I got tagged by my friend Ginger for The Tbr Tag that has been making its way around the blogosphere. I don’t really do many tag kind of posts but this one looked super fun and was created by the lovely ladies over here. I’ll tag the ladies over at Rather Be Reading, Sash & Em, Tiff at Mostly YA Lit and Elena at Novel Sounds and whoever else reading and wanting to join in!
If you enjoy other tag kind of things check out ones I created last year: A to Z book survey, My YA Life in Book Titles, Bookish Superlatives
Before we get into the actual question portion this tag made me think about how people define TBR (to-be-read list). I have seen people say their TBR is the actual physical books they own and it’s a smaller collection than books they WANT to read. Others say their TBR is anything they want to read even if they don’t own it. I’m curious how YOU define it! (I think I tend to be the latter).
How do you keep track of your TBR pile?
Hmm this is a hard question because honestly I don’t really? I kind of just add everything I am remotely interested in or own on to my TBR section on Goodreads. I’m a mood reader so I definitely don’t have any sort of system to track them so I just kind of pick my book based on what I’m in the mood for and have (either I already own it/was sent it for review, I feel like going to get it from the library or decided to buy it). So there honestly isn’t any keeping track for me. I mean, I do have shelves on Goodreads for what I own and what ARCs I have that helps me GUIDE what is in front of me and I add books to my library wishlist to remember which ones I want to borrow at some point. That’s about it though.
Is your TBR mostly print or ebook?
Definitely print. Most of my ebooks that ARE on my Kindle are egalleys. I rarely buy Kindle books unless it is a good deal.
How do you determine what to read next?
Ughhh. By how I feel? What I’m in the mood for? What I’m really excited about? I do try to alternate between review copy and whatever I want to read but I just kind of go with what I feel like reading. Also sometimes it might be a book club book or something I agreed to read with someone or for something and that might dictate. I just kind of go to what I’m gravitating towards when I think of what I want to read next or if I’ve really been hearing good things. Like if I want to read something really profound I will go looking for books I think might fight that. Something light and fluffy? I consult the TBR to see what I have. It’s not very methodically or interesting honestly. I might as well just spin around and then point to a book and read what my finger lands on. Although new books from favorite authors ALWAYS soar to my list when I get them!
A book that has been on your TBR the longest:
That I’ve Owned the Longest & Haven’t Read: If it’s my YA, that’s probably Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver which was one of the first YA books I ever bought (I only read adult fiction before I started blogging in 2010 and the only YA I read before that was Twilight, The Book Thief and Perks of Being A Wallflower). If it’s adult, hmm probably some of the classics I own.
That I Don’t Own But Has Been on My Goodreads TBR For Longest: There are a bunch I added the first day I joined Goodreads so I’ll pick one — A Tree Grows In Brooklyn by Betty Smith
A book you recently added to your TBR pile:
Added to my Goodreads TBR pile: Inked by Eric Smith — I adore Eric from Quirk Books and I’m SOO excited to read his YA novel!!
Added to my physical TBR pile: I just got The Boy in the Black Suit by Jason Reynolds for review in the mail yesterday and definitely plan to read it!
A book on your TBR solely for its beautiful cover:
Solely for its beautiful cover? HMM. I don’t know if I have any of those to be honest. At least none that I can think of enough to put down. SORRY I know you wanted to see some pretties. I have lots of pretties on my list but none that are on it SOLELY for the cover. Although The Selection might be the closest to that!
A book on your TBR you never plan on reading:
Well, at one point I PLANNED or at least WANTED to read each book on my TBR (even knowing it was impossible). I kind of think I’m never going to finish the Mortal Instruments series. Actually there are probably a bunch of books in a series that I need to break up with and take off my TBR. It’s so hard to let goooooo.
An unpublished book on your TBR you’re most excited:
UM where do I start?? Things We Know By Heart by Jessi Kirby, the next book in the Throne of Glass series PLUS the first book in her new series, the last book in the Winner’s Curse trilogy, The Devil You Know by Trish Doller. I could keep goingggg. Oh also ANY BOOK that Gayle Forman will ever publish. Is that an acceptable answer? No matter what it is about?
A book on your TBR that basically everyone has read but you:
The whole Harry Potter series. No literally everyone. I’ve read book 1 though so…progress.
A book on your TBR that everyone recommends to you:
A lot of books but one that popped into my mind immediately is My Life Next Door by Huntley Fitzpatrick! Everyone is always saying I should read it because it’s a “me book” and I agreee…and I own it. I need to just read it now.
How many books are on your Goodreads TBR shelf?
HAHAHAH 1213. 1213 books. I’m telling you…since I joined Goodreads in 2008 I used it to add anything that I was remotely interested in or wanted to remember to check out plus all the books I really WAS interested in. It has grown out of control and I need an intervention mostly. Or someone to clean it out for me. (Also, this IS after I did do a major cleaning of it).
LET’S TALK
So friends, I want to know if anybody’s Goodreads TBR is worse than mine?? Make me feel better okay! Do you count your TBR as what you own or anything you WANT to read? Tell me the answers to these questions (or at least the one that interests you the most). How do YOU pick what to read next??
Holly J says
My Goodreads to-read list is, uh, definitely bigger than yours. So rest assured, yours is NOT that bad! Haha. I pretty much count my TBR as anything I own that I haven’t read and anything that I WANT to read. Basically my physical stacks of books, my Kindle library, and my Goodreads to-read shelf. I really need to do a cleanup, but I just can’t seem to let any of them go. I mean, what if one day I end up wanting to read it but can’t remember the title or author? Or I actually find myself in the mood for a book I didn’t think I’d want to read? Having GR is so easy for me to keep track of everything, even though I KNOW I’m never going to read all of these books in a lifetime. And I definitely pick books based on mood. I mean, I’ll sometimes have a schedule for review copies/ARCs. But mostly I read based on whatever book will fit my current mood. 🙂
And oh, I need to read My Life Next Door too. It sounds exactly like the kind of book I’ll love, and I have it sitting on my desk, but… TIME.
Kayla (The Bookish Owl) says
This is a really cool tag! I agree with you on The Mortal Instruments series – I actually put it on my TBR shelf on Goodreads but I took it off soon after because I just wasn’t interested in reading it. There a lot of unread books on my shelf that I never plan to read too. Might be time for a little unhaul, heh.
I really loved reading your answers! Hope you get around to decreasing your TBR pile soon. 🙂
Sarah @ Sarah's Book Shelves says
I’m with you on Harry Potter…only read the first one and never really cared about continuing. However, everyone tells me that things really pick up by the 3rd book…but, am I going to reread book one (it’s been so long, I’d have to) and then read a second book before things really pick up?!! That’s a long time!
Fida says
Cool tag! I use both defintions of TBR.
Naina says
i use both definitions, my tbr is kind of long but mostly books i don’t physically own and need to buy right now lol. I have never read the harry potter books either i want to start but i don’t know :/ have soo many others i want to read my tbr is ever expanding.
Sarah (appifanie) says
I call all my wants my TBR, but the ones I own I call my physical TBR. Who knows what the heck is going on in my kindle. Wish I’d known when I first got it that you could create folders to organize things!
MY LIFE NEXT DOOR is excellent. Jase is one of my top 2 book boyfriends (the other is Levi from Fangirl).
Trina says
OMG can I just leave this here??? ….
How do you define TBR?
-I use TBR to refer to both the physical books I have at home (which is a mix of library books and books I own) AND everything on my Goodreads to-read shelf.
Is your TBR mostly print or ebook?
-Print.
How do you determine what to read next?
-I find I’m most motivated to read new releases. The hype really influences what I’m in the mood for. From what I have, I read by mood or by library due date, which is why my poor owned books are seriously neglected.
A book that has been on your TBR the longest:
-Two Truths and a Lie by Sara Shepard. It’s the 3rd book in a series, and I own it, but I have been ignoring that series for years. It’s also the first book I marked TBR on Goodreads when I joined.
A book you recently added to your TBR pile:
-Most recently added to GR: Foreplay by Sophie Jordan. Most recently picked up from library: Snow Like Ashes by Sara Raasch, and A Thousand Pieces of You by Claudia Gray
An unpublished book on your TBR you’re most excited:
-A Court of Thorns and Roses, The Winner’s Crime, and I Was Here.
A book on your TBR that basically everyone has read but you:
-I’m not done with the Mortal Instruments series (making progress though!). So probably that or Percy Jackson
A book on your TBR that everyone recommends to you:
-I don’t get a lot of personal recommendations but one I have solely because of shining internet reviews is I’ll Give You The Sun by Jandy Nelson.
How many books are on your Goodreads TBR shelf?
-384 + 10 on my “have from library” shelf + 20 on my “owned TBR” shelf. (Not counting my “maybe” shelf.) So ~414.
Megan C. Stroup says
I thought you liked the first HP book …. WHY HAVEN’T YOU READ THE SECOND ONE YET???? Haha I’m sure everyone yells at you about that, so sorry for adding to the noise. 🙂 I majorly cleaned out my TBR shelf on Goodreads last month; basically, if I didn’t remember what the book was about/why I added it, I took it off. I’m sure I lost some good reads that way, but I still have hundreds of other books to choose from! 🙂
ashley says
My TBR is what I want to read, even if I don’t own it. Which helps when I’m at the library because I don’t own them all. EVEN THOUGH I OWN SO MANY BOOKS. SO MANY. Which means my TBR is a bit out of control and I do weed it. But there are just so many books I want to read. When I see that peoples TBR is below 100 I get confused. HOW?! SHOW ME YOUR WAYS
Erin @ The Hardcover Lover says
OMG. Before I Fall is one of the first YA books that I chose to read after taking my YA class in college. I entered to win it on Goodreads, thinking that I wouldn’t because I was a newbie on their, but I did. I read it, and then started reading more and more YA books. I hope you read it soon. Because of that book, I consider myself a Little Olive. 🙂
Debbie's World of Books says
Before I Fall was actually really good.
Rachel @ A Perfection Called Books says
Nice picks, Jamie! You haven’t read Harry Potter??!! *gasp* Haha it’s fine, I cheated and just read books 5-7…. I really want to read My Life Next Door. I hear it’s really cute and wonderful 🙂 Thanks for doing our tag, lovely <333 I hope you had fun!!
Becca Lostinbooks says
I’ve got you beat – 2189! How daunting is THAT? Ack!
Chelsea says
I define TBR as books I own (e or physical). Those I don’t own are more ‘wishlist’ than TBR. And my TBR pile *cough* bookcase *cough* houses about 250 books. INSANE!
And I have to say, you aren’t the only one who hasn’t read Harry Potter… I haven’t either! Though we seriously are a minority…
Alexa S. says
This TBR tag has seriously been so fun to do! For me, my “to-read” shelf on Goodreads is mostly my physical TBR + a few upcoming, unreleased books by my favorite authors or that are part of a series I love. I have separate shelves for the books I’m “considering” reading 🙂 And I honestly pick based on what I’m in the mood for OR if I love the author who wrote it – which is how I wound up reading a couple of 2015 titles a weeeee bit early.
Alexa S. says
This TBR tag has seriously been so fun to do! For me, my “to-read” shelf on Goodreads is mostly my physical TBR + a few upcoming, unreleased books by my favorite authors or that are part of a series I love. I have separate shelves for the books I’m “considering” reading 🙂 And I honestly pick based on what I’m in the mood for OR if I love the author who wrote it – which is how I wound up reading a couple of 2015 titles a weeeee bit early.