One thing I really want to do this year is tackle my TBR list. After counting up all my as-yet-unread books (fiction books only) both physical books and ebooks… Well, let’s just say I was a little overwhelmed.

The eBook Hoard

In the past, I have counted all my unread physical books and, I’ll admit, there is a lot. Moreso now since I got some for Xmas and bought some around that time too. But when I made the huge mistake of counting all my ebooks as well… ebooks alone came to well over 100 books *hysterical laughter*

Let’s just say I seriously need to get on top of this TBR pile.

Honestly, I found that having so many unread books started to make me anxious and I began to find it difficult to pick up any book.

Many of these books were book 1 in a series so, technically, there is scope for me to need to get even more books.

This made it clear I needed to tackle the problem in a way that would work for me.

The Book Ban

The first thing I did was ban more books from coming into the house. Not that difficult since my finances could do with this ban too.

NB: I did break this ban once because my good friend and author I.L Cruz brought out the last book in her Enchanted Isles series. So, I snatched this up real quick and now it sits proudly on my shelf with the other three books in the series. If you haven’t checked out her work, do it!

So, for the rest of the year, no new books. This ALSO includes free books. I know, I know, ‘but they’re free?’ Doesn’t matter. This is a book ban, not just a book-BUYING-ban. I can’t have any more books entering the system until I’ve completed a lot of what I already have.

Taking Stock

Next, I grabbed my Galaxy tablet and Kobo reader and spent way longer than expected writing down every fiction ebook I had. Now, I have a Kindle app, a Kobo app and an Eboox app.

I also have a Kobo reader connected to a different email address so it has books not in the Kobo app on my tablet. (Erghh why am I LIKE this!?)

Not only did I type up each book on a Google doc, but also checked and categorised them. By this I mean I checked every book against Amazon or Goodreads to find out if it was a standalone or series.

It took a lot of time.

Then I categorised them as I typed them up:

• Standalone short (as in average book size)
• Standalone long (big chunky books)
• Duologies
• Trilogies
• Everything above Trilogy

The majority fell into the last two categories. I also included how many books were in the series and where the book was e.g. Kindle, Kobo, physical copy etc. I am trying to cut down on having to search it out.

One thing I didn’t include was what genre it was. I have a preferred genre I like to read but I also DO enjoy other genres. So rather than letting my goblin brain automatically go for fantasy stories (which, to be honest, almost all are) I kept genre out.

So now I have a fully typed-up, categorised list of books I own but haven’t yet read.

The Jar!

You can’t just expect me to actively choose a book from my TBR pile. Right?

I will definitely fall down a rabbit hole of reading all their blurbs and then checking out the author’s website and then get overwhelmed and probably reach for Witches Abroad by Sir Terry Pratchett (my fave book of his) and just read that again for the millionth time.

So I need to take away some of the decision-making. For this, I needed:

• Coloured paper
• Printer
• Scissors and a jar

Yes, sometimes I do need to spend waaay too long on a system just to give me enough dopamine to keep going thus helping me choose my next read.

Using Excel, I added each book title to a cell. I used different sheets for different categories and printed each category onto different coloured paper.

Cut all the slips of paper out

Folded them up and added them to a glass jar.

It’s super important I use something see-through as I am very much an out-of-sight-out-of-mind person. Hence the stupid amount of unread books on my tablet and reader.

The Rules

I have rules (because of course I do!).

1) The first several books I read must be Standalones.

2) If I draw out a book and I’m just not feeling it (eg maybe I’m not in the mood for a heavy thriller) I can reject it and put it back in the jar. I get 1 rejection a month. However, if I end up drawing that same book again on the re-draw, I have to read it.

3) I do not HAVE to complete a book. If, while I’m reading, I realise the book just isn’t for me, I can DNF it. However, I must give the book a fair chance (several chapters) and if I do choose it as a DNF, I have to delete it. (I’m not big on deleting things, so it will have to be a definite DNF as I would have to rebuy it later).

~ ~ ~

This is how I am tackling my TBR list and my decision paralysis. Now, when I finish a book, I just go to my jar and select a slip of paper to find out what my next read will be.

Are you tackling your own TBR list?

Happy reading

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