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. 

A Murder of Magpies

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