And they expect me to do this before I had my tea?
Well, we will give it a try...first to think of a question to leave. I had one and now I forget what it was. Oh yes..
So the question I need to answer, from Ann at My Reading Corner, is this..
"The next question:
Do you plan ahead for your reading? Working off of a TBR pile? Or do you choose whatever you are in the mood for?"
Do I plan? I try, but not as well as I should. I am not a great planner
Do I work off a TBR pile? Sometimes.
Do I read what I am in the mood for? Yes, sometimes that too.
As I have written before and as I am sure every book blogger knows, it is easy to let one's obligations, book wise, get out of control. You see a book with ARCs available and you ask for and receive it. Then a publicist or author e-mails you and offers a book that sounds great...and you accept it. Then you receive a book for a program like Early Reviewers or Amazon Vine..or both. Then, surprise, you win a book form a contest on another blog. Of course, all this time, you are reading other blogs and reading reviews and you read a review of a book somewhere that sounds so good that you just have to read it and set out to buy a copy or get it from your local library and the pile gets just a little bigger. And did you read the book section of the NY Times this week and see that great book....?
Watch Out Kitty, The Pile Is About to FALL! Oh NO!!
Seriously, I take the obligation to read and review books I have requested seriously and must admit that sometimes I have not been as timely as I might have been in the past. So now I have started to use the very simple and easy tool of an online calender, in my case, Google calender. I add the day the book is to be published and check it to see that is coming up and use that info when I am picking my next book to read. A simple idea, one you think I might have thought of before instead of little post-it notes with dates, notes that always fell off or got ignored.
But...what of books already out? Do I enter the day I received it and use that info to keep them in order. Or just a list of when I received them and go "first in, first read"?
Ok, I don't have an answer for that. In fact, I am curious what you all do, so if you have a great system, please leave a comment and let me know. I am a work in progress.
I am off to read.
To read a book on no calender or list, just a book I want to read.
I was in the library, a place I have no business being, looking for a book I had read a glowing review of online. I found it..and then got another two books that looked great and checked all three out. So now I am reading one of them, instead of one off that already existing TBR pile. Oh my.
Because, bottom line, I have to read what I want to read. :-)
Sometimes.
LOL... I thought that would be such an easy question with a very short answer. Was I wrong?! I enjoyed your answer, but still don't quite know what you do. I think your last line answered the question, you have to read what you want to read. ; )
ReplyDeleteI usually read a different genre back- to- back. I get to bored to keep reading the same genre, I like them mixed up, a little romance, a mystery, maybe a classic, etc. But this winter I plan on reading a Debbie Macomber's "A Good Yarn" series back-to-back, starting with the first and reading them in order. But, that remains to be seen.
I have the exact same problem with the library... it often interferes with my TBR pile!
ReplyDeleteThat google calendar sounds like a good idea, I'll have to check it out.
I do have a TBR pile with books stacked in the order I should read them and I usually stick with it. I do admit to sneaking books that don't belong in there from time to time, though.
ReplyDeleteI do keep a calendar for my blog posts, but I hate structure. I like to run amuck with my reading, and I often feel that I can't. Remind me next year, Caite, to restrain myself from those damn challenges.
ReplyDeleteI have a separate desk calendar to put dates of reviews/tours/interviews/guest posts, etc on and I always look to it when I am ready to choose a new book to read. I also have all my review books in one stack with the next one I need to get done on top. If I feel I have enough time to get in another book, then I pick from my ever-growing tbr pile, which is now spread out on 2 shelves of my bookcase. I try not to go the the library when I have so much to read, because like you, I always end up leaving with more than what I went in for!
ReplyDeleteAnn, I can't really say what I do...because I don't always do the same thing. Bit of this...bit of that...lol
ReplyDeleteKathy, if I had a stack like that I would have to lift them all up to put a new book on the bottom, right. Hmmm...maybe I could get a forklift cheap on eBay..
Sandy, I don't do challenges [and don't really understand why people do ;-) ]
Not least of all because I am too disorganized to do them.
I use Word calendar and put all book related info in there but as soon as I agree to review a book on a specific date, I'll go into blogger to new post and at least put in the title and the labels and then schedule it to post on the correct date. Sometimes I'll add the disclosure notice above my signature. That way I can go into edit posts and see all that I am obligated to review at a glance for months ahead instead of just one month.
ReplyDeleteKaye, if I did that, I think I would have a lot of blank posts.
ReplyDeletebut it is a great idea..
After freaking out a little bit when I first started blogging and getting in over my head, I've begun to exercise caution in what review copies I will accept. And if Amazon Vine would just accept me already, I would have PLENTY of time to work on their stuff... HINT HINT AMAZON!
ReplyDeleteI definitely don't plan my reading. I pick whatever book beckons me from my tbr pile!
ReplyDeleteYou can also answer my question at my Musing Mondays post!