The TBR Jar Experiment

I love to re-read books.  It's a fact that I've known since I was a small child.  Going back to old favorites is one of my favorite things to do, so it's something that I do a lot.  Unfortunately, when one has over 100 books in a physical TBR, one needs to reconsider one's priorities. 

Thus, the TBR jar was born.

(eventually, I'll make a graphic that isn't a floral. eventually. i'm in a spring-y mood, okay?)

I'm not the first to come up with this idea, so I don't claim originality here.  And to be honest, the idea of TBR jars has always scared me.

If you don't know what a TBR jar is, essentially, readers with large TBR (or to-be-read) piles will put the titles of said books into a jar or a mug or what have you.  Every month or so they'll pull one or several titles from the holder and challenge themselves to read the book[s] that month.  And it seems really terrifying to me, so I changed it up.

So in that little purple jar are titles of books I own and haven't read.  In the box shaped like a gorgeous little book are titles of books I want to re-read.

The idea is a sort of reward system for myself.  Because my brain is mean and doesn't like letting me read new books. It's this inexplicable mind game that I can't seem to break, so I thought I'd try to tame it.  It's still in the experiment phase, but I figure if I post about it, it'll give me some accountability. 

The system works like this:
Step One) Pick a title out of the TBR jar.
Step Two) Read the book.
Step Three) Pick a title out of the re-read jar.
Step Four) Read that book.
Step Five) Repeat.

So, essentially, if I read a new book, I get to reward myself and re-read a book.  Because my brain apparently needs a reward to actually do what it's supposed to do. 


shawn = my brain trying to get me to re-read books
gus = my tbr pile

As of today, I've pulled one book out of the TBR jar, and one book out of the re-read jar, and so far, the system seems to be working.  (Well, I haven't picked my next TBR jar book because I had other books I needed to review, but I'm planning to very soon.)

The books that went into the TBR jar are as follows:
- The Book Thief  {Markus Zusak}
- An Ember in the Ashes {Sabaa Tahir}
- Keeping Safe the Stars  {Sheila O'Connor}
- Magyk  {Angie Sage}
- Martin Hospitality  {Abigayle Claire}
- Mistborn  {Brandon Sanderson}
- The Mysterious Benedict Society  {Trenton Lee Stewart}
- Princess Academy  {Shannon Hale}
- The Princess and I  {Rebekah Eddy}
- The Shadow of Your Smile  {Susan May Warren}
- A Tale Dark & Grimm  {Adam Gidwitz}
- The Wee Free Men  {Terry Pratchett}

And the books that went into the re-read jar were:
- City of Orphans  {Avi}
- The Emerald Atlas  {John Stephens}
- The Giver  {Lois Lowry}
- Heist Society  {Ally Carter}
- How to Seize a Dragon's Jewel  {Cressida Cowell}
- A Little Princess  {Francis Hodgson Burnett}
- Moon Over Manifest  {Clare Vanderpool}
- Navigating Early  {Clare Vanderpool}
- Science Fair  {Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson}
- The Throne of Fire  {Rick Riordan}
- A Time to Die  {Nadine Brandes}
- The True Meaning of Smekday  {Adam Rex}

That's twelve books in each.  Every time I read one out of either, I put another book back in. That's the plan, anyway.

And the first pick of my TBR jar was... Princess Academy!

Which, I think, was a fabulous place to start.  A relatively short middle-grade, one that has been recommended to me so many times over the years, and an absolutely magical story that I'm so happy to have read.  (You can check out my Goodreads review here!)  I felt super accomplished, I have to say.

And thus, I got to pick a book out of the re-read jar, and that was... The True Meaning of Smekday!

And good golly, I love this book so much.  Reaffirmed as one of my all-time favorites, that's for sure.  And, like a good girl, I did not immediately jump into "Smek for President!", as much as I really wanted to.  I do think I'll re-read it sometime soon, because it's super short and I'm just not ready to say goodbye to Tip and J.Lo just yet. 

With that, it's time to pick another book from the TBR jar.  Like I said, this seems to be working so far and I'm really excited about it!  My family has also been supporting me in this endeavor because they all think it's ridiculous that my TBR is so huge and I keep re-reading books.  (I know... I think it's ridiculous too... that's why I'm doing this)

While I haven't read another book out of the TBR jar so far in April, I've knocked several books off my TBR all the same.  And I'm very excited about that.


So what do you think?  Good idea?  Think I can maintain this experiment?  Spot any faves in the titles?  Let me know in a comment below!

~ Abby