Lists.
Sigh.
Oh, how I love them. I know some readers steer clear of lists because they are constant reminders of what is not getting read, but I feel quite the opposite about them. For me, they are essential to what I affectionately call organized chaos.
Thankfully, I have Goodreads to keep me in check. Here is a snapshot of the books that I recently added to my To-Be-Read shelf. Some are newish, one is not out yet and the rest are oldies that were mentioned by bloggers and readers like you. The image is small, but I’ve included links below it.
From left to right:
The Unfinished Work of Elizabeth D. by Nichole Bernier
The Silent Land by Graham Joyce
Tigers in Red Weather by Liza Klaussmann
Sweet Tooth by Ian McEwan
The Disenchantments by Nina LaCour
The Girls by No Return by Erin Saldin
Birdseye: The Adventures of a Curious Man by Mark Kurlansky
After the Apocalypse: Stories by Maureen F. McHugh
The Salt God’s Daughter by Ilie Ruby
The New York Trilogy by Paul Auster
The Bellwether Revivals by Benjamin Wood
The Thief of Always by Clive Barker
I have nearly 300 titles on this particular shelf, but these just happen to be the ones most recently added. I could literally spend HOURS combing through reviews, recommendations and the like to build this list but what I love about it, is that it’s all virtual. I don’t actually buy anything until the mood strikes me but I add, delete and rearrange to my heart’s content. Plus, I have the App for my phone so when I am cruising the bookstore, I always have my list handy.
No, I did not get paid by Goodreads to say any of this. It’s just what I use to keep things somewhat tidy and I love it to pieces! I also use Library Thing but GR’s is what I use the most.
How do you keep track of what you want to read?
What books have you recently added to your wish list?
Disclosure: This post contains Indiebound affiliate links.
Book Chatter 
I use GR most and LT for reviews, but I’m really loving Pinterest these days with my Books I want to read list because the browser bar allows me to pin the book covers from reviews I read.
I’ve been using Pinterest too. Visually, it’s very appealing but not as functional to me as GR. I like the GR’s bar scan feature. I just scan a book in! Almost as easy as me just thinking it.
My wish list used to be simple – just a mile long list at amazon and another at audible.com. Within the past few months I’ve joined both Pinterest and Goodreads, but that complicated things a bit. I’ve got books I already own listed at goodreads (except for another shelf or two I still need to add), but love the idea of ‘pinning’ reviews of books I want to read. Now the wish list is getting scattered and a little disorganized…
I love goodreads for my tbr. And it IS handy when I find myself at the bookstore and wonder WHAT WAS THAT TITLE I WANTED?! But I don’t spend much time looking at it once I add a book to the list. I get overwhelmed sometimes with wanting the perfect categories but give up quickly on doing anything about it.
Plus, I really want to concentrate on reading books on my shelf AND I don’t have any close bookstores now that Borders is gone. Usually I have a mental ONE BOOK MUST HAVE list in my head for opportunities. Right now, if Delusions of Gender crossed my path I would buy. After that, who knows!
Ask anyone. When I end up in a bookstore, I rarely end up buying a book. I get too overwhelmed by choice even with my list at my fingertips. I usually end up buying online or downloading to my Kindle because it’s easier for me to narrow it down. Like you, I usually have one “must have” read but so often the store doesn’t have it on the shelf.
Fascinating choices… I have four of these actually…and I fealty want to read Tigers In Red Weather.
Have you read The Red House? Very dysfunctional so far. Yes! Tigers looks really good.
I want to read a lot of those same books very soon!
I’m excited for Tigers in Red Weather too. The thing I like best about GoodReads is the sortable TBR, and it’s been quite useful.
I enjoy the sorting feature as well. There used to be a reporting feature which allowed you to do all sorts of things and then print them off but it’s not available anymore.
I love goodreads, but I use Paperbackswap the most for my wishlist. I like that I not only keep track of my book wishes that way, but also am in the queue for the books when someone wants to swap them.
I’ve never been tempted to use Paperback swap. Seems like work to me. LOL.
I use Library Thing for the books that I own, and for those I have reviewed, always posting a review for every one, but I haven’t done that in months. I do use Good Reads, and like to keep track of what I have read, and post reviews there as well. That is my plan, but for the past year and a half, I have been really disorganized, and the only way for me to really figure out what I have read is to go back to the blog. I keep a list on my computer of all the titles I want to read, and try to get them in audio from the library, if I can’t find them there, then I go for the Kindle version. My system is very complicated. Like me, I suppose!
A lot of what I read, that is not an ARC. is from the library, I add stuff to my wish list there and then it emails me when the book is available so that works for me even though I have to create yet another list.
There are some books though that I have to read in print and others I can get away with by ebook or audio. I have to weigh it sometimes when print is not readily available.
I keep my TBR list in excel which is a pain but it works for now (especially since I don’t have a smart phone).
I did not know that Ilie Ruby had a new book coming out. My book group liked Language of Trees but felt it was overwritten and some of her choices were odd. But then we learned how many drafts she went through and could see how that happened. I am looking forward to seeing what she does with a different book.
I used an Access database before Goodreads. I could run reports and stuff but it wasn’t good for everyday use. That is the one thing smart phones are good for…looking up stuff while you’re out!
I use Goodreads and love it! I phased out LT awhile ago. Those look like some great books on your list. My list includes The Taker, The Reckoning, Gone Girl, …Harold Frye, Children of the Fog, and The Fault in our Stars (audio) to name a few. So many! Sometimes I get overwhelmed!
Gone Girl is on my list too, but I added that ages ago!! Harold Fry was great. So was Fault in Our Stars. Loved both of them.
I am always amazed that you have so many books you want to read that sound so great but I have never heard of. I write down books that I want to read on pieces of paper and stick them in a notebook where I keep a list of books I have already read. I should probably use GR as it is much neater. Sigh! Recent additions are Gold by Chris Cleave, The Red House bynMark Haddon and Words Get In The Way by Nan Rossiter.
I just read about 50 pages of The Red House today. Too early for me to get a feel for it. I really enjoyed Words Get in the Way and Gold should be on my list, but I forgot to add it! I do try to mix up old with new. I tire of seeing nothing but new releases.
I have Birdseye on my list too, think that I read about it in the Times and added it.
I have a small wish list on goodreads, but my main one is on Amazon. Ereaderiq.com allows you to import your Kindle wishlist from the ‘Zon and emails you when there is a drop in price.
As far as organization, it’s a bit wacky. There is a list for ‘serious’ books, like the ones that I hear about via the Times. Then there is a gardening book list…a cookbook list….a series list…etc.
I’m still catching up with my rss feed, how are you doing?
I’m doing alright. Mondays are a bit of a drag but I shall push through it 😉 How have you been?
I use GR and my local library. They have a “for later” list for individual accounts that I keep adding to. You’ve got some fine books on that shelf, Ti.
Have you read Paul Auster at all? I haven’t yet but have a few of his books, and have The New York Trilogy on my shelf to read too!
I’ve read Invisible and Sunset Park. Liked both. I like his style of writing.
I haven’t read a single thing on that list. And I refuse to click on any of the links for fear that I’ll want to add them to MY list.
My to read list seems to grow and grow. I just picked up a cheap secondhand copy of Pillars of the Earth which I’ve wanted to read for ages, but I’ve just had to shift it from my ‘reading’ back to my ‘to read’ list. I keep my lists on Goodreads too, but I’m being sent so many review copies now I very rarely get to read anything on my lists. I enjoy getting free books and reading brand new work and things I’d probably never have read off my own bat, but I do miss the freedom of the pick and choose. Swings and roundabouts. I might try the new Barbara Erskine next, as a change from the heavier stuff I’ve been reading of late.
About half of what I read is made-up of ARCs. However, they are only the ones that I want to read anyway AND I try to stagger the release dates so I can make room for the books on my own list.
In my head. It means that I am forever wondering what that great book someone recommended to me was called – but I think it’s more fun that way
It’s fun if you CAN remember them eventually. Me? These days? Not so much! LOL.
Oh boy Ti–I should not have clicked to read this post! My very scattered and unorganized book list just grew by 3 ( of your titles) and there are already a few added from an article I read in Entertainment Weekly. I have a Good Reads account but I really have never taken the time to figure out all the features it offers. I think I often feel overwhelmed when I log in. Maybe today I will go check it out and spend some time wandering. Is the app free for it? I got my first smart phone in April and the world of apps is still a strange and wonderful thing to me!
Oh–the books I added to my list? The Unfinished Work of Elizabeth D, Tigers in Red, and The Bellweather Revivals.
I asked about Gold by Chris Cleave in my post yesterday–kind of want to read it but not sure it is worth the money….
*smiles
Haven’t read Gold yet but with the Olympics coming, might be good timing.
The GR app is totally free! Works really well too.
I have been terrible about updating my Goodreads shelves these past few months. Who knows how many books I’ve seen that I might enjoy that have not gotten added? Thanks for reminding me why I need to do that – and how much I need internet access on my phone. I NEED that app. I used to carry around a paper printout of my tbr list but when you’re dealing with 10 pages that are constantly changing, that’s not a good option!
Yeah, these days paper lists don’t work. Not when you have over 300 books on your list!
I just finished TIGERS IN RED WEATHER. I was somewhat disappointed in this one. And I squeezed it in when I should have been reading things on my lists. Let me know what you think after you read it.
You and I have such similar reading tastes. I will probably be disappointed too. I’ll still read it, but maybe now I won’t drop everything to do it.
I love lists as well! I am constantly drooling over the next book I want to read! I feel like I need a better way to sort what I want to read. They are all just swarming around in my head really.
I’m intrigued that Ian McEwan has a new novel coming out; thanks for alerting me, Wow! I like lists — but like you, the mood has to strike me — both to buy something or to read something even if it’s already bought and just sitting on the shelf. gotta have a vibe for it at that moment!
I love being able to cross stuff off of my list too. Very satisfying!