On your shelf, they may look like flowers — the glossy paperbacks, dusty-golden book jackets, hardcovers stamped with New York Times bestseller medallions glimmering under your desk lamp. But let’s be honest: those pages are more likely to grow mold than get read.
You swore you’d crack open that literary fiction masterpiece the next time you were “in the mood.” That was six months ago. Crime and Punishment is glaring at you from the electric chair, and The Picture of Dorian Gray is already a mass of ash, bones, and paint chips. Oh well. That’s fine. You already have three more books arriving next Monday that’ll look just perfect in your graveyard-garden of classics and dark romances.
Alright — it’s time to admit the truth: your “To Be Read” pile is actually a “To Be Weeded” pile. The only breathing creatures touching those books are the dust bunnies, who are thrilled you impulse-bought the entire Sarah J. Maas collection — it really tied their condo together, rent-free.
Don’t worry, you’re not alone. Every reader eventually has to dig into their towering TBR heap and do some weeding — because, contrary to popular belief, we actually want to read our books. So grab your imaginary rake and gloves, and follow these three easy steps to tame your lit!
Step 1: Be Honest With Yourself
Just like how the opening line of Pride and Prejudice states that “It is a universally acknowledged truth, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife,” it’s just as true that a reader in possession of a crisp paycheck is in want of a trending novel. It’s easy to chase Barnes & Noble’s stocked shelves or #BookTok hype, causing us to forget the books we already have sitting on the shelf like houseplants we forgot to water.
So just take a moment. Look at your stack. Ask yourself: Which books did I buy for myself, and which ones did I buy just because they were popular? Be honest. You don’t have to read every hot release right now. Make space for the stories that still call to you and help you grow into your identity as a person, not a consumer. FOMO isn’t a pesticide.
Step 2: Don’t Focus on Numbers
Would you rather have a thousand dandelions you could never hold, or a bouquet of roses you get to dig your nose in? Your TBR books are the same way.
We’ve all set a Goodreads reading goal at some point, letting our ego decide how high the number should go, especially after seeing how much our peers manage to read in just one month (seriously, they have to be lying). But once we get caught up in the numbers, that’s all reading becomes: a game of stats and streaks, a race to input data instead of sitting with the story. Suddenly, it’s less about giggling and wondering if Gatsby and Nick had something going on, and more about how fast we can move on to the next book.
Take time to slow down and actually enjoy what your current or next read has to offer, beyond the digital badge or the bragging rights.
Step 3: Pull What You Don’t Want
As readers, we all have our own way of deciding if a book is headed for the dreaded DNF mound. Some give it the 10-page test, others push through 50, and the chosen few somehow make it to 100. But deep down, we always know when we’re just not in the right headspace to commit to a new trilogy, series, or that paperback with a movie poster for a cover. Forcing yourself through a book you’re not vibing with can backfire. It can turn your TBR into a graveyard and drag you into a reading slump where even flipping to the dedication page feels like a chore.
So be ruthless. Be less patient and afraid. Pull out the books you know you’ll never finish, and donate them or hand them off to a friend who still has the emotional bandwidth for a 900-page fantasy — and the lifespan to wait for George R. R. Martin to remember where he misplaced his typewriter.
Bonus: dropping a series clears three, five, maybe even seven books from your TBR in one good swoop. Choose wisely.
After all, one reader’s DNF is another reader’s TBR.
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