The never-ending TBR pile

When I discovered Goodreads, I was incredibly excited, not least because I like anything that involves lists and progress and keeping things in neat piles. It's great not only for keeping track of the books that I'm reading and have read, but also throws quite a lot of recommendations my way, either through friends or through its own recommendation tool.

This is both AWESOME and VERY BAD.

Awesome, because it means I have a long list of books that I want to read.

Very bad, because, well. You get the idea.

At the moment there are 39 books on my TBR list. Maybe that isn't a huge amount to some people, but I seem to add to it more than I take away. At the moment, I have three books stacked up waiting to be read once I finish the ones I'm currently reading: Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist and Amy & Roger's Epic Detour, both loans from the library, and A Storm of Swords: Blood and Gold, the next book in the Song of Ice and Fire series, lent to me by my brother.

Okay, so, three isn't so bad. Except I have a list of reservations with my local library trickling in all the time, and a wishlist set up with the same library detailing other books I want just as soon as they get them in their system. (This is mostly new books that haven't long been released, or books by American authors that haven't quite made it onto the radar yet.) Friends throw me Terry-Pratchett-shaped curve balls just as I'm getting it all under control, or my mum (who works in a library) tells me about a new Swedish thriller writer, and there I go, adding stuff to the TBR list while frantically reading my book anywhere I get chance - waiting for my friend in the swimming pool changing rooms, while my tea is cooking, while I'm waiting for the shower to warm up. While I should be sleeping.

I'm hoping to work my way through some of these 39 TBR books, some of which have been on the list for a couple of years now. As a kid, I would happily read the same book over and over and over again (I'm looking at you, Babysitters Club). If I'd have known there were so many other books to be read, I might have thought twice...