Books that linger on the TBR pile
Brandy at Random Musings has a post up about books she’s had on her TBR pile since before she starting blogging. What an fun (if mildly depressing) idea for a blog post! It’s from The Broke and the Bookish; here is the overall list of blog posts on this topic.
Brandy’s list is interesting. You know what’s on there? The Curse of Chalion. Wow. If I could choose one book I could MAKE people read, that would be a possibility. Also Inda by Sherwood Smith. Well, I know a long five-book epic fantasy series is kind of a commitment. Still.
Mind you, my life would be fine if I’d never read American Gods.
Also, I note that I also have Mistborn on my TBR shelves. I don’t think it’s been there more than a year or two, but it is there.
Anyway, it is an interesting topic and although I don’t remember when I started blogging, I can easily pick ten of the books that have lingered the longest on my TBR shelves. Which is entirely the physical shelves; after all, those were there a long time before I got a Kindle. So I went downstairs and gazed at the shelves and here are some contenders for Longest Inhabitants of the TBR Shelves, in no order because those shelves are not alphabetized:
The Name of the Wind by Rothfuss. I know, right? I was delaying until the whole trilogy was out. Now I’m delaying for no good reason. Well, busyness and the fact that I want to read other things more, I guess.
Red Thunder by Varley. I have loved other work by Varley, but near-future sociopolitical stories are really not my thing. Someday I will at least read the first chapter and who knows, maybe this will be really great and I will be sorry I put it off so long.
A Thread of Grace by Russell. I have admired other books of hers, but they can be so unbelievably brutal. I’m scared to read this, frankly. Yet I still kind of want to. Hence its long tenure on the TBR shelves.
Havemercy by Jones and Bennett. Frankly, I would probably have read this already if the dragons were real dragons instead of mechanical dragons.
The Demon King by Chima. I KNOW. I keep meaning to read this!
The Children of the Sky by Vinge. I really liked the first book! Parts of the first book, at least. I was much more engaged with the smaller-scale story with the tines than the bigger story happening offplanet. That may be why I have never quite opened this book.
The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane by Howe. This was recommended to me by someone or other and I do keep meaning to try it. Goodreads says: “A fresh present-day story infused with an original take on popular history. Forget broomsticks and pointy hats; here are witches that could well be walking among us today. This debut novel flows with poetic charm and eloquence that achieves high literary merit while concocting a gripping supernatural puzzler.” Poetic charm, I have to say, it does sound like the kind of thing I might like.
An Instance of the Fingerpost by Pears. It sounds very literary and erudite and frankly I have to be in just the right mood for that kind of thing.
This is Shyness by Hall. I have been on the very edge of reading this any number of times. Yet somehow I haven’t quite.
The Goddess Abides by Pearl Buck. I have liked all the books I’ve read by Pearl Buck. But again, I have to be in just the right mood and not distracted by some newly published title that I’m dying to read.
There, I think that’s ten. Incidentally, in case you’re curious, I have 92 books on my physical TBR shelves right now.
How about you? Anybody got a particular book they own and keep meaning to read but somehow just never seem to get to?
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Yeah, I have more TBR books on my Kindle, too, though I think only about 140 or so. But those by definition haven't been there as long because I've only had the Kindle about three years.I've seen a couple people now saying that exact same thing about Name of the Wind, so we'll see. That's a shame about Stirling's book. I have that in paper and that edition is okay, though eventually I quit reading the series for other reasons. Interesting about Shyness. Now I'm really curious about it.
I'd say I probably have 200 physical tbr books and maybe 500 on the e-Reader (freebies included).I should put that in relation of my physical library having probably 2000 books (manga & comics included) and my ebook library having 1983 (thanks, Calibre, for numbering them).
If the net breaks down, I shall always have something to read.
Yeah, I wouldn't say I have a lifetime's supply of books here, but not so far away, it sometimes seems. Especially if I include the ones on my wishlist so I won't forget about them.I don't yet need to make folders to divide up the TBR ebooks into "Recommended by ____" or "Who knows why" kinds of categories. But it sounds like maybe you might!
Very true if we're talking Goodreads ^^ - since I mostly read ebooks these days, I always put them into Calibre when I get them right away and clear up all the metadata and convert them to my preferred fontsize. Part of that is tagging the genre. So when I'm not sure what I want to read next, I can always check via there, or search for the same author if I want to see if I have new stuff not read by them. Admittedly a big part of my reading are rereads, the more pressure I have in real life, the less new reads I read (except in series I adore and eagerly await the new books of).
In some ways reading a new book in a series is a lot like re-reading, isn't it? You already know the characters and the world. Sheer busyness moves me toward re-reads (and as you say, new books in favorite series). Stress moves me toward the most compelling new-to-me books on my TBR pile. If I accidentally try a not-very-compelling book and I'm stressed, I think I'm a lot more likely to get rid of it than if I'm in a better mood in general.
Rachel wrote: "In some ways reading a new book in a series is a lot like re-reading, isn't it? You already know the characters and the world. [...] If I accidentally try a not-very-compelling book and I'm stressed, I think I'm a lot more likely to get rid of it than if I'm in a better mood in general."Very true to the first and I do the same with the second :-)
Some of the ones that have been in there the longest... The Rain Wilds Chronicles by Robin Hobbs; I've enjoyed the rest of the Elderlings series but for some reason keep giving up on this part. Curse of the Mistwraith by Janny Wurts. Black Wolves by Kate Elliot, which is really a DNF but I can't give up on any Elliot book, so I keep telling myself I'll try reading it again sometime. Corambis by Sarah Monette... Oh, and The Protector's War by SM Stirling, which I keep putting off because the previous book had so many typos I'm dreading finding this one full of errors too!
Name of the Wind I remember reading and enjoying when it first came out, but I tried rereading it this year and despised it, so I'll be interested in seeing what you think if/when you get around to it. Shyness is also on my tbr pile, I've started it twice and keep hitting a wall with it. I liked Havemercy but I agree, the dragons should have been real dragons!