Things We Want Simon and Thomas to Talk About

[Robin]

Hi guys,

One of the last episodes of Books on the Nightstand, they spoke about creating a list of 11 TBR books to choose from rather than trying to choose from your general shelves (which, if they are anything like mine, could mean into the 100s...).
How do you guys choose your next book? I've resorted to putting the names of each TBR book on a little piece of paper and placing them into a jar which I then randomly select from. Otherwise I spend way too much time choosing my next read, and sometimes that also means I reach for the familiar rather than trying something different.

Also, do you find you read more if you are set deadlines or does it make reading too much of a chore? I know Simon spoke about reading the Bailey's prize. But in terms of joining bookclubs, participating in Summer readalongs, does it help or hinder?

Sorry if these are duplicate topics. Just things popping into my reading brain.....

[Vinny]

Robin Bo wrote: "Hi guys,

One of the last episodes of Books on the Nightstand, they spoke about creating a list of 11 TBR books to choose from rather than trying to choose from your general shelves (which, if they..."

I love hearing about different reading habits like this related to accumulating and selecting books- I second this topic, Robin. I don't think I've ever done it randomly like that. There are times when, for whatever reason, I know exactly what my next book is going to be. But my favorite times are when I have two books to choose between because then I take them each like it's some head to head competition, read snippets of each, go back and forth, etc. I'm not sure why this is so satisfying.

One difference I find between myself and other readers are how many books I have on my shelf that are TBR. I get uneasy if the books to be read on my shelf gets too large--it is typically only in the 7-10 range. Sometimes this affects my book buying--like if I'm in a used book shop and cost is less of a factor, I need to limit how many I buy just because I don't want to wait for months until I can go to a book store again. But I also read more slowly than most big readers, so I think that has something to do with it.