Sonomalass was tweeting recently about buying and reading a brand new book – despite having several books in her TBR pile.
I got to thinking about this phenomenon. I have PLENTY of books on my Kindle and in my closet to read. Some of them, I just grabbed absentmindedly. But others, I chose with great care and excitement and I am really looking forward to reading them.
So … why do I start reading some random new book first? Shouldn’t the newest books go to the back of the line?
I confess that some books get a “Special Pass”. Off the top of my head, here are some kinds of books that receive special treatment:
- A new release by a very favorite author
- The next book in a series (Charlaine Harris, or J.R. Ward, or J.D. Robb, for example)
- A long awaited book by an author who publishes rarely or who has taken a long break (Laura Kinsale or Lisa Valdez, for example)
- A debut book that everyone is raving about (Courtney Milan or Tessa Dare, for example)
But sometimes there is no rhyme or reason to it. For example, what explains why I started to read Autumn in Bangkok, a 1980 Harlequin Premiere Edition by Jacqueline Gilbert?
Am I being unfair to the long suffering books in my TBR pile?
What determines whether a book gets put at the front or back of your reading queue?
I probably use the same 4 reasons for moving a specific book to the top of the TBR pile. I’d have to add 2 more to your list, though.
5. I’m a heavy library user. And I pride myself in not paying fines. So I pay particular attention to due dates when deciding what to read. I think the net result is that books I’ve actually paid for sit around longer (although not always–see your reason #1).
6. My mood. I think this cannot be discounted. Do I want something light? dark? contemporary? historical?
I agree with your reasons for why a book can jump the line. I would also add that sometimes a poor book is on my TBR for so long, that I remember the book that I bought recently over the book on the TBR. So “bad memory of what exactly is in the TBR” is another reason for me.
1. My mood is a huge factor. Sometimes I want a particular type of book suddenly. Or I get on jags where I get hot over certain genre and will read several in a row then get bored and want another genre.
2. I review a lot of f/f, f/f/m which is not that popular and hard to find. So I buy a lot of books I would not normally be interested in to review and sometimes newer or more interesting books come after them and they jump the queue.
3. Sometimes new releases spark some interest in me when I’m bored with what I have.
4. Many books in my TBR pile are from favorite authors I know I will like and enjoy so they kind of end up staying in the pile because I want to try a new author. Kind of like saving something I know I will savor for a rainy day.
5. Library- same as Phyl. If a book I’ve had on hold comes, I have to read it before others.
6. Some books in my TBR pile are of authors that have been recommended or are books that everyone raved about so I bought them. But I have resistance to reading what “everyone” raves about. So those books languish.
7. I go on UBS buying jags or buy books at a deep discount of authors I’ve heard about and want to read, but not immediately. I bought them because they were on sale and I couldn’t pass that up. Those books sit on the pile forever as well.
I’m like that too and I’ve no idea why I choose one book over another; a book I waited so impatiently for is often left behind while another book I may have picked up on a spur of the moment buy will trump it. The only conclusion I’ve come to, is they have voices and the one with the loudest voice is the one I’m compelled to read.
I do the same thing. Today I’m going shopping with my 40% off borders coupon and I know whatever I buy will get read 1st….even though I have a huge TRB pile. Oh weeeeel.
I hadn’t thought about it till your article, but in addition to some of the things noted above, I also will select next book to read based upon whether it’s physical book or an ebook. I have separate TBR piles of each.
I travel a lot for work, and if I’m getting ready to travel, I’ll choose and ebook so it can travel with me. I’ll choose physical books over ebooks when I’m at home more than 3 days in a row.
At least till I run out of physical books (I buy mostly ebooks nowadays)
Fun post! Ditto to your reasons … and when necessity dictates it. For example, I moved to Hawaii last summerr. Terrified by the horror stories of small houses, I stored by my keepers alng with my European antiques. I then weeded through the TBR pile. I had to make an honest assessment of what I would and would not read. I found good homes for those I would not read, even books I had bought from an RT book fair (I probably bought them because the author seemed nice even though the genre did not appeal to me!)
But we lucked out and I am not crammed into a beach shack. So the TBR continues to grow … and will grow after RomCon and RWA!
What everyone else said.
Books by favorite authors that I have waited a LONG time for always jump the queue, in particular (why hello, Guy Gavriel Kay!). Also, I have given myself more permission recently to put books back into TBR because they aren’t working for me at the time; I know that I’m moody as hell these days, and it’s not fair to the book to keep trying when it’s just not working.
The library is a big factor, too. If I can get it from the library, and it’s not a book I think I’ll want to keep to re-read, that’s usually how I go. I have a separate library TBR list.
Two other factors cause books to jump my queue. One is what my daughter’s reading — we used to trade a lot of books, before she moved FAR AWAY, but now I try to read what she’s reading sometimes, as a way of feeling closer. The other is if an author I like asks me to read a book; when my opinion is solicited, I tend to prioritize that.
Thanks for taking the time to make a thoughtful post on this subject! It’s interesting to read others’ take on it.
I have a huge TBR pile on my beside table. Familiarity breeds contempt? I have no idea. Sometimes I will read a new book over something from the pile because it is recommended by someone whose opinion I value. Sometimes it’s because a book I pre-ordered, and have been anticipating for months, arrives. Sometimes it’s because an author I love has a new release. I do eventually get to everything and then the new TBR pile begins to form!
It’s because I visit too many blogs for recs!!
For the books on my TBR pile that I bought a while ago, the excitement (the “shiny”) has worn off. I don’t like to start a book before finishing the one I’m reading so if an exciting new book arrives in the mail, it goes on the shelf until I’m finished with what I’m reading. By the time I’ve finished that book, I may have bought another book which is more “shiny” or another book may have arrived in the post. *sigh* It seems I have the attention span of a potato….
I tend to have phases between paper and ebooks. If I’m reading on my reader, I’m much more likely to read an ebook next (and I have a long list of books on my reader that are as yet unread – but it is shorter than my paper TBR) than a paper one. Conversely, if I’m reading a paper book, I’m most likely to pick up another paper book just after.
As to what makes me go from paper to e or back? Well, it’s the “shiny”. I’ve finished a book at just the right time and a book I really want is sitting there looking shiny at me and I’m lost. Or a new book arrives. Or, I read a review that makes me what to read a book NOW and I buy it electronically and I go straight to it.
It has helped that I’ve rearranged my TBR so that (almost) all of the books I haven’t read yet (in paper form at least) are in a series of shelves (?series? *cringe*) and they’re only 1 book deep so it’s really easy to see them. Out of sight is truly out of mind.
That being said, it is probably mostly my mood. I have a lot of PNR and RS books on my TBR but I’m just not in the mood for them. I’m into historical and contemporary at the moment. That’s what’s “shiny” to me today. The more I think about it, the more I think that I, as a reader, have an obligation to bring my “A-game” to a book to give it its best shot at success (partly this is because the author has gone to a lot of effort and a smaller part is because this is the best chance of me not having wasted my $$). So, if I’m not in the mood for a RS, even the new JD Robb will wait until I’m in the right headspace to give the book the attention it deserves.
Right now, I’m reading the All or Nothing trilogy by James Buchanan. Sarah F put up 3 reviews pretty close together and I bought bk1 after browsing the reviews of both bk1 and 2. After finishing bk1, I bought the other 2 and, because the story is more like one story over 3 books, I’m having a glom.
However, Savor the Momemt is looking very shiny on my TBR shelf at present, as is Wicked Becomes Her and The Summer of You. Plus His At Night and 10 Things (JQ) are on their way – so it’s only a matter of time until I pick up the paper again.
And so it goes…!!
fave author, a storyline that really pulls at me or if I’m in a funk and need something different.
I’m not big on organization or order (big surprise… *G*) so the TBR stack(bookcase) really has no rhyme or reason. I’ve got books on those shelves that have been there for…um… years, and I will read them, when my frame of mind is right.
Other books, I get and ready almost the second I get my hands on them.
@Phyl: Library fines are a good motivator for many. I have stopped using my library since I got my Kindle, which is inexcusable when it can save me so much money and support a great local institution. Thanks for the reminder.
@janicu: Good point. I honestly can’t remember what is in half of my TBr pile either. Maybe I should keep a list, noting why I picked a book up in the first place (A twitter rec? A Kindle freebie?).
@LVLM: Mood is a clear factor. It’s nice to be able to do something on a whim sometimes. Also, the f/f point is a good one. I saw that Katiebabs of Babbling About Books has an f/f coming out — her first book. Perhaps there is a change in the air?
@KristieJ:
What a lyrical way to describe this phenomenon!
@Mitzi H.: I hope you got something good!
@Melissa: That’s a good point. I tend to read paper books at home only, although I am just paranoid enough about technology to throw a paper book in my suitcase if traveling.
@Kim in Hawaii: Are you going to RomCon? Me too. I look forward to crossing paths!
@SonomaLass:
Awwww. That is so sweet!!
@Julia Rachel Barrett:
This is definitely part of it for me. Newer seems better, for no good reason. Maybe it has to do with that fact that others are reading it, but sometimes, a “new” book is new only to me.
@Kaetrin:
It is interesting to see how the TBR selection and readers’ obligations intersect in several of the comments. I think it would be unfair of me to choose a PNR when I am in the mood for a contemp.
I bought my first James Buchanan recently — in paper — and am looking forward to reading it. But I have to be in the mood for m/m.
@Shiloh Walker: A woman after my own disorganized heart.
Pretty much what Shiloh Walker said (even though I have somewhat organized TBR bookcases)
(yes, plural–those suckers reproduce when I’m not looking, I tell you!)
What I read all depends on my mood. If I have a book sent to me for review, I may try to pick it up before reading something that I purchased but those efforts are sometimes futile.
When I ditch the TBR pile is when one of my favorite authors has a new release. I just finished Sherry Thomas’s newest on Monday, then downloaded the new Carla Kelly on Tuesday and started on it immediately.
As for TBR choices, it’s a mystery to me. My only rule is that if I start a backlisted series, I read straight through the series before moving to something else.