Tackling my Towering TBR

The plan to get my physical TBR to a number that doesn't give me anxiety

As promised in my initial post. I have photographic evidence of my unread collection AND a final count for the physical TBR.

I currently have two places where I store my unread books. A thought out book shelf:

And a bunch of (somewhat organized) bags on the floor!

My dream one day?

Properly store the books I love in my collection.

My criteria?

If it’s a book enjoyed enough that I’d recommend to others, it’s a book I should hold on to.

SO NOW FOR THE FINAL COUNT! *drumroll*

A total of 300 unread books!

So what’s the plan?

When approaching this, I'm trying to be kind to myself that I bought all of these books because they made me feel something (and hopefully that feeling was more than just the rush of retail therapy). Since I anticipate this to be a long-ish post, I’m going to be kind to you reader and provide a table of contents.

Table of Contents

• Rules for myself

• How I plan on treating myself

• How I'm tracking this in my reading journal

• How I'm curbing my desire to get the next best book

• How I'm deciding what I want to read

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Rules for myself

Over the years I have learned that telling myself I “can’t do something” or “can’t have something” makes me want it more. Since my brain doesn’t do well with anything too restrictive, my rules are simple: read a book off of your own damn bookshelves!

To rewire my brain to think this is more fun than shopping (quite the task) I have come up with ways to leave breadcrumbs of treats and to make it a bit of a game with myself.

How I plan on treating myself

This past holiday season I participated, as best as I could, in the Avoidance Advent Calendar presented by Bad Art Everyday. The “treats” I made for myself were focused on things that mainly involved things I could do at home that cost little to no money. That ended up being more fulfilling that I expected so I plan on carrying that mentality over to this as well.

The current plan is: for every 5 books read I get to pick an activity.

This list isn’t finalized but here are the ideas I have so far:

• Have a movie night

• Decorate a journal page

• Make hot cocoa

• Try a new recipe

• Bake a fun treat

• Have a “spa” day

How I'm tracking this in my reading journal

I’m very much a “numbers make brain go brr” type of person. If you need an example of what that means, I am a recovering Balatro addict.

Since I know this about myself, I dedicated a section of my reading journal to track my reading statistics. My logic: the more I read, the bigger the numbers go, the more satisfying it feels.

Honestly, I’m not the best at keeping up with my reading journal. I tried to make it aesthetic last year but it’s hard for me to stay motivated to make every page look perfect. I have pared down its contents to instead focus on brain dumping my thoughts about books and to keep note of any reading accomplishments (like so many read or completing a challenge).

How I'm curbing my desire to get the next best book

I think this is going to be the hardest habit for me to break. I often fall victim to the “well you’re coming home with me!” voice in my head. To help curb that instinct, I want to promote my window shopping habits rather than the actual spending habits. While tracking my reading in my journal, I also plan to keep a running “wish list” of books.

Each time I spot a book in the store that I want to bring home, I plan on taking a photo and writing it down. If I’m still thinking about the book a number of days later, then I’ll grab it the next time I see it in store. If it’s left my mind then I know it’s not an immediate need and I can request it from my library later.

Also keep note - I’m not enforcing any type of book buying ban on myself. I’ve tried that before with no success. I know I will be buying at least a few books a month, one for a Horror Book Club and one because I like supporting the local book store that allows us to host our Silent Book Club chapter at it.

How I'm deciding what I want to read

The energy I would usually spend shopping in stores, I’d like to translate into “shopping” my personal book shelves. Like I mentioned in the beginning of this post, most of what I own is because it made me feel something when I first bought it. I hope to find that again as I pick up books that I let gather way too much dust.

And for the times that I can’t figure out what I want to read, I am working on building up a randomizer. It’s a perfect excuse for me to roll some dice and let those speak to me. Maybe this will also be the year I learn how to DNF (did not finish) books that I had no right buying in the first place hahaha.

Are you joining along?

I’ve met so many types of readers, from people who make wonderful use of the library and others who buy as much as I do. Whatever type of reader you are, feel free to follow my journey as I try to get these books read! And let me know what type of reader you are with the poll or by commenting!