The To Be Read Thread

O.K. parelle, I'll start this one. I would like to know how people are going to manage their to be read piles.

Some have mentioned not buying any more books until they make some headway. That seems severe to me :)

Some have set a goal of a certain number of books per week/year. Possible...I'm failing miserabley at my goal of 100 books per year, at least this year. I've only read 53, but I have until February because that is when I started keeping track. Maybe if I pull out all my children's books :) That won't help my TBR pile though.

The problem is, if you put too many restrictions on your reading habits, the fun is gone.

The problem is, if you put too many restrictions on your reading habits, the fun is gone.
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I completely agree with this sentiment! I have, over on Bookcrossing, once or twice joined a reading challenge. But I never completed them because it drove me nuts to have to read a book based on "I need to read a book by an author whose name starts with 'J'", rather than read one I wanted to read.

So much of what I choose to read is based on my mood that I hate being hamstrung by artificial goals.

Sometimes, when I can't decide what to read, I close my eyes and grab whatever I reach first on the shelf. It saves me from reading all my mysteries and fun books and being left with the heavier reading.

I've tagged the any new books I've acquired since joining LT that I really want to read, "to read". That sounds more meaningful to me than tbr, or to be read. My goal in 2006 was to read these books FIFO (first in first out), and LT helps make this so much more of a fun way to do so.

I select the books with the tag "to read" and then sort by date entered, and up comes my next book to read. So far I am up to the April books, whether I will get to the Dec 2006 books before Dec 2007, who knows? at least I can see that I am making progress even though my "to read" pile is increasing faster then my reading.

I do allow myself to jump books up the queue, but only if I've read the few books before in order. I also allow myself to pick something packable to take with me when I travel. This has to be fun or it won't work.

(I haven't entered books in my library that I have but only might read someday, maybe, though some of these are entered in another LT account)

I wish I had a system-I do a lot of bookbuying-mostly used stuff, and sometimes i feel overwhelmed. For a while,I had a deal with myself that I had to read 1 unread book on my shelves or bookbuying(or librarytrip),but I fell out of it.

I think I was the one who mentioned not buying any new books until I make some headway. But, in retrospect, that is a little harsh. I'll have to come up with another system. Whatever I decide, I do need to get the list down and also to stop spending so much money on books.

My big problem is a sort of "Reader's ADD" that ends up with a bunch of "partially read" books. (I've tagged these "partially read" in my LT).

Last year, I bought a number of books and tried to read them all, but what held my interest in January didn't hold my interest in July. I'll have to work on a system that's flexible, but emphasizes finishing what I start.

Yaeh,I tried the no buying thing,but it didn't really work-because i buy a lot of signed stuff from a local independent and it was always "oh,but they have signed copies of book X,and if i don't buy it,they'll be gone.
Ragnell,i knoe exactly what you mean-I call it the "Ooh,Shiny" problem-what's shiny this week may not be later.

I guess I'm maybe harsher with my books. If I pick it up and can't make myself go on after I feel I've given it a good chance, out it goes. Too many books, too little space and time to waste on books that don't move me. That's another reason for a reading journal, refering back to it helps me know my reasoning at the time for getting rid of the book. Sometimes time softens the memory...

I tried this year to limit my buying to a once-a-month trip to the friends of the library booksale and mostly succeeded, but for $1 or less per book, a once-a-month trip still can severely increase my TBR pile(s). Plus, it doesn't count stuff I check out of the library or buy elsewhere. Ah, well. I don't have to box my books up and try to move them anywhere for at least another year if not two, so I'm content to live in denial for now. I'll read them all eventually, I swear! Plus, I like having a good selection to take with me when I'm away-ish from civilization all summer - it's the travelling branch of my library!

I have the same problem with starting books faster than I finish them! The new ones always seem so exciting.

I had been doing pretty well with not buying much more fiction than I was reading, but somehow it's all fallen apart in the past couple of months. Various sales, and having to walk right by a big bookstore a couple of days a week, and more sales.... Maybe next year I'll try again to catch up.

I fully admit living by a library with an extraordinary $1 shelf was a bit dangerous for my pocketbook.

Head: Put that book down - you don't need another copy of Master and Commander!
Interior Library: But it's a dollar! For the proper trade paper back cover! I could lend it out!
Head: You already have a loaning set of that and the two books after at. AND the box set of The Complete Aubrey-Maturin novels.
I.L.: It's always out on loan. And did I mention it was a dollar?
Head: ...

Granted, I've spread my purchases out by sending them off to my sister, who doesn't buy books, but it was a bit dangerous overall. It's the one place where my resolve to buy books I've already read fails miserably. At least it isn't expensive, however.

How do you think I do where hardbacks at our library sale are fifty cents and paperbacks twenty-five cents? Thank goodness there are only three sales a year! The books the Friends leave out every week are usually in the romance or self-help genra and so resistable to me, however, I did find one the other day which I had almost bought new a week before for $15. I saved $14.75!

I just commit to donating $20.00 at every sale. It's not often I find more books than that.

I can stop buying books for a month or two here and there, but I always fall off the wagon. I'm really trying to keep it so that all my books have shelf space--which means that I'm off by a big boxful that's sitting here by my desk!

And there are at least two books for me sitting under the tree. Can't wait to find out which ones they are! Places like Amazon and Alibris that have Wish List features certainly make it easier for family and friends to buy books for this bookaholic.

My 2007 reading goal will be 100 books. I would have more time for reading books if I didn't spend so much time reading about books on LT. ;) I read a couple from Jane Austen every year, and I'd like to (re)read Persuasion and Mansfield Park soon. Also, I'm planning to read the Canadian and Australian books sitting on my shelves unread. Other than that, I like to keep things simple and follow whatever captures my interest.

I make a goal every year to cut back on my book buying and concentrate on my TBR books. I always fail miserably. LOL I will be setting the same goal again this year . . . One of these days I will succeed. I did join a challenge (hosted by MizBooks) to read 12 TBR books this next year, which is very manageable. It's a start.

I'm new to Library Thing and just logged my books. It was like being in a bookstore, going through all my TBR books. I plan to find a way to use that feeling to control my book buying. I won't not buy new books, but I really want to limit the amount of books I buy that will only be added to the stacks to be read years later.

Love hearing about all your library sales! There isn't anything like that near me, but when I used to live in RI our local library had a Friends' Sale with a WHOLE GROCERY BAG of books for $1!! It killed me every time! I think that's to blame for most of the books on my shelf. Nowadays, I do a lot of book shopping at car boot sales where paperbacks are generally 3 for £1. Also trouble. Oy.

I page through the books I want to read, and figure out how many pages/chapters a day/week I want to read, and then I sit down with my scheduler and plan out my reading schedule. It really helps me break things down to a more managable load. Also, my resolution for this year is to not buy any new books (unless they're a part of a series I've already started) but I was given a Books-A-Million card for Christmas, but that doesn't count, right?...

Merry Christmas y'all!

It is strange, a huge to be read pile doesn't bother me. I look at those books and think of how much fun I will have reading them in the future. I justify new purchases by thinking that I'll need them just in case I'm left like Burgess Meredith character in the Twilight Zone episode, "Time Enough at Last." After a nuclear blast, He is left with a whole lifetime to read.Unfortunately, his glasses break. I'm making sure I have many spare sets of glasses too;)

I have designated TBR bookcases, and it doesn't bother me when they're stuffed to bursting. What I'm trying to prevent is having piles of books all over the floor. If I put in any more bookcases, my husband and I may as well buy a second home to live in and let this one be the library! LOL

"Time Enough at Last" has to be my favorite "Twilight Zone" episode, even if it did break my heart.

I loved that Twilight Zone episode too and found it very disturbing even when I first saw it as a boy. Are we weird or what?

Loved that Twilight Zone episode. The other one that freaked me out was the one where the earth was moving towards the sun and everyone was getting hotter and hotter. In "reality" the woman was burning up with a fever because the earth was moving away from the sun and it was getting very cold and snowy.

I miss the Twilight Zone.

It was a great show.

On books one starts but doesn't finish:

I love variety and tend to have a few books going at any given time. So I may drop even books that interested me. It hasn't worked well this year (too many distractions), but designating December my finish-up month helps get them polished off. It's my last chance to count them as read this year, and the pressure is good. (With five days ahead, I may yet come out clear.)

Buying 'ahead' is my downfall. But this year, even as I delve into my accumulations, I'll still be buying fresh books for thematic projects that tie in with them. And as others pointed out, without freedom and serendipity, the whole thing loses its joy. Whatever I plan has to be a framework, a skeleton I can clothe as I go along. The structure is good, but without freedom and open space, it becomes imprisoning.

My TBR shelves are sort of comforting to me as well. A retirement/empty nest plan if you will.

My biggest fear is that I've known too many people who have lost their eyesight as they age. Makes me want to read to others or read onto a tape for them so that if it happens to me maybe someone will return the kindness. Of course now there are many books on tape, but not my old books which I like to read.

My mother worked for the Arizona State Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped. (They've undoubtedly changed their name to something more PC now.) I know that they had volunteers who would come in to read books for taping so they could go out to patrons. The books being taped ran the gamut--they weren't just best sellers. It's something to check into if you're serious.

I used to write captions for photographs for their Braille magazines--not always easy, especially if there's a stunning photograph from an issue of Arizona Highways staring you in the face!

Glaucoma and macular degeneration run in my family. I sincerely hope they skip my generation.

I am a mood reader. I sometimes buy ahead unintentionally. A book will sound wonderful to me, and I buy it--then suddenly I'm not in the mood to read it. It may take me ten years before I get around to it, but in a way I like knowing that it's there waiting for me.

...but in a way I like knowing that it's there waiting for me.

Exactly. I can still feel daunted and guilty, but I also often am comforted by the books surrounding me. It's a pleasure to know I can read them, eventually.

I have TBR books but not a TBR pile or bookcase.

I have a library and the books I buy go into it. One day I will read them, but I don't worry about when. I don't waste my time on guilt about buying or reading.

I am reading many series, I also follow specific authors and subjects (fiction and non-fiction). If you wait now-a-days the books are gone by the time you might be ready to read them. So I don't wait. I will pick them up in paper when they are less expensive. I am not a big fan of used books, though I will get them if the book is out of print.

I have a data base so I know what I have and can track down any book I want to read.

What I read depends on my mood, and what I have heard about a book. Some I read as soon as I buy them, and some are saved for later.

FicusFan, I feel less guilty about money going on books and reading than anything except food, shelter, or charity. BUT: I do feel guilty when it seems I'm wasting it - not reading a high enough proportion of books, not honing in on what I really care about, or what have you.

You sound very organized. :) At least I'm becoming methodical (a bit).

Oh, a kindred spirit! That's what I love about book people - I never feel weird here.

I thinkTBR mountains are like comfort food. I go and look at my bookcase of TBRs when I need cheering up. I know I'll never run out of things to read, and there will always be something to suit my mood.

I buy books when I see them if they look interesting or if it is a good deal. I never feel guilty about buying them or putting them on the TBR shelves, even when they stay there for years. I reckon there are lots of worse hobbies! And there is no such thing as having too many books.

Joining Bookcrossing has helped me manage space issues; and joining LT and starting to catalogue my books has been a joy. I've found really interesting things in Mt TBR, and come across a lot of things in my collection that really deserve to be revisited. There's another few years worth of reading enjoyment sorted.

And I cried at that episode of Twilight Zone - even when I was a little tacker, the thought of not being able to read was too sad for words.

I go and look at my bookcase of TBRs when I need cheering up. I know I'll never run out of things to read, and there will always be something to suit my mood.

Quite true. Though I can run out of things for specific moods, the happiest bit for me is knowing there's always more to explore. More to learn. Somewhere to go... More often than not, grand reading plans come out of my being unhappy or unwell, and lying on my bed opposite the most attractive bookcase, which is partially unread. Just the sight of it is good; but the ideas that come together are even better.

Jawin wrote: "And I cried at that episode of Twilight Zone - even when I was a little tacker, the thought of not being able to read was too sad for words."

I don't remember actually crying, but that episode was certainly the most memorable ~ and terrifying ~ of all the Twilight Zone episodes. I do remember thinking that life wouldn't be so bad after a nuclear holocaust (remember, I was just a kid when I saw that episode) if I could only have unlimited books to read and unlimited time in which to read them.

You sound very organized. :) At least I'm becoming methodical (a bit).

#29 Eurydice,

Thanks but I just fake it well. :) I actually have piles all over the place, but the books are cataloged on my system with date of purchase, so I just have to find the same date pile/drift and excavate. My problem is space: I have run out.

I always hated The Twigiht Zone because I thought it was cruel. It took human nature and held it against the characters, nasty. I did see that episode and thought it was predictably mean-spirited.

I have recently been trying to be "well read" -- I had a science major in college and I just really feel ignorant about classic literature. Considering how much time I devote to reading it seems a shame not to be well read (whatever that may be) I thought I would start with that NYTimes top 100 English language novels, fiction, that is, and then I think TIME magazine has a list - there's lots of lists -- it seems I've typically read ~ 20% of the books on any given top 100 list.

Anyway, can you Library Thingers help me? Top 5 -10 fiction English language novels that anybody who calls themselves a bibliophile needs to have read. I need help.

Oh wow, you're right. There's lists everywhere. Most would hold the same books, probably varying in order and differing in about 25% I'm sure.

I'm curious to see eveyone's list also. I'm trying to work on classic literature myself, all the books I didn't read in school. Unfortunately, it seems that I read the same books in college. All the good literature out there and they make us read it again. Of course, I never went past the basic english classes in college though. Focused on science also and now I'm working on my bachelor's in history.

I just keep buying from the used places...someday I'm gonna get kicked out to make more space by my hubby! LOL

This year I chose not to put a number on how many books I need to read. I found I made my 10 books a month easily last year (finished 250!) and wasn't sure I could quite make that same amount this year. So....instead, I have decided that every third book I read HAS to be a new author. If I do better than that, it'll be great. If not, I'll have atleast turned myself onto a bunch of new authors that have just been hanging around the house, right?

Right. My goal for the year is to branch out into foreign-language authors and twentieth century literature, while continuing to up the percentage of non-fiction. Also (and this fits in well with the rest) to read more 'masterpieces' and not to waste time on things I'm not really excited about.

January's excursion into 20th century Czech literature is going well. :)

FicusFan: 'Space, the perennial problem. We're on a life-long mission to seek out new stores and new authors, to boldly go where no reader has gone before....' :)

I ran across the fifty book challenge this year and I decided that my fifty books this year had to be ones with the unread tag, that I owned before starting the challenge. Enough of them are books I started and then got side tracked on that I think I can make it, I just need a reason to push through and get them finally finished. And while I wish I had a better reason for tackling them, I've decided that any reason that gets me through is good. Especially since some of them have sat around unread for years... I feel bad for them.

oxocerite: I like that sentiment. I don't necessarily feel guilty about my TBR pile, but I do feel bad for those lonely books on the shelves waiting to be read. All my bookshelves are full of friends, so, I am rarely lonely. That, and my house is usually full of teenagers....

Eurydice:
Are you reading Kundera, by chance?

Mensheviklibrarian:

I will be next week. :)

Tonight I'm polishing off the last few pages of Karel Capek's War With the Newts, having finished his Tales from Two Pockets. - Then it's on to a little Kafka (The Castle, I think), before Kundera. I have The Unbearable Lightness of Being, and the definitive version of The Joke is coming. (After which: Vaclav Havel and more Bohumil Hrabal. I Served the King of England comes last because Amazon is making me wait 4 - 6 weeks for it! - Given Too Loud a Solitude, though, I'm sure it's worth waiting for.) Meantime, I've been sampling Czech poetry in an anthology, reading snippets of other prose authors in a second, and reading a cultural history of Prague.

I'm a bit behind, and already feel hungry for a list of books I couldn't buy. One month leaves little time for tangents, and even misses important things (no full works by Jaroslav Hasek - The Good Soldier Svejk is too long - Ivan Klima, Jiri Weil, etc). But it's perfect for introductions.

Apologies if my answer's run amok. :)

Eurydice:

No need to apologize for the length; that sounds like an excellent menu;). I loved The Unbearable Lightness of Being.

I'm looking forward to it. :) Two or three days more Kafka, and then on to the next course - or at least a dip into another dish. It's rather like Czech antipasti, if you know what I mean. ;) All served up in print. (And thank you for the patience.)

If you don't happen to have any Hrabal - it's impossible to tell, yet - he came in for high praise by Kundera.

re: 13> I'm confused, sometimes, by the large number of new books I find for sale at my library, books that haven't even been opened yet.

re: 20> re: "I have designated TBR bookcases": Basement - books I've read. Upstairs - books to be read.

#45 - Most of the books at our library sales are donated by patrons. Some look brand new, perhaps unwanted gifts? Some look well loved.

I asked at the front desk once if the library gets first pick of the donated books, and they gave me an evasive answer, something like they have lists of books wanted that they purchase from...I'm not sure I understood. Maybe one of the librarians on this site has an answer.

I rarely, rarely buy books but that doesn't stop my TBR list from growing because I see all the new books that come into my library! And I read way too many book blogs with great suggestions. Arg!

This year (well, in Sept) I decided to join LT to limit myself to 200 TBR books. I have spreadsheets of TBR books by theme and age (YA, children's, adult) so I took some that had been on there forever and added some new ones and I only gave myself 35 slots to add "wild card" ones over the next year. I've joined a lot of reading challenges for 2008, so that's giving me some focus.

I did the Alphabet Challenge (books by authors with every letter and another 26 for titles) and while it was pretty fun, it was definitely a bit confining - by the time I scrounged up X's and Y's, I was pretty tired of it. But my new challenges are mostly made up of books I already wanted to read, so I don't think I'll find it too limiting.

tinylittlelibrarian - (I keep conjuring up images of a Borrower who lives in the library. Hope you know what borrowers are...)

I like your idea of tackling your TBRs with a method. Up until now I usually close my eyes, reach and grab, or I have one of my children grab one. I might have to think about that. Lately I've been trying to alternate which book shelf I take from to read (I have 4 TBR bookshelves).

edited to add: My rule is that no books may live on my floor. It makes for some creative stacking. :)

MrsLee - I am very well acquainted with the Borrowers! I'm not quite that tiny. :) But I do think they live in both my house and my office at the library.

I'm finding the method system works for me so far - I see to be even more excited about reading than usual now that I have a focus. But I must say, I do envy you your element of surprise a bit, sometimes I feel a bit too planned out.

That does sound like a stacking challenge! Have they ended up piled anywhere odd?

Well, right now *shh*(please don't tell anyone), I have 5 TBRs on the floor. *hangs head in shame* I also have about 7 or 8 ancient (100yrs old) hymnals on my floor. What does one do with them? They have come down through the family. Some are properly scribbled in. Most are falling apart. I don't play an instrument, I'm not going to study them, but I'm having the hardest time. It doesn't seem right to throw them out.
Mostly, I line up books on shelves, shove them back and lay others down in front of them. I also separated out my fantasy and murder mysteries from my other TBRs and criss-cross stacked them on a sewing box. Looks kind of neat, I think. I don't think any of those places qualify as odd though. Is it odd to keep books in a kitchen cupboard? Or in a cupboard above the TV? My goal is always instant access. I would hate books under the bed or in boxes.

I won't tell! :) Wow, the hymnals really are a unique problem - I probably wouldn't feel right getting rid of them, either, but if you can't use them...hmmm.

Right now 99% of our books are in boxes because we moved over the summer and haven't gotten our bookshelves up yet. And most of poor husband's books have been in boxes for 4 years because we had no room for them when he moved here from the States.

21 & 22,

I just commented on that "Twilight Zone" episode on a LT Dickens topic thread. The topic concerned reading David Copperfield. Remember our hero in that episode was reading David Copperfield when he was supposed to be focused on his bank teller duties. It also was one of my favorite episodes.

Sandydog1 ~ No, I didn't know it was David Copperfield! How could I have missed such a thing? Too bad, too, because if I'd known, I'd have probably gone ahead and read it back then. As it is, I've just added it to my TBR list.

Storeetlr,

Wow, a book recommendation from Henry Bemis! Remeber his cruel wife asked him to read from his beloved book of poetry (I don't recall THAT title) and she had oblitereated every page with marker lines. Horrors!

The Episode was called "Time Enough at Last."

Yes. The worst horror of course was when he finally had the time to read and broke his glasses. I had nightmares about that for a long time (I wore glasses & was a bit geeky too; guess I identified with him). :)

yeah the ending got me so mad lol

And who would have thought that there is a LT Group devoted to this episode!

Isn't LT just amazing! ;)

I was getting a bit twisted over my TBR pile, but now I'm spending a lot of time skimming through LT posts. My TBR list is growing at a healthy pace because there are so many great recommendations. This isn't some form of a race, so I've no worries.

I just stumbled onto this thread and immediately felt at home. My eldest daughter and I have been haunted by that Twilight Zone episode ever since we first saw it. As highly addicted readers, with poor eyesight, we so identified with that poor schmuck that it formed one of our common nightmares! And now we've found a whole group of people whose inner fears are similar! Awesome.

I just got a copy of THE READER'S BILL OF RIGHTS at a used bookstore (they've printed it out on the back of their bookmarks). I have found, since I finished college about ten years ago, that I tend to live by some of the "amendments" -- the right to read what I want, when I want to, and to stop reading if a book doesn't interest me.

We've probably all been assigned books to read, at one time or another, things we hated and had a difficult time getting through. So I take a guilty pleasure in being able to close a book and say "that's enough of that." I tell my students that this is one of THE great privileges of being an adult!

Having said that, I need to add that since I went back to school as an adult, I discovered, for the first time in my life, the joys of nonfiction. The idea of reading nonfiction for pleasure, and not just for information, was totally foreign to me in high school. But as a grown-up, I had some terrific experiences in stumbling onto nonfiction books on subjects I was interested in. Fiction will always be my first love, and I am an unabashed promoter of the idea of reading to escape (if you'd ever met some of my students, you'd understand what I mean -- some of these poor kids would have been better off if they'd been raised in an orphanage, and I only wish I were kidding), but I find, as I get older, and have more free time now that my kids are all grown up, that dipping into a well-written nonfiction book has its very own joys -- reading without the "guilt" of indulging in my usual cotton candy for the brain.

My TBR pile mostly consists of books in my subject areas -- economics and history. They're not necessarily weighty tomes nor yet classics, but they do require a certain level of attentiveness which I do not always possess at the time of purchase.

But like so many of you, I take great comfort in knowing that there are great books, just a few yards away, just waiting for that perfect time to be read.