How to Tame Your Out-of-Control TBR Pile

Let's be honest with ourselves. Buying books and reading books are two entirely separate hobbies.

If you are anything like us, your physical nightstand is currently bowing under the weight of a dozen hardcovers, while your Kindle has three pages of unread downloads. The TBR (To Be Read) pile is a source of joy, but it can also become a source of weird guilt. You look at it and feel overwhelmed instead of excited.

Here is a quick, practical guide to taming the beast and getting your reading momentum back.

D.N.F. stands for "Did Not Finish." Life is simply too short to force yourself to read a book you aren't enjoying just because you spent money on it or because BookTok told you it was a masterpiece. If you are 50 pages in and dreading picking it back up, put it down. Free yourself. Move on to the next one.

If you are struggling to get through a massive 800-page historical biography, switch to an audiobook for your commute. Sometimes changing the format is all it takes to break a reading slump. Try out a free Audible trial to knock out some of those thicker books.

One of the biggest reasons TBR piles get out of control is the panic of keeping up with new releases. You buy a new book the day it comes out, put it on top of the pile, and ignore the books you bought last year.

This is where Bleepia comes in. You don't need to buy a book the day it drops just so you don't forget about it. Track the author on Bleepia, get the alert when it releases, and decide then if you are actually ready to read it. Let us remember the dates so you can just enjoy the reading.