So – I have books coming out the wing wang; books I’m dying to get to, books I need to read. I have werewolf books. I have dragon books. Oh man do I have historical books. I have romantic suspense, I have contemporary, I have western and I have medieval. There are books I want to reread – I’m in a book challenge! And I missed the TBR challenge.
So what did I do yesterday? Did I read? Did I dive into the pile? No – much to my annoyance, I did not. Instead I had a John and Kate plus 8 marathon. I must have watched about three straight hours of John and Kate and their trip to Hawaii and their stop over in San Diego. I watched them and their adorable little ones pose for pictures for the cover of Good Housekeeping. And if that weren’t bad enough, when that was over for the day I watched Ru Paul and his reality show’s quest for a new drag queen. And then came the real horror. I watched the Celebrity Apprentice. I watched Joan Rivers have a meltdown because gambler Annie didn’t appreciate her daughter Melissa’s efforts. I watched Clint Black being – well Clint Black.
Did I enjoy these shows? Not really. While John and Kate’s children are all too cute for words, I’m not really a child kind of person.
Do I care who wins the drag queen contest? I can honestly say no. Although in this case I was probably more curious at how they transform themselves into gorgeous hot looking women.
And do I care about Donald Trump? I shudder at the thought - really and truly shudder. And as if that weren’t bad enough, the day before I watched 2 episodes of CSI Miami with David Caruso. I don’t have the words to explain how much I can’t stand Horatio Kane – they don’t exist. The acting by everyone on this show is appalling. I do like the original and CSI New York – but Miami – oh how I loathe it. Yet I wasted 2 hours watching a show I can’t stand. Why did I do that???? I could probably have got at least 2 or 3 books read – books that are calling; books I want to read – that’s why I got them. But I think I realized something…..
I’m scared of my TBR pile. Yes – that mountain is too scary even for me anymore. But I will not let it defeat me!!! Nay, I will not! This is my declaration that I will NOT watch to see if Kane gets custody of the baby; I do not care if Mac and Billy get back together. Will Phillip Kouiakis die in bed? Will EJ tell Nicole that he arranged to have Brady beaten up within an inch of his life and the day he and Nicole got married? I will tell my self I do not care. I will resist the lure. I choose NOT to watch as Paris and her BBF’s descend on California.
Instead, when I get home from work I won’t let the pile scare me. I will pick up a book and start reading. I WON’T turn on the television until 8:00 and then will ONLY watch it when it comes to Cheryl and Gilles turn to dance – and that only because I have a coffee riding on it.
I will read!
And not only that – but this is also an official declaration that (oh man this one hurts) I WILL NOT BUY ANOTHER BOOK until I have read at least 5 from the TBR pile. Yes – I am stating – for the record – that for every new book I purchase, I must have 5 read that I already own.
And now we will see how long this lasts – not long I’m willing to bet - not without help. I need encouragement. I need others to stand with me and declare they will NOT watch America’s Next Top Model until they read at least 3 books.
Are there any others out there needing to cull that TBR pile; that need to chip away at that mountain – one book at a time? Am I the only one who has allowed themselves to become intimidated by their overabundance of books? Are there any readers who need a support group? I know I need one!
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23 comments:
You are not alone. I'm on year two of not buying any books. I have also weeded my collection of all the TBR books I no longer have any interest in and/or knew I would never read.
Since I'm not entirely crazy, I still allow myself to check books out from the library.
My TBR mountain, however, is still a tall thing to scale.
We should start a support group... with jackets!
Go Kristie, go!!! LOL :) Watching TV has never been a problem with me. I usually end up tuning out the tv... My sister is so annoyed with me LOL :) She'll come in my room to hang out and I won't let her open the tv.
LOL, the kids in John and Kate plus 8 are really cute (well the sextuplets... Maddie, not so much). My favorite is Alexis :)
and wow. You're brave. 5 books for a new book?!?!? You do realize that at the rate you're buying books... well just for your last haul, that would be 20 books!!
However, go Kristie! I'm with you!
Buwahaha! Kristie, you're a woman after my own heart.
I've been wasting precious TBR dwindle reading time lately with NCIS reruns. All which I've seen before and all which I've seen a few weeks ago. I can even repeat the dialogue at this point.
I hate reality TV and yet, like you, I get sucked in here and there and then hate myself for it later on.
And the TBR pile, it's not as large as yours, but I still keep buying more. So many books that I'm dying to read and then I waste time staring at the tube.
I've decided that I'm not going to buy any more books that I'm just dying to get until I get through some of my TBR as well. I'm going to ignore that part of me that needs, NEEDS to that a specific book.
Hang in there and good luck. I'm rooting for you... and myself. :D
I've bought considerably less books than I have in the past (mostly because I review for a site that sends me books) yet the TBR pile intimidates me greatly. I have so many books that I feel I need to read because of recommendations, but there are just only so many hours in the day, and it stresses me out! I just have to not try and keep up with everyone else and just do my thing.
As for t.v., not a big watcher right now (I don't have cable) so I Netflix shows I really want to watch (i.e. the upcoming 3rd season of Robin Hood). Currently Burn Notice is in my Q and I'm really liking it.
Whew, so I'm not the only one deathly afraid of their TBR Pile! Thank goodness!!
I have developed a wonderful way of avoidance. You see my TBR pile is overflowing the floor of my spare bedroom and all I do to escape it's call is close the door. See no evil. :)
But truly, I need to face it too. I need to dig in there and pull something out that I purchased TWO years ago so I can escape some of my checkbook guilt! I'll stand with Kristie. In times like these, you need a friend to lean on.
Good Luck!
;) VFG
I'm in a reading slump - and I think it is because my TBR pile is scaring me too!! I just keep adding books and it never seems to go down.
I was doing really well at the beginning of the year - but March hasn't been a good reading month.
Kristie - I'll join your support group. My tbr pile is reproducing like a rabbit. I've got mini-piles all over the place.
I'll stand with you on the read 5 - buy 1 rule. We can do it!!
Geez Kristie - at least you could have watched baseball! LOL The Jays are playing really well right now. Although I can see getting sucked into RuPaul's show. That man is fierce.
I actually did some weeding in my TBR this weekend. I ended up yanking out around 25 paranormal and romantic suspense titles. I also need to think about weeding through my category stash again. I try to weed out my Harlequins once a year to get rid of authors that just aren't working for me, or plot devices I've grown tired of.
Who are John and Kate?
I echo your pain. Only my issue isn't the television, it's the damn computer.
The avalanches from my TBR are scaring me as well and I bought more books on Friday - why?
You have inspired me though Kristie.
I shall swear off the computer time except to delete all the spam and put the time into reading!
Best Regards
L
:raising hand timidly:
I am scared of my TBR mountain range.
And I have resolved (often *ahem*) not to buy more books until I make a decent dent on it.
So far it ain't working :-(
The really sad part? I don't watch tv. At all. (As in, haven't have cable for over a decade, and didn't even notice when the digital box thingies became necessary to watch local channels)Which means I have no excuses whatsoever.
Add me to the club. But oddly enough, or maybe not, I find comfort in my TBR pile. Knowing that, no matter what, I will have books to read gives me the warm fuzzies.
It's when I try to organize and prioritize the books, that's when I get overwhelmed. :)
You go Kristie! I wish I had your willpower though. Need to read 5 books for every one you buy? Wow - don't know if I could do that! LOL
Don't making declarations feel good? And putting them on the blog...we'll have to keep you to them now! bwhahaha!
I just got connected to what is the equivalent of cable here (we only have 7 free to air channels) and ever since have been addicted to watching Agatha Christie adaptations and Law and Order reruns. Needless to say the tbr has been steadily growing as a result. *sigh*
I was proud of myself when I read 6 books from the tbr last week though. Granted I had just bought 5 of them that week, but it was the thought that counted right?? Right!
Good luck, Kristie!
I had to laugh at this because I have a similar problem with all of my "works in progress" (aka UFOs--unfinished objects). I walk into my sewing room, get so overwhelmed with having to make a choice about what to work on that I end up reading instead. Not that reading is such a bad way to pass the time, but I really do want to finish some of these things! I have to have similar shopping rules, but mine is no new fabric until I use up some of what I have, LOL.
Good luck!
good luck!!! I've got a goal of reading six books before May 5 - aka day I raid Target + Borders for tons of end april>may5 releases. :)
I'm with you Kristie! 100% I have to say, it also doesn't help to pick up a book that has a large number of pages with small, dense text.... I say, pick a book that you know will flow well. That way you'll finish it easily and feel accomplished! Well...it works for me :)
Hey Kristie!!
I have a TBR list that really scares me... not as much as yours or some peoples on here... but it is scary! So scary that I have no idea what book to read next and that is ashame!!
I will try to stand by you with your desire to not buy another book until the pile gets under control though! But I am glad that I read this today and not this past weekend, because I bought two books this weekend.... sorry!
Life just stops me from reading sometimes, oh that and sleep.... the need of sleep is just to overrated! But I guess work would not like me if I slept on the job!
Hope you have a better tomorrow!!!
Megahn: Year two?!?!?!? Ackk! What a frightening thought! I'm just hoping to get through a couple of months. Wow - two years.
Nath: I didn't used to watch much TV at all - only a couple of hours a week. Now I'm using it as avoidance. The thing is - I've been buying about 5 books to every one I read - so by reversing it, I'm only staying equal. And *g* I picked up after my marathon that Maddie was a bit of a handful.
Leah: So that's 2 of us so far with that agenda!! I'm thinking I need to put something on my sidebar 'so many days without buying new book/so many books read so far from the TBR pile
Stacy: It's only recently that it's started freaking me out. Now - wherever I look they are calling me - to the left of me, to the right of me - above me - below me - in every dang room of the house!! I must stop the insanity.
VFG: Now we are 3!! If we can get on a roll diving into and reading the TBR pile, I'm sure that will help the stress.
Kara: That's exactly what I think is happening to me!!! It's not a slump - it's fear of the TBR pile - so I do avoidance by watching TV I don't really want to watch!!
Ames: And one more makes 4!! The more who declare - the stronger we will become.
Wendy: I forgot they were on!! But I did turn it to the Jays and watched the final two innings. And to think - this late in the season they are ahead of both the Yankees and the Red Sox - it is oh so very sweet.
Lea: John and Kate are parents of twin girls and then parents again of a set of sextuplets. They have a reality show on The Learning Channel about the challenges of daily life with eight children. It really is an interesting and cute show - but not in a four hour block of time when I could have been reading!!
And now we are 5! I was thinking of computer time too - but I know it will be a struggle just giving up the TV I don't really want to watch anyway
AL: Well - now we have a support group!! We can boast of our victories in taking those bites out of the TBR - the success of walking past the book store - etc. etc. etc.
Ah Leslie - young grasshopper. I was like that too not so very long ago. It gave me comfort to know I would never be without something new to read. But with the pile ever increasing and the reading ever decreasing, what was once a thing of comfort became a thing of fear. As you must have a smaller pile then many of us, hopefully you can get control before it controls you
Tracy: LOL I don't know if I can do it or not. The test will be when May comes along and I have to pass on all those May books I've been drooling over until I read a certain number of the ones I already have!! It's ever so much easier to say I'm going to do it when I'm not in the middle of jonesing for some new books.
Kris: Oh that absolutely counts!! It's not the length of time you've had the TBR pile - it's the size - and if you could knock of six - you are inspiration to us!!
Phyl: That is one reason I had to give up on crafts. I am - or was - a huge crocheter and I couldn't do just small things - no, I had to do afghans which took balls and balls and balls of wool. I had wool all over the place. I have it put away now - but alas, I've replaced it with books.
She Reads: Good luck with your goal!! There are about 5 or 6 books I want to get come May - but that means I have to read 25 or 30 before I can get them all. YIKES - when I put it that way it sounds very scary indeed. But! By the time I get around to getting that done, maybe some of them will be out in UBS's
Orannia: Good suggestion there. And as I have quite a few Harlequins in the TBR pile to, if I don't waste time by *shudder* watching Haratio, I can read one or two of them in a day!
Cecile: I don't think it's so much the size of the TBR pile - it's how scary it makes you! Mine now is probably around 400 to 500. But that might not terrify someone, whereas a pile of 50 might scare someone else. And for me - it's the avoidance thing that's starting to freak me out. Really - I do not need to watch Paris Hilton's British Best Friend!!! That's what really terrifies me - that I watch that rather then read!!
"The test will be when May comes along and I have to pass on all those May books I've been drooling over until I read a certain number of the ones I already have!! It's ever so much easier to say I'm going to do it when I'm not in the middle of jonesing for some new books."Truer words, never spoken.
Hi Kristie!
I too have a TBR pile that is most definitely trying to take over my life. I even clean out an entire cabinet to hide them from my sight, only keeping out the ones I'm seriously going to read with in the week. I can always get one out when I need one, right?
Dottie :)
LOL - I'm not sure what you consider small. I think mine is between 300 and 400. I'm going to try to go through all my books this week and organize them with all the TBR books on one (or two) bookcases. :)
Compared to your TBR pile, I don't have one. It only has slightly more than 100 books. Still, sometimes the mole hill intimidates me so that I can't decide what to read. And then I read...nothing. LOL
My goal: not buying new books in April (and then order them the minute the clock turns 00:01am on May, 1). But your rule seems like a good idea. Although, I probably would be tempted to go with less than 5 books, lol.
Good luck with your read-5-buy-1 declaration. :D
Luckily my TBR pile saved me this year! I just started digging and forcing myself to read after too many years of slumpville.
I've discovered a few new authors and with some help from enthusiastic readers *cough*you*cough*, I have about 3 books I want to buy in May.
So I'm not sure I'll be reading from the TBR pile in May but the great news is they are always books in the pile waiting for when you really need a great read.
Just finished Seduced by a Sinner by Hoyt and I loved it! So yes, her next book is out in May and I'm sooo buying ;)
Good luck with your plan! You can do it!
CindyS
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