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I am Lover of romance, who indulges in the romantic adventures of literature

My name is Renee, and I am the host of this site. I am a 34 year old woman, on the prowl for her mate, searching out the best of books, exploring the wilds of the imagination and delving into the heart of a beautiful love story.

 

Tea and Biscuits Book Discussions: TBR Pile —-unread and longforgotten

by | Aug 1, 2016 | Tea and Biscuits Discussions | 19 comments

Have you ever added a book, or bought a book and completely forgotten about it? I think as bloggers and readers we tend to overlook those books that have been on our TBR for the longest time, especially with e galley’s and new releases taking most of our time. This is a subject I have been wanting to discuss for quite some time. Mostly because I am guilty of being so consummed on what is most “popular” or the latest releases, that I tend to forget that there are many books on my list I want to really read but just don’t have time to get to. Its one of the main reasons, I have my reading challenge “Oldie But a Goodie”, its a good reminder but I don’t pick up as many of these as I would like. Having a focus this year though, of trying to do what I can, to pick these books up have been a wonderful experience and a reminder of what I love about those older romances that are just so well written and easily forgotten.

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Miss WonderfulWhat is fun is picking up these oldies and finding treasures and then there are other times you pick one up and aren’t as easily impressed. Especially when its with a favorite author. Last year, for example I picked up Miss Wonderful by Loretta Chase. Now I really wanted to love this one, but I just couldn’t get through it and I ended up DNF’ing it. Which was not what I wanted, but I had to realize that sometimes you just aren’t in the mood, and frankly I was bored with the story. And so far, its the only book that I haven’t enjoyed from Loretta Chase. And even though I haven’t gotten around to her whole backlist, its still in the plans. Especially since one of my all time favorite books “Lord Of Scoundrels” is written by her and is one of her most classic romances and well known and very much liked. The next book that I had a wonderful experience with was Captive“Captive” by Heather Graham. Now this author writes angsty romances, so the actual romances aren’t for everyone. But one aspect I do love about this author and how she has written her historical’s are simply AMAZING. She knows how to research so well to make a story come alive with authentic historic detail. When I picked this up a couple of months ago, I had read this author in years, and many of her books have been on my TBR for the longest time. Upon finishing this book, I realized how much I want to read more of her historical’s. My next favorite one I was able to pick up was “Tennessee Bride” by Rosanne Tennessee BrideBittner. Now if you have been following my reviews the past year, you know how much I LOVE this author so much. I had a wonderful experience with this book, it has a native american theme here. Which I loved how Bittner wrote it, because its so different from any native american romance I have read before. I loved the great emotional depth (which Bittner is famous for) and what a treasure of a read this one was. The history and details were quite fascainting and I still can’t believe how long I took to pick this one up.

So what about you all….have there been books you have picked up from your TBR pile that were treasures or were they duds? I would love to know

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What about those books that have been on your TBR the longest but you haven’t gotten around to? How do we as readers, with so many books to read and little time get around to those forgotten books, take the time to pick up the oldies? I used to think I didn’t have time to make for these. But I realize that I had to make sacrifices if it was important enough. And especially when reading historical romance…I like the older books just as much (or sometimes more so) than newer releases. What made a difference for myself this year, was taking a step back from the newer releases and requesting so many galleys. Now first off, I have made an effort to only request books from Netgalley/Edelweiss that I would buy right away to read. As far as books I like to buy that are new—they need to be books I know I NEED to read. Certain authors or books that are Auto buys for me. Now other than that, I try to get to those books on my shelves or even on my kindle that I just haven’t either had time to get to, or have completly forgotten about. Or even books I find through my library that I have been wanting to read or have been on my wishlist for quite some time!! I do encourage making an effort to pick up those older books that you haven’t gotten around to—-in fact I think its just as important as reading those newer releases.

Top List For Books On My TBR the Longest

 

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19 Comments

  1. Nick

    YES. I’m so guilty of doing this. I have a ton of books on my TBR shelves and I was taking a look at it the other day and I was really overwhelmed. I’m going to have to sit down one of these days and clean it up because there are some books that I’ve just lost interest in. And then there are some books I can’t remember why I was interested in the first place. This year, I’ve been trying to read at least 2-3 books per month from my backlist TBR, and it’s working, but I’m nowhere near to clearing up my shelf! It’s a never-ending cycle! :/

    Reply
  2. Felicia The Geeky Blogger

    I am totally sort of guilty of this though I am finding that being in a reading slump has an upside…. Totally reading my books only lol

    Reply
  3. Grace @ Rebel Mommy Book Blog

    Yup this totally happens to me too. I know I have a ton on my TBR that have been there forever and some that I just don’t care about and some I really should get to. I am trying to get through my ARCs this month and spend the rest of the year getting to my backlist stuff. Great post!

    Reply
  4. Quinn's Book Nook

    I’m so so so guilty of this. I have so many books that I pick up, and then just never read. or even tons of books that I add to my every expanding To-Read list in Goodreads, and then never read. And they just sort of get lost in my huge list. It’s horrible. I definitely think it’s important to read those oldie books though. There can be some real gems there. Not everything, of course, but certainly some.

    Reply
  5. Blodeuedd

    I tried to get some of my oldies this summer, good, but not great

    Reply
  6. LilyElement

    I went through my TBR and did a big purge a few months back. Felt bad I forgot about so many books, but it’s still a massive list @_@

    Reply
  7. Sophia Rose

    Me, too! I’m so bad about this, but I’ve gone from doing nothing about the pile to do a little. I’ve started the monthly TBR pile vote and participating in TBR pile type reading challenges. I’ve tried to say no to so many review books so I have time for a few from my own pile. I’ve also tried to stick with a series from my TBR pile each year like Eileen Wilks’ World of the Lupi for this year and hopefully Nalini Singh’s Psy-changling for next year.

    Reply
  8. Karen

    The story of my reading life lol

    I am getting better at this. I’ve been trying to only buy a few books then no more until I read them. I’m good with Netgalley/physical books using this method – mixed success when it comes to e-books.

    Reply
  9. Jennifer_FairyTales

    I have been working on decreasing the size of my TBR shelf for awhile. What has worked good for me is doing Wendy the Super Librarian’s TBR Challenge every year. The monthly “due dates” keep me accountable and the themes help me choose what to read. The books that were on my TBR pile for a long time that I fell in love with after (finally) reading them were My Dearest Enemy by Connie Brockway, Angels’ Blood by Nalini Singh, and Flat-Out Sexy by Erin McCarthy. The books that have been on my TBR shelf the longest are The Windflower by Laura London and Born of Shadows by Sherrilyn Kenyon.

    Reply
    • Lover Of Romance

      I have been participating in the TBR challenge as well and its really helped as a reminder. Oh I loved the Windflower by London—you will really love that one. I do need to catch up on Kenyon…she has so many books though and some of them are so long. I really liked Flat Out Sexy. Such a fun one. I also have Dearest Enemy on my list that I need to get to soon. If you loved it, I am sure I will too. Thanks for stopping by hun.

      Reply
  10. Christy LoveOfBooks

    I was thinking about this not to long ago. I went on GR to see what books ae on my TBR and went through some of the oldest. There were quite a few I didn’t even remember and have no interest in. But I have been inserting more TBR reads, just not really old ones. Yet. Great post!

    Reply
    • Lover Of Romance

      It is good to focus more TBR reads….I think I am so bad at this, but I am trying to do better at reading these.

      Reply
  11. Carol Cork

    Renee, I’m guilty of letting older books languish on my TBR list and reading auto-buy authors or books highly recommended by friends. I’ve been a bit ruthless and gone through my To Read Shelf on Goodreads and deleted those books I don’t think I will ever read. I’m now left with those I truly want to read which is a more manageable number. I’m going to try to read one of the older books each month. If I ever run out of books to read (LOL!), I can always go back to those discarded books.

    Reply
    • Lover Of Romance

      I have gone through my tbr shelf on goodreads, and deleted a few that don’t hold my interest at all anymore. But most of them are still a priority for me. Its always good to try to read those older books on our TBR shelves.

      Reply
  12. Lola

    Yes I am so bad with this, no matter if they are reviews copies or books that i bought myself. the books that I own the longest are the ones I am least likely to read. I often do quite well to read the most recent books I got or at least some of them, but it’s much harder to get to those older ones. i think part of this is because of how memory works, those recent books I got are still fresh in my memory, while the older ones I only get reminded by if I see them on someone else their blog. I am doing the blogger shame challenge this year and it just proves my point. I just can’t get around those older reviews copies. It really is a shame as I know there are probably some real gems in those older books as well.

    Reply
    • Lover Of Romance

      Oh Lola…I think ALL of us are terrible at this, and I am so guilty at it. Recent or newly released books are more easily obtainable and they are also more “popular”. I do agree that we tend to forget easily about them. I have found some great gems this year as I have made a focus on reading those older books on my shelves.

      Reply
  13. Michele H

    Such a great topic! I think so many of us do this, getting focused on new releases and keeping up with current installments in our favorite series. I have quite a lot of stuff on my TBR that I would love to get through and have been toying around with adding a few older releases in each month to mix it up.

    Reply
    • Lover Of Romance

      oh I so agree Michele!! Its always good to mix it up and add these older reads in especially since its so easy to get caught up in newer releases.

      Reply
  14. Melanie Simmons

    Great post. Since the vast majority of my ARCs come in the form of audiobooks and that I’m really picky about selecting which ones I’m going to take, I don’t get really far behind on ARCs, which frees me up to get library books or my own Audible audiobooks. That being said, I’m just like everyone else, I do get find myself staying with mostly new releases with some fill-ins of some author’s backlists, but not to the extent that I would like. I have been going back an getting into Stephen King’s backlist and I’m really enjoying it. I forgot how much I loved him. I’m starting to quit some series that have gone downhill so that I can make room for new series and some more backlist series. It is kinda freeing. I only have so much time to read/listen, I’m going t tackle the stuff I want. Again, great post and for the reminder that we should keep up on the older titles. They don’t spoil as they age. 🙂

    Melanie @ Hot Listens & Rabid Reads

    Reply

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