I deleted my TBR shelves.

No, not the actual, physical books sitting in my actual, physical To-Be-Read (TBR) bookcase.

Yes, I have an entire bookcase dedicated to all TBRs I own.

No, I deleted my virtual TBR shelves.

I started using goodreads in 2008 to track all the books I read. And in 2019, when StoryGraph gave us an [that large corporation which shall not be named]-free alternative, I started using it. These online book tracking platforms have been great tools. I have saved myself a lot of time and money by not (re)reading or (re)buying books. I also have been able to steer clear of authors I haven’t enjoyed and dive deep into the catalogue of those authors who I found I loved.

But both of these platforms also have a “Want to Read” or “To-Read” (aka, TBR) shelf. And I filled my TBR shelf with recommendations from friends, other books of authors I read and enjoyed, books I thought I should read, books based on reviews from other readers and critics, and more and more, books seen on social media (mostly Litsy).

And over the last decade and a half, I had added so many books to the TBR, I had slightly more books on the TBR than on the “Read” shelf.

This started causing me stress. I felt I had to read, read, read to compensate for the overly large TBR. And I felt compelled to add books that I thought I should read. And any book that anyone I knew recommended.

I don’t really worry about how much I read compared to others. But I am competitive with myself. I always want to do better than I did before. And as I added more and more books to my TBR, I felt more and more like a failure. Like how was I ever going to even put a dent in that number?

Quite frankly, my TBR had gotten out of hand.

Recently, I’ve started downsizing and minimizing my house. I recognized that some of my addictions hobbies have gotten out of hand and that I just have too much stuff. Stuff that isn’t “sparking joy” and is taking up valuable space (urban living space is no joke) and is rather a pain to dust.

While I don’t agree with Ms. Kondo’s “only 30 books” recommendation (which I think she has since gone back on), I do think there is a thing to only keeping the things that currently spark joy. (Or for the kitchen stuff, is a useful item that I’ve actually used in the last year.)

And in my pursuit of downsizing, I recognized that I’ve held onto a lot of things not because they currently bring me joy, but because of nostalgia or because, I hate to admit, I actually forgot I had them. So I’ve been boxing up knick-knacks. I listed a bunch of things on eBay. I’ve listed a bunch of books on Pango.

And you know what, I actually do feel lighter. I am getting the appeal of the minimalist lifestyle.

Much like downsizing my physical possessions, I realized my TBR was out of control. When I started looking through my TBR, I realized I had books on there for over a decade. Books by authors I don’t care for. Books about topics I’m not really interested in. Books I don’t even know what they’re about or why I put them on my TBR in the first place.

In other words, books I will never read anyway.

So I started deleting. And deleting. And even more deleting until there were no books left on my TBR shelf.

(GR doesn’t have a mass delete option for the 3 exclusive shelves. Only if you want to delete everything. Luckily, StoryGraph does.)

And you know what? It’s freeing. Like a blank slate. Any book seems like fair game now, and I don’t feel guilty for not reading a book off my TBR.

I think I’ll keep my TBR at 0. Or maybe I’ll just add the TBR books I physically own, and the celebrate as I remove each one to the “read” shelf. Then the TBR will go down by 1, which will feel like a reason to celebrate . . .

Likely by buying a new book.

What do you think? Would you delete your TBR? Share your thoughts in the comments below.