How To Change Your Mood Reading to being a TBR Reader

So I know that as book readers and especially if you are a romance reader, you most likely end up in the category of being a mood reader. I feel like the majority of readers that I see in this space tend to “mood read”. So what exactly does it mean to be a “mood reader”? My personal interpretation of this is where you read whenever the mood strikes but also you read whatever you are in the mood for at the time. So sometimes this could mean not reading anything for days or reading constantly regardless of sleep or eating when you become so consumed with books. But also being a mood reader also may mean only reading a certain sub genre, character type at once or even a trope. The issue that I have personally found with being a mood reader is that it can easily trigger book slumps and these book slumps can last for days, weeks, and sometimes even months. It can be enjoyable to be a mood reader and it definitely has its advantages for sure. Basically picking up what you feel like reading and you are in the mood for. The largest disadvantage is that you won’t be able to pick up books you want to read but have to wait until you are in the mood for it.

So today I want to talk about what you can do if being a mood reader is NOT what you want to be as a reader. If you want to be able to plan your reading out or not have to be so dependent on your “mood” to read books or certain types of books to pick up. Or if you tend to get into book slumps and would like to get away from book slumps. I do think one of the largest downsides to being a “mood” reader will trigger you to have many book slumps. Not sure if you all have noticed, but in the past year I haven’t had one book slump when I used to get them every few months. I have noticed this is a common factor in many “mood” readers. So the motivation behind this post is to show a way to change your brain patterns, to allow yourself, to change from being a mood reader to a tbr reader. This is not a process that happens overnight, so you do need to be committed. But I do feel like its worth it if its an aspect in your reading that you want to change. When I decided to try to change this, I was at my breaking point. For the past five years I have had a slump at least every six months and just haven’t been able to read the amount that I have actually wanted to. I do think that this will be helpful if you are looking to make changes to your reading or just want to try something new and different.

So before I fully explain my process in switching from a mood reader to having a flexible TBR, I want to point out that I read a LOT, so my time frames may be different from yours and you might need to readjust based on how much you read. For example, I read normally 8-10 books a week on average but if you read that many per month, then just do the same process but change the time frame for it.

So what you want to start doing is take a time frame of what you read, so you want around 7-10 books, so depending on your reading time and how you get through books, just take that time frame (the time frame doesn’t matter but if you read a book per month, the process of this will take longer) because what we are actually doing is changing your brain patterns to accept a different way to read. So once you have your time frame set up, it can be a week, two weeks, or a month. Then you want to add a planned book into that time frame. So for example, I read 10 books a week normally, so what I did in the first step is I added a planned TBR book into my weekly reading. When I first started doing this I was just a mood reader. So, once you start adding in that one book every time frame you have, then you just wait and keep doing it. Until your mind is adjusted to that one book and you can easily jump into that one TBR book. So the next step, is to add another book into that time frame. So now you have two TBR books in that time frame, then once you have adjusted to those two books, then you add another book and so on. As you do this slowly over time, your brain will slowly adjust and before you know it you will see a change in how you read. So does this mean you NEVER mood read? No. There will be occasions where you will do a random pick up read. But it won’t be all the time. I always allow a random pick up once a week. But keep in mind how much I read every week. So if you read 10 books a month, then you would want yourself that “mood freebie” once a month or two. You don’t want to do it more than that or you will switch back to being a mood reader.

Now this process does take time and it doesn’t happen overnight. It took about 3 months for me personally to get adjusted to this new way. But I also am a voracious reader lol so my time frame for this will be quicker. Depending on how much you read will determine how long this take. But on average it shouldn’t take more than six months. But its a commitment, and you have to WANT this change. If your heart isn’t in it, you won’t stick to it. But I can guarantee that its worth it. I just love the new way of reading. Because one, I haven’t had one slump in over a year!! Thats insane to me and its kinda weird just being able to read and not worry about getting into a slump. But I also nitpick what I read in my TBR and make sure to make it well rounded. Its still ALL romance, but I make sure I also don’t read a bunch of one author, series, or theme or sub genre. If you tend to binge read books, you might still get into a slump because I do think binge reading triggers it as well. So for example if there is a series I want to binge read. What I do is I just add one book in that series each time frame. It might take a bit longer to get through that series or author’s backlist, however, it will keep you from getting into a slump. So the end result will be you being able to pick up planned books with no issue, not having to rely on your “mood” to read, and not worrying about getting into a slump. Now you might need to be more nit picky on how you build your TBR. It takes me like 2 hours every single week haha That should put into perspective how long my weekly recap post actually takes to do every week and how committed I am. Because I do have to make sure its well rounded and take books from different avenues like ARC’s, New Releases, Author Backlists and Series I am working my way through. Not saying you will have to do that at all, but you should be able to build a TBR however you see fit. And love how adaptable it is depending on how you read and want to do a TBR.

So that’s it! I hope that if you are looking for ways to get out of slumps, adjusted your reading style and become more well rounded as a reader, that this post will help you out as it has really changed how I read for the BETTER!!!!