TBR: To Be Read, a pile of books you could drown under that you have acquired in some way, to read. A person may never complete a TBR in a lifetime, few have tried, only some have succeeded. Some people set monthly TBRs to try to alleviate their growing piles, stacks, mountains of books! However, whilst I used to do this, I found after a while it sucked the fun out of reading, so I stopped.
I may have taken on a bit of a creative license with the name of this blog posts. I know monthly TBRs are not dead, I know they are very much still popular! And I’m not saying I won’t ever set one, especially if I were going on holiday or taking part in a reading challenge. But on an average month to month basis, I don’t like to restrict myself.
Reading is meant to be fun, why are there so many rules?
It can feel a bit like you’re setting yourself rules when setting a monthly TBR. We all read because we enjoy it and sure, I have an idea of what my next book will be, but I don’t feel I have to stick to it. When I used to announce my TBR and lay out the four or five books I wanted to read that month, I started to feel restricted by my choices. I know I can decide what I want to or not to read, but setting a monthly TBR seemed to take the spontaneity out of picking my next book.
I’m a bit of a mood reader, some books I know I will enjoy, but it isn’t the right time for me to read them. I think it drives my mum insane, she has all these recommendations for me and I’m always telling her I’ll read them when I feel like it, but I really do mean that! So to set a TBR on the 30th of the month, may not reflect the book I fancy reading on say the 15th.
Sometimes you just have to pick what takes your fancy
On the note of mood reading, sometimes I buy books I’ve never heard of before. A book I’d never planned to read, nor even knew it existed. In this situation I usually really fancy reading that book right away, I don’t want to feel like I’m ruining my TBR or changing my goals by reading a book I didn’t plan on reading in a certain month. For me, I just want to pick up what I fancy right there and then. I’ve found since I’ve been doing this, I have been reading way more books I like and I feel less bad about DNFing books too!
I know that you could ask why I didn’t just keep making TBRs and make them flexible, but then what would be the point of the TBR? I always have an idea of my next read, but my brain works better given the flexibility of choice without restrictions. For example, when I go on holiday, I struggle with the books I bring with me. I always try to bring a mix, but knowing I only have those books to choose from, I instantly don’t fancy any of them.
But how do I keep track of the ARCs I need to read?
I’m very lucky to be sent ARCs from publishers in advance of their release dates, I try to get all my reviews for these out by this date too. I don’t set myself a TBR with ARCs as such, but I do keep an eye on when each ARC is coming out and when I need to start reading it by to get a review written in time. One of the big things I’ve done recently is not gone ARC crazy. It’s very easy to say yes to every single book you’re a little interested in, but I’ve reined myself in and only accept books I really, really think I will adore. This has helped to reduce my ARC reading list massively!
Do you set monthly TBRs? How helpful do you find them?
I could never stick to a monthly TBR. I’m glad I’m not the only one!
I plan what I want to read, but I never really stick to it.. I’m a mood reader too. Sometimes I enjoy a thriller, sometimes a literary novel or a YA fantasy.
I’m the same way!! If I set TBRs I feel restricted to the books on it and then I don’t want to read any of them 🤣🤣 I have trouble explaining that to people, but I felt you conveyed it perfectly! Awesome post 🙂
I don’t make an official monthly TBR. I do pick out a bunch of books, more than I could likely read in a month that I would like to read soon, but I don’t force myself to read those in that month. If I feel like reading something outside of that pile then I read it. Usually, I read several books from the pile but mostly I go with what I want to read at the moment that I sit down at my bookshelves.
I’ve actually just started setting a monthly TBR to try and get my HUGE TBR pile under-wraps… we’ll see how it goes…
I love this! I set monthly TBRs mostly because I enjoy going through and picking out the books. That’s about it. Then, when it comes time to choose a new book, I fall into serious mood-reader mode and pick whatever I want anyway 🙂
Happy reading!
I love monthly tbrs. I do them as during the previous month I think oh I’d like to read that and If I don’t write it down I’d forget. Plus it’s also my way of mixing up my reading with old and new books. It’s flexible though but if I didn’t do it I’d feel overwhelmed.