21st Century Literature discussion

How do you decide which book you're going to read next? Do you lose track of books you'd intended to read? Do you read all the books you buy?

This is from a topic that came up in the nominations thread, I thought I'd move it over here since it's kind of fun. People who posted there, please feel free to re-post here.

I use a tbr jar. Believe it or not it works but obviously if you leave things to fate there are greater chances of dnfing a book but it does help decimate the TBR pile. Currently I've got exactly 200 books on my TBR pile and the jar makes things easier. You just need discipline.

I have a physical shelf of owned but unread books - this does not contain all of my unread books - there are plenty of reference books that are resistant to cover-to-cover reading and others I acquired many years ago and have no intention of reading! There are 45 books on this shelf, but I would be happier with 30 or fewer - it has only been more than 10 books since joining GR.

I have a numerical ordering in my GR to-read-owned shelf which I sometimes edit manually but defaults to the date the book was moved there (usually the date bought). So if I have no reason to give preferential treatment to anything more urgent (usually group discussions, shortlists/longlists and anything bought in hardback), I take the oldest one, subject to another self-imposed rule that I like to alternate books written by male and female authors. The oldest ones that are still there date from summer 2017.

As for to-read-not-owned, that is more of a long term wishlist, and quite a lot of the books I buy were never added there because when I see something interesting in a bookshop it doesn't have to be on the radar...

Disposal is an unsolved but growing issue!

I don’t buy books in advance of reading them, except when there is a prize list announced and I plan to read the entire list. The only exception is when I come across a book at a really good price.

My to-read LIST on GR is ordered and I review it regularly, so I can normally just buy number one on that list. As a lot of my reading is on my Kindle, I buy about 10 seconds before I start reading.

I wish I could claim to be this organised all the time, but other books sneak in or jump up the list because I see them and make a sudden decision to buy number 6 on the list instead of number 1! Or someone writes a really interesting review so I read that next without ever putting it on a list.

So, essentially, I try to be methodical but fail. However, my highest priority is for reading to be for pleasure, so getting pleasure from it is the over-riding factor in making decisions.

I don’t know why list came out capitalised in that post.

Of course, the related topic here is what you do with books after you have read them. Do you keep or get rid?

I neglected to mention that I have to plan ahead sometimes as I also use the library and have to reserve books and wait for them.

Ah my actual tbr is located on a tiny DIY shelving unit in my bedroom. It helps to have them at close proximity.


Sometimes I do discover books which are on my already read shelf which I have not read or want to reread (usually for my physical book club) will make their way into the TBR pile and get new entries for the jar.

I'm quite controlled when buying books as I have a wishlist which I revisit but then when The Women's Prize, Goldsmiths and Man Booker unleash their long/shortlists and the Pulitzer prize winner I am reckless but those will take top priority in the reading pile. I follow the Man Booker International, Costa and Republic of Consciousness but I usually buy what interests me (although I did not that this year with the RoC) and put them in the pile, funnily enough the jar hates thin books and graphic novels but likes it to balance the experimental and the more easy to read novels nicely. Also fave authors novels (not short story collections) will be read instantly so Ali Smith, Donna Tartt, Haruki Murakami, David Mitchell and Jonathan Coe will get top billing.

Neil wrote: "Of course, the related topic here is what you do with books after you have read them. Do you keep or get rid?

I neglected to mention that I have to plan ahead sometimes as I also use the library a..."

Unfortunately our public library is not very good ( my friends joke and say that I should open our place to the public) so everything I want to read is bought.

As I mentioned the read books get shifted on the main shelf and then after a year or so there's the great purge. Despite the fact that I moved house a couple of weeks ago, I did not purge but in order to make more room I will have to donate quite a few.

Robert wrote: "Neil wrote: "Of course, the related topic here is what you do with books after you have read them. Do you keep or get rid?

I neglected to mention that I have to plan ahead sometimes as I also use ..."

My public library is also not great, at least for the types of books I read. That's probably more related to what I read than it is to their stock! The local branch is quite small, but has access to a wider catalogue and will ship books over from another library for you if you reserve them, but this takes planning! I would say about 1 in 10 of the books I read is in my library's catalogue. For example, they have just one of the MBI books (The Seventh Function of Language) and stock very few books from the indie publishers (I've talked to them about this, but I don't imagine it will change because of such limited budgets).

I have a TBR list but I'm also an impulsive reader. I read about or someone tells me about a book and I am so curious I want to read it immediately.

I buy a lot of books that I don't read right away (sometimes, unfortunately, ever).

Must admit in terms of books I own I don't like to have more than 10 I haven't read or leave books more than 6 months before reading them. I tend to use the amazon basket for a list of books I am considering buying (although I may not buy them from Amazon) but even there, similar to a comment Neil made on the other thread, I try to keep that at a sensible size (50 books max) by deleting books that have hung around unbought for ages (e.g. more than a year or so)

And as for keeping books I have read - no! Only a very few that are really good or by my favourite 10 authors or so, and there I have a one-in one-out rule.

I have a physical tbr with around 80 books in it. Nothing gets shelved with the main collection until it's been read. I eventually get to most of the books I buy, but I tend to buy a fair bit ahead of my reading as I live in the Middle East and I need to plan ahead so I don't get caught short like I did in the great book drought of 1996. I understand that I'm a little bonkers about buying books, but I'm also reading more widely and faster than ever before so I think it's justified.

Choosing the next book is a mix of impulse and rough planning. I usually switch off between something literary or challenging and something lighter or something that looks like it will be a faster read. I read a fair bit of detective fiction, noir stuff and also a fair number of graphic novels in between prizewinners, classics and modern literary fiction. I read the occasion bit of non-fiction, perhaps a memoir or some popular science hit.

I like to leave room, though for a topical read, such as when the Booker shortlist comes up or the Tournament of Books.

Wow--it is fun to read all these different approaches! I don't see anything like mine, which is probably archaic, so I'll share.

I prefer physical books, and have them everywhere. Yes, I lose track, and no, I don't think I'll ever read them all! Even though I have plenty on my TBR, I can't resist the library, so they rival each other for my attention.

I try to balance group reads and challenges with just looking around and reading whatever I feel like. More often than not though, the books that get read are the ones due back to the library!

I have a shelf of unread books that has hovered just over 100 books for many years. I read about 20 of those per year, but I seem to take in twice as many. I don't buy a lot of new books, but I get books as gifts, get them free from the Little Free Libraries system in my neighborhood, or buy them used at $0.50 to $1.00 a piece at nearby thriftstores, which have a rather interesting selection. Some of those unread ones are titles my son or wife acquired. My GR TBR list consists of just about everything that makes me think, "Oh, that looks interesting!" (Thus, it's over 1,000 selections... I should probably whittle it down some.) I also live near two excellent library systems. I have about 60 unread e-books. Most of those were free or purchased and read by my wife.

Excellent question, Neil! I started only keeping the books I rate 4 stars or higher. I donate the rest to charities or to our Little Free Library system.

Marc wrote: "I have a shelf of unread books that has hovered just over 100 books for many years. I read about 20 of those per year, but I seem to take in twice as many. I don't buy a lot of new books, but I get..."

Looks like I am a combination of Kathleen and Neil. My GR 'want to read' shelf is in the high 1000's, but I use it as a private bookstore of books I potentially want to read. When an interesting title comes up as a buddy or group read, I look it up, and if it's on my 'want to read' list, that seals the deal for me. (Just sounding great can also be a deal sealer though.) When it comes to buying, I only buy ebooks that are a daily deal somewhere - nothing over $2.99. 98% of my physical TBR books are from a university library, and as retired faculty, I can keep those library books for 1 year, renewable 2 more times. Unfortunately I"m moving soon, so that sweet deal will be at an end. About once a month I do buy a full price book from my indie bookstore to help keep it alive.

Everyone here sounds very restrained--I buy entirely too many books at the 'why-not' price of $0.50-$1.00, all of which look interesting at the moment and I fully intend to read...sometime...in the next 20 years or so. I consider all the unread books on my shelves (a lot!) my TBR.

Well, I'm fortunate enough to have a big house, but even still, I'm beginning to see that I'm going to have to do another purge soon. Don't call Hoarders yet!

I buy books all the time! I often look for hard to find titles that I have to hunt down. I love them, so it’s worth it to me. My groups largely decide what I read next, since I moderate a few.

I’m a heavy library user also and prefer used bookstores if I can find the titles I’m looking for.

I'm a library person. The few books I do buy tend to be nonfiction that I might reference from time to time. I don't see the point of buying a book that I will most likely only read once. I do sometimes buy cheap ones for kindle though ($2 or less) just so I have things because the library requires planning.
As far as deciding what to read next, it is a combination of group reads and challenges on goodreads and whatever fits my mood at the moment...a book that I have been thinking about lately. Sometimes I plan books for group reads and never follow through because my mood takes over. Plus, I always overbook myself and plan more than I can possibly read in a certain time!

Bryan wrote: "Everyone here sounds very restrained--I buy entirely too many books at the 'why-not' price of $0.50-$1.00, all of which look interesting at the moment and I fully intend to read...sometime...in the..."

It's a question of space. I would love to spend more but I have to be considerate ( in fact my girlfriend and I have similar tastes and if you merged our collections together there would be too many duplicates so we had to compromise big time)

or do you mean that we are hiding our true book obsessions :)

I am a book pack rat, but have gotten much better after a few moves. I used to stock up regularly at used bookstores and Friends of the Library sales. Now I read mostly on my Kindle, so at least those unread books don't stare at me accusingly from bookshelves. I still dive in on those daily deals, but only pay full price for ones I am about to read.

Like others, I have one bookshelf for hard copy books I haven't read. In my GR bookshelves, I have one called "top shelf" for books that I intend to read sooner rather than later, but even that's no guarantee. I've seen people on here with multiple, tiered shelves; way too organized for me.

I have a list of all the books I own (print, e-book, and audible) but have not yet read that is embarrassingly long. The audible list is the shortest; the print is the longest. If I stopped adding to it, I just might finish in 5 years. I trade in most of my read print books for credit at a local bookstore but do keep about some. I collect the books of certain authors that I enjoy and always buy what they write. I have been reading the longlist for the NBA fiction award for the last five or so years and I always buy the books. In the last few years I have been dabbling into other longlists and also buying books that certain GR friends rave about. I am resolved to try to cut my book spending in half and read more than I buy to free up shelf space for those I want to keep! As to how I decide what to read next -- well, it is often the books next up in one of my GR groups or the a book on an award long list I've decided to tackle or one by a favorite author or just grabbing one off the shelf or a challenge I've set myself or something related to my next trip. I do not keep track of when a book was added to the shelf and some have languished on it for quite awhile. In other words, there is little, other than my TBR list, that is organized!

After switching to an e-reader, I put books on my own "wait list" and only buy a book or two in advance.

I still have around 80-100 unread physical books that I'm trying to get through.

I read an average of 240 books a year, about 2/3 of which I get from the library - either locally or through inter-library loan. The rest I buy, and are usually UK books that haven't been published in the US, or contemporary theatre plays (which is my field) that aren't readily available - both of which I typically get through Books Depository UK.

I keep seven different TBR lists here on GR - the main one is currently just under 300 items and are those I 'most' want to read, and then I have a 2nd tier TBR list of those things I am interested in reading, but maybe not so urgently (currently at 230). My other categories are: plays, LGBT books, Indian authors (a preferred genre), Kindle books (primarily ARCs through Netgalley), and books I want to re-read.

I have a HUGE backlog of unread physical books, which I re-arrange and add to constantly - and a majority of those are things I have discovered through friends' reading and recommendations on HERE! I usually also read the complete longlist nominees for the Bookers, Goldsmiths, NBA, R of C, and selected items from the MBI, BTBA, Bailey's, Costa, etc. Often I will pull something from further down in one of my various lists, because it has suddenly struck my fancy or I've read something about it and it will pop back into my consciousness.

I have a storage shed that I store my read (and some unread) books in, but sadly, often I will want to re-read something and rather than hunt for it, I'll get it out of the library instead, since it's just easier!! :-( ( I know, I know... ) I find it hard to get rid of ANY books, but luckily I have the space :-)

Ok, that's much more than probably anyone cares to know...

Personally, I find all these details fascinating! We each have our own habits, routines, idiosyncrasies...

If I plan too much of my reading in advance, I start to feel stifled or obligated, so I'm always trying to strike a balance between getting to TBR titles and allowing for group selections and/or sheer impulse. Finding a book at the right time sometimes makes all the difference.

Actually, that is a wonderful story, Doug--thank you for sharing the details. I am guilty of getting a book from the library rather than look for my own too, and you have inspired me to finally create different TBR lists--something I've been meaning to do as my TBR just gets more and more unmanageable ...

Marc wrote: "If I plan too much of my reading in advance, I start to feel stifled or obligated, so I'm always trying to strike a balance between getting to TBR titles and allowing for group selections and/or sheer impulse. "
This is my current problem in a nutshell. I would be much happier with 10-20 books on the shelf, and I used to manage that quite easily before GR peer pressure kicked in. All of the books on the to-read shelf are ones I had strong reasons for wanting to read at the time, but when the backlog gets too big one can forget what prompted the decision.

Doug - I have shed envy already.

Hugh wrote: "..Doug - I have shed envy already."

I really really would love to see a picture of Doug's shed.

We ALL want to see Doug’s shed!

Doug wrote: "I have a HUGE backlog of unread physical books, which I re-arrange and add to constantly ..."

Ah--well here's someone that sounds similar to me!

As far as picking what I read next--I consider that huge backload I have to all be on my TBR list, so if a group read for any of the groups I'm in happens to be one of those books, then I read along (Like 2666, and happy I am that that got picked!)

Otherwise, I have an insanely complicated and tedious process I go through to pick my next book, which really amounts to little more than 'eeny-meenie-miney-moe'

Bryan wrote: "Otherwise, I have an insanely complicated and tedious process I go through to pick my next book, which really amounts to little more than 'eeny-meenie-miney-moe'..."

RFLOL! A man after my own soul!

My home has mini-book collections scattered about it, each created out of reasons like "I want to get to these next" (sometimes then neglected for year or more, like the one with Buddenbrooks on it) to "pulled for the discussion we are having on" to "I bought these because XXX (GR thread, Bill Gates, YY review, ZZ prize) recommended and now I really must get these read since I purchased them," to the Sterilite box "home" for library books so I avoid having to pay for the overdue one that I have lost somewhere alongside some chair or in some stack or another. (On the other side of the coin, like Doug, I will borrow a library book I want and cannot readily lay my hands on within my own collection.)

I have never tried to read all the books on a longlist or even a shortlist, a trait I have watched and marveled among some of the readers here. I do not tend to read all of a particular author. I mix fiction and nonfiction, with a heavy weight towards fiction. I mix classic and current. Usually I have about three face-to-face book discussions happening. Those, as well as GR threads, have heavily influenced reading choices in recent years. But those still don't stifle the impulse read, especially one I can physically touch, e.g., like a new books display or found when searching the shelves--my own, a library, a bookstore--for another. And, yes, I have too many books that I am struggling with how to dispose of without simply feeding waste paper. (There is a library in a depressed area that I once helped shelve. I'd rather like to find one of those again, this time filling my car and visiting myself.)

This discussion makes me so happy. I love to see that there are people ‘like us’ out there in the world. Not anyone I know where I live, unfortunately!!

Last year I got really frustrated because I could never find a book I needed on my bookshelves. So I finally decided to organize.

I have grouped my books on the shelves according to various headings: biographies; essays; short story collections; goddess literature; mythology; ancient texts, including epic poems; feminism; gender studies; monotheistic traditions; poetry; literary criticism; and fiction (listed in alphabetical order by the author’s last name—of course!).

I have a pile of books to read near my chair in the library. I usually browse through the nominated books on the goodreads groups I’m in, as well as any books that have been recommended. I add any book to my list that looks interesting—even if it isn’t the one selected as a group read. I add and subtract books on my to read list as I go along, but I try to keep the list fairly small (usually less than 20 books at a time).

I am desperately running out of bookshelf space, so I’ve become increasingly reliant on the library. I read whatever book strikes my fancy at the time. I have fairly eclectic taste. I just finished a book on women’s role in Islamic mysticism and now I’m reading Omeros.

I usually know what book I plan to read next before I finish the book I’m currently reading. I wish I could claim I select my next read in a systematic, logical manner. But the truth is I really have no idea what guides my selection. I just “know” what book I want to read next.

My children are probably correct: they have been telling me for years I should seek therapy.

Re Brian's "...if a group read for any of the groups I'm in happens to be one of those books, then I read along":

A bit of a shameless plug here - I nominated this month's read 'The Heart's Invisible Furies' because I had had a copy for over a year and every time I thought I would read it, its length proved too daunting and intimidated me - so I nominated it JUST so it would FORCE me to read it!! :-) I started it on Monday, and it is SOOOOO good I will probably finish it today, so my fears were for naught. So please do join in, if possible, when I begin moderating it on the 1st!

Re: my book shed... not sure how I can post a pic HERE, but have posted a picture of it on my own profile...go to the photo section there! (it's also got Xmas decorations, a big recliner and assorted other items in there, so it isn't JUST the boxes of books! :-) )

Lily wrote: "I have never tried to read all the books on a longlist or even a shortlist, a trait I have watched and marveled among some of the readers here..."

Ditto! I usually go through those long lists and pick a few that interest me. I think going through the whole list would be a great way to broaden my reading horizons - basically books I might never have selected for myself, but which have been recognized by people who know a thing or two about literature. I'm just too slow a reader to make that kind of commitment.

Doug - I've already started 'The Heart's Invisible Furies' and I'm loving it. I'm about 1/2 way through - thank you for nominating!

Sue wrote: "Doug - I've already started 'The Heart's Invisible Furies' and I'm loving it. I'm about 1/2 way through - thank you for nominating!"


So glad you are enjoying it also... I will finish it by tomorrow...and am sure it will make my top five for 2018!

Behold, the fabled Literary Shed of Doug!


Thanks for sharing this, Doug.

Do I see a reading lamp back in there to go with the recliner!

LOL!!! Thanx, Marc for posting!! I am a technophobe/Luddite and couldn't figure out how to post it here!!

And I think what you are seeing, Lily, is actually a fan!! :-)

Dianne wrote: "This discussion makes me so happy. I love to see that there are people ‘like us’ out there in the world. Not anyone I know where I live, unfortunately!!"

Exactly what I was thinking Dianne. :-)

And Doug's shed ... well it looks like heaven to me. I see an empty box there--room to grow!

Doug those books are about to shove your chair out the door! You need another shed!


Thanks so much for sharing!

This is a great topic and post. I'm enjoying reading some of the comments. Great to know there are like minded people about reading. That's an awesome shed, Doug! Ha.

I'll echo some others' sentiments. It is awesome to be able to have a common interest in book hoarding..umm..I mean, book collecting.

I used to buy books all the time knowing full well I probably wouldn't get around to them for years. I've slowed down...some. I even love to spend some time at Barnes and Noble just to be able to browse...I miss all those days of bookstores thriving...

As far as the question of how I choose the next book, I use a combination of my own personal to be read pile, an upcoming book club read, or something that piques my interest at that particular time.

Anyhow, great topic!

As Hugh said - shed envy!

Love your shed, Doug. I have visions of the comfy chair being there all alone at first, and the book boxes gradually building up around.

As to my own method of choosing what to read........I always have my next 2 or 3 reads planned, and when I finish my current book, I find I'm ready for anything that ISN'T what I had been planning!

Lagullande wrote: "....I always have my next 2 or 3 reads planned, and when I finish my current book, I find I'm ready for anything that ISN'T what I had been planning! ..."

LOL! Sure can relate to that one, Lagullande!

Out of embarrassment, I wasn’t going to post this here. But then I saw the picture of my friend Doug’s book shed, and I decided to take the leap. I’ve loved books since my childhood, many decades ago. I remember the first children’s book that I read by myself (the Landmark Series edition of Quentin Reynolds’ The Battle Over Britain) and I remember the first adult novel that I read as a child (Thomas Costain’s The Tontine). I love the look, feel, and smell of books. I accumulate books. I collect books. Accumulate? Yes, I’ll admit to purchasing novels that I just know that I’ll enjoy and desperately want to read later, identified through prize lists, through the NYT and on-line book reviews, and through GR. Collect? Yes, over the years I’ve carefully collected a complete set of reading copies of the Booker shortlisted novels, the thankfully fewer Dublin Literary Award winners, and a handful of my very favorite novelists. I prefer reading paper books, but I do have an e-tablet well-stocked for travel. I do keep most, but not all, novels, read or unread. I do reread, usually novels that I enjoyed at first reading, but sometimes novels that I didn’t particularly enjoy but I enjoy much more on second reading. And I usually can’t predict just what or when I’m going to reread: I recently reread my copy of Anita Brookner’s Look at Me about thirty-five years after first reading it, and this year I’m looking forward to rereading Bruce Chatwin’s On the Black Hill and G. B. Edwards’ The Book of Ebenezer LePage, both of which I read in the early 1980s. I also enjoy short stories, but I rarely will read an entire collection all the way through at one time. Hence, three or so shelves of short story volumes, from which I’ll read a story here now, a store there then.

My wife indulgently ignores—up to a point—my bookcases and my piles. I indulgently ignore her art supplies. The dog now cannot reach either my books or her art supplies, although a now sadly deceased and beloved dog chewed his way through Robert Alter’s wonderful translation of Psalms.

How do I decide what to read next? Sometimes it’s a decision to read or reread all of an author (now Brookner, Modiano, McDermott), sometimes it’s discussions on this forum or on the GR Mookse and Gripes forum, and often it’s random. Thanks to Trevor‘s new podcast, I’ve moved my two volumes of Sigizmund Krzhizhanovsky from the bottom of one of my many to-read piles to the pile right next to my bed. I’ve convinced myself that owning and frequently replenishing a large collection of to-read and to-reread novels will always provide me with incentive to live forever.

Dan wrote: "Out of embarrassment, I wasn’t going to post this here. But then I saw the picture of my friend Doug’s book shed, and I decided to take the leap. I’ve loved books since my childhood, many decades a..."

Very nice read, Dan. Thanks for sharing... I laughed at your comment about 'to-read piles next to my bed' and added a picture of MINE to my profile!! :-)

Doug - I took a look at your bedside stack picture. Impressive!

I think I speak for many when I say I just love an inviting pile of books!

Sue wrote: "Doug - I took a look at your bedside stack picture. Impressive!"

Yes, I agree with Sue: an impressive pile. And also an impressive architectural feat.

Love the pile! My bedside has 4 piles. I start on the floor so they are pretty high. Of course they are right next to the bookcase which has no more room.