Lately I’ve been feeling a lot of pressure from the immediate TBR pile that is towering on my nightstand and spilling onto the floor. The books are from a variety of sources: ones I’ve bought, review copies, some lent from a friend, and others from the library. For some reason I’m putting a lot of pressure on myself to hurry and finish them right away. I just feel like there are so many great reads – ones on the immediate TBR and those that aren’t – that I better get to stepping because I don’t want to miss out and I need to read all of them. I tell myself if I could just get through these then the pressure would be off and I could leisurely select my next read without prioritizing or list-checking my TBR – just reading whatever catches my fancy.
I was never like this with my reading until I started my blog, and this is definitely the worst the pressure has ever been. There’s always another book I need to read pronto so I can review it pronto so I can hurry and get to the Next Big Thing. It was when the pressure was so overwhelming that it was discouraging any reading whatsoever that I knew my outlook had to give. For me that was looking at my immediate TBR conservatively, making a pile of what I realistically wasn’t going to get to anytime soon, and putting that stack in a less prominent place, promising myself to return those books to their rightful owners or my bookshelf ASAP so I wouldn’t have to look at them any longer. Since I’ve done that I’m feeling a bit better but the pressure is still there albeit in a different form. Since I was in such a rush my backlog of reviews is longer than I’d like it to be, and feeling behind on reviews is actually a worse kind of pressure for me. Unfortunately I’ll have to be selective and some of them won’t get reviewed. This is sad for me because I used to review every book I read. Life has just gotten busier since little girl arrived and I’ve realized that it’s okay if things are different for the time being.
Does reading ever become a chore for you? What do you do to alleviate the pressure put on yourself and to make reading about quality instead of quantity?
It’s interesting that you posted about this as I was just talking to Nomes about this yesterday.
I have over 100 books in my TBR pile and I try really hard to not look at them so I don’t feel so completely overwhelmed by them all. I usually choose which one to read next based on if someone has asked me to review it, or if I have to give it back to someone, or if it is a brand new release. And while I don’t have to read them, I do feel the pressure to. I really miss just being able to pick up any old book that I felt like reading. It becomes very difficult to manage and I’m working on fixing this :s
Totally understand. I was also talking to Nomes about this on GR which in turn inspired this post. I’m glad you are working on fixing it. Let me know your solution.
Reading definitely can feel like a chore! This year, I resolved not to accept any reviews so it would be “fun” again, but do you think I listened to myself? No way! But even if I had, there is always the pressure to post something or other as regularly as possible. Blogging is definitely a chore! :–)
Very true. It’s hard to listen to yourself sometimes.
Why do we have to be overacheivers in something for which we are not graded or paid?
We’ve talked about this on Twitter so you already know that I feel the same way. I don’t know why I get pressured to read and write review for the blog because it’s not like I’m being graded or anything. I’ve decided to cut back and just read and post whenever I feel like it because I don’t want blogging to feel like homework. I want it to still be fun and something that I look forward to doing instead of being obligated.
Don’t worry about being behind on your reviews, the blog isn’t going to go anywhere so you can post whenever you want to.
And you really don’t have to review all of the books that you read – if you feel like writing a review for a certain book is too much work then you don’t have to do it. I think that’s one of the things that we should remember – these are our blogs and we can do whatever we want with them.
YES! You shouldn’t feel obligated. You of all bloggers definitely deserves a break – a post every day! I could not do it.
I think the problem with writing reviews first arose because I started reading another book immediately after finishing the last whereas before I always made myself write the review before starting something else (or at least getting very far in). I didn’t want to wait the few days it took to find time to write a review after my daughter was born before starting another book. Alas, I’d find myself 3 book reviews behind because I’d read that many books before I had time to write a review. Ah, well. I’ve got caught up a few times but then I just get behind again. :/ I’m trying not to worry about it too much.
I know what you mean! Sometimes, you just want to read another book right after finishing one and you can’t be bothered to think about what you’ll write in a review. By the time you’re invested in the new book, you can’t even remember the details of the other one. Yeah, try not to worry too much about not being able to review all of the books that you read. I think it’s a good idea for all of us to slow down and just enjoy reading like we used to before we started blogging.
I feel the same way, especially about those review books. I was a bit to eager once I discovered NetGalley and requested one title too many(in addition to all the books I have in my shelf).. One doesn’t have to review the books accepted on NetGalley but I feel that I owe the publishers a review.
Time is moving fast with children in the house
By the way do you remember talking about naming children after fictional characters? My daughter ended up with a name of a very famous character(at least for the worlds female population), I didn’t even make the connection until after the name was decided. So I guess some of the fictional names work in Norwegian as well
Yes! Gotta make sure you don’t go crazy on Netgalley.
That’s awesome about your baby’s name! I think it would be hard to find a fictional name that would work in Norwegian.
you said it really well holly.
i have had a little break the last few days and feel a bit more calmed down. i love the idea of putting books aside in a different location if you think you are not going to get to them for a while.
most my surplus come from second hand book sales. books i buy i tens to read as soon as i purchase them.
i am also grateful i do not get many review copies (have knocked a ton back) ~ i really want to keep reading and reviewing as a hobby not an obligation.
hope you’re enjoying your books!
Things like “out of sight, out of mind” really help me.
I don’t get a ton of offers but regardless you really do need to be selective of what review copies you accept. I’m so glad you’re feeling better. 
Thanks for coming over! It’s always a pleasure.
Yes, I feel like this sometimes. Especially when I’m working on a review and the words are just not coming. That’s when it feels like: wow, this is work. It bothers me when I have a this mental list of books to read and review and I just can’t get to it because it’s taking longer than I want it to or I just have too many other things to do. Yeah. That’s definitely when you have to allow yourself to let it go. Which is easier said than done, because yeah we all have something inside us that pushes us right?
SOOO true. It seems like I’ll go through stints where I have writers block on several reviews. That’s when I hate the review side of blogging.
Ugh, and the dreaded mental list! That can be worse than tangible lists.
Good advice.
Really? Sweet.