Let’s Talk Bookish is a weekly meme that was originally created and hosted by Rukky @ Eternity Books starting in August 2019, and was then cohosted with Dani @ Literary Lion from May 2020 to March 2022. Book Nook Bits has hosted since April 2022.
September 2nd: Do You Ever Get Overwhelmed by Your TBR (to-be-read) Pile?
(Jillian @ Jillian the Bookish Butterfly)
Prompts: How do you keep track of the books you want to read? Do you have a lot of books on your TBR? Is there any order/organization within all the books you want to read? Does your TBR ever feel overwhelming?
Firstly, yes I get overwhelmed by it. Before I moved, I had my TBR books stacked in a small corner outside my bedroom. Then it reached the ceiling, and I started putting new books to the side. This didn’t help. I’d wanted to read books further down – and sometimes got good at the Jenga-style selection process! – but after a certain point there was no way I was grabbing one without the whole thing falling. Then, one day, they did fall – I wasn’t able to work out why, I was downstairs, and it sounded like something had exploded. Heavy books tumbled down the stairs and I was amazed where I found some of them. It was kind of stressful, and as I picked them back up I kind of rearranged them, making sure ones I would want to read first were easily accessible.
As for keeping track, I have a spreadsheet that I input the information for all my NetGalley books on. I also use this (though on different tabs) to try and track books I’ve got through other methods, such as direct arcs or promo offers on Amazon, or through things like signing up to author newsletters. This is for all the digital books, because there are a lot on my kindle and I wouldn’t know where to start if I didn’t have something I could refer to! For physical books, I just keep my want to read and read books separate from one another, and keep arcs on a different shelf than books I’ve purchased or been gifted.
The amount on my TBR is…too high to count, and I’ll leave it at that. There is order/organisation, but I’m a mood reader so I tend to read whatever attracts me at that particular moment, though I do try to look at books that are maybe due out in the next couple of months so I can read and review before or around the release.
So yes, the TBR can be overwhelming at times, and I do try to refrain from buying too many books or requesting too many on NetGalley (I requested way too many when I first joined and was absolutely shocked by how many I was approved for!) but I really try to not let it get to me, and focus on my current reads.
What about you – do you find your TBR to be overwhelming at times?
Unwrapping Words 