How to manage your TBR pile (plus TBR jar ideas)

Your TBR (to be read) is every book you mean to read one day. It grows faster than anyone can read, and that is fine: there is even a Japanese word, tsundoku, for letting books pile up unread. The trouble starts when the pile feels like a debt instead of a menu. Here is how to keep it light, and how a TBR jar can choose for you.

Why a TBR keeps growing

• Books arrive faster than you read them. Sales, gifts, recommendations, a video you watched at midnight.
• "Someday" books. Books you feel you should read, but never feel like reading.
• Series you meant to continue. Book two waits while three new series start.
• Choice is tiring. The bigger the pile, the harder it is to pick, so you add one more instead.

How to manage it

1. Keep a short "up next" list. A handful of books you really want next. That is the list you choose from; the rest can simply wait.
2. Prune once a season. Go through the oldest books first and ask: would I start this today? If not, let it go. Removing a book is not a judgment on it.
3. Note why you added it. Who recommended it, what caught you. A reason makes it easier to start, or to let go.
4. Sort by mood, not only by genre. "Cozy", "dark", "funny": then the pile can answer the real question, what you feel like reading tonight.
5. Finish what you started. Before a new series, see where you are in the old ones. If the numbering is confusing, here is what 1.5 means in a series.
6. Keep unreleased books apart. A book that is not out yet is not on your pile. Follow it with new-release alerts instead.
7. Make it a game. A TBR jar (below), a book bingo card or a month where you only read from the pile.

TBR jar ideas

A TBR jar takes the choosing off your hands. Write titles on slips of paper, or better, write prompts, then draw one when you finish a book. Some prompts to start with:

1. The book that has been on your list the longest.
2. The shortest book on your pile.
3. A book someone gave you.
4. The next book in a series you started.
5. An author you have never read.
6. A book set somewhere you have never been.
7. The prettiest cover you own.
8. A friend's recommendation.
9. A translated book.
10. A debut novel.
11. A book that fits the season.
12. A book older than you.
13. The book you keep putting off.
14. A comfort read in your favourite genre.
15. Free choice, no guilt.

One rule helps: if you draw a book you really do not want, put it back once. If you draw it again and still do not want it, maybe it is time to let it go.

Your TBR in Storyfeel

• Add a book. Add to TBR searches like Stories and puts the book straight on your TBR. Its form already takes what matters before you start: Spice level, Tropes, Content warnings and the Summary.
• Coming from Goodreads? Your "to-read" shelf lands on your TBR when you import your library.
• Up next. Mark as next read on up to 7 books and they wait at the top, under 📖 Up next.
• A TBR jar that knows your moods. Pick for me asks I’m in the mood for: and shows the moods on your shelf, with how many books have each. Tap one, or Surprise me. It picks among the books you are looking at (your filters count), skips the ones already up next, and marks the one it picks as your next read.
• Moods for the whole pile. Give each book a Mood. With a paid plan, Find moods gives a mood to every book that has none, from its public description.
• Prune and find. Filter by Genre, author, Mood, Spice level or Content warnings (Hide books with hides the themes you would rather avoid). Sort puts the shelf in order: Recently added, Title A–Z or Title Z–A. With Recently added, the books you added longest ago are at the end: a good place to start a prune.
• Start reading. Start reading moves the book to Stories as Reading.
• Series and releases. On My Journey, Next in my series shows the next book of each series and On my TBR keeps your pile in view. Books not out yet live in Most Anticipated, with a countdown, until release day.
• Play with it. In Games, a Word search can hide the names of the Authors on your TBR.

Questions

How many books should be on a TBR?

There is no right number. What matters is the short list you actually choose from; the long one is a library of possibilities.

Should I feel guilty about a big TBR?

No. A TBR is not a to-do list. If a book no longer calls you, letting it go is part of keeping the pile alive. Not sure? Here is when to DNF a book, and what to do in a reading slump.

What is the difference between a TBR jar and a random pick?

A jar with prompts still lets you choose within the prompt. A random pick decides for you. Both are good when choosing has become the hard part.

Is this on the free plan?

The free plan holds 20 books on your TBR; past that they are kept, but can't be opened until you subscribe. 📖 Up next, Pick for me and the filters are free. Find moods is part of the paid plans.

To turn your pile into a menu, try Storyfeel free.