Wednesday, December 31, 2014

The TBR Book Tag - How Many Books Are On My TBR Pile? (Too Darn Many!)

https://www.facebook.com/AuthorMaryBalogh/photos/a.186291551491885.39771.174810365973337/650273051760397/?type=1&theater
Image from author Mary Balogh on facebook
I saw this meme at On Starships & Dragonwings last month and thought it sounded like fun. It also seemed like a good post for the end of the year, a way to look at what I've got to read. It's always interesting to me to hear about other people's TBR piles and how they manage them. One thing I've noticed is that definitions of a TBR, or To Be Read, pile differ. For me, the TBR pile is books actually in my possession; I own them or have borrowed them, whether from the library or a friend. If it's a book I want to read but don't have in my possession, then it's a wish list book. So, my wish list is a mix of books I want to review, books I want to own, and books I want to read. I use it for "shopping" the library and for requesting books as well as my personal shopping list.

How do you keep track of your TBR Pile?

Goodreads! I am obsessive about updating my shelves there. Whenever I acquire a book, I record it on GR and throw it on every vaguely applicable shelf.

Is your TBR pile mostly print or ebooks?

Umm, not sure, but I'd guess ebooks. I periodically go through phases of downloading freebies like they were going extinct. Add in ebooks I receive for review, and I strongly suspect that ebooks make up the majority of my TBR pile.Though I do still have a backlog of print books to add so I could be wrong. :D

Okay, I wouldn't rate the first episode but I'd be featured on the show for sure. :D

How do you determine which book from your TBR to read next?

Sometimes, I look at my review schedule and pick the next one due and sometimes I throw the schedule up in the air and pick a non-review book that strikes my fancy. I get books from the library sometimes so those have to be worked in too before their due date.

Currently I'm trying to make my way through a backlog of NetGalley and Edelweiss ARCS plus a few promised reviews such as books for blog tours. Other than the tour books, it doesn't matter what I read when so I'm letting my mood dictate what I pick.

What’s been on your TBR the longest?

Well, I don't yet have all of my print books listed on Goodreads. It's been a slow and ongoing effort since joining to add them in. But, the one that's been on my Goodreads TBR shelf the longest is "The Time Traveler's Wife"  by Audrey Niffenegger. It has been in the TBR pile since August 22nd of 2010. Yeah, maybe I should read that one this year. :P

A book you recently added to your TBR ~

On the 28th, I added an ebook, a romance that was free on Amazon (yeah, sucked in by another freebie), "Snow Angel" by Melanie Shawn.


A book that’s on your TBR strictly because of it’s beautiful cover ~

Hmmm, none I can think. The cover catches my eye but if the blurb doesn't appeal to me, I don't get the book.

A book on your TBR that you never plan on reading ~

None. I may not get to them all but I intend on reading every one. There are some books on my Review Consideration shelf that are far down the list but the fact I've kept them instead of getting rid of them means I'm interested and want to read them someday.

An unpublished book on your TBR that you’re excited for ~

None. If it's unpublished, it doesn't go in the TBR pile but on the wish list. So, looking at my wish list, probably "Rewind", the next book in the Newsflesh series by Mira Grant. It's currently scheduled for sometime in 2016, whimper. I love this series so much and frankly Grant could make a traffic ticket suspenseful and thrilling.

A book on your TBR that basically everyone has read but you ~

Well, up until this past spring I'd have said "Written in Red" by Anne Bishop but then I read it so now maybe, "Spider's Bite" by Jennifer Estep? I had to do some serious scrolling through my TBR pages but I think this one qualifies.

A book on your TBR that everyone recommends to you ~

Oh, I have more than one! "Spider's Bite" is one, and there are several authors that have been recommended to me such as Marie Force and Sandy James, both of whom are on my TBR shelf.

A book on your TBR that you’re dying to read ~



Well, I just recently read about a half dozen books that I was super excited about so...I'll go with "Concealed in Death" by J.D. Robb. I need to read 2 or 3 more in the series to catch up and then I can dive into this one.





How many books on your Goodreads TBR shelf?


Sigh, do I have to admit this? Mumble, grumble. As of the morning of January 30th, when I updated this post, I have 1,189 books on my TBR and 714 on my wish list and I'm currently reading 1. Those numbers include print, digital, and audio, and include books for review, for work, and for fun.

For grins, I did some calculations. If I don't receive, borrow, or purchase any additional books, I could read all the books on my TBR shelf right now in just under 5 years. So far this year I've read 288 books and last year, 2013, I read 205 (in 2011, I did 227). I calculated a rate of 250 books a year and it came to 4.756 years. If I input a rate of 200 books a year, then the time needed becomes 5.945 years. But then there are all the print books that aren't yet logged on Goodreads and I'm pretty sure I have ebooks on my computer that I haven't entered (despite my obsession for entering them), so 5 years is the bare minimum to get everything read. Doable, if I don't get any additional books.

Yeah, not gonna happen. :D 

Tag some people ~ 


Pffft. I'm not tagging peeps; if you want to do the post, go for it! If you do, buzz me on twitter or facebook and I'll pop over to check it out.

17 comments:

  1. hahaha, Bea! My situation is just as dire :))) I'd need about 5 years to read all I've got as well. But I have started deleting freebies that I won't read and books from my wishlist that have been there for a few years :) *sigh* It's an uphill battle...

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    1. I should do that too. I did delete a few books from my wishlist as I was updating my shelves while I prepped this post. But there are still more that could go.

      At least we always have something to read!

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  2. All is lost here too, lol ! I can relate, how on earth is it possible to resist books, huh ? ;)

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  3. HA! This is the reason why I created a challenge for 2015, in hopes to take a huge bite out of my TBR pile. I have several books sitting on my bookshelves just collecting dust.. I want to read them one day LOL

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    1. Good luck!

      I looked at some of the TBR pile challenges but went with with COYER and Clean Sweep instead.

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  4. LOL the ebook freebies...they kill me! My ereader is stuffed.

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  5. Great post! I just did some calculating too. I have 2131 books in my To Read collection on LibraryThing. 1207 of them are Kindle books. If I average 250 books a year, that is 8.6 years of reading before I would run out. Like you, To Read are books I actually have. I don't have a wishlist because I either buy it or forget about it. I keep a Google calendar where I list what I'm reading next. I have 78 review books currently to slot in stretching out until July but do still manage to get one or two off TBR mountain each month.

    Happy new year and happy reading!

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    1. I feel better about my TBR pile now and I love that so many other people have TBR piles as bad or worse than mine. I am not alone!

      I use Google calendar to track my reading but it changes frequently as books come and go. I do not have however review books plotted out as far in advance as you do, that's impressive. I do try to get some TBR pile books read each month, if only to help keep me fresh.

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  6. What an interesting post! I'm actually afraid to count how many books I have in my TBR piles because there are so many! Ignorance is bliss, right? I was keeping track of my new books on Goodreads, but fell behind. Maybe I'll make updating my TBR shelves one of my goals for this year!

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    1. LOL Ignorance can be bliss, yes. :D Updating your shelves at goodreads would be good if only to help you keep from buying the same book twice!

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  7. I agree with your definition of the TBR pile...if it's in my possession, it's on my "pile." Otherwise, it's on a wish list.

    I whittled my actual pile down quite a bit since I started my Curl up and Read blog, where I "track" my progress. I have pages for books purchased, read, and review books read...titles linked to my reviews.

    I do Goodreads, too, but I don't list everything I own there. I use it mostly to track currently reading and read books.

    Enjoy the New Year!

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  8. Yey, I'm glad you decided to do this post, so much fun :D. I avoid doing that calculation because it depresses me haha

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    1. Hah, yes it was sobering doing the numbers. I may do this again at the end of this year and see what, if any progress, I've made.

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  9. Fun post, and I'm awfully glad I'm not the only person who has a huge TBR. I have 2 bookcases full of books to read, plus several boxes full. I have at least 300 Kindle books. And my Goodreads to-read shelf and someday shelf combined had over 1200 books on them this morning, but I pruned out about 100 so far and I'm still trying to whittle it down. To be fair, a lot of the books on the Goodreads shelves are either in my Kindle or on those bookcases in my basement, so that 1100 includes the ones I own. It's still too many... I probably only read 100 to 120 new books a year (the rest are re-reads) and some of those will be books that come out this year, so that doesn't leave a lot of time for the ones I already have. Which means it will take a long time to get through them all...

    Your calculation looks somewhat better than mine, but your comment "Yeah, not gonna happen" made me laugh, because that's me, too (and a lot of the rest of us bloggers, I'm guessing.) I can cut back, but I can't stop altogether. As my husband jokes, though, it keeps me off the streets!

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    1. I've acquired more books since I wrote that post so yeah, not gonna happen. : D It's hard to stop. Your husband is right though, it keeps us off the streets! :)

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