.
and it’s been working ever since 😀
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Do you never get an urge to read something because of “mood”, and thus breaking your well-oiled machine here and then? 😀
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Very, very rarely but it does happen. And I’ll create a “high priority” collection and read stuff from that right away. But even then, between the time I get the book and end up reading it, usually at least a month has passed. So the quickest time nowadays is a month or two 😀
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