Talking about my towering TBR pile today. I pose a quiz question for my listeners, too. What should I do??? I’m talking about revisions, how I’ve changed my view of them, along with my progress on THE FIERY CITADEL. Also thoughts on Mary Robinette Kowal’s THE CALCULATING STARS and THE FATED SKY.
Get all the books!! I know I do. I see myself as a book squirrel, gathering lots of books for the lean times. Also: having unread books around you makes you smarter:
https://www.betterreading.com.au/news/unread-books-make-you-smarter/
And yes! I’d totally stalk that table as well.
Wow – I *love* that article! Thank you. I feel so much freer now 🙂
So long as space isn’t an issue, I say get all the books. I don’t have that many print books in my TBR as I read mostly in digital, but space is an issue for some so that has to be taken into consideration.
You should embrace the DNF and clear out a book if it isn’t working for you.
That said, I am a mood reader, so I often will start a book and put it aside. Sometimes I do this multiple times. But it has happened often enough that I start a book, think meh, set it aside, time goes by (occasionally this can be years rather than months), I try the book again and love it. And I KNOW I wouldn’t have enjoyed the book as much if I forced myself to read it the first time around. But if a book truly isn’t working for me I skip to the end, read the last few paragraphs, and delete it from Calibre and my devices.
Life is too short to read books you aren’t enjoying. Obviously I don’t love every book I read, but my TBR mountain is tall and as I get older my reading time is more valuable. I know I won’t ever get to every book I own. But I make a list of reading goals every year and try to include at least one new-to-me series (I used to be really bad about seeing a book, discovering it was 4 or 5 in a series, buying them all and then they just sit in my TBR because I think that’s too big of a time commitment. So now I only buy a new series if I plan to read it right away).
I find having an annual goal list of books (which is a subset of my huge TBR) and being able to check them off does make a dent in the TBR.
But I also don’t mind knowing my TBR mountain will never be completely gone. The idea of actually finishing all of my books makes me nervous. One can never have too many books is my motto.
Isn’t space *always* an issue??? I read mostly digital, too, so that helps. I do try to embrace the DNF, but I absolutely agree on being a mood reader. I don’t know that I could read the ending first! *GASP*