Let’s Talk Bookish is a weekly meme, hosted by Rukky @ Eternity Books & Dani @ Literary Lion, where we discuss certain topics, share our opinions, and spread the love by visiting each other’s posts. It’s supposed to be posted on Friday, but being on time is hard and it’s better late than never.
This week’s topic is: the care and keeping of a TBR.
For most of us, TBRs are this vast, formless, lurking shadow waiting to smother us in our sleep, which might be a teensy bit daunting. But hey, I’d want revenge, too, if I was banished to some forgotten corner of the bookshelf (digital or literal).
Since we all know our TBRs are absolute beasts, let’s tackle this as a Care for Magical Creatures class.
Because TBRs are magical creatures, obviously. You leave them somewhere one day, and when you come back a week later, it’s somehow doubled in size and is now growling at you and likely to bite. If that’s not magic, I don’t know what is.
Congratulations! You’ve become the proud owner of your own TBR Beast. What now?
Step 1: Feed your growing beast
Every beast needs nourishment to grow up big and strong. It may sound contradictory, but you definitely want your TBR to be big and strong, so it can protect you from all the nasty bookish things that might find you.
So what do you feed a growing TBR? Books, of course!
There are so many ways to find books to feed to your TBR Beast, but my favorite place is obviously book bloggers. Here are a few of my go-to bloggers:
Mystery/Thriller:
Sci-Fi/Fantasy:
Contemporary/Romance:
Horror/Manga:
Middle Grade:
Young Adult:
There are soooo many book bloggers that deserve a shout-out here, but here’s at least just a sampling of the ones I enjoy reading! By no means is it an exhaustive list (and I apologize to all the people I left off … you’re not any less wonderful).
Step 2: Provide them a safe, secure environment.
You wouldn’t want to unleash your growing beast on the world too soon, would you? That’d be all kinds of disastrous. So your growing little TBR Beast is going to need a safe place to live until its rage has simmered just enough to prompt it to venture into the world for revenge, ruckus-raising, general razing, and other such shenanigans.
So where exactly can a TBR live? I’m so glad you asked! Probably the best-known place is Goodreads, which is currently where the bulk of my TBR lives. But have you heard of The StoryGraph, which is a rising site that offers a lot of what Goodreads does, plus the ability to easily pull analytics and statistics off the site?
Sites not enough? Not to worry! There are more in-depth, hands-on ways to keep track of your TBR. For example, Kal @ Reader Voracious has a wonderful spreadsheet for tracking your reads, which allows you to easily pull whatever data and aggregates you want to track about your reading!
For the more artistic among you, there’s always bullet journals. This one’s beyond me (I couldn’t draw a straight line with a ruler). If you need ideas, though, Instagram has a ton of gorgeous TBR bullet journal spreads. Some of my favorite are from Annemieke (@signourney). Check them out:
Step 3: Groom the growing beast.
Sometimes, beasts can get a little too unwieldy, a bit hairy, a bit … rough-looking. Maybe it looks more wild creature than cuddly house pet. At that point, it might just be time to groom it! While I wouldn’t recommend trying to bathe your growing TBR Beast (here, just assume the same rules applies as for Gremlins: no food after midnight and don’t get it wet), a little trimming here and there is always a good thing.
One fun way to do this might be to participate in a weekly meme. This one’s called different things now that the host blog has been deleted, so you could go the route that Nicole @ BookWyrmKnits takes with Goodreads TBR Declutter or you could go with something like Dini @ DiniPandaReads and call it Down the TBR Hole. Whatever you call it, the point is to actually look at books on your TBR and decide whether to keep or get rid of them.
Is your problem just that you forget what’s on your TBR? I mean, it’s an easy thing to do once it gets so big. If you need weekly reminders of things you should be picking up or what’s actually on your TBR, try memes like Goodreads Monday, Shelf Control, or Stacking the Shelves.
Step 4: Show it off like the proud parent you are.
Proud parents demand PICTURES or it didn’t happen! There are so many ways to show off your growing TBR baby. There’s things like book hauls or even bookshelf tours, to show it in its natural environment.
Want to exhibit how much it’s growing each week? There are definitely memes for that, like Can’t Wait Wednesday, where you get to show off a book on your TBR that you’re particularly looking forward to.
Want to show that it’s matured a bit? Try a weekly meme like WWW Wednesday, where you show what you’re reading each week, or Book Beginnings and Friday 56, where you show off little excerpts from your current read. It’s like putting your little beast in its finery and showing it off to the world! Or you could take part in MG Takes on Thursday to highlight MG books you’ve read and enjoyed!
You know a great place to show off your growing book babies? Instagram! It’s really as easy as creating an account and starting to show off your proud little monster, and you can even connect with all the other people showing off their TBR beasts! Win-win!
Step 5: Learn to set it free.
NO, WAIT, NOT LIKE THAT! Phew. You can’t just set it loose on unsuspecting townsfolk. What’s wrong with you?! That was a close one.
What I mean is, it’s okay to unload books when you’re done with them if you don’t want or need them anymore! There are usually plenty of places books can be donated, like local second-hand shops, used bookstores, libraries, sometimes even nursing homes or adult daycare facilities.
Saying goodbye can be hard, but if it’s come time, there are plenty of ways to put your used books to good use
Congrats on your new TBR Beast! You are now ready to venture forth and provide your growing monster all the care and love it requires! Can you think of any tips I left out?
Great tips on the care and feeding of a TBR Beast! I particularly like the stage where I groom the TBR Beast by taking all the TBR books off my bookshelf and pet them, then put them all back. It doesn’t always result in me reading any of them, but it’s nice to remind them I care.
Nicole @ BookWyrm Knits recently posted…Friday Reads: Solutions and Other Problems
Petting your TBR beast and giving it love and attention is super important, especially if you don’t want your beast to eat you while you sleep. It’s happened before. *nods sagely*
Love this! I really need to declutter my TBR because I added books years ago I’m not sure I’m interested in reading at this point. But at the same time, I also have a hard time decluttering my life – what if I decide I want to read it later and I’ve deleted it?!🤣. Maybe I will participate in one of the memes to help me along haha.
Alex recently posted…Author Talk: Helen Hoang – author of The Kiss Quotient and The Bride Test
Yeeeah, I need to do that, too. There are times I scroll through my TBR and don’t even remember a book that’s on there. Not what it’s about, not the cover, nothing. That’s … probably a bad sign. People have told me the memes do make it easier, because it’s a little at a time. xD
Loved this! My beast is about to outgrow my house. 😉
Dedra @ A Book Wanderer recently posted…My October TBR
Time for a new house! That’s obviously the only solution here. xD
Ahahaha I love this post Sammie!! I relate to so much of this and this is pretty much a comprehensive summary of how I manage my ever-growing TBR. And omg same about not being able to draw a straight line with a ruler — seriously, how do those people on Instagram do it? 😂😂
HAha I loved this post!
(www.evelynreads.com)
Evelyn recently posted…Where Dreams Descend – Janella Angeles
I love this post! And you know what…maybe it’s okay if I feed my TBR just a little bit more often. 🙂
Julie Anna recently posted…Review: The Radium Girls by Kate Moore
You made this post SO much fun, I love how you wrote it. You even found a way to plug other bloggers! I loved this whole post so much. I’m currently really stuck on step 4, I think I need a few more little pushes to get through step 5 and let the books I finished reading and don’t really want to read again go…but it’s probably better to release them out to loving homes right?
Dani @ Literary Lion recently posted…What is the Meaning of “Diverse Books”? | Let’s Talk Bookish
This is too adorable! And true, because they can be quite dangerous hah. I actually had to pick out a book from my own TBR yesterday and it did not go well. In fact, I think your post has reminded me that I am overdo for a clean-out of my TBR because it’s getting close to my “read” number and that is NOT good!
Shannon @ It Starts at Midnight recently posted…Reviews in a Minute: October And the Trees Are Stripped Bare
Haha I love this Sammie. And thank you for sharing my bujo <3
Of course! You know how much I adore your spreads. ❤
This is so funny and a perfect way to deal with TBRs. They truly do end up acting like beasts anyway lol
Rukky @ Eternity Books recently posted…The Spearhead Theme: A Minimal Design and Clean Slate for All Content Creators
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