Do you guys create monthly tbr’s?

Submitted by thegayboy__ t3_1260ztv in books

I can recognise why some people don’t like the thought of a TBR, but weirdly enough, I couldn’t do without it! I get SUPER overwhelmed by the sheer amount of books that I could read, so I choose them out beforehand.

Typically, I choose around four books just to keep it light, but I tend to read more than four books a month. I also try to read in a variety of genres. Here’s my April tbr, and I would LOVE to know yours or your process or thoughts about tbr’s.

Rise of the World Eater — Jamie Littler (middle grade fantasy, fiction)

The Children on the Hill — Jennifer McMahon (adult horror, fiction)

Katherine Howard, The Scandalous Queen — Alison Weir (historical, fiction)

Coming Clean — Liz Fraser (memoir, non-fiction)

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indacingaX t1_je6zhbo wrote

I have to agree. i have my tree books and i have a scribd acount, a kindle, i discovered gutenberg and the way back machine-whew!! if i don't choose them ahead of time i get paralyzed with indecision. i have recently learned a little python and i wrote a randomizer book program. so now i just push enter, and the computer pops out a book in my database:)

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CrazyCatLady108 t1_je6zhjt wrote

i do an 'up next' list. i choose 5-10 books from my massive TBR and load them to my tablet as the next ones i will be choosing from. it does make the selection process less overwhelming and allows me to finally get to those books that have been on my list for years.

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GrudaAplam t1_je6zxx5 wrote

No. I just have shelves and piles of books. Oh, and boxes, but I'm getting some new shelves so I'll get the books out of the boxes and onto the shelves and hopefully reduce the piles as well.

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thegayboy__ OP t1_je6zyou wrote

Replying to indacingaX (#2,461,830)

Honestly, I understand feeling paralysed with indecision so much! I am the absolute worst when it comes to making decisions, and yes, even when it comes to selecting what to read. But by having an already-made TBR, it makes life easier for me.

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South_Honey2705 t1_je70ysy wrote

I literally have piles of tbr in my bedroom and just choose from the top one at a time

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vivahermione t1_je71yfu wrote

No, but I wish I could. Alas, I'm a mood reader. I could write the tbr of my dreams, and it wouldn't matter in the least, because I'd end up doing something completely different! 🤷‍♀️

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taystinyworlds t1_je725wb wrote

I do a tbr stack of more than I can possibly read. That way, I have options- like if I start something and I'm not feeling it, i can swap it out for something else.

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PeterchuMC t1_je727kt wrote

I've just got a pile that I put newly bought books onto. If it's an especially interesting book, it goes right next to my bed, to be read after the current one.

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peachneko0 t1_je72j4b wrote

I have a small pile of unread books and I usually have an idea of what I'm feeling next, but I do change my mind, so I never 'schedule' specific books as it were, but I have a general goal of 2 books a month. I'm just generally trying to push myself to read more and not buy any new ones, so the pile is dwindling, which is nice! (am excited to go on a book shopping spree once I hit the bottom of the pile)

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Zikoris t1_je77p2a wrote

With the amount I read, a monthly TBR is just too unwieldy. I really like making a weekly reading list every Saturday though. It's just hard for me to think more than like 5-10 books ahead.

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Welfycat t1_je7br1f wrote

I have a long spreadsheet that is my tbr list. I put about ten books at the top, read them, when I’m done, I go through the list and move ten more books up.

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TemperatureRough7277 t1_je7bsfj wrote

Sort of. Every month I have two book club books to read, so they automatically go on, and then I tend to choose a list of potential books based on what's available at my library (audio, digital, and in print) and other reading challenges I'm working on. My "possible tbr" for April is:

The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches, Sangu Mandanna (book club)

The Paper Palace, Miranda Cowley Heller (book club)

The Color Purple, Alice Walker (library, reading challenge)

The Rosewater Redemption, Tade Thompson (library, reading challenge, also I just want to finish the series)

Come As You Are (digital library, also for work, also a reading challenge)

Those Who Leave and Those Who Stay, and The Story of the Lost Child, Elena Ferrante (audiobooks from the library, I like to always have one on the go, these two are pretty long so will probably take up most of April)

To the Lighthouse, Virginia Woolf (library, reading challenge)

Into the Wild, Jon Krakauer (library, reading challenge)

Men Who Hate Women (library, reading challenge, Buzzwordathon for April (emotion words))

I'm not strict on finishing them each month so some may stray into May, some might get put off and others not on the list might find their way into my April reading, but this is the gist of the plan. I generally ready 9-12 books a month.

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Handyandy58 t1_je7ovjl wrote

I just have a pile of already purchased books, and when I'm done with one I just pick a new one out of the pile based pretty much solely on vibes. New books get added to the pile from time to time from a longer list of books I'm interested in which I keep in a note.

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mikarala t1_je7rgkm wrote

Yes, but it's mostly because I love making lists and less because it's actually of any use. I frequently go off-list and don't feel bad if I don't get to a book I originally had on my list and end up reading other things.

I do find this sometimes helps me commit to actually reading some classics that are on my TBR but I'm a bit intimated by for whatever reason, though. The classic I'm determined to read this month is Great Expectations.

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minimalist_coach t1_je7rjj0 wrote

Because I use the library as my primary source for books, what is available usually dictates what I read next. This year one of my goals is to read the last of the 20 or so books that moved with me 3 years ago, I have 2 slots per month for those and I don't put much thought into which one to read next.

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Readmoreco t1_je7wqa8 wrote

Yes! Sometimes it makes it easier to remember what you want to read instead of jumping around

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Grace_Alcock t1_je8ax5y wrote

I have shelves of books in my queue, but also put books on hold on Libby, then rad them as they drop. I have about four ebooks on my kindle waiting right now, as well as the non-fiction I’m reading bits of at work.

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222lil t1_je8gqfb wrote

I do, but then I end up not using it 🙃

I also get overwhelmed by all the books I could read, so I'm like "ah. I could just plan what I read! and then not be overwhelmed!" but then it doesn't work out. I'm a very frustrating combination of structured and chaotic lol

Edit: recently I discovered a monthly reading challenge on Storygraph (https://app.thestorygraph.com/reading_challenges/5e52bf76-47ba-497e-b1e7-66b3901c0a05) that I plan to try out in April

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SeaAnything8 t1_je8ki63 wrote

Oh boy. I create TBR’s based on mood and season. It’s an organized mess. My physical TBR on my bookshelf is just a ~4 book lineup of what I plan to read next. I often ignore it and chose a totally different book from another shelf.

My digital TBR on Libby is organized into separate “season” tags. What season a book goes into is less about the actual setting of the book and more on the general vibe I get from the synopsis. Here are my descriptions of each season:

  • Summer: parched surrealism, desert punk, windows open, sun going down.
  • Spring: vernal, floral, light & airy, blooming reads
  • Autumn: spooky, moody, earthy reads
  • Winter: harsh, silent, hibernating, drifts.

I also have a generic TBR tag of books that don’t fit into the seasonal tags. Whenever I’m in a reading slump I just browse the current season. I also read about 3 books at a time: a non-fiction, a fun carefree fiction, and a more serious fiction. Currently that’s Entangled Life by Merlin Sheldrake (non-fiction), The Sun and it’s Shade by Piper CJ (fun fantasy), and The End of October by Lawrence Wright (a fictional pandemic novel).

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Soggy_Resolution_547 t1_je8xref wrote

I have a Kindle, so I download 3-4 books on it and read them all according the mood I'm in.

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Choice_Mistake759 t1_je91dem wrote

No. I have vaguely kind of yearly TBRs, books I mean to read (or try) that year, but if I do not, it's fine. I got a release calendar and some books are insta-reads (but if it is not that is also fine).

I got a truly very large TBR and of books I mean to try, and that was a bit angst provoking (the DUTY of reading TBR books! It felt like slacking off if I did not) but honestly I got over it. I just can not read, or enjoy reading, books on schedule, so I try to be analytical about my exact mood (no depressing books if I am stressed...), alternating genres, if I "indulge" in just published new books (which somehow seem always more attractive) then I should give also a try to old TBRs (which somehow often are great).

I just try to pay attention to my mood, and changing genres, and themes, and lengths and all. I quit books at will and sometimes I sample paragraphs from 5, 10 books before I decide to start one. I am fine with this, it is what works for me.

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CrimzonSun t1_je91nhv wrote

My reading list was getting wildly out of hand, so I have to curate fairly aggressively. These days it's a running list of about 100 books and each new year I choose 25 books from it which keeps me going until the next year.

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mitkah16 t1_je9qnmb wrote

I use Goodreads and in my list I have books from different topics/genres. At any given moment I try to have at least 1 book from each topic in my “currently reading”. If I finish one, I go to the next. And I try taking the oldest ones waiting for me to read them. Sometimes I delete few, according to my personal taste’s evolution. My topics are usually “fantasy”, “hobby”, “mental health”, “people”, “fiction”, “sci-fi”, “thriller/horror”, “work related”, “science”… my favorite shelf is fantasy I move those a bit more than the rest, the fastest shelf is hobby due to the size of the books. I organize my list from date added, that way I keep adding but don’t forget those old ones that I wanted to read years ago.

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ube_pancake t1_je9wu5t wrote

I'm a mood reader so instead of making monthly tbrs I make them per season! That way I have the flexibility to change things up if needed. Right now I'm reading Harrow the Ninth :)

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holdenontoyoubooks t1_jea6oex wrote

No way I could plan that far ahead. I choose my next book whilly nilly

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ColdSpringHarbor t1_jeajr1z wrote

I have a "minimum" stack and my "maximum" stack. I'll explain.

The minimum stack is the bare minimum of books I want to complete this year. This is usually around 20 books, esteemed classics or books I'm desperate to read that no matter what, this year, will be read.

The maximum stack is books I'm interested in, happen to own, or are tangentially related to the minimum stack. This usually expands the tbr to around 50. Books come, books go, if I take one off the maximum stack its no big deal. It usually gets replaced in a week by something else that piques my interest.

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shadybears t1_jeasw4j wrote

I read based on mood. So, as nice as a monthly TBR sounds in practice, it's one I simply can't uphold.

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Mo_Dice t1_jeaupde wrote

No, I don't make myself a homework list for my hobby.

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Bridalhat t1_jebldvl wrote

I have at most a vague or kinda half-hearted idea of what I am going to read next. I pick based on mood and vibes I won’t know what they are until I am done with the book I am currently reading.

Also sometimes it’s fun to stand in front of your own shelf and choose your next book!

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books_throw_away t1_jeddni7 wrote

I don't have a fixed list. But do have a general idea about the next couple of books I want to read.

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