When physical books were my go-to, my TBR (To Be Read, in case you aren’t familiar with the lingo!) pile sat on my nightstand. It started with one or two books as a young, busy mom. It morphed into half a dozen as the kids spent time at school. Beyond that, I had to find a new place to stash them. I’ve moved those TBR books around over the years, but while living in the condo in Austin, we found a leaning bookshelf that became our spot for books waiting to be read.
When we moved into this house, that shelf went into our bedroom along with another small bookshelf—one for his TBR pile, one for mine. (Yep, mine is the big one above.) Then, suddenly, I ran out of space! What to do? I cleaned out one side of the cabinet along the wall next to my bookshelf and gained two more shelves! Hooray! Now I can tell myself I don’t look as addicted to books as I actually am.
But here’s the thing. Ebooks came on the scene. From the beginning, I had so many books I’d downloaded to my Kindle that I had to make a folder called Next to dump the new books into so I wouldn’t forget to read them!
Thus began my unseen TBR pile—those on my Kindle waiting to be read (vs. those on my wishlist waiting to be purchased).
In the beginning, this folder sat consistently around half a dozen titles. One day, I realized it had morphed to twenty or more. And it continued to grow.
Here is the current state of my Next folder.
What??? Clearly, my reading pace isn’t keeping up with my book buying in the electronic realm any more than in the physical realm! My only consolation is that my Kindle TBR pile remains unseen by most, meaning the evidence of my addiction is not readily on display for all to see.
Perhaps I should have given up buying books for Lent. Sigh.
Do you have an out-of-control TBR pile or are you better than me about buying a book, reading it, then buying another one?
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I am completely mystified by people who only buy a book when they’re ready to read one. LOL I have shelves and shelves of unread books at home (it’s only gotten worse since it’s usually cheaper to buy the paper from Baker Book House than it is the Kindle at this point – I have to admit that I’m not a fan of that… I prefer to read on my Kindle). And I’m afraid to even look at the number of unread books on my Kindle. My GoodReads account indicates that number is very high. LOL But, I look at it this way – I’m supporting SO many authors! But I have been trying to focus more this year on reading some gems that have gotten lost in my TBR.
I’m so glad you feel my pain! And yes, I’m trying to get to some of those that have sifted to the bottom, too. It’s even harder when it takes me longer to finish a physical book because I have trouble reading it if not in full daylight! But yes, it makes me happy to support authors, even if I might have to sit down with them in heaven and let them tell me the stories I didn’t get to read! 😂
You have an impressive collection, D’Ann! I find great “comfort” in my out-of-control TBR pile. (I would HATE to run out of great books to read!) But recently, I donated about half of the 50 or so books piled on my nightstand shelf and in its deep drawers to our church library. If I should run out of books to read at home, I can check a few out of our library. 🙂
That’s a great solution! You know where they are, but you don’t have to store them! Yes, I have a phobia about running out of things to read, so all my unread books both stress me out and comfort me at the same time!
Dear D’Ann,
My TBR pile is all over the house except for the bathrooms.
Long story short, I volunteered in the church library for 45 years.
The library has an 80+ history with our church, and we had 25,000
books, books on cd, and dvd’s for all ages.
Last year the powers that be decided we didn’t need a library anymore.
Needless to say, it broke my heart and others who used the library.
The books I personally bought which is about several thousand or it could be more, I brought to the house. As for the kindle, my eyes aren’t the best in the world, so a book works best for me.
Wow! I love that you saved as many books as you could! That’s dedication. And I hate that so many churches are getting rid of their libraries. I’m impressed that your bad eyes need a book. My bad eyes are the opposite. 😂
We have a school up to 8th grade. The church wanted the children’s, older children’s, and youth books for the school library. They already had a lo of books, but it was fine with me for them to be used.
Also, the church will be starting a Ministerial School so our religious books, the 200 section, went for that.
The rest they did not want, which included, Biographies, Christian Fiction, Dewey #’s 100 thru 900, the DVD’s and the Books on CD. I would venture to say what books we gave to them was no more than 5,000. Which left 20,000 to do something with. Church Librarians came from all over the county, as well as Church Members to get what they wanted. I was bound and determined that not one book, dvd, and book on cd got thrown away. I had no idea what they would do with what was left. We also had bookcases, circulation desk, children’s table and chairs, storage cabinets, tables, all hand made by the men of the church who are now in Heaven. Plus, office and library supplies, decorations of all the holidays, a refrigerator, microwave, bookends, etc. etc. Over the 45 years I worked in the library we moved 6 times. Never in a million years did I think this would happen, but God knew.
Dear D’Ann,
I made a comment but for some reason it disappeared. So, I’ll try again.
My TBR is all over the house except for the bathrooms. Long story short, I volunteered in the church library for 45 years. We had 25,000 books, books on cd, and dvd’s. The church library has a history of 80+ years. The powers that be decided that the library had to go and go it did last year. Over the years I bought a ton of books for the library. Those are the books that are scattered all over the house. As for the kindle, my eyes aren’t what they used to be and a book works best for me.
Books are one of the few things that can be piled up on surfaces that don’t make me feel clutter anxiety. Ha! I love having books around. They make me happy. At the same time, I’m a bit of a penny pincher, so I’ve really tried to limit my ebook buying to books I intend to read. Although, good intentions don’t actually get the job done. It doesn’t help that I have so little time to read. One of these days when I retire from the day job, I hope to whittle down my Kindle library. Of course, I also plan to turn my front room into a physical library so I will have an excuse to fill physical shelves with bookish delights. Such lovely dreams . . . maybe one day they will actually come true. 🙂
I’m sure they will! And I’m impressed with your self-control. The hardest thing for me is when kindle books I know I want to read go on sale. That’s where most of my increase comes. 😂
I am glad to know I am not the only one with a TBR pile. Didn’t even know it had a name until now…learn something new every day…LOL. Almost all the books I read are Christian suspense/romance and usually have three or four books to a series. I always want to read the complete series starting with book one. Some of my pre-ordered books aren’t due until October! Thanks for sharing and letting me know I am not as odd as I thought.
As you can see from the comments, you are not odd at all! Welcome to the club! Series will definitely increase your TBR pile. And I agree with you, I have to read from book 1. It does help when the pre-orders get scattered out, but lately all mine have been coming in fast and furious!
So have some of mine and getting farther behind every day! I think I am caught up until August.Have a blessed day!
I probably have 500 audiobooks that I own but haven’t listened to yet (I’ve been an Audible member since 2005). I have an equally impressive list of ebooks. If I stop buying today, I still don’t think there is a chance I will live long enough to read/listen to them all. But will I stop buying today? No. Because other wonderful books will catch my eye, other favorite authors will add to their series. Sigh.
Right there with you, Robin! I don’t have as many audio to listen to, but then I’ve just been doing audiobooks for a couple of years now. But I still have more on there than I’ve yet listened to! And yes, I definitely have more books than I can read in my remaining years, but I can’t resist the new ones, either! (BTW–your The British Are Coming series has contributed to my inability to decrease my TBR pile because I tend to devour those when they come out! 😀)
The almighty TBR is in little stacks everywhere. You know it’s bad when your daughter says, “Mom, the books are out of control.” I responded (with a grin), “Clear out the bookcases in your room and I’ll have a place to put them.” She’s married. It’s time to clear her things out.
She definitely needs to give you her bookshelf space now!
My TBR pile is definitely out of control. Shelves and shelves full. I’ve been doing better this year about not buying new books.
Good for you! Every time I think I get a handle on that kind of self-control, my husband will buy a new book and I’ll think, “then I need one, too!”
It is an obsession! I won’t live long enough to read them all!
I know the feeling! 😂