My TBR or The Andes?

Posted on June 23, 2010 by Victoria Janssen

My To Be Read book piles are scary. I suspect pretty much everyone who loves books has a TBR; if they’re not the sort who keep physical books around, or the sort to equivalently load up their e-readers, I would bet lots and lots of money that almost every reader out there has at least a mental list of books she would like to read someday.

My TBR consists of four boxes atop a footlocker. With some loose books on top. And a stack atop a nearby bookshelf, which is also full of TBR, all of it nonfiction. And a box completely full of short story collections. And various books on the shelves, mingled in with other books I have already read. And that little box I tried to hide beneath the couch. That’s not counting my wishlists, of course.

Does my giant collection make me stop buying books? Or even consider stopping? No. Because there might be an apocalypse, and I would definitely need something to read after civilization collapsed. After I read them, I could use them for insulation, or perhaps stitch covers together to make clothing. Best of all, I might be able to trade books for…more books.

I am trying to do better about getting rid of books. These days, I continually remind myself it’s all right not to finish reading a book if I’m not enjoying it. As soon as I’ve finished reading a book, or even when I’m close to the end of one, I try to think about whether I should keep it or share it. (“Share” feels better to me than “get rid of.”) I’m trying to be more ruthless about sharing books I didn’t adore.

I only have so much room in my apartment, after all. And I need room for the To Be Read.

About Victoria Janssen

Victoria Janssen [she, her] currently writes cozy space opera for Kalikoi. The novella series A Place of Refuge begins with Finding Refuge: Telepathic warrior Talia Avi, genius engineer Miki Boudreaux, and augmented soldier Faigin Balfour fought the fascist Federated Colonies for ten years, following the charismatic dissenter Jon Churchill. Then Jon disappeared, Talia was thought dead, and Miki and Faigin struggled to take Jon’s place and stay alive. When the FC is unexpectedly upended, Talia is reunited with her friends and they are given sanctuary on the enigmatic planet Refuge. The trio of former guerillas strive to recover from lifetimes of trauma, build new lives on a planet with endless horizons, and forge tender new connections with each other.
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2 Responses to My TBR or The Andes?

  1. Heather says:
    June 23, 2010 at 9:09 pm

    I have the same problem. I have a few boxes plus a TBR shelf bursting with books waiting to be read, but does it stop me from buying more? Of course not. Some books are hard to find in stores later when you're actually ready to read them, so you HAVE to buy them when you see them.

    And sometimes when rifling through a TBR box you haven't been through in a while you make a discovery you forgot about or did not realize you had. For example, in the GR Cozy Mysteries group I've seen a lot of people mention Phyllis Whitney. Never read her. Then yesterday while searching for a book I never did find, I discovered not one, but four books by Phyllis Whitney. Now to actually read one…

  2. Victoria Janssen says:
    June 23, 2010 at 9:14 pm

    Some books are hard to find in stores later when you're actually ready to read them, so you HAVE to buy them when you see them.

    I should print this out and hang it on a bookshelf.

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