Let’s talk about Forgotten Books (or books that have been designated as lost on Mt TBR). I’m a bit behind in my reading this week and don’t have a TBR book to post about, so I thought I would take a moment to write about the plight of forgotten books – these books just want to be loved, the same as all books. I mean, these sweet, innocent books, who through no fault of their own, ended up lost on someones pile, feeling neglected and unloved. (Ok, I write that partly in jest, but i’m sure if books had feelings they would probably say something like that).
When I look at books that I have read recently that fall within my TBR challenge, they fit into one of several categories:
1. Book was a freebie/cheapie – I don’t know about you, but I’m always on the lookout for a good deal when it comes to books (I’d probably go broke if I had to pay for all of the books I read each year). So when I see books by authors I like (or sound intriguing) that are on sale/free, then I normally one click them. I will admit that over the last year, I’ve gotten a bit pickier about the ones I have actually gotten, compared to early years of kindle ownership – but I still manage to get more books that I would probably read in a life time. These books normally languish in the pile until I get bored and start rooting through them; or I start to catalogue my purchases on Goodreads (and mentally go, why the heck did I buy that?) or when I need to book that fits a random reading challenge and one of those books randomly happens to fit.
2. Bulk Purchase of an Author – when I find a new author I love, I have a bad habit of bulk buying their books – often times, it will be their entire backlist. This could be especially exacerbated if there is a sale featuring books in a series (I managed to pick up the entire In Death series by JD Robb in audiobook a few years ago for about 1/3 the cost it would take the buy each one separately). Unfortunately, I then read several books by said author and find myself getting burnt out – so I put them aside and forget about them – until things like the Forgotten Book Challenge come along.
3. Books Given as Gifts – I always feel guilty when I get books as gifts – not because i don’t love them or appreciate them – but sometimes I’m just not in the mood for a certain book; or it just doesn’t work for me – so the book(s) get placed on the TBR pile and hopefully will get moved off in the future – but you just never know…
I’m sure there are probably other ways that books end up on Mt TBR, but these are the most popular ones for me. What about you – how do books end up on your TBR or are you a read as soon as purchase kind of person (if you are, i might hate you slightly!)
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