Like most book bloggers, I read a lot (kind of a prerequisite!). But there are some things related to reading that I’ve kept secret – until now. This feature is my chance to confess what I’ve done or what I’ve not done related to reading.
I noticed recently that a lot of my comments on other peoples blogs & posts go along the lines of “Great review – I have this book already and you’ve really made me want to pick up soon!” or “This book has moved straight to the top of TBR pile – I’d forgotten I even owned it!”. I suppose this isn’t at all uncommon – after all how many book bloggers don’t have a To Be Read pile? And sometimes that can get pretty big. However, I’ve also run out of room on my shelves to store these books. I have a three shelf bookcase that I use to keep all my books that I want to read on. Recently the three shelves haven’t been enough and I’ve started piling books on top…so now it looks like this:
Crazy, huh? And this isn’t all the books I have waiting to be read! I have a pile of YA books from the 80s and 90s I keep separate for one of my reading challenges for this year as well as a pile of books which are my must read soon pile. (Although I will be the first admit there are a couple of tomes that have sat in this pile for a very long time!). Plus all the books on my kindle. This got me thinking about the sheer number of books in my complete TBR pile, so this weekend I decided to count them all. Do you know what the grand total is?
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| My TBR Pile - and yes that top pile is double shelved! |
TBR Book Shelf: 195 Books
YA of 80s & 90s Pile: 7 Books
Must Read Soon Pile: 17 Books
Unread Kindle Books: 40 ebooks
GRAND TOTAL: 259 Books
That’s a lot of books. A LOT of books.
In 2010 I managed to read over 150 throughout the year, so assuming a similar rate I have enough books to keep me going for the next 18 months – even if I didn’t buy any more in the meantime! And this is really where my confession is going…I still keep buying more books!! I’m addicted! I tried stopping myself from buying any books in August, but somehow I only managed it for two weeks before the lure of the books stores and amazon dragged my back in. I have 259 books waiting to be read at home – books for the most part I really wanted, that I handed money over for or begged friends and family to purchase for Christmas/Birthday. And I do want to read each and everyone of them – especially when I keep coming across reviews for books that I already own saying how great they are! But I still keep buying new books to add to the pile. Help!!
Is anyone else in a similar situation? Are books coming into your home at a faster rate than you read? Are you afraid of being buried alive in your unread books? Or are you the opposite? Do you only buy books when you need something to read? Does anyone have any idea how to shrink this massive TBR pile? (And don’t say, stop buying more books – can you stop breathing?!). Lets get our collective heads together and figure something out… J
Oh yes!I am struggling under the amount of books I have. I am desperate to read more to try and get through them, but it isn't happening.
ReplyDeleteOh I totally understand ! I've so much books to read and so much that I would like to read ! There is never an end !I prefer not to count, it would be depressing.
ReplyDeleteI don't have a big TBR pile, only 3 at the moment but I do have a very long list of books that I want to buy, at last count over 980.
ReplyDeleteFirst of all - you're not alone ;-) !
ReplyDeleteSecondly - my own TBR piles of both physical and eBooks has just crossed the big 4 ... 4 as in FOURHUNDRED ... this past week.
Thirdly - the only sensible way of reducing the number is to give away those books you don't see yourself reading anymore (trust me, you'll be surprised of finding books that have lost their lure, but if they are on your stacks long enough it does happen). I purged my TBR stacks some months ago and rid myself of about 50 or 60 paperbacks. Needless to say that new books keep rolling in *sigh*.
P.S.: Love the photo! I guess standing next to that shelf in an earthquake spells disaster *lol*.
I've not counted my TBR stacks...I don't think I want to, haha ;o)
ReplyDeleteEarlier this year, I went through a slower-reading spell, and my books backed up on me a little crazy-like. Then in August I slipped back into my crazy reading habits, and am slowly making progress...I think. Pretty sure? Just hoping now it keeps up, because I would *love* to be able to see a "shortlist" of things to read, knowing I'm able to read things as they come to me...Happy dream? Possibly, haha :o)
You're not alone! And mad props to you for actually counting it out and sharing the numbers!
I'm the same! Luckily I only read physical books (no kindle here) but my to read pile must have around about 200 books in it which for me is probably over 2 years worth and I still keep buying more!
ReplyDeleteI am in the exact same boat! I just cant seem to stop buying! my tbr is over 600 strong now that I went crazy and bought around 200 at the borders closeouts. Heck I even bought books that were past number one in a series that I haven't even started yet...telling myself "you are going to read this series." My problem is I have slowed down on the reading because I have been doing more crafting the past year. I'm trying to behave and not buy any books the rest of the year except those that I swear to myself will be the very next book I will read. I tried the I'm not going to but anymore route and that failed miserably. We just have to admit we have an addiction...
ReplyDeleteI'm going to count mine up... I have no doubt that I'm in the high 200's... We're all compulsive book buyers!
ReplyDeleteYep I'm another one that buys far more than I can read. However, I am not going to count my TBR pile, I think i'd rather not know :D But it can't be drastically different from yours.
ReplyDeleteFar too many books and not enough time!
I am definitely the same. I just checked Goodreads (as my shelves look something like yours and I just can't count them) and my tbr pile is 446 which includes 147 unread on my Kindle. And I can't stop buying either. Well actually I have to now as my job is on the 'at risk' list so I'll probably be out of work by Christmas, but at least I wont run out of books to read.
ReplyDeleteI don't understand the problem.... there is NEVER too many books in the tbr pile!!! NEVER! ;D However, I'm sure I have enough to keep me occupied for several years. Let's just say I have more than one book case full of books. Not all are fiction books but I have a huge bookcase of art books as well. :)
ReplyDeleteIt did not happen before but then I started to blog, and yikes! Too many books even though I read as much as I can, and not doing much else
ReplyDeleteOh my! lol. I've got about 160 books here to read and I know I wont get through them in the next year, or even close. That's the shame of it. But I keep buying and entering to win more. I even feel guilty at all the books I have sitting here needing me to read them. lol. But I'm soooo glad I'm not the only one do it. :) Thanks for sharing your shelves with us.
ReplyDeleteOh, god, I'm the worst. I collect books like they're going out of style. I think my books even have books. This didn't used to be an issue, really, but now that I'm blogging, I have to be more organized. Which only means that the books I receive for review go on top of my desk and the rest go beneath. Now I just have to figure out a way to remember the ebooks. Crap.
ReplyDeleteI have the same problem. I don't even want to count the number of books I have TBR- I get overwhelmed!
ReplyDeleteI've even started using the edges of my stairs as a bookshelf!