Reading in Public No. 29: The TBR management system that saved my January reading
A super simple guide for mood readers
Towards the end of 2023, I started feeling dissatisfied about my reading life. I read a lot of books last year and I truly loved so many of them. I felt like I had a pretty good balance of new releases and backlist gems. I found some underrated books to champion and was pleased with most of the buzzy books I decided to pick up.
My dissatisfaction came from a very specific (and not often discussed) reason. I felt like I had forgotten to read books I had really wanted to read. I just couldn’t shake the feeling that I was missing books that I had at some point decided to prioritize and then—somewhere along the line—completely forgotten about. To be honest, I’m not sure that actually happened, and—if it did—it was probably just a couple of books, not the dozens I imagined I had mentally misplaced. But it didn’t matter if it was true or not because the feeling of dissatisfaction overshadowed my very good reading year.
I knew going into 2024 that I needed a better system to keep track of my books, especially to keep track of my TBR. At the same time, I was resistant to implementing anything too formal. It was important to me to maintain some spontaneity, allow for mood reading, not feel beholden to a list, and not over-optimize my reading.
With all of this rumbling around in my mind, last month I jotted down 6 or 7 books I wanted to prioritize on a post-it note. This wasn’t a big project. In fact, all I had in mind was “write these down before you forget them!” I don’t think I expected to return to the note again and again, but that’s what happened. And it helped! So today I’m sharing my little system with all of you.
My super-simple TBR management system
I write down a handful of titles I want to read “soon.” I don’t define soon as this month or this week or give any other time limits on it. I also don’t expect to finish the list. Still, jotting down some titles helps me remember the books I think I want to prioritize before they get lost in a sea of book mail and Instagram recommendations. I also don’t have a set number of books to keep on my list, but somewhere in the realm of 5-7 feels right to me. Fewer would be limiting, more would be difficult to choose from.
When I first make my list and if I’m not currently reading anything else, I decide what I’m in the mood for and how I have access to it. Because so much of what I read are early releases, I don’t always have the option to read the books I want to in any format I want to. I may only have a certain book digitally, in hard copy, or on audio, and that factors into my decision. (I should probably write that information on my post-it…maybe that’s an addition I’ll make!) If I’m already in the middle of other books when I make my list, I stick my post-it in or on my journal and return to it when I next finish a book.
Every time I finish a book, I return to my post-it before choosing my next read. I ask myself, once again, what I’m in the mood to read, if I have any reading deadlines for projects coming up, and what in what formats the books are available to me. If nothing is striking my fancy, I usually decide to just read a book that I need to read, even if I’m not sure I’m in the mood for it. This might be a book club selection, a Novel Pairings book, or something I’m reading to interview an author.
If my post-it note books aren’t speaking to me and I don’t have any books I need to read for work, it’s time for a new post-it. I might migrate any leftover, unread titles to the new list, but generally I’m creating a new list of books that feel exciting now.
Note: For more about how a post-it can save your reading life, be sure to check out prolific public reader Anne Bogel’s Priority To Be Read List strategy.
Why this system works for me
It helps combat decision fatigue. As the mom of a toddler and human living in the modern world, I am exhausted by the sheer number of options available to me and decisions I have to make in any given day. Limiting myself to a few options helps me feel more satisfied with my decisions and less stressed by the decision-making process.
But there’s still room for impulse and spontaneity. Yes, I’m helping myself by creating a limiting list, but I don’t feel beholden to that list. If a library hold comes in or I get a new piece of book mail that I want to drop everything for, that’s okay!
It allows me to keep track of the balance in my reading life. Through a narrower and more thoughtful book selection process, I can make sure I’m picking up a diverse array of reading material in every sense of the word.
It helps me find time for work books. Sometimes I struggle to make time for work related reading because I’m waiting for the right mood to strike. My post-it system reminded me that sometimes I’m actually not in a specific reading “mood,” and it’s okay to simply pick up what’s next in my queue.
I feel less FOMO. Sometimes I’ll start reading a book because one day I saw it all over Instagram. That can be fine, but instead I will now add that book to my priority list. If it’s really what I want to read next, great! If not, I can avoid the fear of missing out by realizing that it’s just not what I want to be reading in the moment.
So there you have it…my super simple, very basic TBR management system. I’d love to hear more about how you manage your TBR and choose your next reads. Feel free to share in the comments below so we can all learn from each other!
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Happy reading!
Sara
i basically do a very similar version to this! mine is in my google doc book journal and it’s usually a monthly / seasonal list. i just collapse the list when i’m done with that mood or month but i don’t usually delete, especially for seasonal , because then i can come back to the books i felt were summer books when it’s that time again, or when i’m just needing a dose of summer in my reading life.
I really like this approach. I'm a massive mood reader and I work in a bookshop so I'm always finding something new I want to read! I think the format thing is interesting to consider too as I'm often reading something on my ereader (maybe at night when my husband is asleep), in physical and something else on audio but I always forget this when I'm thinking about what I'd like to read next.