Friday, October 3, 2014

The TBR Tag

I was recently tagged for this meme by Danielle @ Love at First Page and Jen @ YA Romantics. This tag was created by  Rachel @ A Perfection Called Books and Dana @ Dana Square. It's a fun way to get a peek at other readers' TBR piles and what exactly is on them!

How Do You Keep Track of Your TBR?

I am pretty much a failure at organization on Goodreads. I have a TBR list there that I add to as I see interesting books, but it's not comprehensive, and I'm not great at removing them once I've lost interest. I'd like to get into more shelf making, but so far I haven't been great at it. 




I more actively maintain a spreadsheet in Google docs. I have a list of 1) Review Books I currently have, and one of 2) Books I'm Anticipating but don't own yet, that I color code. I try very hard to read anything I've requested. But if I request something and find out later that it has a love triangle, or looks like it is not at all a me book, I will pass on it.   



Beyond that, it's mostly in my head or on my book shelves. I have a stack of paper books on a shelf that I'd like to read somewhat soon that I try to keep visible.  

Is my TBR mostly print or e-book?


It's a good mix, and usually depends on the time of the year. Only a few publishers mail me print arcs, so most of the ones I have come from big book events. In the fall I have a lot of print books from BEA, but early in the year it's a lot more e-arcs. For books I purchase myself, I will pick either print or ebook, depending on what experience I want to have with the book.  

Printed books have a certain weight and texture that ebooks don't have, and it changes my reading experience with them. Often I very specifically prefer one over the other for the book I'm reading. I usually like ebooks for arcs, because I feel like I can read them quicker. Sitting down with a paper book requires more time. I also read ebooks exclusively on my iPhone, and I always have it with me. It's much easier for me to pull out my phone and start reading at random moments, than break out a book. But sometimes I want that more weighted experience with a story. 

To the right you can see some recent books in my iPhone kindle, some are still yet to be read. I really wish I could have read Blue Lily, Lily Blue in print for the first time, but I'm just grateful to have the chance to read it early!

How do I determine which book to read next?

I am 100% a mood reader. I cannot force myself to read something I'm not feeling at the moment. I do keep track of the arcs I have by release date, and try very hard to read them in a timely manner, but sometimes I have to break out of that. This is why I don't have a strict arc reading schedule. In my mind, I'm frequently making a "these are the books I will read next" list, but it is constantly changing based on my mood. 


What book has been on my TBR the longest?


Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell has been on there a long time, but I don't know when I'll be up for that sort of Reading Commitment. I also feel like Miranda Kenneally's Hundred Oaks series has been haunting me forever, and as more release, I get further behind. But I do plan to read them. I realized I haven't because I've been avoiding #2, but I think I'll just skip that one for my own sanity. 

A book I've recently added to my TBR?



I just put An Ember in the Ashes on my list, and I LOVE the promised ancient Rome feel. But (like all upcoming series it seems) someone said the dreaded phrase "love triangle" in their review, so I'll need more confirmation before I commit. 

A book on my TBR because of the cover?

Although I appreciate a gorgeous cover, I'm more likely to add a book to my TBR, because of it's description. Both the cover and description of this October book feel very seasonal to me, though there haven't been many reviews so far. 


by Sarah Bromley
Published: October 28, 2014 by Month9Books, LLC 

A book on my TBR that I NEVER plan on reading?

I need to clean off my shelves, because there are many books on my GoodReads TBR that I've lost interest in and don't plan to read. I definitely need to knock Poison Princess off that list, as well as Between the Spark and the Burn. In fact I did when I wrote this post. The dreaded book 2 love triangle - No thank you!



An unpublished book on my TBR that I'm excited about?



THERE ARE SO MANY! A great deal of my TBR is made up of TBPs (is that a thing?), but two sequels I am dying to read are The Winner's Crime and Vision in Silver

A book on my TBR that everyone has read except me?



The Throne of Glass series. I feel so left out, but I am SCAREEEEDDD of this series. Some say love triangles, some say no. Some say more love interests are coming, some say not. But everyone who has read through the first three seem to love them, and the growth of the main character. I'm determined to wait until a little further on in the series, but I would like to try them out. 

Book on my TBR that everyone recommends?



My friends seem to have universally loved Golden by Jessi Kirby and This Song Will Save Your Life by Leila Sales. I need to make time to read them! 

Number of Books on my TBR?

In number I have 350 books on my Goodreads TBR, but just looking at that list as I wrote this post, I see that I could cut it down quite a bit. And probably also add to it too. I'd like to start doing exclusives shelves for books released by year, but not sure when I'll make that happen. I'm pretty terrible at tracking books more than a year out. I always seem like I'm the last one to add an upcoming book - based on all my friends who've marked it on Goodreads already. 

P.S. Did you notice that I was unable to pick just one in most of these categories? I'm terrible at doing that! 

I'm tagging:
Jenny @ Supernatural Snark
Mary @ The Book Swarm


10 comments:

  1. I'm an organizational failure on Goodreads as well Lauren! I used to make lists in the beginning, but then it just became one more thing I needed to update along with the blog and Twitter, and I just got too lazy. Like you, my TBR list is mainly in my head - I have shelves that hold the books I haven't read yet and I mostly look at those and figure out what need to get read next:)

    We've talked about the Throne of Glass series, but I do hope you decide to give them a try! Maybe after book 4 is out:) SO GOOD THOUGH!!!!

    And thanks for tagging me!

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  2. Interesting blog post...I like it!
    :)

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  3. I'm pretty sure than neither Golden nor This Song Will Save Your Life has a love triangle, and they're both really good. Catching Jordan does have a sort of love progression but not a triangle.
    I do understand how books can just sit there, staring at you.....
    And yeah, my TBR list on GR is a mess. There are things it says I've read that I haven't, and things it says I want to read that I don't. I just don't have the initiative to fix it all....
    Thanks for letting me tag you -- these posts are fun!
    Jen @ YA Romantics

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  4. Amazing post Lauren. <3 I loooove this peek at your TBR list :D I'm also excited about An Ember in the Ashes. <3 Though, like you, I must know more :D And hah. Throne of Glass. I own them all. And then I won another set, coming to me shortly. I must read them. But I do not want to :( I have peeked at end of book three, it is not a happy ending, considering the romance. Which means I need MORE before I read them, hiih :) But I'm curious too. <3 Thank you for sharing :)

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  5. I need to clean out my shelves on Goodreads as well, Lauren! I have so many books on there in my TBR that I will never read. I'm just too lazy to do it. I have to be somewhat organized a month ahead because of sharing a blog. Jasprit and I make a schedule about a week before the month begins and try to stick to it. I don't always stick to my schedule though. I'm wondering what you do when you've requested a book and then read reviews that make you change your mind to read it. Do you email the publisher or send feedback on Netgalley saying you won't be reviewing after all? I get so worried about doing that, that I end up leaving them to languish on my reading list. If you don't mind, will you DM on Twitter about that?

    Great post here! :)

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  6. Such an interesting post! I am a mood reader too and because my tbr is normally manageable I don't prioritise ARCs over books I've bought myself - I just read whatever I feel like reading first. A Murder of Magpies does have a cool and eerie cover and the story itself sounds intriguing, it's actually on my excel spreadsheet of books to buy. I will def not be reading the Throne of Glass series, because although fantasy it usually my thing I don't think I would be able to get on with the mc and the love triangle/romance will probs drive me crazy. An Ember in the Ashes is one I am excited about, too, but like you I think I'll wait for more reviews to come in before deciding whether or not to buy it - fingers crossed that the love triangle is not really a love triangle! xD

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  7. YAY. So glad you decided to partake. :) I loved reading this.
    GR is absolutely my best friend when it comes to keeping track of my TBR pile - you need to take a look at my exclusive shelves haha. But I don't really keep a spreedsheet - except for upcoming books I want to buy. Color coding is hardcore! :)
    You know I'm excited for The Winner's Crime and Vision in Silver (omg are they finally gonna kiss OR WHAT?!)
    Catching Jordan - I think there's kind of a love triangle in that one too, or at least a love progression. I just went straight to #3.
    I HIGHLY recommend Golden - it's amazing. The writing is really pretty, the romance sweet, and the journey surprisingly moving.

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  8. Vision in Silver and The Winner's Crime…can't wait for those either!! Why aren't you reading Poison Princess?? I actually got Between the Spark and the Burn from the library so I need to reread (or at least read the last few chapters) of the first book so I remember. I remember thinking I was curious to find out what happened next and since it's a duology, I figure that's only 3-4 hours of my life. :)

    Throne of Glass!!! You will love it.

    I'm a mood reader too, but if I notice that an ARC I have is coming out soon or it has already come out, then I'll read it. The problem is that if I'm REALLY not in the mood, my review will not be as positive and I feel bad for that. ~Pam

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  9. This is my big push for Golden and This Song Will Save Your Life!! TWO OF MY FAVORITES! I'm planning on doing this tag at some point but the question about what books do you not plan to read but are on your TBR made me also think "WOW I NEED TO CLEAN MY TBR UP". I have been on Goodreads since 2008 and I KNOW my tastes have changed and I'm also that person that just added books "to read" just to remember them or if I even slightly felt interested. So now it's a big damn disaster!

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  10. hahah I love the color-coding idea XD It's interesting seeing these posts and discovering how people organize their TBR ;) Ahh Throne of Glass is so good! I highly recommend! I'm really excited to read The Winner's Crime too!! Ember sounds really good.

    Thanks for doing our tag! I hope you enjoyed it :)

    Rachel @ A Perfection Called Books

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