Why I Don’t Do TBRs Anymore

So far in 2022, I’ve read 22 books which to me is impressive considering that I’ve been in a reading slump from January to the first half of April. Last year, I mentioned that I burnt out on Science Fiction and Fantasy and I did kind of try to get back into it with the Wheel of Time- I reread Book One and reads Books Seven and Eight. I also tried to read Fellowship of the Ring but bounced off on it because I bounce off books that take me too long to read.

In any case, going back into a rhythm of reading a lot made me think of how I choose what I want to read next. For me, my hobbies come and go in cycles like I’d be really into language learning for a few months, then video game, then reading books. Each time, I usually acquire so much media and resources it could preoccupy me for years. With language learning, I usually have a few core resources I use. Video games are fairly straightforward as I get into a specific type of videogame or genre. I have a few life and farming sims which I stick to and visual novels are straightforward enough. But with books, it’s so easy to acquire so many books due to Kindle deals and the amount of books available for free in the public domain.

What I’ve actually found to be more effective when it comes to choosing what to read next is choosing what sounds even remotely interesting. These days, I have more than a thousand ebooks, a lot bought from Kindle and other ebook stores, but most I’ve found in the Public Domain and managed through Calibre. While managing so many books can be a bit daunting, there’s something comforting about scrolling through the books on Calibre. At some point, I’ll have to make a post about how I look for books in the Public Domain and how I manage them. It is such a wonderful resource for when you’re short on cash, but can be a little intimidating to go through.

Picking books seemingly randomly has often worked wonders for me. At the moment, I’m more into shorter books so I’ve been reading a lot of novellas. This led me to pick books such as The Life and Death of Harriet Frean by May Sinclair, Olivia by Dorothy Strachey, and The Lifted Veil by George Eliot, both of which were interesting but I wouldn’t have picked up on my own if I wasn’t doing so much research on books I might conceivably like. Deciding to read more of the books I got for free from Kindle for World Book Day over the past few years also made me pick up The Ardent Swarm by Yamen Manai and The Great Passage by Shion Miura.

Doing this has helped me expand my horizons and my reading tastes. I’m not confined by a set of list of books that I have to read and I feel more free to explore other genres and do more research on various books, even the ones I find seemingly at random. It honstly reminds me of being in high school and browsing through the school library’s selection for whatever looks interesting. Plus, if I don’t like a book, I can drop it without feeling guilt because I usually get books from the public domain, so no money wasted on my part. I highly recommend being adventurous with your reading. It widens your horizons, help you discover underrated authors, and in my experience, helps you fall in love with reading more.