Athena Posted January 7, 2014 Share Posted January 7, 2014 Do you plan your reading over the year, or is it a random thing. There are quite a few people here who are doing various challanges, some have a TBR pile, others 'go with the flow'.. so how do you plan?x I used to very much go with the mood I felt in, I picked up the book I felt like reading. For the past while I've been making big TBR-soon piles, of the books I want to get to or shouldn't forget about. Even then I might still pick something else. For the read-a-thon I tend to pick certain books as well, so there's my read-a-thon pile too (and after each one I put the new books on it). I tend to vary my genres, so after I've read a book of one genre I then usually pick one of another genre. I have certain books I definitely want to get to in 2014. x I'm wondering if it'd work to set up a thread in here for people to learn how to stop purchasing books for as long as possible ? Kinda like a Game of sorts ? Like each person has to tell how many books they own when they sign in . We go all year and have to tell the TRUTH about if we bought a book and what it was. We need to keep a point system, and for every day you go without buying a book, you get a point. Every book you buy, you lose a point. Then in December, the winner for the year ( the one with the least points, wins an Amazon gift card .) If each person participating tossed in a dollar, then there'd be a small reward in December . Just an idea .. Maybe it'd give people an incentive if they feel their book buying is out of control ( Like me ) It might even be funny for those that buy TONS of books to see how HIGH their number would get compared to others . x I just read your other thread, this sounds interesting! I bought A LOT of books in 2013, more than I'd ever bought before, because of my stress, and my aim for 2014 in terms of buying is to not buy as many books as in 2013 and spend less money on books, be a bit more selective about which books I buy. x Our only other plan is not to buy any more books this year. To cement this idea into fact, I counted up, on Library Thing, our 'books bought this year', and it was a total of 815. So, Charles has started a list of Books Not Bought. That may or may not turn into our Wish List for 2015. Awhile back, Gaia asked me how many in our TBR stack(s), I finally came up with a guesstimate of about 2400-2500, if I remember correctly, so no need to go without. x Good luck!! That's quite some books !! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ruth Posted January 7, 2014 Share Posted January 7, 2014 Well....I definitely want to buy fewer books this year although I bought two at the weekend! I've got a Waterstones voucher from Christmas, so will be using that, but then make a concerted effort to stop buying. I'm setting myself a gentle challenge - 10 novels, 10 biographies and 10 other non-fiction. By past experience, I should be able to manage a lot more than that, but I don't want to pressure myself too much. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poppyshake Posted January 7, 2014 Share Posted January 7, 2014 This is my ideal, too. I would love to go to a shop, and to be able to start reading the book I buy the minute I get home, with no qualms. But then again, I'm very driven by my mood, so when I got home, it might not be what I was after at all.. Although I dare say I don't think my mood could change so quickly. We are fickle creatures aren't we? I do believe I'm quite capable of having a mood swing between the bookshop and home I know I have a lot of challenges on my reading list, and some people are very bewildered by that. But I don't consider myself as the type of person who'll be disappointed if they can't keep up with challenges. I might talk about it, but it's not something to seriously get me down. I like variety. I like to have my options open. This is my view too The challenges are there to encourage and inspire but not to oppress. I do get an awful lot of pleasure in highlighting the ones that I've read though .. more pleasure probably than I get from reading (some of) the books I like having many books to choose from, being such a ready-moody person. But I know what you mean about having too much choice... All my bookcases are double stacked (front row and back) and I know I have books in the back row I don't even remember about! So having too many books is bad in that way: I can't literally see all the books I own, unless I move books around, and that irritates me. There might be some amazing, mood-suited reads in the back rows that I a m neglecting only because I can't see them. Yes .. I do the double stacking thing too .. out of sight and all that Usually though I've read the ones at the back .. so it's ok to take my eye off them as it were. Well, the 'infantry' are on their way to you now and I shouldn't wonder if they don't start pulling all your books from the shelves .. into a heap .. that's how they do things. Also they drink an inordinate amount of tea/coffee/rum .. so you might want to lock your stuff up. They will run errands though and are brilliant at protecting you .. should you get into a skirmish .. so the benefits outweigh the drawbacks I will cheer you on, on your quest to try and reduce TBR this year! Good luck .. and I you Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Athena Posted January 8, 2014 Share Posted January 8, 2014 This is my ideal, too. I would love to go to a shop, and to be able to start reading the book I buy the minute I get home, with no qualms. But then again, I'm very driven by my mood, so when I got home, it might not be what I was after at all.. Although I dare say I don't think my mood could change so quickly.x I couldn't do this. I like to have a bit of choice, since my mood changes quite a bit (also I don't want to be obliged to go out once I've finished a book, since I read quite fast and all that . What would you do if the book shop is closed! Of course you could re-read a book..). Admittedly, I don't need quite as much choice as I have atm, but ideally I'd never want my TBR to be very low or non-existant. x All my bookcases are double stacked (front row and back) and I know I have books in the back row I don't even remember about! So having too many books is bad in that way: I can't literally see all the books I own, unless I move books around, and that irritates me. There might be some amazing, mood-suited reads in the back rows that I a m neglecting only because I can't see them.x My book cases are double stacked too. I plan to buy some more once I move into the bakery, though I don't know how much space we'll have for books since we also have DVDs and video games. We'll have to see but I plan to buy some book cases so at least a larger part of my collection can be single stacked. Meanwhile I also plan to buy less books and spend less money on books and be more strict about what I buy. I also plan on donating some books to charity. At the moment it's organised by genres, and at the back I either put books I don't plan on re-reading soon, books I don't plan to read soon (ie. free gifts) or books part of a series or all with the same author. That way, I know that author or that series is behind there. For example, all my Jodi Picoult books are on one shelf at the back row, with a few spaces left that I put other books in. I know that when I want to read a Jodi Picoult book, I need to go there. I'm not likely to forget an author of whom I have quite a few books or of whom I've loved most of their reads etc. It's more difficult in the genres where I have a lot of books all by different authors. I wish both you, Kay and everyone else who wants to, good luck in reducing their TBR!! (my aim is to not increase it as much as last year, I don't want to pressure myself too much heh). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lauraloves Posted January 8, 2014 Share Posted January 8, 2014 I can't believe you still haven't gone through them properly But I guess it's like a huge Christmas present... You can save some of it till later and it keeps on giving... Awesome! Hehe I just like the thought that I've got all those books waiting for me one day And by the time I get back to them I'll probably want to read them even more than I do now! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
86WM Posted January 9, 2014 Share Posted January 9, 2014 My TBR pile gets read through at random, tends to be bigger by December than it is in January. This year I do intend to read Dan Brown's 'The Da Vinci Code', 'Angels & Demons', 'The Lost Symbol', and I need to buy 'Inferno'. Also, I intend to do a re-read of the 'A Song of Ice & Fire' series this year. I am more highly motivated than usual to finish my TBR pile this year though, as I keep telling myself I'll reward myself with a Kindle when I finish the pile. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
julie Posted January 9, 2014 Share Posted January 9, 2014 Good reward, 86 ! That's a nice goal to work towards Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Inver Posted January 10, 2014 Share Posted January 10, 2014 I have no idea how many books I have on the shelves read/unread, but there are a lot. My reading for the year would just be to get through a many as I can and enjoy what I am reading... (hope to reach my target of 30) which doesn't sound a lot! And like others yes my shelves are creaking with books now thanks to all the recommendations on here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zumii Posted January 13, 2014 Share Posted January 13, 2014 I've been away from here & reading for far too long! In fact it seems like an eternity! My lovely other half gifted me a nice new Paper White Kindle for Christmas & as a result I've started to curl up in the evenings to spend a little time reading. I'm currently on the Dance of Dragons (approx 200 pages in) and then I have around 140 books to choose from . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
julie Posted January 13, 2014 Share Posted January 13, 2014 Hi Zumii Enjoy your Paperwhite . Sounds like you are stacking books up on it like I do mine. It's pretty addicting ,isn't it ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zumii Posted January 13, 2014 Share Posted January 13, 2014 Hi Zumii Enjoy your Paperwhite . Sounds like you are stacking books up on it like I do mine. It's pretty addicting ,isn't it ? It is! I have to ban myself from walking into book stores or checking out the daily kindle sales. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
emelee Posted January 13, 2014 Share Posted January 13, 2014 My plan is Gillian Flynn, Sjöwall/Wahlöö and classics Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kylie Posted February 9, 2014 Share Posted February 9, 2014 Our only other plan is not to buy any more books this year. To cement this idea into fact, I counted up, on Library Thing, our 'books bought this year', and it was a total of 815. So, Charles has started a list of Books Not Bought. That may or may not turn into our Wish List for 2015. Awhile back, Gaia asked me how many in our TBR stack(s), I finally came up with a guesstimate of about 2400-2500, if I remember correctly, so no need to go without. Really? I thought you had 2-3 times as much on your TBR pile! I'm actually not that far behind you. At least I've never bought quite so many books in one year. The number of books I've been buying each year has been steadily decreasing for the past year or two, and I expect to buy even fewer books this year. I'm not sure my reading rate will ever outpace my buying, but I'm trying to lessen the gap between them. If I could avoid the book fairs, that would help a lot, but I'm too addicted. In terms of reading, I tend to just go with the flow. I have a few challenges listed, but like Frankie and Poppyshake, they don't dictate my reading - they just encourage and motivate me. I have made a short list on my reading list of about half a dozen books that I'd really like to read this year - they have been on my TBR pile for way too long. I'd also like to make sure I vary my reading and include something from every genre, especially in terms of non-fiction (Australian history, science, authors' letters etc). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pontalba Posted February 9, 2014 Share Posted February 9, 2014 Really? I thought you had 2-3 times as much on your TBR pile! I'm actually not that far behind you. At least I've never bought quite so many books in one year. The number of books I've been buying each year has been steadily decreasing for the past year or two, and I expect to buy even fewer books this year. I'm not sure my reading rate will ever outpace my buying, but I'm trying to lessen the gap between them. If I could avoid the book fairs, that would help a lot, but I'm too addicted. In terms of reading, I tend to just go with the flow. I have a few challenges listed, but like Frankie and Poppyshake, they don't dictate my reading - they just encourage and motivate me. I have made a short list on my reading list of about half a dozen books that I'd really like to read this year - they have been on my TBR pile for way too long. I'd also like to make sure I vary my reading and include something from every genre, especially in terms of non-fiction (Australian history, science, authors' letters etc). Ah, well...the total number of books we own right this minute stands at 8,105...but the 815 number above was only the number of books we bought in 2013. They are added to, more or less, to the total TBR stack (the figure I mentioned to Gaia). This year, so far, in spite of best efforts, we've added a bunch. Not sure exactly how many. I'd have to re-consult Library Thing and our kindles, as I don't, or at least haven't yet added those e-copies to our lists. I dread that. I think it's more productive, for me at least, to not tie myself down to a specific list of TBR. When I try that, too much, my eye wanders. heh Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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