New year, new list

[Martin]

Late 2015 I came to a realisation; my TO READ list was actually causing me angst and was in fact inhibiting my ability to select my next book. So, I cleared the list. 2016 saw me with no books marked TO READ.

Now, I admit a few books went back on it so this is perhaps a serious culling rather than a true clean slate, but I have to tell you all, I feel much better.

[Joanna Chaplin]

Martin wrote: "Late 2015 I came to a realisation; my TO READ list was actually causing me angst and was in fact inhibiting my ability to select my next book. So, I cleared the list. 2016 saw me with no books mark..."

A to read list is a tool and nothing more. Huzzah for reclaiming yourself from its tyranny!

[Tobias]

As with the konmari method of decluttering your home... If it doesn't bring you joy, throw it out. If a book on your list brings you joy when you think about it being there, leave it. There's nothing wrong with that!

[Heather]

I sometimes go through mine and purge things that, in hindsight, look pretty terrible. I'm convinced I must drunk browse Goodreads and end up with some of them on there.

[Louie]

I only use my To-Read shelf for books I own, but have not read yet. I made an additional Wish-List shelf for stuff I want to read. Admittedly, though, my To-Read shelf has not decreased in size in quite some time due to me picking from my Wish-List first.

[Trike]

If I used the To-Read list for all the books I want to eventually read, I would be overwhelmed by its size as if I were a wounded WWII submarine sinking below crush depth.

I have my private Amazon "Shopping List" and another list on my phone called "Books To Get" that I've seen at the library and bookstores, and they are daunting enough.

[Louie]

Trike wrote: "I have my private Amazon "Shopping List" and another list on my phone called "Books To Get" that I've seen at the library and bookstores, and they are daunting enough."

Same here. My library has a list feature, which I have put to very good use. And my Amazon Wish-List is ridiculous with comic book releases this year.

[terpkristin]

I have tbr_year lists for most years (haven't done this year's yet) since I joined GR. I use it to flag books that I have procured but not yet read. Some books make the list multiple years in a row. Most books, actually...

[Chad]

My TBR shelf is all books I own but haven't read yet and I have a short list shelf for the ones that are on deck or more important

[Colin]

It can be surprisingly freeing to wipe a list clean like that. My TBR list is still far bigger than a year's worth of reading but feels much more manageable after I culled 30+ items (about a third of the total) that I had to admit I was unlikely to ever get to!

In a similar vein, I realised that the backlog on one of my weekly audio fiction podcasts had reached a full year's worth of episodes. I unsubscribed and deleted the downloads. It felt great!