TBR- Books owned v. Books listed

[sun surfer]

How do you define your tbr (to be read)? Do you count only the books you own that still need to be read, or do you count books you have on a list that you want to read whether owned or not?

For the poll I only have two choices, because if it's a mixture of both, then it's books listed. It's books owned if you only count the books you already have as your tbr and anything else as more of a 'wishlist' or 'maybe' (or don't even have any other list).

I was wondering this seeing someone post about their tbr pile of bought ebooks and thought how different that is from my tbr definition. Before ebooks I did buy books before reading and had a physical tbr pile (that, even though it wasn't that large, took me forever and a few challenge goals here to finally finish off) but since ebooks I just don't bother to buy ahead of time. That could change but I'm happy this way. I think the difference for me was that then, I was in a bookstore and might forget the book or at least it would be less convenient to have to go back to the bookstore again to buy it just before I start reading. With ebooks that was no longer the case and so I have my list to remember by and I simply buy each ebook in a second just before I start. I do understand the desire to buy ebooks ahead of time though; it's even easier to just tap on another book that you already have on your device than going to the trouble of buying it just before starting, and of course deals(!) and such.

Really, my tbr travails are more from having such easy access to almost everything; my interests are broad enough and there's just so many books I want to read that are at the touch of my finger and really it's almost overwhelming when you think about it (like that other thread telling you how many more books you'll read in your life, and compare that to your tbr, and all those other books waiting patiently to be added to your tbr!). I may not own the books physically yet but the feeling of 'needing' to read them all eventually is still there. I've been trying to switch my thinking to more of, 'well, if I don't read these books on my list, so what?', but I bet I'm not the only one with that yearning to get to those unread books of interest!

[Sirtel]

I hoard. I have no wishlists, I have to buy the instant I feel the wish to read something. That has not changed from the time I read paper books. So I have literally several thousand bought (well, some of them were free) books on my TBR pile. No wishlist, I just cannot wait. Guess I'm immature or something.

[GeoffR]

My TBR is a list of books I want to read. Some of them I have bought already, some of them not. Some of them have not even been published or translated yet.

Edit: If money was no object then I'd buy all the books on my TBR list as soon as they became available, but to be practical I tend to buy them when they go on sale or when I can no longer wait to read them, whichever comes first.

[rhadin]

My TBR is books owned. Many years ago I included books that I didn't own, but I quickly realized that if I hadn't bought the book, there was a 99.9% likelihood that I would never buy the book to read. If something interests me enough to want to read it, I buy it and add it to my TBR.

I do keep lists of books that have piqued my interest that I haven't bought and occasionally go through the lists to see if any of the listed books still interest me. If any do, I buy them and add them to my TBR; otherwise, they are simply scratched from the list. Rarely does a book on one of those lists get bought.

I find that my TBR pile grows much faster than I can read. The result is that I am likely to die long before I have significantly dented the TBR pile. Compounding my problem is that I tend to rank TBR books. What I mean is that if a book is really interesting to me and is definitely, without a doubt, one I want to and will read, I buy it in hardcover (assuming it is available in print). Those books that interest me enough to want to buy them but don't draw at me to read them ASAP, I tend to buy as ebooks.

For those interested in my TBR pile (although many of the books are no longer in the pile because I have read them since they were added to the pile), I publish a series on my An American Editor blog called On Today's Bookshelf. There are currently 28 essays in that series.

[DrNefario]

I'm mainly interested in tracking the books I own, and haven't read. I just call it my TBR out of convenience.

Trying to keep track of the books I'd like to read whether I own them or not seems even more Sisyphean. I mean, in the right circumstances that could be all of them.

[Apache]

My TBR is books owned because if I find a book I want to read I will buy it.
Apache

[jhowell]

When I was younger and read physical books I would periodically drive to various bookstores and see what they had. If I found something I thought I might like I bought it on the spot because I might not see that book again the next time I visited.

When I switched to e-books I started with the same mindset, but eventually switched over to a virtual TBR list. I no longer worry that I book I want to read will be out of stock or out of print by the time I get to it so I buy as I read. And now that borrowing from a library is just as easy as buying I make heavy use of that option and save a lot of money.

[DiapDealer]

I always have a few books I'm considering reading soon, but I have no formal TBR list. I make a decision about what to read next with no regard for whether I already own the book, or if it's on a virtual list (or when it might have been added to said virtual list).

I own very, very few unread books. I prefer to decide/buy/download/and immediately start reading. I'm never going to go back to feeling obligated to stick to any kind of list (owned or otherwise).

I suppose if I'm to abide by the wishes for the poll, I'd have to go with option two. But even then, my lists of unowned, unread books are only books I'm thinking about reading. Not books I've decided must be read before I die, or anything like that.

I'm a free-range reader.

[Ravensknight]

My TBR is an actual list of books I will read. Not a half-donkeyed wish list of every book that grabs at a short attention spanned mind.

I don't buy books anymore unless I loved it the first time around and want to re-read it in the future. Thank goodness for my local library!

[Dusky Rose]

Mine is mixed a bit.

My TBR books are the top 200-300 of my list that I want to read now. It's a short list that I can quickly throw on any device and go.

And those on the list may be purchased or Freebies. The cost, genre, size doesn't matter. I've already pre-picked them out, and any of them could be my next read.

Not that the other's I buy aren't TBR either. I fully intend to read all the books I've bought, if I can just live long enough! But they're not currently in the top spot.

And every once in a while, I'll go through and take some off the top list and set them back to the "pretty soon" list. Usually, books in a series I love go to the top as soon as they come out. Sometimes I get tired of a genre and want a break for a year or so, so they'll get demoted for a while.

But they're all books I have. Other books I might be interested in, or books missing in a series, are just lists I keep track of. But I don't consider them in my TBR pile, because I don't know I'll ever be interested enough to go after them.

And I don't trust the internet, or archives, or book stores, or prices. Things are too prone to disappear, and I hate to pass up a good deal. Been burned too many times to put all my eggs in one basket, or depend on the chicken still being around the next morning.

[DiapDealer]

Originally Posted by Ravensknight

Not a half-donkeyed wish list of every book that grabs at a short attention spanned mind.

Sorry. What were we talking about?

[theducks]

Mine is a mixed grab.
Some are NYP (ebook) or the price is still up there where the birds fly

Since I use Calibre, the differences are easy to spot. (That and I have a VL setup)

The #mstrfmt column is blank if there is no e-copy
The Author is Green if I have a PAPER copy
#read (timestamp) is blank

[Ravensknight]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

Sorry. What were we talking about?

Translation:
My TBR is not a collection of every book that I've ever seen.

[CWatkinsNash]

I don't really have a firm TBR, it's more like a "I'd like to read this someday" rather than an "I'm going to read this". And it's huge, because I'm a mood reader so I'm going to choose my next book based on what I'm in the mood to read rather than any place on the list.

That said, I chose option 2 because while I do own most of the books on my tentative list, it also includes books I've wishlisted at the library, and I have a small wishlist of books at Amazon as well.

[library addict]

My TBR is a list of unread books I have purchased. I keep a separate list of upcoming releases I want to buy.