I agree with everything you said and would like to add: Most of the perceived advantages of larger tbrs aren't actually real. Like I hear so many people say they have this large of a collection because they love having so many choices. But my tbr is at 20 books (which is by no means small) and I can get any book I want with just a few clicks on my eReader, I can go to the bookstore right now and come out with one of the thousands of novels they offer there. A small tbr doesn't limit your options in that way. It just keeps you from spending money unnecessarily. I feel like the book community also romanticizes the object of the book a lot (which is by no means a new thing) and while they are beautiful objects, these visual impulses can easily cloud our judgment as to what is necessary and desireable.
I heavily dislike normal hauls because they promote an unhealthy way to consume, and the fact that in this case the consumed items are books changes nothing about it. People seem to think it's okay if it's books but like... Please buy only what you need, buy secondhand, borrow from friends or the library, etc. This comment is not necessary adressed at you personally, I mean it as a general "you" lol
Oh I totally get that, I feel that way as well. I sadly for a time also fell into that trap (though I did buy at least half of what I own now second hand). Once I start buying books again I will definetly have to find a happy medium between buying new and second hand books
I love how you put it: by not reading a book back when it was your style of reading, you deprived that you "back then" from the pleasure they would have gotten from the book. That's a powerful way to look at it. Just like you, for many years, I did not read as much - same, about maybe 10 books a year - and last year, I renewed my love of reading. I actually ended up finally getting a library card after starting a book that I realized 5 pages that I really despised. Getting books from the library feels like it gives me the freedom to DNR books without guild - although I believe I've only DNF'ed 5 books in the past two years, so I'm still very much a completist. I have purchased books this year, but I did only buy items that were not in stock at my library. Now, the dilemma is how to work those books into my rotation when I'm keeping an eye on due dates for library loans.
I absolutely agree with everything you said - especially the part about "the version of you that would have loved the book doesn't exist anymore." I'm currently working on my tbr of about 50 books and I think I'll commit to not buying any more books until I have 1 left on the pile. Hold me accountable pls!
@@Theralex gosh how much I wish mine would be down to 50 already. For me looking at my bookshelf is kinda holding me accountable because it makes me feel bad 😂
@@TheSnozzberry absolutely. I do use mine as well but living in Germany it can be hard to get English books in the library so it's not always an option
If you like books you need people to buy books, the less money in it the less people will write (it is already low income for most authors) and the less variety being published since only "popular options" will be picked. I agree noone needs 400+ tbr books but at the end of the day who cares it is their life and their money, if it makes them happy let them be
@@lifewithallitsbits7554 I do agree that we shouldn't stop buying books, I guess my tbr will probably always be roughly 50/50 new and second hand books
Yes I agree, of course people should buy books. I buy them myself, as gifts for others, when my library doesn't stock the book I'm after, or when an author I love publishes new etc. I just think instead of overconsuming, book lovers could consider borrowing books sometimes, especially books by authors they have not tried before and books they're not sure they'll love. If you borrow a book from a library and love it, that's fantastic! Get to the bookshop or go online and get yourself a copy to read again in the future. They aren't items to be used only once (if you can help it).
I agree with all of this, especially the overconsumption and (probably) waste. I am a mood reader so now I have a max of like three books on my tbr at any given time. I won't buy a new book until my tbr is down to zero. That way it's not a wasted purchase, it's thoughtful and intentional. I'll enjoy it much more than forcing myself to read a book past me was interested in. I'm also very conscious about what books I want physical copies of vs. just an e-book format.
I buy majority of my books secondhand. They’re real cheap. I buy throughout the year and do an unhaul of the ones I read and don’t care to keep at the end of the year. Someone else can enjoy them.
Oh, I've got a thousand books I'm "supposed" to read. At any one time, I've got about 3-4 books I'm currently "reading." Our house is FULL of books that we'll never read, maybe even never open. We go to library book sales on the last day, when the deal is $5 for a bag, as many as you can cram in. We always wanted a big library and now we've got one. When you reach a certain point in your life, you realize you're never going to read all the books you wanted to read; you're never going to read as many as you wanted. But that really doesn't stop you from getting more. Every two years or so we pick through our books and pull out 200-300 to donate. By the way, that trick about filling up on the last day of a library sale is very effective at obtaining a pile of CD jewel cases, something you can draw upon when your old ones break (if anyone still cares about physical CDs.) One year, I got a big paper grocery sack full of random CDs from the last day of a library sale. When I got home, I thought, why just throw these away? Why not go through them and see if any are worth listening to? That's how my wife and I discovered Angélique Kidjo.
I really like how politely you handled this- it's not drama, it's not a call-out, it's based on your own experience and you make really good points. I'm working on getting my ~50 book tbr down into the 15-20 range and it's nice to have solidarity :)
Totally agree ! I stopped following channels that do constant large hauls and then unhauls. I've seen channels that will do a large hall, never review the books , the you see some of those haul books in an unhaul a few months later. I don't mind an occasional haul, but I like channels that do recommendations, reviews, and misc book content. I used to buy more books than I would read. I no longer do that. I have a small bookcase and keep one shelf for my TBR. That shelf holds about 20 books, so at any given time I have 20 unread books on my shelf to choose from. Since I'm a mood reader I do like to have books available to me but too many is overwhelming. That one shelf is the magic number. It still allows me to buy books even though I haven't read everything I own but keeps the number small.
13:39 Coffee table books have always confused me too!!! I sort of get them for waiting rooms but for a house it feels like unnecessary clutter. I like using books as decor but for me they need to be books I also want to read.
I love buying books, but I try to only buy books I've already read that I really enjoyed, or if I can't access the book through the library, and it's been recommended by a reliable source. I think that makes the book buying a lot more enjoyable and gives me a lot less pressure. Because I agree with you. I really hate the feeling of being stuck having to read certain books. I admire your viewpoint. I think it's insane that there are so many book hauls with like 20 or more books.... every month. For me I feel like it would be too much pressure.
I am a big reader but I panic when I have more than 20 books on my tbr list 😂 I get through them fairly quickly and add more as I go, but I never put to much emphasis on the search for books to read. I’ll usually just come across them.
I can relate to buying books and losing interest in them before you get around to reading it. I’m holding onto a couple like that right now. I’ve made the same mistake of buying yarn for two projects at once, and by the time it’s time for project 2, I don’t even want to make it anymore. With my limited time for hobbies, something that’s a bigger priority has come up. I think the abundance of products I have access to leads me to be fickle. I’m always looking for the best thing and will buy the next new thing instead of sticking with what I have. When I got back into reading at the beginning of 2023 I started watching book tube again, found Pango books, and amassed a huge TBR. I was watching content about new books to add to my list faster than I was reading the recommended books. Lately I’ve been focusing on reading books my friends recommend and reading together, so it feels social and like a more manageable number of recommendations. Having so many options has also led me to be unnecessarily judgmental, feeling like if I read a book and it isn’t a 5 star it was a waste of time.
It is interesting. I don't watch haul video, only unhaul videos, so it hadn't occurred to me that this was cyclical. I had assumed that when people did unhauls, it was because they were rethinking their relationship with consumerism and would change their habits in the future.
I totally agree with you with pretty much everything here. I enjoy unhaul videos where the person has read the books they're unhauling cause that's a way to hear opinions on books people didn't enjoy for whatever reasons and I can see if those are things that would bother me as well so I know what books I also wouldn't like. Sometimes it feels like there is so much hype about all the books but then you never hear if peope didn't like something, so unhauls are great at that. Or maybe I'm just watching wrong videos lol
I've learned over the past year a lot about my book taste and how I really want to read and enjoy books and not just buy a ton of books that I can't realistically read. I started really reading again this year and have read just under 200, I know that sounds crazy but to be fair a lot of that was manga lol and also I own about 70 of those books and the rest was from the library. I have about 14 books on my physical TBR and that amount seems about right for me as the library has a lot of books I'll enjoy as well!
I really loved your thoughts in this video. Thanks so much for sharing them with the community. I find myself with the same problem as you with my physical TPR books, although I have a lot more than you (not bragging at all...in fact I find it a little embarrassing). A few years ago, I did a major unhaul and majority of them were books I had not read but bought with good intentions of reading them. I decided then to change my book buying practices and for the most part I have, but I still have an enormous physical TBR list. Part of the reason it hasn't gone down isn't because I am buying more, but because I am using my library holds more. I need to remember that there is a "read later" shelf in my library app that I can use to save books instead of putting them on hold. Maybe that will be my goal for next year and then I can work on getting my physical TBR list down.
@@pemberlycottage thank you :) I have to say I am happy that I caught my problem this early so it isn't as bad as it could be. Yeah it's definitely hard to find a balance between reading from the library and reading the physical tbr, I totally get you there
I have so much to say on this topic, I think about it often. It feels like increasingly, sharing your hobby online is about sharing what you’ve bought for your hobby. I really recommend the RUclips video “why you keep abandoning hobbies” by hazelisonline. She talks about how common it is for buying supplies for a hobby to be the first and only way someone engages with a hobby. How shopping is a way to signal what we like and bond with others who like it. I know people say a lot that, “collecting books and reading are two different hobbies.” And I want to push back on that. Yeah, buying stuff is fun, but it should not be seen as a hobby in itself. We clearly, looking at all the unhauls, cannot sustain shopping as a hobby. Hauls are fun to watch, but they have consequences. I get why they’re so popular though. When it comes to making money as a content creator, hauls just make sense. It’s an easy video because you don’t have to have read the books first, and you can show the beautiful books and talk about many in one video. Buying more books than one person can read necessitates a reactive unhaul, and the cycle continues. If you’re a professional content creator and you need to produce multiple videos a week or multiple videos a month, you either need to listen to audiobooks constantly on 2x speed or talk about bookish things but not do many reviews. Hence the Book of the Month subscriptions. That’s such a natural advertisement and way to fund your channel. But, I don’t think most readers can sustain a new book every month in addition to their other acquisitions. I see people sharing online often that their books from subscription boxes accumulate faster than they can read them.
I love that you have the Eddings books. He's so important to modern fantasy and doesn't really get love in book tube. I personally have books on myself shelves that I've had for a decade and haven't read them, but plan to. I personally don't like unhauls because reading and taste changes with the season. For instance, I loved Stephen King in the 80s and 90s. Then lost interest in him for close to a decade. Now I'm loving him again. I say buy them now while you can, especially if you find them for a good deal. I think as a community we talk about TBRs and hacks too much. We're putting way too much pressure on ourselves. I stopped separating the books I haven't read, and organized everything by author, and don't really think about it any more. Just enjoy reading.
i definetly need to continue with Eddings books, so far I've only read one of the series. I'm happy that works for you :) sadly for me it just dosen't work (not only with books) to buy things that I never use/read, my mental health suffers if I have too many unread books
A lot of good points in this video. I have about 20 or so in my TBR and it's already getting out of hand. When I hear of people having over 200 books in queue I am shocked. I mean, there's no other word for it. And I'm already putting myself on a book buying ban. And I've got definitely under 30 but closer to 20 books which I have to find time to read in between work and video editing/creating content around these books. I have filmed a few book haul videos and those are just my 1st 4 videos on the new trajectory of my channel (not new to YT but newbie on BookTube) so yeah. Your video is exactly what I needed right now. And it's hard because I can say that buying new books is expensive, but when you go to a thrift store, it's just so easy to justify buying more because they are so much more inexpensive that way. So, yeah.
It took me a long time to get over my personal (and irrational) belief that physical books are more "legit" than ebooks. I aspired to have huge bookshelves full of books. Then I got a digital library card and was able to read thousands of dollars worth of books for the price of a non-resident membership ($50/year in my case). I have not bought a book in a year. If I put something in my TBR that I lose interest in, I simply remove it from my Libby app tags.
Good for you :) I think that is a problem that quite a few people have. I also use my library (especially for audiobooks) quite a bit. My biggest "problem" why I enjoy physical books more is, that I just don't find it as relaxing if I read books on a device. But if I'm unsure about a book I do get the ebook first and if I like it I go back and get the physical version if it was a good book
I enjoy having a huge TBR list because there are just so many books I want to get to that I'll absolutely forget if i don't note them down, but I've always stuck to my hard rule that no book gets a place on my shelves until i've read it. I can buy a few books at once if I want to read a few at once, but i'm not allowed to own books that i haven't read. It keeps my TBR list long, but I like that it means that at least I know if the books on my shelves are books i want there
So I went through a similar thing and I now have 2 lists, my TBR, which is all the books I own and a 'Possibles' list, which is all the books I'm interested in. Every time I hear about a book I might like, I add it to Possibles, and a couple of times a year, I clean out that list and remove books I'm no longer interested in. This helps me be more mindful before I buy. So, if I'm in the mood for science fiction and I don't have any on my TBR, I look at Possibles and see what's there. Then, I read a sample. If I like it, I'll buy it and read it immediately. My TBR still has some books that have been there for a long time, but everything is way more manageable.
I first saw your title and came to listen, then I saw David Eddings books behind you and subbed. Hello from a newbie book tuber in New Zealand. I look forward to seeing your channel grow. Best, Mark
Some of the books and tbr, is what you think they are. If you view the unread book is an unexamined thought. However the hauling to unhaul is a problem. Some view the unread books as a key part of a personal library.
I buy classics because I find them iconic and important to own. I'll get to a classic book eventually because it has that "classic book" prestige. I also buy books I have already read and given 4 or 5 stars. Sometimes I will buy a book that is a collection of the works of an author that I love. For example, I bought the Barnes And Noble Shakespeare complete works because I will read it one day, and I love Shakespeare. I only have one very small bookshelf, and honestly, that's all I want for now. I don't understand buying books if I can't get them at the library to try them first. If a book I really want to read isn't at the library then I'll seriously consider buying it though.
I had the issue for a long time where I had way too many books on my physical TBR compared to what I was reading (it was somewhere around 50 or so), it was kind of ridiculous! What actually quite helped me get this number down was a friend recommended their system to me which is they only get 1 new book once they have finished reading 3 TBR books. This way it doesn't feel like a punishment to get through the TBR, but the number of books coming in is always lower than the number of books read. I've been doing this for about 2 years now and my physical TBR has never got higher than 10 books this way which feels much less overwhelming!
I feel the same, I had two bookshelves of books before I recently moved and it was so overwhelming and lots of money!!! I got rid of about 25% and I am going to focus on reading my physical tbr
Totally agree!!! I’ve amassed a collection of over 3000 (a mix of new and secondhand - our chairty shop sells them 3 for £1), I’ve just unhauled at least 160 without reading them. They have taken over the house! I’m strict with what comes in now and I have to read anything new straight away. I’m a nightmare!
Wow that is a massive collection :D I would not even know where to put so many books. Also what a great price for seconhand books, I'm sligthly jealous about that :D
Had to work my way through my audible backlog. 😂 I managed to get from nearly 80 down to roughly 10 or 15 books. My physical TBR is 7 books strong. 😋 On the other hand my kindle tbr is really full, because I use the "stuff your Kindle days" when you get many books for free. :) I also buy a lot of books that are on my want to read list when there are flash sales and an ebook suddenly cost 99 Cent instead of 10€. Reading in english, instead of german was such a huge money saver. Also, moin Kollege. Auch ohne den Namen zu lesen gleich erkannt, woher du kommst. 😁❤️
Hello Franzi. I'm in somewhat the same situation as you. I was always a voracious reader, from childhood (thanks, Mom) into my mid-20s. Then I started my family and just didn't read many books. I read plenty of magazines, etc. but not books. I've recently begun reading again now that I'm retired and Why Did I Wait So Long? I'm on a mission to replace not-going-to-read-again, old books with five star books I've missed during all of those years. Anyway, regarding your thrift store buys that no longer hold your interest, may I suggest you try reading one book by each author and then deciding whether you wish to continue with his/her books? If not, consider sending all of his/her books away to other people who WILL enjoy them. And I 100% agree with you about the 50+ BOOK HAUL! / 50+ BOOK UNHAUL! BookTube cycle. To me, it's just click-bait that I skip. And at one point I did have coffee table books but I've now moved them to my book shelves. You have some excellent books on your newer TBR (I spotted Helter Skelter, which is SO GOOD and The Five, also on my TBR). If you prioritize reading those books that no longer fit who your are NOW, you run the risk of stopping reading altogether. Take it from me. You DO NOT want to do that. Read for joy, Franzi! There's really no other way. 🥰 💙 📚
@@juliehughes1258 that mission sounds like a lot of fun :) I think reading one book by the author and then deciding whether to unhaul sound like a really good idea, I will have to put some thoughts into that. Though I do struggle with feeling bad about unhauling a lot of books at once. Helter Skelter and the Five are books I have already read (everything above and in the next bookshelf is the actual tbr) so yeah the first one is really good, as for The Five I sadly wasn't a fan of the undertone of the book. You are totally right, I can be really hard balancing reading what I will love and reading the old books so I don't lose interest in reading all together
I used to buy loads & loads of books myself, but going back about 4 years ago I got rid of 650 unread books and that made me realise I needed to stop and I made myself rules. 1. If I buy a physical book it has to be read within 6 months or be unhauled. 2. I look for the book on Kindle, Everrand or Audible and lend them or buy them there. 3. Unless a book is over a 4 star and a reread then I do not buy the physical book. Also, a book under 3.5 stars is deleted from my Kindle or audible. 4. I only buy special editions of my 5-star favourite books of all time. This has saved me money but also has saved room in my one-bedroom flat 😊, I can read between 6 to 25 + books a month but does depend on how I feel.
@@crimsonwhispersva2498 wow that is a massive amount. Good for you :) they seem like really good rules, number 4 is also one of my personal rules. Number 2 is super sensible but I just really don't like reading on my phone/kindle that much. I am really grateful that I live in a relatively big apartment, I just couldn't imagine living in a one bedroom flat with all of my books :D
Nice talk! I fell into the same trap, when I started watching booktube years ago. I got sooo many used books from sites like rebuy. Until I realised there were book that were always at the bottom of my tbr and woud never be read. I did actually unhaul and donate a lot and never went back 😄 Though I'm still trying to reduce my tbr, which is currently around 70.
I am listening this because I do buy books but than I read a new as e-book to find out if I want it in my collection. I never had TBR [50 books for now] and it started last year. I don't like to unhaul.😮💨 But now I need to. I am proud of my sub-box skipping! That is working excelently. I wanted to sugest a booktube channel Obsesive Bookseller. Amaizing library and your problem but 10times bigger. Love that channel
I have a lot of books. But, I've read most of them and continue to read them. My goal, by next year, is to have all the books that I haven't yet read fully read. And then, I'll get more.
My tbr list is over 1700 books 📚 that’s arcs proper books and books 📚 on my kindle and I pad as well juju found your channel and I am looking forward to seeing your amazing content and what you love to read love your Aussie family friend John xxx
I agree to most of this video. I still feel if these tbr books are causing you discomfort you are allowed to move them on but like you said you then need to assess a change in how you then purchase because that's not working or serving you well. I have recently created a pile of books that no longer peak my interest as much to start applying them to my tbr so I can move them on if I don't enjoy them but I still would like to give them ago as they might be a favourite I otherwise would miss out on. A lot of my books I buy secondhand and my newer books I do tend to read but I've noticed I buy books now more than I read and I would like to mindfully put in place a plan to not go as wild next year. If I want a new book then I need to have read an old book and I plan to read at least one physical and one ebook a month to create a balance because I have some great picks on there too I've not read yet which is a huge shame. I also would like to start implementing a tbr list that I can added books I'm interested in onto a list and then at the end of the year I can buy a few as a well done plus I can assess if any of them are still on my radar a bit more subjectively. I'm not a quick reader either so I just aren't able to consume a large number of books to lessen the tbr pile, something has to give. I'm also like you with the impact on earth consuming which is why I buy a lot secondhand anyway because I'm also not a minimalist in any way haha but that means to be more conscious of how you buy anything really. A good topic I really enjoyed it, thanks for the good discussion. ☺
RUclipsrs also get gifted books by viewers, Arcs from authors and subscription boxes that make their collection so big and a reason they want to unhaul eventually. Alot of the time they are unhauling books from these 3 catagories as they didnt seek them themselves because they wanted to read that specific book, but because it was given and it wasnt actually something they wanted.
Seeing Jonathan Franzens "The Corrections" on your shelf as a tbr is kind of shocking to me. My former professor said it was his favorite book but he was a "literature" kind of reader lol, not really a fun kind of reader. I've always been curious to try it though. But its the same kind of curiosity as like "Infinite Jest" or "Gravitys Rainbow" or James Joyce
OMG, yes. So much yes. One of the things I don't love about BookTube is the emphasis on hauls. It's just so much consumption for the sake of consumption. In terms of books you bought years ago and have lost interest in: there's the thought of the you that bought the books - the purpose of it wasn't to read the book, but to enjoy the process of purchasing them and holding that physical copy, supporting (hopefully) local used and new book stores. They've served their purpose, they deserve to move on if you're no longer interested in them. They were purchased with good intentions and those intentions changed. That's okay. Hauls and unhauls just for the sake of content are just positioning "reading" as consumption rather than as thing that makes life better. So much yes.
@@DrCrankyPantsReads you do have a good point there, but I feel like I have to read them for my old self because I owe that to myself. A little bit like self therapy to make me realise how much I let myself be swayed by watching other people buy books and how unnecessary that was
@@bookishfranzi967 Totally a valid way to think about it and I get the feeling of owing it to your past self. Sometimes, I think that feeling can fall into the sunken cost fallacy - the idea that because we've invested in something - emotionally or with our resources - that we have to see it through, even when it no longer serves us. I try to keep in mind that it's okay to evolve, and just because something made sense to me back then doesn't mean it has to now. It's not a blunder, it's just part of the journey. Do what feels right for you and your books - it's what matters most.
When I first came upon a "Book Haul" video I thought they were great videos to watch until... the creators would say things like, "My TBR *stacks* have gotten a liiiiiiittle crazy" "This is my TBR bookshelf!" "I don't know when I'll get to this but I am soooooo excited to read this book when the time comes." It felt a little bit like a betrayal. When they revealed what they had bought I'd be so excited if it was a series I was reading or a book I liked, but to then see them put it to the side to maybe never be touched again in years felt insulting. Everyone has a TBR list and maybe a physical TBR pile, there's nothing wrong with that, but to continue buying books that you may NEVER read but flaunt to the world that you bought it feels... privileged? Condescending? I give manga hauls a pass since they are so easy and fast to read. From the few manga haul creators I've seen they seem to fly through their TBR piles.
Well, I’d rather people buy books than pretty much anything else. 😅 But I see what you’re saying. I think many Tubers aren’t even buying books to read but just to create content anymore.
I hate that when we try to have these conversations with people, they will always say "its my money, i can do what i want" like.... yes? cool? great even. But we need to be more mindful of the things we do with all this consumption. The economical, ecological, financial, capitalistic impact of modern consumerism is so so wild. (also a bit off topic but can we pppllleaseeeee stop buying and hyping up problematic authors in general DD:)
Is German your first language ? This is my first time listening to you but I speak foreign languages as an American male. When you were talking about the library, you said we could always “ lend “ books; what you mean to say is that we can “ borrow “ books. One of the languages I know with this problem is the Slavic language Czech: there is only one word for lend and borrow so it is the context which determines the meaning. This is what happened here. I am interested to know which language is your native language and what is the word for lend/borrow.
@@bookishfranzi967 No problem; it was interesting. My TBR also grew out of hand in the last couple of years. Luckily, I am still interested in those books. I bought around eight books in the past week. I'm going to try the Read What You Own Challenge for awhile, I hope, as I just discovered that is a "thing."
@@bookishfranzi967 I only bought so many because I came across some interesting books in French which I wanted to scoop up because they're hard to find.
People are still judging a book by its cover too. Unhauling because the cover is ugly to them, or only keeping it because the cover is pretty to them although they didnt like the book or will never read it.
I agree with everything you said and would like to add: Most of the perceived advantages of larger tbrs aren't actually real. Like I hear so many people say they have this large of a collection because they love having so many choices. But my tbr is at 20 books (which is by no means small) and I can get any book I want with just a few clicks on my eReader, I can go to the bookstore right now and come out with one of the thousands of novels they offer there. A small tbr doesn't limit your options in that way. It just keeps you from spending money unnecessarily.
I feel like the book community also romanticizes the object of the book a lot (which is by no means a new thing) and while they are beautiful objects, these visual impulses can easily cloud our judgment as to what is necessary and desireable.
@@pretentioussunshine yes absolutely. That is a wonderful point to add
I heavily dislike normal hauls because they promote an unhealthy way to consume, and the fact that in this case the consumed items are books changes nothing about it. People seem to think it's okay if it's books but like... Please buy only what you need, buy secondhand, borrow from friends or the library, etc. This comment is not necessary adressed at you personally, I mean it as a general "you" lol
Oh I totally get that, I feel that way as well. I sadly for a time also fell into that trap (though I did buy at least half of what I own now second hand). Once I start buying books again I will definetly have to find a happy medium between buying new and second hand books
I love how you put it: by not reading a book back when it was your style of reading, you deprived that you "back then" from the pleasure they would have gotten from the book. That's a powerful way to look at it.
Just like you, for many years, I did not read as much - same, about maybe 10 books a year - and last year, I renewed my love of reading. I actually ended up finally getting a library card after starting a book that I realized 5 pages that I really despised. Getting books from the library feels like it gives me the freedom to DNR books without guild - although I believe I've only DNF'ed 5 books in the past two years, so I'm still very much a completist.
I have purchased books this year, but I did only buy items that were not in stock at my library. Now, the dilemma is how to work those books into my rotation when I'm keeping an eye on due dates for library loans.
I absolutely agree with everything you said - especially the part about "the version of you that would have loved the book doesn't exist anymore." I'm currently working on my tbr of about 50 books and I think I'll commit to not buying any more books until I have 1 left on the pile. Hold me accountable pls!
@@Theralex gosh how much I wish mine would be down to 50 already. For me looking at my bookshelf is kinda holding me accountable because it makes me feel bad 😂
I feel in general, things would be better if people remembered that libraries exist and made use of them.
@@TheSnozzberry absolutely. I do use mine as well but living in Germany it can be hard to get English books in the library so it's not always an option
If you like books you need people to buy books, the less money in it the less people will write (it is already low income for most authors) and the less variety being published since only "popular options" will be picked.
I agree noone needs 400+ tbr books but at the end of the day who cares it is their life and their money, if it makes them happy let them be
@@lifewithallitsbits7554 I do agree that we shouldn't stop buying books, I guess my tbr will probably always be roughly 50/50 new and second hand books
Yes I agree, of course people should buy books. I buy them myself, as gifts for others, when my library doesn't stock the book I'm after, or when an author I love publishes new etc. I just think instead of overconsuming, book lovers could consider borrowing books sometimes, especially books by authors they have not tried before and books they're not sure they'll love. If you borrow a book from a library and love it, that's fantastic! Get to the bookshop or go online and get yourself a copy to read again in the future. They aren't items to be used only once (if you can help it).
I agree with all of this, especially the overconsumption and (probably) waste. I am a mood reader so now I have a max of like three books on my tbr at any given time. I won't buy a new book until my tbr is down to zero. That way it's not a wasted purchase, it's thoughtful and intentional. I'll enjoy it much more than forcing myself to read a book past me was interested in. I'm also very conscious about what books I want physical copies of vs. just an e-book format.
I buy majority of my books secondhand. They’re real cheap. I buy throughout the year and do an unhaul of the ones I read and don’t care to keep at the end of the year. Someone else can enjoy them.
@@MsIlovemusic07 that is a really good concept :)
Oh, I've got a thousand books I'm "supposed" to read. At any one time, I've got about 3-4 books I'm currently "reading." Our house is FULL of books that we'll never read, maybe even never open. We go to library book sales on the last day, when the deal is $5 for a bag, as many as you can cram in. We always wanted a big library and now we've got one. When you reach a certain point in your life, you realize you're never going to read all the books you wanted to read; you're never going to read as many as you wanted. But that really doesn't stop you from getting more. Every two years or so we pick through our books and pull out 200-300 to donate.
By the way, that trick about filling up on the last day of a library sale is very effective at obtaining a pile of CD jewel cases, something you can draw upon when your old ones break (if anyone still cares about physical CDs.) One year, I got a big paper grocery sack full of random CDs from the last day of a library sale. When I got home, I thought, why just throw these away? Why not go through them and see if any are worth listening to? That's how my wife and I discovered Angélique Kidjo.
I really like how politely you handled this- it's not drama, it's not a call-out, it's based on your own experience and you make really good points. I'm working on getting my ~50 book tbr down into the 15-20 range and it's nice to have solidarity :)
Totally agree ! I stopped following channels that do constant large hauls and then unhauls. I've seen channels that will do a large hall, never review the books , the you see some of those haul books in an unhaul a few months later.
I don't mind an occasional haul, but I like channels that do recommendations, reviews, and misc book content.
I used to buy more books than I would read. I no longer do that. I have a small bookcase and keep one shelf for my TBR. That shelf holds about 20 books, so at any given time I have 20 unread books on my shelf to choose from. Since I'm a mood reader I do like to have books available to me but too many is overwhelming. That one shelf is the magic number. It still allows me to buy books even though I haven't read everything I own but keeps the number small.
13:39 Coffee table books have always confused me too!!! I sort of get them for waiting rooms but for a house it feels like unnecessary clutter. I like using books as decor but for me they need to be books I also want to read.
I love buying books, but I try to only buy books I've already read that I really enjoyed, or if I can't access the book through the library, and it's been recommended by a reliable source. I think that makes the book buying a lot more enjoyable and gives me a lot less pressure. Because I agree with you. I really hate the feeling of being stuck having to read certain books. I admire your viewpoint. I think it's insane that there are so many book hauls with like 20 or more books.... every month. For me I feel like it would be too much pressure.
I am a big reader but I panic when I have more than 20 books on my tbr list 😂 I get through them fairly quickly and add more as I go, but I never put to much emphasis on the search for books to read. I’ll usually just come across them.
that sounds like a really healthy thing :) sadly I'm much more of a book searcher :D
I can relate to buying books and losing interest in them before you get around to reading it. I’m holding onto a couple like that right now. I’ve made the same mistake of buying yarn for two projects at once, and by the time it’s time for project 2, I don’t even want to make it anymore. With my limited time for hobbies, something that’s a bigger priority has come up.
I think the abundance of products I have access to leads me to be fickle. I’m always looking for the best thing and will buy the next new thing instead of sticking with what I have.
When I got back into reading at the beginning of 2023 I started watching book tube again, found Pango books, and amassed a huge TBR. I was watching content about new books to add to my list faster than I was reading the recommended books. Lately I’ve been focusing on reading books my friends recommend and reading together, so it feels social and like a more manageable number of recommendations. Having so many options has also led me to be unnecessarily judgmental, feeling like if I read a book and it isn’t a 5 star it was a waste of time.
It is interesting. I don't watch haul video, only unhaul videos, so it hadn't occurred to me that this was cyclical. I had assumed that when people did unhauls, it was because they were rethinking their relationship with consumerism and would change their habits in the future.
I totally agree with you with pretty much everything here. I enjoy unhaul videos where the person has read the books they're unhauling cause that's a way to hear opinions on books people didn't enjoy for whatever reasons and I can see if those are things that would bother me as well so I know what books I also wouldn't like. Sometimes it feels like there is so much hype about all the books but then you never hear if peope didn't like something, so unhauls are great at that. Or maybe I'm just watching wrong videos lol
it's really indicative of the massive trend towards overconsumption that has just been growing and growing
I've learned over the past year a lot about my book taste and how I really want to read and enjoy books and not just buy a ton of books that I can't realistically read. I started really reading again this year and have read just under 200, I know that sounds crazy but to be fair a lot of that was manga lol and also I own about 70 of those books and the rest was from the library. I have about 14 books on my physical TBR and that amount seems about right for me as the library has a lot of books I'll enjoy as well!
I really loved your thoughts in this video. Thanks so much for sharing them with the community. I find myself with the same problem as you with my physical TPR books, although I have a lot more than you (not bragging at all...in fact I find it a little embarrassing). A few years ago, I did a major unhaul and majority of them were books I had not read but bought with good intentions of reading them. I decided then to change my book buying practices and for the most part I have, but I still have an enormous physical TBR list. Part of the reason it hasn't gone down isn't because I am buying more, but because I am using my library holds more. I need to remember that there is a "read later" shelf in my library app that I can use to save books instead of putting them on hold. Maybe that will be my goal for next year and then I can work on getting my physical TBR list down.
@@pemberlycottage thank you :) I have to say I am happy that I caught my problem this early so it isn't as bad as it could be. Yeah it's definitely hard to find a balance between reading from the library and reading the physical tbr, I totally get you there
I have so much to say on this topic, I think about it often. It feels like increasingly, sharing your hobby online is about sharing what you’ve bought for your hobby.
I really recommend the RUclips video “why you keep abandoning hobbies” by hazelisonline. She talks about how common it is for buying supplies for a hobby to be the first and only way someone engages with a hobby. How shopping is a way to signal what we like and bond with others who like it.
I know people say a lot that, “collecting books and reading are two different hobbies.” And I want to push back on that. Yeah, buying stuff is fun, but it should not be seen as a hobby in itself. We clearly, looking at all the unhauls, cannot sustain shopping as a hobby.
Hauls are fun to watch, but they have consequences. I get why they’re so popular though. When it comes to making money as a content creator, hauls just make sense. It’s an easy video because you don’t have to have read the books first, and you can show the beautiful books and talk about many in one video. Buying more books than one person can read necessitates a reactive unhaul, and the cycle continues. If you’re a professional content creator and you need to produce multiple videos a week or multiple videos a month, you either need to listen to audiobooks constantly on 2x speed or talk about bookish things but not do many reviews.
Hence the Book of the Month subscriptions. That’s such a natural advertisement and way to fund your channel. But, I don’t think most readers can sustain a new book every month in addition to their other acquisitions. I see people sharing online often that their books from subscription boxes accumulate faster than they can read them.
I love that you have the Eddings books. He's so important to modern fantasy and doesn't really get love in book tube. I personally have books on myself shelves that I've had for a decade and haven't read them, but plan to. I personally don't like unhauls because reading and taste changes with the season. For instance, I loved Stephen King in the 80s and 90s. Then lost interest in him for close to a decade. Now I'm loving him again. I say buy them now while you can, especially if you find them for a good deal. I think as a community we talk about TBRs and hacks too much. We're putting way too much pressure on ourselves. I stopped separating the books I haven't read, and organized everything by author, and don't really think about it any more. Just enjoy reading.
i definetly need to continue with Eddings books, so far I've only read one of the series. I'm happy that works for you :) sadly for me it just dosen't work (not only with books) to buy things that I never use/read, my mental health suffers if I have too many unread books
A lot of good points in this video. I have about 20 or so in my TBR and it's already getting out of hand. When I hear of people having over 200 books in queue I am shocked. I mean, there's no other word for it. And I'm already putting myself on a book buying ban. And I've got definitely under 30 but closer to 20 books which I have to find time to read in between work and video editing/creating content around these books. I have filmed a few book haul videos and those are just my 1st 4 videos on the new trajectory of my channel (not new to YT but newbie on BookTube) so yeah. Your video is exactly what I needed right now. And it's hard because I can say that buying new books is expensive, but when you go to a thrift store, it's just so easy to justify buying more because they are so much more inexpensive that way. So, yeah.
It took me a long time to get over my personal (and irrational) belief that physical books are more "legit" than ebooks. I aspired to have huge bookshelves full of books. Then I got a digital library card and was able to read thousands of dollars worth of books for the price of a non-resident membership ($50/year in my case). I have not bought a book in a year. If I put something in my TBR that I lose interest in, I simply remove it from my Libby app tags.
Good for you :) I think that is a problem that quite a few people have. I also use my library (especially for audiobooks) quite a bit. My biggest "problem" why I enjoy physical books more is, that I just don't find it as relaxing if I read books on a device. But if I'm unsure about a book I do get the ebook first and if I like it I go back and get the physical version if it was a good book
I enjoy having a huge TBR list because there are just so many books I want to get to that I'll absolutely forget if i don't note them down, but I've always stuck to my hard rule that no book gets a place on my shelves until i've read it. I can buy a few books at once if I want to read a few at once, but i'm not allowed to own books that i haven't read. It keeps my TBR list long, but I like that it means that at least I know if the books on my shelves are books i want there
So I went through a similar thing and I now have 2 lists, my TBR, which is all the books I own and a 'Possibles' list, which is all the books I'm interested in. Every time I hear about a book I might like, I add it to Possibles, and a couple of times a year, I clean out that list and remove books I'm no longer interested in. This helps me be more mindful before I buy. So, if I'm in the mood for science fiction and I don't have any on my TBR, I look at Possibles and see what's there. Then, I read a sample. If I like it, I'll buy it and read it immediately. My TBR still has some books that have been there for a long time, but everything is way more manageable.
I first saw your title and came to listen, then I saw David Eddings books behind you and subbed. Hello from a newbie book tuber in New Zealand. I look forward to seeing your channel grow. Best, Mark
Some of the books and tbr, is what you think they are. If you view the unread book is an unexamined thought. However the hauling to unhaul is a problem.
Some view the unread books as a key part of a personal library.
I buy classics because I find them iconic and important to own. I'll get to a classic book eventually because it has that "classic book" prestige. I also buy books I have already read and given 4 or 5 stars. Sometimes I will buy a book that is a collection of the works of an author that I love. For example, I bought the Barnes And Noble Shakespeare complete works because I will read it one day, and I love Shakespeare. I only have one very small bookshelf, and honestly, that's all I want for now. I don't understand buying books if I can't get them at the library to try them first. If a book I really want to read isn't at the library then I'll seriously consider buying it though.
I had the issue for a long time where I had way too many books on my physical TBR compared to what I was reading (it was somewhere around 50 or so), it was kind of ridiculous! What actually quite helped me get this number down was a friend recommended their system to me which is they only get 1 new book once they have finished reading 3 TBR books. This way it doesn't feel like a punishment to get through the TBR, but the number of books coming in is always lower than the number of books read. I've been doing this for about 2 years now and my physical TBR has never got higher than 10 books this way which feels much less overwhelming!
@@Crazymelon207 uh that sounds like a really good system
I feel the same, I had two bookshelves of books before I recently moved and it was so overwhelming and lots of money!!! I got rid of about 25% and I am going to focus on reading my physical tbr
Totally agree!!! I’ve amassed a collection of over 3000 (a mix of new and secondhand - our chairty shop sells them 3 for £1), I’ve just unhauled at least 160 without reading them. They have taken over the house! I’m strict with what comes in now and I have to read anything new straight away. I’m a nightmare!
Wow that is a massive collection :D I would not even know where to put so many books. Also what a great price for seconhand books, I'm sligthly jealous about that :D
Had to work my way through my audible backlog. 😂
I managed to get from nearly 80 down to roughly 10 or 15 books.
My physical TBR is 7 books strong. 😋
On the other hand my kindle tbr is really full, because I use the "stuff your Kindle days" when you get many books for free. :)
I also buy a lot of books that are on my want to read list when there are flash sales and an ebook suddenly cost 99 Cent instead of 10€. Reading in english, instead of german was such a huge money saver.
Also, moin Kollege. Auch ohne den Namen zu lesen gleich erkannt, woher du kommst. 😁❤️
Hello Franzi. I'm in somewhat the same situation as you. I was always a voracious reader, from childhood (thanks, Mom) into my mid-20s. Then I started my family and just didn't read many books. I read plenty of magazines, etc. but not books. I've recently begun reading again now that I'm retired and Why Did I Wait So Long? I'm on a mission to replace not-going-to-read-again, old books with five star books I've missed during all of those years.
Anyway, regarding your thrift store buys that no longer hold your interest, may I suggest you try reading one book by each author and then deciding whether you wish to continue with his/her books? If not, consider sending all of his/her books away to other people who WILL enjoy them. And I 100% agree with you about the 50+ BOOK HAUL! / 50+ BOOK UNHAUL! BookTube cycle. To me, it's just click-bait that I skip. And at one point I did have coffee table books but I've now moved them to my book shelves.
You have some excellent books on your newer TBR (I spotted Helter Skelter, which is SO GOOD and The Five, also on my TBR). If you prioritize reading those books that no longer fit who your are NOW, you run the risk of stopping reading altogether. Take it from me. You DO NOT want to do that. Read for joy, Franzi! There's really no other way. 🥰 💙 📚
@@juliehughes1258 that mission sounds like a lot of fun :) I think reading one book by the author and then deciding whether to unhaul sound like a really good idea, I will have to put some thoughts into that. Though I do struggle with feeling bad about unhauling a lot of books at once.
Helter Skelter and the Five are books I have already read (everything above and in the next bookshelf is the actual tbr) so yeah the first one is really good, as for The Five I sadly wasn't a fan of the undertone of the book.
You are totally right, I can be really hard balancing reading what I will love and reading the old books so I don't lose interest in reading all together
I used to buy loads & loads of books myself, but going back about 4 years ago I got rid of 650 unread books and that made me realise I needed to stop and I made myself rules.
1. If I buy a physical book it has to be read within 6 months or be unhauled.
2. I look for the book on Kindle, Everrand or Audible and lend them or buy them there.
3. Unless a book is over a 4 star and a reread then I do not buy the physical book.
Also, a book under 3.5 stars is deleted from my Kindle or audible.
4. I only buy special editions of my 5-star favourite books of all time.
This has saved me money but also has saved room in my one-bedroom flat 😊, I can read between 6 to 25 + books a month but does depend on how I feel.
@@crimsonwhispersva2498 wow that is a massive amount. Good for you :) they seem like really good rules, number 4 is also one of my personal rules. Number 2 is super sensible but I just really don't like reading on my phone/kindle that much.
I am really grateful that I live in a relatively big apartment, I just couldn't imagine living in a one bedroom flat with all of my books :D
Nice talk! I fell into the same trap, when I started watching booktube years ago. I got sooo many used books from sites like rebuy. Until I realised there were book that were always at the bottom of my tbr and woud never be read. I did actually unhaul and donate a lot and never went back 😄
Though I'm still trying to reduce my tbr, which is currently around 70.
@@zehnmalp yeah all of the comments are really making me reconsider trying to read them all to be honest.
I am listening this because I do buy books but than I read a new as e-book to find out if I want it in my collection. I never had TBR [50 books for now] and it started last year. I don't like to unhaul.😮💨 But now I need to.
I am proud of my sub-box skipping! That is working excelently.
I wanted to sugest a booktube channel Obsesive Bookseller. Amaizing library and your problem but 10times bigger. Love that channel
I have a lot of books. But, I've read most of them and continue to read them. My goal, by next year, is to have all the books that I haven't yet read fully read. And then, I'll get more.
My tbr list is over 1700 books 📚 that’s arcs proper books and books 📚 on my kindle and I pad as well juju found your channel and I am looking forward to seeing your amazing content and what you love to read love your Aussie family friend John xxx
I agree to most of this video. I still feel if these tbr books are causing you discomfort you are allowed to move them on but like you said you then need to assess a change in how you then purchase because that's not working or serving you well. I have recently created a pile of books that no longer peak my interest as much to start applying them to my tbr so I can move them on if I don't enjoy them but I still would like to give them ago as they might be a favourite I otherwise would miss out on. A lot of my books I buy secondhand and my newer books I do tend to read but I've noticed I buy books now more than I read and I would like to mindfully put in place a plan to not go as wild next year. If I want a new book then I need to have read an old book and I plan to read at least one physical and one ebook a month to create a balance because I have some great picks on there too I've not read yet which is a huge shame. I also would like to start implementing a tbr list that I can added books I'm interested in onto a list and then at the end of the year I can buy a few as a well done plus I can assess if any of them are still on my radar a bit more subjectively. I'm not a quick reader either so I just aren't able to consume a large number of books to lessen the tbr pile, something has to give. I'm also like you with the impact on earth consuming which is why I buy a lot secondhand anyway because I'm also not a minimalist in any way haha but that means to be more conscious of how you buy anything really. A good topic I really enjoyed it, thanks for the good discussion. ☺
RUclipsrs also get gifted books by viewers, Arcs from authors and subscription boxes that make their collection so big and a reason they want to unhaul eventually. Alot of the time they are unhauling books from these 3 catagories as they didnt seek them themselves because they wanted to read that specific book, but because it was given and it wasnt actually something they wanted.
that is the reason why i stopped getting the illumicrate (but I did pay for it myself)
Seeing Jonathan Franzens "The Corrections" on your shelf as a tbr is kind of shocking to me. My former professor said it was his favorite book but he was a "literature" kind of reader lol, not really a fun kind of reader. I've always been curious to try it though. But its the same kind of curiosity as like "Infinite Jest" or "Gravitys Rainbow" or James Joyce
I actually got it in a random book box of ebay so I know nothing about the book :D but now I'm slightly afraid :D
OMG, yes. So much yes. One of the things I don't love about BookTube is the emphasis on hauls. It's just so much consumption for the sake of consumption.
In terms of books you bought years ago and have lost interest in: there's the thought of the you that bought the books - the purpose of it wasn't to read the book, but to enjoy the process of purchasing them and holding that physical copy, supporting (hopefully) local used and new book stores. They've served their purpose, they deserve to move on if you're no longer interested in them. They were purchased with good intentions and those intentions changed. That's okay. Hauls and unhauls just for the sake of content are just positioning "reading" as consumption rather than as thing that makes life better.
So much yes.
@@DrCrankyPantsReads you do have a good point there, but I feel like I have to read them for my old self because I owe that to myself. A little bit like self therapy to make me realise how much I let myself be swayed by watching other people buy books and how unnecessary that was
@@bookishfranzi967 Totally a valid way to think about it and I get the feeling of owing it to your past self. Sometimes, I think that feeling can fall into the sunken cost fallacy - the idea that because we've invested in something - emotionally or with our resources - that we have to see it through, even when it no longer serves us. I try to keep in mind that it's okay to evolve, and just because something made sense to me back then doesn't mean it has to now. It's not a blunder, it's just part of the journey. Do what feels right for you and your books - it's what matters most.
When I first came upon a "Book Haul" video I thought they were great videos to watch until... the creators would say things like,
"My TBR *stacks* have gotten a liiiiiiittle crazy" "This is my TBR bookshelf!" "I don't know when I'll get to this but I am soooooo excited to read this book when the time comes."
It felt a little bit like a betrayal. When they revealed what they had bought I'd be so excited if it was a series I was reading or a book I liked, but to then see them put it to the side to maybe never be touched again in years felt insulting. Everyone has a TBR list and maybe a physical TBR pile, there's nothing wrong with that, but to continue buying books that you may NEVER read but flaunt to the world that you bought it feels... privileged? Condescending?
I give manga hauls a pass since they are so easy and fast to read. From the few manga haul creators I've seen they seem to fly through their TBR piles.
Well, I’d rather people buy books than pretty much anything else. 😅 But I see what you’re saying. I think many Tubers aren’t even buying books to read but just to create content anymore.
I read 100-150 books a year so a large home library seems OK
Plus I buy mostly used books
I hate that when we try to have these conversations with people, they will always say "its my money, i can do what i want" like.... yes? cool? great even. But we need to be more mindful of the things we do with all this consumption. The economical, ecological, financial, capitalistic impact of modern consumerism is so so wild. (also a bit off topic but can we pppllleaseeeee stop buying and hyping up problematic authors in general DD:)
Is German your first language ? This is my first time listening to you but I speak foreign languages as an American male. When you were talking about the library, you said we could always “ lend “ books; what you mean to say is that we can “ borrow “ books. One of the languages I know with this problem is the Slavic language Czech: there is only one word for lend and borrow so it is the context which determines the meaning. This is what happened here. I am interested to know which language is your native language and what is the word for lend/borrow.
@@Vyborne oh yeah German is my first language :D so my english isn't perfect:D
@@bookishfranzi967 No problem; it was interesting. My TBR also grew out of hand in the last couple of years. Luckily, I am still interested in those books. I bought around eight books in the past week. I'm going to try the Read What You Own Challenge for awhile, I hope, as I just discovered that is a "thing."
@@bookishfranzi967 I only bought so many because I came across some interesting books in French which I wanted to scoop up because they're hard to find.
People are still judging a book by its cover too. Unhauling because the cover is ugly to them, or only keeping it because the cover is pretty to them although they didnt like the book or will never read it.
Very good points!
Over consumption, sure. Then, there is the quality of books now; most are mid at best, especially in fantasy/romance.
Just my opinion.