Mood Reading & TBR’s Don’t Mesh Well

Like all of my greatest post ideas— I was at work, pondering on how proud I was to have managed three… point five books this October while semi-sticking to my themed Spooky TBR… when a string of thoughts hit me all at once:

1). I’m a mood reader

2). I made a themed TBR for the Halloween season

3). Those two things contradict.

And I say that because if you take a look at any TBR made around a season/theme, may it be a Pride TBR or even a seasonal list, they all have one thing is common…

The consensus is that they all have to stay on brand with what you’re basing it around. And I can’t make a Sci-Fi TBR and include Contemporaries to the mix, you know? It defeats the purpose.

And as someone who follows their gut when picking books, having a list prominently on one thing… that leads to a reading slump. Which sucks, because I love the aesthetic that comes with a TBR, whether it be the graphics made to compliment it or the (kind of fun) struggle of finding books that could go with this list. Because the longer I sit on it… the more I realize TBR’s are against me. We’re talking about:

Goodreads.

I don’t go on Goodreads as often as I used to… because 340 books (as of writing this post) on my To-Be-Read shelf isn’t the most encouraging??? And with the new releases constantly being put on my radar, there’s no help for me. Which goes into my–

Library Check-Outs’

I use Overdrive and it’s just TOO EASY to request books (sounds familiar… *cough cough Netgalley*)… and I swear no matter how long it takes for a book to be available…. nine times out of ten I will not read it right then then there. Or even the next day. Majority of these books go right back to the library unread because MOTIVATION??? WHO??? HAS LEFT THE CHAT.

My lack of a schedule.

Because let’s be real– if I’m not in the mood, nothing is going to force me to be in the mood… you know? Now, more of my TBR’s are an attempt to catch me up on the backlog I call an ARC list/ And while that list is pretty diverse when it comes to genres… sometimes I just want something smutty and quick and maybeeeeeee 60 pages.

My tendency to DNF real quick.

I know when I first started blogging, I claimed the title “DNF Queen” because whether it’s 10 pages in or 5 chapters… I have no shame dropping a book and never looking back.

My other tendency to be over-ambitious.

This may be my want to play catch up and my lack of sense when it comes to how much time I actually have. And I can’t even blame it on lack of time, because even though I hate to admit it I have time. I’m just not built with time management skills.

Despite all of my moaning and complaining on how things are against me… I’m not going to stop making TBR’s. They’re too much fun, even if I will inevitably fail. Is this self destruction?

TBR’s… do you love them? Do you hate them? How do you balance that and mood reading? Are you a mood reader? Let me know in the comments below!