TBR Overview 2025 - How It Went

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 This year's TBR was mostly rolled over from last year's list. I have learned that DNF-ing (Do Not Finish) a book is not a crime. Instead, it opens you up to more books you'll enjoy. Let's look at how the TBR went. 


This year I knocked out about half the TBR, opting to not follow it after I was in a reading flow. In my reading flow, I decided I had no trouble deciding on what to read next and didn't need the guidance. Surprisingly, most of the books I read were picked up on a whim. I threw some challenges in this year, as usual. 

Challenges

The library challenge is when a book must come from a physical or digital library. Easy challenge, especially if you are not sure of some books and want to test-drive them before you buy them. It pays to see if your local library has a copy. 

The One-Shelf challenge is picking a shelf, then limiting your reading options to what is on that shelf. It means you read what you have. It's an easy way to attempt reading only what you have, while still having a choice. It allows mood-reading, which was most of my reading year. 

Read-it-or-unhaul-it challenges are still here. I do those because they really do help me declutter. I called them some different names in my blog and did some variations (Romance-a-thon, for example). It was well worth culling (cutting from a herd of cattle, or in this case a herd of books) some unliked titles from the bookshelves. 

Why I dropped the TBR list early

It's true, I did stop reading from the TBR. It's also true that I didn't need the guidance on what to read next. I realized I'd set unnecessary rules for myself and I need to make my TBR even more free-flowing. What does that mean? It means that it's mostly open challenges and far less book titles. 

Sometimes, when we make TBRs we set a standard of going down the list. What if we're in a slump and need something lighter than the next book? What if we have our eye on the newest Grisham and not the classic Dickens that is listed next? It is far easier to write "series book", "library challenge", and "ebook" on the excel sheet and let our future selves choose the book. That's what next year's TBR will do. 

The plan for 2026

After what you read above, you can bet I'm not choosing a specific title, with the exception of the titles I skipped this year. Nine books and three challenges are being copied and pasted onto 2026's TBR. I knocked out most of 2024's leftovers rather effectively. With that in mind, I'm setting the number to about 25 books (knowing I'll read more than the TBR in the long run). This doesn't count my vacation stack of books (which are usually decided based on my whims, closer to the vacation). Vacation TBR is a little stack of five books (that usually includes my Bond novels). 

I've learned my TBR needs to be loose, so loose that I can mood read and still follow it. I'm not adding more than 25 books. If I exceed this number, 2027 will have 30 books. I've got my TBR made and only nine titles are in it. I only have one R-or-U (Read it or unhaul it) on the list. I think this will allow me to not slip into a reading slump. 

If you're reading this and think "woah, that's a lot of books", keep in mind that I read 40 books a year on average. Your reading number is not going to be mine. You should not try to cram in a bunch of books because BookTok says you should. Your TBR should reflect your reading habits and how much you can easily read (and fully enjoy!) in a year. TBRs should be achievable, not impossible. If you are starting one, please reflect on what you read in a year and go from there. You can adjust it as the year goes on. You make the rules, so you can eliminate rules. 

The Numbers

Here is where I show you what I read of my TBR and give you some nice graphs of my reading journey. As a reader, I've grown to understand that DNF-ing is not a bad thing, particularly when you aren't enjoying yourself. I've also learned that I need a more flowing TBR, a TBR I can choose as I go - rather than rigid titles. I also left one book unfinished because I had bit off a bit more than I could chew (Villette, a real brick of a book). I did not finish every book I started, but I do intend to finish Villette next year. 



Based on the above, you can see I DNF-ed a lot more than intended. There is no shame in saying "I won't finish this" because life is far too short to read books you don't like. I am not under the delusion that I'll ever have enough time to read all my library. Even so, I would like to try, thus I do not suffer through to the end of the bad novel. 




Based on this graph, you can see I read a lot in the summer months. That shouldn't surprise anyone. Most of my vacation pictures are me reading by a fishing pond, then occasionally actually fishing. The fact of the matter is that summer is when I have the time to read. I'm writing this blog before Christmas because my reading year is pretty much over (as I record it) on Christmas day. You'll see this blog far later, in January of 2026. 


Overall Thoughts

I'm learning more and more about my reading habits as the years go on. I finished 30 books this year, most of them physical copies and a few digital (audiobooks and e-books).  The total of books I DNF-ed is 11, which means I began 42 books (counting the one unfinished). 

The unfinished (Villette) was a project that was bigger than I thought. I saw that people don't pick that one up lightly after I began reading it. Oh well, it'll be worth it. It's one of those books with depth and purpose, a thick classic. Unfortunately, it is also a hard one to finish (based on internet opinions). Since I am taking it slow, it should be fine. I got the e-book to make sure I had enough annotating space. 

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Morrow is released! This novella is the story of two women writing a family history for the Morrow family. They find a nasty secret while researching. Will they survive their internship? 

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