Down the TBR Hole

It’s only been seven weeks since I finished Phase 1 of this project, Phase 2 was a lot briefer. But now we’re at an end to this series (I do want to check back toward the end of the year to see if I maintained my focus on this), and I thought I’d take a quick look back.

Last February, I decided to tackle the monster that is my Goodreads “Want to Read” Shelf, it doesn’t/didn’t represent every book I’m meaning to get to—but it’s a daunting grouping, what I’ve taken to calling my “aspirational” to-read list. As opposed to those that I’ve purchased in one form or another that I’ve yet to get to (I track that on my monthly retrospective posts, and that line isn’t moving in the right direction). But that’s a slightly different kettle of fish.

But thanks to this meme, I’ve done some good with the aspirational TBR. In February 2020, I had 240 books on the list and cut 129 off of it, and then between the time I posted about it on a Down the TBR post and when I got to the end of Phase 1, I was able to cross off another 8. Then I pulled a list of all of those I’d added to the Goodreads list in the meantime, adding 50. I cut 15 off of that Phase 2 list. And I’ve read some from that list during Phase 2:
bullet A Big Ship at the Edge of the Universe by Alex White from DtTH #25
bullet Sworn to Silence by Linda Castillo DtTH #26
bullet Evolving Vegan: Deliciously Diverse Recipes from North America’s Best Plant-Based Eateries—for Anyone Who Loves Food by Mena Massoud DtTH #27
bullet I Will Judge You by Your Bookshelf by Grant Snider DtTH #28 (well, I’ve started it)

And then there are two I have possession of and will have tackled within a week, which is close enough for me for these purposes.
bullet Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir DtTH #29
bullet The Jigsaw Man by Nadine Matheson DtTH #29

So that’s another 6 crossed off, 21 of the 50 Phase 2 books and a total of 158 books cut from my 290 book Goodreads “Want to List.” From 290 to 132, ain’t shabby at all. It’s 45% of the original size. If I was 45% of the size I am now…well, that wouldn’t be healthy. But it’d be closer to it than I am now. That example got away from me, didn’t it?

All in all, I’m calling this project a success. Let’s see if I can maintain the loss, or like most dieters, if I put it all back on in three-six months.

Yeah, it’s moot at this point, but I might as well keep the meme boilerplate info:
This meme was created by Lia @ Lost in a Story—but Jenna at Bookmark Your Thoughts is the one that exposed me to this, and as my Goodreads “Want To Read” shelf is (still) scarily long, I had to do this.

The Rules are simple:

  1. Go to your Goodreads to-read shelf
  2. Order on ascending date added.
  3. Take the first 5 (or 10 if you’re feeling adventurous) books.
  4. Read the synopses of the books.
  5. Decide: keep it or should it go?
  6. Keep track of where you left off so you can pick up there next week! (or whenever)

What distinguishes this series from the Mt. TBR section of my Month-end Retrospectives? Those are books I actually own while Goodreads contains my aspirational TBR (many of which will be Library reads). The Naming of the two is a bit confusing, but…what’re you going to do?


(Image by moritz320 from Pixabay)