Setting a TBR vs mood reading books, which makes me a more productive reader?

In this blog post, I want to address the differences I’ve found when setting a TBR for a month vs mood reading and which I find makes me a more productive reader. Join me as I try and discover which suits me better!

In 2021 I’ve set a few TBR’s for various monthly challenges, something I used to think I didn’t suit doing, something I felt restricted my reading. However I’ve done a first for myself, I’ve decided to start setting monthly TBR’s. For anyone reading this and thinking what is a TBR, what are you going on about Beth?! TBR stands for To Be Read, essentially the books you want to read that you add to a list for a set period of time.

For the month of August I’ve been playing my TBR game, Fictionary, for the first time, in which I pick books based on six prompts to read for the month ahead. I actually ended up with seven books for August, but I’m zooming through my TBR! Having the direction to pick my next book rather than the whole of my collection is giving me the guidance I perhaps needed when finding my next adventure.

So let’s look at the positives and negatives for setting a TBR, in my opinion:

Positives

• Gives you a select number of books to pick from when you finish your current read. This can offer direction and take away the daunting task of picking from the large number of books you haven’t read yet (calling myself out there).
• May push you to read wider, especially if you’re picking books based on prompts that you wouldn’t have usually reached for.
• Can add some structure to your reading, whether or not this is a positive or negative, I’ll leave it up to you.
• Gives you time to think about what you want to read and when you want to read it, so you’ll perhaps be less likely to miss anything out you’re excited for.

Negatives

• Can be too restrictive and make you feel like you’re regimenting your reading.
• Depending on how strict you’re being, a TBR may not allow for spontaneous book picks.
• Could make reading feel like a chore if you’re setting certain books and forcing yourself to read them, although again this depends on how you approach a TBR.
• Some people may find this actually puts them off of reading, by making themselves jump through certain hoops when picking their books.

I think when talking about positives and negatives, it really does depend on how you approach setting a TBR and what your own technique is.

Let’s talk a little about mood reading, when you pick a book to read entirely depending on your mood at the time. Usually, there is no planning involved here and it’s a spontaneous pick. This is how I’ve previously picked most of my reads. I enjoy that there are no restrictions, it doesn’t make reading feel like a planned out job, but just something to enjoy spontaneously. So shall we look at the positives and negatives?

Positives

• You can read whatever you fancy when you fancy it!
• If you get a new book midway through the month that you didn’t plan to buy, you can read it right away if that’s what you want!
• By the very definition of mood reading, you can match the book to your mood.

Negatives

• The main negative for me is that there is no direction when it comes to picking what to read.
• Can become too daunting to pick a read and end up taking hours to choose.
• Means it’s harder to take part in reading challenges because you won’t want to pick for certain prompts.

I feel like these are all very subjective points – one may be a negative for more but a positive for someone else. But I’m excited to continue on the journey of finding out what I prefer!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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