Clear Out the Pack Rat Mentality - and the TBR

In honor of Kate @ The Neverending Bookshelf and her Clean Away the Clutter Read-a-Thon we're talking about keeping that ever growing TBR in check. It's not easy!

I wish my space for books looked like this. But it doesn't and I'm guessing yours doesn't either. But somehow what me head knows doesn't always make it to my heart. My belief that I have room for one - or twenty - more books to add to my TBR.

If you've ever watched those shows about de-cluttering - whether it's your closet or your house - one of the first things they tell you to do to determine if you should keep something, is ask yourself how long it's been since you've used it.


If you haven't worn that shirt in a year, probably not going to happen. Let it go. Another tidbit is, if you buy something new, get rid of something old.

You should take that same attitude to your TBR. I mean, come on people. If you have books there for several months and you haven't read them, it ain't gonna happen anytime soon - donate or give them away. And if you want to buy something new, read or get rid of an old one.

It's hard to give it up. It's like that shirt - "I might wear it...someday." Yeah, you might read that book someday, but maybe not. Maybe your tastes change or maybe there is just too much good new stuff out there and you'll never get to it.

The good news about books is that (unlike that shirt) you can always get the exact same one again. And for free from the library. Those older ones - that you were taking so long to get to - can be had without even having to go on a waiting list.

The library is a great tool for us pack rats. You can order any book you want, it's free, the time frame forces you to either read it or give it up, and you can go back again and again!

I get it. I'm a pack rat, that's why I'm writing this post. I think it's a girl thing. Jake and Gregory don't have that problem. They finish something before they go on to something else, with very few exceptions for their favorite authors. I have a tough time with that. Something new in my genre? Gotta have it! But I'm trying to get better. And so should you.

Now on the other hand, like in your wardrobe, you have to have the classics. Those favorites, or 'comfort books' that will always remain on your shelf.

For me I have Meg Cabot's Mediator series (have had them for years). More recently I'd add City of Bones (Cassandra Clare) and Hush Hush (Becca Fitzpatrick). Jake keeps Jim Butcher's Dresden Files on hand, and for Gregory it's anything by Cinda Williams Chima or the Skullduggery Pleasant series by Derek Landy.

So here's what I want to know...

1.) Is there at least one book on your growing TBR that has been there forever and (if you were honest) you could give up without to much trauma?

2.) What is your latest "Gotta Have It" book? (that you can get once you've given up that one in question #1)

3.) What are your classics - you're 'comfort books' that you never want to give up?

4.) What are your best tips for keeping that TBR in check?

You have a chance to win a copy Haunted - one of my favorite in the Mediator series if you are a follower, comment and fill out THIS FORM. The contest is international and and will end when the Read-A-Thon does - 4/11.

I hope you can clean up some clutter this week and get in some great reading. Be sure to enter Kate's Clean Away the Clutter Read-A-Thon. As well as helping you with the clutter, she's got some fabulous prizes to give away!

If you'd like to answer the questions on a post, please link it below. Thanks for participating!