Do you pay any attention to your "to read" shelf?:

[Sally, la reina]

I mean, really follow your "to read" shelf? I don't. I wonder if anyone really treats it like a Netflix queue?

My to read list:
In reality:
The Things They Carried
The Power of Who: You Already Know Everyone You Need to Know
Anna Karenina
Little Bee
Catching Fire

[Sarah]

Follow it in order? No. I think it's possible to put it in order, but I don't.

I do refer to it sometimes, but it's more of a wish list than anything else. It's useful when I want some new books from the library.

My real to-read list for the next month or so includes the hope of getting to the following:
Twilight of the Superheroes: Stories by Deborah Eisenberg
The Windup Girl - Paolo Bacigalupi
All Clear - Connie Willis
Love Medicine - Louise Erdrich
The Believer Book of Writers Talking to Writers

[Sally, la reina]

I have Love Medicine. Do you want it? Or wait, is that the copy I sent you a while ago?

[Sarah]

Sally wrote: "I have Love Medicine. Do you want it? Or wait, is that the copy I sent you a while ago?"

Yep, that's the copy you sent me! It's waiting patiently for me to get to it, but I really want to read it.

[RandomAnthony]

That's a great question. If I'm in one of those weird "not sure what to read" moods I'll go through my "to read" shelf to see if anything looks good at the moment. I'm half-reading Moby Dick now but pausing for other things off and on because I'm so busy at work and can't give full attention to the big novel.

[Kevin]

no because i am the king of great intentions

[Jim]

Like Sarah, I use mine mostly as a wish list. Moods and tastes change to often for it to be a finite list of what I'm going to read in order.

[janine]

i have no books on my to-read list. if i can't manage to remember the title or author i'm going to assume i wasn't that interested in reading the book anyway.

[Sally, la reina]

Hm. I can't remember 82% of things I want to do/read/see/visit. If I had that policy I'd never do/read/see/visit anything a'all.

[janine]

i manage to keep myself occupied so the system works for me though i would never assume it would work for anyone else. i do curse my memory sometimes for remembering the wrong things, but it keeps my life from being boring.

[Sarah]

janine wrote: "i manage to keep myself occupied so the system works for me though i would never assume it would work for anyone else. i do curse my memory sometimes for remembering the wrong things, but it keeps ..."

I've always had a habit of walking into the book/music/whatever store and completely blanking on everything I intended to look for. I am a big fan of my TBR and my notes/lists in my iPod. I used to have little slips of paper in my pockets to myself.

I have one little slip of paper that has lived on my dresser for about four years now. Every time I clean my dresser I see it and say "what the hell is this? and whose handwriting is that anyway?" and then I remember that it's the name of a wine that a server suggested one night when I was having a drink with a friend, and it was delicious, and I asked her to write it down. And she did, and now it lives on my dresser but has never managed to actually come to the liquor store with me. Just this past weekend I stood in front of the Spanish wines trying to find it on memory, but my memory failed. All I remembered was it was red, it was Spanish, it had an X in the name. There are apparently a lot of those.

[Jammies]

My to-read list is where I put books when they arrive from Barnes & Noble or the library. That way, when I'm reading them, I don't have to carry them from the recliner to the computer to add them to GR. Therefore, most of my to-read list is books I actually own, although a few of them are books I've heard about and am curious about.

[Sarah]

I sometimes think of starting a separate list for things that I own and plan to read vs. things I need to get from the library vs. things I want to buy. Then I decide it would just depress me.

[Jaimie]

I have two separate to-read lists and it makes it so much easier. My "to-read" list is for books I'd like to read but do not have copies of or I'm not quite ready to read them. Then I have my "next-to-read" list which consists of the books I own and have not read. With one exception: if it is part of a series that I'm reading or there is an author I'm reading in order (there are certain authors I'm trying to read their books in order of publication) I only have the next book on my next-to-read list. My lists are open, take a look if you want.

[Janice]

I only have one book on my GR's to-read list and that is because I know I will read it since it's our book club's next selection.

I do, however, have a list on my iPad of books I own that I haven't read yet. There's also a "Book Wish List".

Every now and again I say that I'm not buying any more books until I read the ones I already own. I'm good for awhile and then I walk past the book section in Costco. This mad woman takes over my body and I'm pushing carts and people out of my way as I make a mad dash around the tables, a glazed look in my eyes, and foam coming out of my mouth.

Sad to say... I'm addicted!

[Jackie "the Librarian"]

I must admit, I put things on my to-read list, and may or may not ever get to them. I find myself deciding what to read next through a zen-like process of mood and happenstance.

[Félix]

I've lived most of my life on the corner of mood and happenstance.

[smetchie]

I totally use my "to read" shelf. I use it when I request books from the library and when I'm at the book store. But it's not in any order.

[[deleted user]]

smetchie wrote: "I totally use my "to read" shelf. I use it when I request books from the library and when I'm at the book store. But it's not in any order."


I do too, but the libraries around me are slim pickings when it comes to whittling away at it.

[Jan]

When I hear of a book that sounds like something I'd like to read, I get a sample of it on my Kindle. The problem with that is, when I am ready for a new book, I go through my samples but forget who recommended it and why I thought it would be interesting.

[Lobstergirl, el principe]

Jan wrote: "When I hear of a book that sounds like something I'd like to read, I get a sample of it on my Kindle. The problem with that is, when I am ready for a new book, I go through my samples but forget wh..."

This is where Goodreads can help. It has a field for Recommended by.

[Lobstergirl, el principe]

I do pay attention to my to-read shelf, sometimes. Like for Bunwat, it's part memory dump. It also contains many of the books I own but haven't gotten around to reading. It is in no particular order or importance. What I decide to read next is based on whatever whims I'm feeling at the moment; if I'm at the library, I'll sometimes have a list in my hand but I'll also peruse the shelves and grab what strikes me even though it's not on my to-read list.

[Carol]

Total memory dump/wish list, just like my amazon wish list. I rarely refer to them for my next read. I'm pleasantly surprised when I can delete an item from one place or another because I accidentally read it.

[Lobstergirl, el principe]

Carol wrote: "Total memory dump/wish list, just like my amazon wish list. I rarely refer to them for my next read. I'm pleasantly surprised when I can delete an item from one place or another because I accidenta..."

Yes, me too. In addition to my GR list and my Amazon list, I also keep a spreadsheet on my computer which contains additional to-reads. If I read a really interesting nonfiction book with a big bibliography, I'll go through the bibliography and make a note of anything that sounds interesting and add it to my spreadsheet.

[[deleted user]]

I keep two TBR lists
1. Own TBR
2. to read ones I don’t own yet.

I put notes against each book to remind me why I put it there. I pay strict attention to the first TBR as I would like to make my way through the majority of that list before I purchase any more.

[Ronyell]

Sometimes I pay attention to my TBR list, but most of the time, I sort of ignore it, especially if there are newer books coming out and I wanted to check those out. I'll usually check my TBR list if I have no other book to read and I pick one from my TBR list.

[Sally, la reina]

Ron:yell!

[Suefly]

sadly, i ignore it.

[Sally, la reina]

I'm glad you do Myles. This makes me happy.
Have I also told you how much I enjoy your name? I like that Y in the middle. It's like a little sashay for my fingers while I type.

[Lori]

Myles, you can "hide" that friend by unchecking top friend on your friends list under edit. Their constant status updates will no longer appear.

I have several TBR lists, with at least 500 books! I've got the one here which I stopped using pretty much because it's overwhelming. Then I've got 50 books on hold at the library, (we have a 25 limit but I use my son's account), and also a tbr list there.

Then I've got bookshelves of things I've picked up at GoodWill that I want to read.

But either a book (or 10 if I'm behind in checking my status of the hold list and forget to suspend some) comes in from the libes that I've been wanting to read that has a long holds list, or a new one from one of my favorite authors is out.

I fear I will never get to my TBR lists.

[Phil]

Is that a list of books to be read, or an obsession with collecting titles?

[Phoenix]

I use mine, but I read a lot of stuff that's not on there too.

[Lori]

Phil, they are all books that sound great and I most definitely want to at least start and see if I like.

[Helena]

I use my TBR shelf, both virtual and the one I have at home. I ocassionally stray, but not often.

[Joe]

Not really. If I could figure out how to shelve a book without it having to be in one of the big three, read, reading and to-be-read it would be a lot smaller.

Right now it's a combination of things I really want to read, books that caught my interest and I put there for further attention later and a bunch of prize winners that I may try to read someday.

[Aynge]

Not really. I found A Reliable Wife in my to-read stack yesterday. Now it's next on my list.

[Joe]

BunWat wrote: "Joe wrote: "Not really. If I could figure out how to shelve a book without it having to be in one of the big three, read, reading and to-be-read it would be a lot smaller.

Right now it's a com..."

Thank you. I expected there was a way around it that I just hadn't stumbled across yet.

[Janice]

I don't use the TBR shelf mainly because it adds it to "All". I use my iPad to keep track of the books I own in one format or the other and are waiting to be read. I also keep a separate wish list.

I may have to make a rule that I acquire no other books until I've cleared some off of my TBR, except for the book club. It seems the list keeps growing.

[Michele]

not usually. I'm too busy reading all the books.

[JackieB]

I have a "maybe-read" list, which is where I put amything that sounds interesting which I want to check out, and I have a much shorter "Definitely-read" list, which is the stuff which makes it through the checking process. Then I go to the library and see something interesting which isn't on either list and read that instead!

[Jim]

I have a curious about shelf which I set as exclusive.

[Lyzzibug ~Still Breathing~]

I keep putting books on the TBR shelf, but I choose whatever book I feel like. If it happens to be on that shelf I'll take it off.

[Gatorman]

Not really, because I don't have that many on it and I pretty much know what they are anyway.

[Lobstergirl, el principe]

Jim wrote: "I have a curious about shelf which I set as exclusive."

The word curious always transforms in my mind to bi-curious. I can't say why!

[Jim]

Does curiouser and curiouser = bi-curious?

[Lobstergirl, el principe]

Yes, Jim.

[Lalalalaaa]

Only when I'm picking out new books to buy, then I decide how many to choose and go through the whole list :)

[Jim]

Lobstergirl wrote: "Yes, Jim."

I love the way you humor me.

[Lobstergirl, el principe]

I've knocked down my to-read list to 911 books! Yay me.

[Félix]

Great work.