I saw this meme on So Many Books and thought to do it too, then got distracted (lots of work right now) until James’ posting about the TBR Dare reminded me. So here we go.
How do you keep track of your TBR pile?
It used to be a handwritten thing that I jotted titles down on, and then often forgot about. The handwritten part got shuffled onto this list -as much of it as I could find. Then at some point I started making regular postings whenever I added a slew of titles to the TBR. It’s not organized in the same way- the TBR page list I just delete titles when I finally read them, but with the postings I go back and link the title in the post to the current review of that book. I try to keep things sorted which books are in in my library’s system and I can methodically look for with a good hope of actually reading them. Books that aren’t at the library I just hope to come across someday when hunting at used sales or secondhand shops…
And then there’s Library Thing. I do have a tag in my catalog for unread books. I use it to get a count every now and then. Or to quickly look up a title and see if it\’s a book I already own.
Is your TBR mostly print or e-book?
Well I thought it was mostly print. But I just looked and realized I have 67 unread books on my e-reader that I got from Project Gutenberg. One day I discovered this has a lot of older, out-of-print titles that interest me and I got all excited about it. I should look for more! But I only tend to read on the device when I’m travelling, so I have no idea when I\’ll get around to these…
How do you determine which books from your TBR to read next?
It varies. Sometimes I deliberately look for a book on my shelf related to a subject interesting me at the moment, or that another book or reader has reminded me of. Sometimes when I\’m at the library with my kids I’ll pop over to my favorite section (dewey decimals 570-590!) and look to see if I recognize anything on the shelf from my TBR list. And sometimes I just stand in front of the bookcase at home and pick something at random. Speaking of which, here they are:
Yes, I do still have piles on the floor. But I’m hoping that eventually I’ll clear enough unwanted books out that everything will fit on the actual shelves again.
A book that has been on my TBR the longest?
List or physical? There are probably titles on that TBR page in the navbar that I jotted down on notepaper up to ten years ago, but I don’t know which ones they are. According to my Library Thing catalog, there are only three unread books that have been on my shelf since 2007: The Wonder of Birds, Walden (which I’ve tried and failed to get through twice so far) and Famous American Illustrators– a reference book I acquired for a class in art school and hung on to. I might have missed a few though; every now and then I read a book and when I go to update the LThing listing it simply isn’t in there.
A book you recently added to your TBR?
Well, for the list it would be Leaf by Daishu Ma or Challenger Deep by Neal Shusterman, which I’ve just tagged in my feed reader but haven’t yet put in a TBR post. Also The End of the Game by Peter Beard, I just got this one from Paperback Swap in the mail today and I’m really excited about it!
A book on your TBR strictly because of its beautiful cover?
Hm. Lots of books are on my shelf because they were very cheap secondhand, and just caught my eye. I guess a good example is Portrait of an Unknown Woman by Vanora Bennett. I don’t know anything about this book, but the cover image certainly is striking. It has a sleeve over the cover that wraps all the way around
the front image without the sleeve wrapping is this:
I think it’s about a painter, and a woman who sat for a portrait. Definitely intriguing!
A book on your TBR that you never plan on reading?
This would only be reference books, and they’re not on my list, just shelved. I have a Healthwise Handbook which I dip into now and then for a quick answer. I have plenty of cookbooks I might never use (not even in my LThing catalog). I have a book on making your own custom picture frames from back in the days when I was painting, but I never used that one either.
An unpublished book on your TBR that you’re excited for?
Can’t tell you. I don’t usually keep track of what’s up-and-coming. I do add such titles to my list when they catch my attention from others’ blog posts, but I don’t remember which ones they are.
A book on your TBR that everyone recommends to you?
I have Frost Dancers by Garry Kilworth on my e-reader because a fellow blogger not only recommended it when she found out I\’d read the author’s book about foxes, but she sent me the file! That was great. I can’t really think of a title that\’s been recommended to me by lots of folks.
A book on your TBR that everyone has read but you?
I can’t think of one right now. The books I like to read aren’t of a very popular genre (nature writing and animals) so …
A book on your TBR that you’re dying to read?
The End of the Game which I just got. It has awesome photographs and I just found out from the flyleaf that the author was Karen Blixen’s neighbor and published some of Kamante’s pictures in this book too!
How many books are on your TBR shelf?
Current best count is 153. Well, if I add on the e-books it’s really 220. That’s less than it has been in years. Mostly thanks to The TBR Dare! Which I am going to participate in one last time (if it really is the last).
Go on over to James’ site and read about it.
3 Responses
I used to keep track of my TBR books using a spreadsheet, but when my computer was stolen I lost it. I had a really old back up copy, but I learned the hard way that saving to another source often is important. I also had kept track of them on LibraryThing, but have never been consistent, especially not in the past four years. I have no idea how many unread books I have–although luckily I do know on sight what I have read and haven't at least.I'm not sure which I have more of in my TBR collection: print or e-books. That's a good question. I know I have a lot. The cover of Portrait of an Unknown Woman really is nice. I can see why you chose it. :-)I have quite a few yet to be published books on my TBR pile to read, mostly in e-book format. I wish you well with the Dare!
That was fun! I am really impressed with how organized your TBR keeping is! One of the things I always forget to do with my lists is actually remove a book once I have read it. I usually discover a book I have read is still on the list a very long time afterwards.
Leaf sounds really good! My TBR list is very nicely organized, but I do sometimes forget to add awesome books to it.