Mel's post was about an idea that she (and I) saw on Modern Mrs. Darcy's blog -- which suggests making a TBR (to be read) priority list of your top five "want to read" books on a post-it note, and choose the next book you read from there.
I'm not sure a post-it note would work for me (let alone a list of just 5! -- although I do make lots of other kinds of lists on post-it notes that get stuck in my Filofax planner) -- but I'm toying with the idea of trying some kind of "priority TBR" list or pile. (Again.) I've made piles of books to read next before, but they tend to get kind of unwieldy after a while. :) My problems are (a) just too damn many unread books to get to (insert red-faced icon) ;) and (b) something new & shiny comes along that gets put on the top of the pile.
In terms of how I decide what to read next: books to be read for book clubs obviously get first priority -- but after that, it's generally the most recent book I've bought, or something else (usually relatively recent) that I've wanted to read, or something relevant to something else that I read or saw on the news or something like that. Sometimes I feel like I need a break from non-fiction (especially the political books I've been reading lately...!) and want to read something more frivolous so I pick up a novel -- or vice-versa.
So far this month/year I've read "Hoax" by Brian Stelter (which I picked up earlier in the fall and wanted to finish)... "Confessions of a Forty-Something" by Alexandra Potter (for the Gateway Women book club -- which, happily, turned out to be a fabulous pick!)... and "The Jane Austen Society" by Natalie Jenner (bought earlier in the summer/fall, and I was in the mood for something Jane Austenish) -- all reviewed here on my blog.
I'm currently reading Kamala Harris's memoir, "The Truths We Hold," for obvious reasons. ;) I am thinking Richard Osman's "The Thursday Murder Club" next (which several friends have read & loved), but we'll see. There's a new book coming out tomorrow that I read about in the New York Times called "American Baby" by Gabrielle Glasser, about the history and ethics of adoption in America, that sounds really interesting... you see how easily I get sidetracked?? lol
Some of the books I've been meaning to get to for quite a while now include "Us Against You" and "Anxious People" by Fredrik Backman (after reading & loving "Beartown" for my library book club), "The Huntress" by Kate Quinn (after reading & enjoying "The Alice Network" for my library book club -- and she has a new book coming out soon too... gahhhhh...), "My Dark Vanessa" by Kate Elizabeth Russell (which I keep putting off, even though several people I know have read it & rated it highly, because it sounds... dark... and I need to be in the right frame of mind to tackle something like that), and "Maisie Dobbs" by Jacqueline Winspear, which By the Brooke recommended to me a long time ago. ;)
How do you decide? And what books are on your perennial TBR list/pile?
You can find more of this week's #MicroblogMondays posts (and comments about MMD's priority TBR list idea!) here.
Library holds take first precedence ! Then any borrowed/shared from friends.. then newest purchases.. then one of my many collected thrift store finds !
ReplyDeleteI will be shocked SHOCKED if you do not adore Thursday Murder Club. It was one of my favourite reads of the year. I cannot wait for the next one to come out.
ReplyDeleteMy problem is that I'll read the first book in a series, intending to read one and move on to something else. And then I suddenly feel like I should read the whole series, which bumps all the other books down the list. Series are tricky things.
I agree...! It helps if you can get in on a series early (and it sounds like you can with this one!). I started reading the Flavia de Luce books by Alan Bradley shortly after the first one came out. That was a book club pick too -- and a very fortunate one too, lol. I bought & read every one as it came out. The only drawback with that approach is then you have to wait (& wait... & wait...!) for the next volume in the series to come out! I eventually got behind with the Amelia Peabody books (by Elizabeth Peters) and I still have to read the last three or four in the series.
DeleteAs I said on Mel's blog, I have no system. Or perhaps, my system is purely whim-based. I rarely buy books these days, as there are so many e-books in my city library that if one isn't available, I can read others. I put holds on books I want, but can choose when they are to be delivered. It's very much based on how I feel - happy, sad, scared, confident etc. I started President Obama's book a month or two ago (which I purchased), but only now, post-inauguration, do I actually feel relaxed enough to really get into it! And I'm also - at the same time - reading The Thursday Murder Club, which I need to finish before it expires because there's a long list of people who have put it on hold and I wouldn't get it back for weeks.
ReplyDeleteI have a few books never read, but not many. Reading through the library has saved me $000s or maybe even $000s! As well as vital shelf space. lol
All books I add to my to read pile (new or rereads) go to the bottom of the stack. And I read them from top to bottom. When the pile gets a little low I'll pick out books to reread. When I go to Hallmark to buy bday cards it is always a long outing because Barnes & Noble is right across the street. Any new books I buy also go to the bottom of the pile.
ReplyDeleteI usually keep a list of books I feel I should read (last year Caste and How to Be An Antiracist made this list),plus books I am dying to read (new books by my favorite authors). Then I get all spontaneous in my library holds list and end up power reading those when they all become available in the same three week span of time.
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