TBR Tag

I was tagged for this TBR questionnaire by Eva @The Paperback Princess, my longest blogger friend and one of my favorite book blogs. Have to say, I was a little afraid to fill this out! The TBR pile can be a touchy and/or scary subject.

1. How do you keep track of your TBR pile?

Two ways. Books I own but haven't read I automatically consider TBR. Books I don't own and don't want to forget I keep in a list in the Notes section of my iPad.

2. Is your TBR mostly print or eBook?

Mostly print. I only have a few nonfiction and ARCs from publishers in ebook form.

3. How do you determine which book from your TBR to read next?

I keep a pile of books that I am really looking forward to by my bedside. I tend to stare at that stack often as I'm in and out of my room, watching TV, reading my current book. Usually by the time I'm ready to pick my next book, one in the stack has been "calling my name." If not, I look through my shelves until one catches my eye. Overall, it's a mood thing. I have to read what I'm in the mood for.

4. A book that’s been on your TBR list the longest?

If you want to go off of all the books I own and never read, it would have to be Middlemarch, which I've owned since 1996, before I officially kept a TBR list.

5. A book you recently added to your TBR?

The Monopolists, by Mary Pilon. I loved the game Monopoly when I was younger and would love to see what someone could do with it as the basis for a book!

6. A book on your TBR strictly because of it’s beautiful cover.

I'm not sure I have a choice here. Usually a book has to have a combination of intriguing cover art, title, and summary for me to be truly interested. Recommended by trusted readers is a bonus. I will rarely read a book based on only one of these things.

7. A book on your TBR that you never plan on reading.

I own two volumes that total the complete writings of Sir Arthur Conan O'Doyle, but don't think I'll ever read them. I kept them because a friend was getting rid of them and they were nice volumes and classics. Seemed a nice addition to the collection and someone might read them in the future.

8. An unpublished book on your TBR that you’re excited for.

At the Water's Edge, by Sara Gruen. I really liked Water for Elephants, so when I saw this was coming out I knew I had to add it to the TBR.

9. A book on your TBR that basically everyone has read but you.

Up until a week or so ago it was Where'd You Go, Bernadette, by Maria Semple. But I did read it this month (review here), so I haven't looked through to see what it seems everyone else has read. The one I've been collecting reviews to read after I've read it is The Girl on the Train, by Paula Hawkins.

10. A book on your TBR that everyone recommends to you.

Station Eleven, by Emily St. John Mandel, which has been praised everywhere I look! And of course the Outlander series. I bought the first three in good faith of all the recommendations.

11. A book on your TBR that you’re dying to read.

I'm feeling a stretch of nonfiction coming on as I've been reading some Mary Roach. So the next couple nonfiction selections will likely be Roach's Stiff; Bill Bryson's At Home: A Short History of Private Life and One Summer: America, 1927; and Malcolm Gladwell's Tipping Point.

12. How many books are on your Goodreads TBR shelf?

This is the question I was dreading. Here are the results - no overlaps. On my iPad note list (books I don't own) there are 50, on my Kindle app I have 11, on my physical home bookshelves there are 227, and on my physical classroom bookshelves there are 32 books. For a grand total of a TBR of 320 books on the TBR list! Not realistic I suppose. Do I care? No.

Ahhh! That was crazy. So, instead of tagging anyone, I'm going to say snag this if you want to try it out.