Ever find yourself standing in front of your bookshelves or scrolling through your ereader… only to realize you haven’t read several books you were so excited to receive? I’ve been going through this often lately. I have a short list of books I need to read first (like NetGalley books, for my classics challenge, a couple recent releases for review). Yet it seems like every time I finish that list, I still end up not reading the ones I intend to read next.
It makes me wonder why this keeps happening. And if there’s any way to help taper down the to be read list. Maybe I need to have willpower… focus on a goal. Part of the problem with this is that I have so many books. And keep getting tempted with ever more every day. Especially when they throw out great ebook deals. VERY ESPECIALLY.
Do you ever face this predicament? Ever been so excited for a book that you buy it and somehow forget to read it? Are you like me and can’t hold yourself back from taking advantage of bargains? Is there anything you do to help tackle the ever growing pile on your shelves or in your ereader?
I’d love to hear any suggestions and thoughts!
~Jessica
PS: That is a picture of me pre-blogging with my barely ONE shelf of YA books. Classic.
I do this ALL. THE. TIME. There are books I have been over the moon to be approved for, or to receive, and then I just don't get to them. And I'm excited when they arrive, I put them in the reading piles (nightstand for physical, phone for e-books), but then I just ... don't.
ReplyDeleteI think part of it is a sense of anticipation. Like, I'm so excited for it, I don't want the book to be a flop. Or not as good as I'd hoped.
I don't have any suggestions, because this is something I'm struggling with as well. You're not alone, though!
I think that is part of it sometimes, you want it to be good and worry it may not be. Once we become a book blogger, we find too many books! Lol. It is nice to know I'm not alone. :)
DeleteI do this all the time! I just have to have a book the minute it comes out and then other things come up and it just sits on my shelf. I spend hours a week just staring at my shelves wondering when I'm going to get to all of those books! I made a shelf on Goodreads for books to get to soon and have I got to any of them? Did it help? Nope. :( Sigh! I have no idea what to do.
ReplyDeleteLol, it would be nice if the Goodreads shelf worked for you. That might not be a bad idea for me to try. I've just got to convince myself how important reading certain books is. Tell myself to not be distracted by the rest! :P
DeleteI think all of us book Bloggers tend to have this disease. I've taken a stand against my obsession and Have forbidden myself from buying books until I can get through the pile of stuff I already have. This works well for paperbacks but I still have a tendency to buy cheap ebooks and then completely forget about them!
ReplyDeleteGood for you taking a stand! I need to do the same. Those cheap ebooks are so tempting, I'm always having to find some sort of balance. We'll all get there eventually. ;)
DeleteOh boy, this SO happens to me. I'll snatch up a new release, be SO excited for it...then 6 months later, I still haven't read it. Blogging has helped me with that some - I've started learning to set limits, NOT accept every review request, ARC, etc and I can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel so that I WILL be able to read some of my anticipated TBRs!
ReplyDeleteI'm working on the same, trying to set up times for reading certain books. I think that may help the most--writing out a reasonable schedule and trying to stick with it. Not take on too much. I just need to stop finding new books, lol. :P
DeleteI am guilty of this too. Especially with Ebooks. I have so many on my to read list but that never stops me from getting more. I may or may not have bought two more today, they were just such a good deal.
ReplyDeleteI know! Ebooks are always my weakness, I'll stock up during sales and they just sit there. The deals are hard to pass up sometimes. :)
Delete*raises hand* I'm the same way. I have an entire shelf of books that I HAD TO HAVE but haven't read. I'm hopeless. I'll make a mental list of the books I want to read over the next few weeks, but then I get distracted at the library or by another book I own that I suddenly have the urge to read, or I'll win a book and really want to read it. My TBR pile grows every day on GoodReads, and my physical pile is getting ridiculous. I love to make lists and even more than that, I love crossing stuff off lists, so I'm thinking I might make a list and cross books off as I read them and that might help me stay on track? Worth a shot, right?
ReplyDeleteOh! Plus when an ebook is free, if it's something I've really been wanting, I'll get it even though I don't think I've read a single one of them lol. Hopefully my new ereader will help with that. I'm compulsive about NetGalley too.
DeleteI've been keeping a list for my reading, except it's mostly books I've picked up for review. It has made me feel a little more accomplished, but I still buy more than I can read. I used to go through the stuff my friends on Goodreads have recently added, but had to stop otherwise I'd have over 2000 books, LOL! I find most of the better ones through blogs so I've narrowed down my adding there. :P
DeleteI used to go nuts with NetGalley, but I'm trying to be better there too. I usually only pick out ones I really want to read and not just ones I'll read someday. That way I will actually read it and not put it off until the book expires. ;)