Long time readers of Once Upon a Chapter have heard me lament a situation that may drive you a little crazy. Or maybe doesn’t. The thing of it is that I’m not the only person who suffers from this and I have formulated a plan of attack. I will not allow it any longer!
What could possibly have me so worked up? My TBR pile. People it is out of control. I do it to myself and there is no one else that I can blame. I knew it was something to think about a year or so ago but was completely okay with ignoring it as long as possible. NO MORE! Here are some examples of why I MUST do something and do it soon. Here is evidence of my shame:
For real, guys, if I don’t do something now, you’re all gonna see me on Hoarders. I can legitimately see this as my future if I don’t nip it in the bud now. It’s going to be painful and I’m going to have moments of weakness and then buyer’s remorse will probably kick in. Regardless, here’s my plan:
The Operation:
Pretty easy actually: I am going to reduce my TBR pile by shaming myself with progress reports once a month for the next year. Hopefully most of them won’t be shameful and I’ll actually have good news for you all to read. You, as the reader, will be my form of control. Ya know, sorta keeping me in check. If I have to be accountable to the public at large (or at least the public at Once Upon a Chapter) I’m hoping that will curb my impulses. I can tell you my husband is going to LOVE this. He wasn’t very pleased with me when he had to lug those boxes upstairs.
<a title="Operation TBR Reduction Button by StephanieLovesBooks, on Flickr" href="http://onceuponachapter.com/2012/04/operation-tbr-reduction.html"/><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7253/6957590786_9465e1bde2_n.jpg" alt="Operation TBR Reduction Button" width="240" height="320" />
The Details:
*Everyone is invited to participate. Bloggers can grab my button and make a post declaring yourself part of the project. Non-bloggers can leave comments on update posts or even have a shelf on GoodReads or another book networking site for books read for the Operation:TBR Reduction.
*I will start May 1st. If you decide to participate it is not required that you do so every month. While I am deadly serious about this, it doesn’t have to be for you! 
*Sign up using the linky below and I’ll come and cheer you on.
*To be clear this is not a book buying ban.
My Personal Rules:
*Read more books than I bring in per month. No excuses, no justifications, no wheedling. Just reading.
*ALL books (with the exception of library books, they’ll just cancel themselves out) count towards my numbers. This includes review requests, trades, purchases, etc., etc.
*In an effort to help myself I’m only going to use my Paperbackswap credits for my Wishlist books and when I go to a used bookstore I cannot leave with more books than I brought in. (If I take in nothing, 3 is the limit.)
How I’m Going to Track:
I’ll list books received that month, books read that month and how much my TBR has been reduced by. Example:
Books received: 2
Book A
Book B
Books read: 5
Book C
Book D
Book E
Book F
Book G
TBR Reduced by 3
Want to join Operation: TBR Reduction? There’s strength in numbers!
Alexa April 25, 2012 at 3:34 am
I might just end up doing this as part of my May TBR Pile post and every month thereafter.
OUAC_Stephanie April 26, 2012 at 7:27 pm
That would work out too! I was just hoping that my book fanatic friends would keep me accountable!
Like I said I HAVE to do something. I wanted to start in May because 1. I'm OCD and can't do anything other than full calender months and 2. The book fair is Saturday (which is still April!) I wanted to give myself one last spree. 
Kelsey W. April 25, 2012 at 6:49 am
I wish you lots of luck with this! I'll keep an eye on your progress since I won't be doing one of my own (yet).
OUAC_Stephanie April 26, 2012 at 7:29 pm
Thanks! I'm actually thinking of making it a page so it will be easier to find. I'll have to work on that.
~MoonStar~ April 25, 2012 at 7:36 am
I might want to join this one later on in June
Looking forward to follow your progress aswell..
OUAC_Stephanie April 26, 2012 at 7:30 pm
Hope you join in when you're ready. For me it's a long commitment (a whole year!) but if I don't do it now, I will be hopeless!
Mary April 25, 2012 at 7:37 am
Good Luck Stephanie with your TBR Pile
OUAC_Stephanie April 26, 2012 at 7:30 pm
Thank you! I will tame the beast! I will!
erinf1 April 25, 2012 at 9:26 am
Good luck! Your TBR pile looks very much like mine. It's taken over my living room and my very gracious bf even built me a 1/2 wall bookcase! (which is full and is 1 of 3). I'm going to be right along with you. I don't have a blog, but I'm going to do it at home along with you
OUAC_Stephanie April 26, 2012 at 7:31 pm
I think my problem was that if I had space that meant it should be filled. Right? Is that how it was for you? If you want, you could always check in at the comments section of my monthly posts.
Lianne April 25, 2012 at 9:41 am
I just joined! This challenge is perfect for me. (Although I'm in several challenges intended to decrease my TBR pile, and it hasn't worked yet… maybe one more will tip the balance in my favour!) Good luck, and I look forward to us cheering each other on!
OUAC_Stephanie April 26, 2012 at 7:32 pm
It's hard to decrease that pile isn't it? There are SO many good books coming out and I read so many genres that I end up with quite a few books to read. I suppose that means I'll never be without a good book to read.
Danie April 25, 2012 at 9:48 am
I am in. I am in so hard. I can’t do my post for a couple hours but once I can, totally signing up. My TBR is ridiculous and overwhelming. 4 bookshelves worth of unread books.
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OUAC_Stephanie April 26, 2012 at 7:33 pm
I am so glad to be finding out that I'm not the only one with the problem. I was starting to get concerned!
One more last hoorah on Saturday and then I may even put myself on a book buying ban until August. It's only 3 months. I think I can do it….
BarkLessWagMore April 25, 2012 at 12:55 pm
You . . . you packed them away? You are brave. My stash is worse, my bookcase is larger than yours and packed 3 books deep and there are 3 ginormous bins downstairs. The books have taken over my drawers but who needs clothes when one has books?! Seriously though I will consider your challenge. I know I have to do it but enormity of the task scares me.
OUAC_Stephanie April 26, 2012 at 7:36 pm
So one day I walked into Mt. Read Me's room and had a mild panic attack. There were just SO many of them. I think I took the saying "out of sight, out of mind" quite literally that day and I boxed them up. I took notes on which books were going in which boxes so I can find them when I need them. It's all good!
Who needs clothes, who needs food, as long as you have books, you should be happy. Right? It is most certainly a very big task to undertake. It's the one thing that I have no remorse in buying, so I do it often.
Bean April 25, 2012 at 10:12 pm
Hello, my name is Bean and I'm a bookaholic…. so I'm also joining you on this challenge. My problem is I've got THREE TBR piles – my physical pile of books, my Goodreads TBR list, and my enormous "stack" of ebooks. I'm going to start on my physical pile first. It's time to start resorting them anyway. I can't really think about reducing the other two piles yet. One at a time!!!
OUAC_Stephanie April 26, 2012 at 7:37 pm
Hi Bean! Awesome! I'm glad you'll be joining us. It's a daunting task but something has to give. I recently put my Kindle books in collections that are simply: Read, To Be Read and Needs Reviewed. That way I must stare at the enormity of my digital TBR list every time I'm on my home screen. It's terrifying! lol
Amanda April 26, 2012 at 9:25 am
Fabulous idea!
OUAC_Stephanie April 26, 2012 at 7:38 pm
Thanks! My self control totally sucks though so we'll see how it goes.
Rubysreads April 26, 2012 at 1:42 pm
I don't do challenges, but I seriously need someone to take me by the hand and haul me through my TBR pile, and I like the sound of an "operation." It's my plan to get ahead this summer, so I may join you in June or July. May, being the end of the school year, is not going to happen.
Also: *To be clear this is not a book buying ban.–BWAHAHAHA!
OUAC_Stephanie April 26, 2012 at 7:40 pm
I'm sure May is a very overwhelming month for our educators. If you decide you want to join up in June or July we'd love to have you with us!
I know my limitations and despise setting myself up for failure! Lol. I tried to institute a book buying ban once. It lasted about as long as the next opportunity to buy a book came along.
I may try to do one for three months and see where that gets me.
The Geeky Blogger April 29, 2012 at 8:06 am
I actually already do the TBR Challenge but I am so far behind. This will be the perfect reminder challenge to kick my butt in gear! LOL
OUAC_Stephanie April 29, 2012 at 4:14 pm
I think I may actually have a tactic to employ against the TBR pile in addition to public humiliation!
I need to talk to it's creators first and test it to make sure it works. It will probably be in my first update post!
myparahangover April 29, 2012 at 8:29 am
I, too, am doing the TBR challenge and so woefully behind, I need to be held accountable! Thanks for organizing this. You are scary with your books! And I admit to hiding my books from my husband
You're brave for making him move the boxes!!!
OUAC_Stephanie April 29, 2012 at 4:17 pm
It's a problem and I'll freely own up to it!
He is so good about my book buying habit. This weekend (yes, I planned to start Operation: TBR Reduction AFTER this!) I purchased 43 books. Yes, 43. I spent $65. Hubby was standing beside me and didn't bat an eye. He looked at me on the way to the car and said, you know that's about the price of ONE of my video games. We get each other for sure. 
Ange April 29, 2012 at 6:21 pm
Awesome idea!!! I'm looking forward to doing this and cheering each other on!
OUAC_Stephanie April 30, 2012 at 8:57 pm
Thanks Ange! I'm really looking forward to getting through some of the books that have been sitting around waiting to be read for ages now!
Jennifer April 30, 2012 at 3:09 pm
I am so behind I don't think i will ever catch up! My closet looks like what you have in those photo's with crates and crates of books I have collected over the years and I have bookcases packed full. I need help! Is their a Book Bloggers AA? lol Anyhow I thought this would be a fun way for me to try to get a grip on my load of books by joining up with some of my fellow bloggers.
OUAC_Stephanie April 30, 2012 at 8:59 pm
When I realized just how many books I had I knew I had to do something. I think a lot of the mass buying of books has to do with the fact that I am terrified of missing "the" book so I buy them all.
The only fault with that logic is that I am still missing them because they sit around for FOREVER and they don't get read. 
Lorna May 1, 2012 at 3:35 pm
I have been looking for something exactly like this, count me in and good luck to you!
Stephanie July 17, 2012 at 9:11 pm
Well thank you! I hope you have great success! I had to reboot the operation on Sunday because I didn’t take it to heart the way I should have!
Shonda May 21, 2012 at 10:18 pm
I love this idea! My TBR list is out of control. I definitely need to do this. I will spend time this weekend organizing my books on Goodreads (thank goodness for the barcode scanner in the iPhone app!) and start June 1st.
Stephanie July 17, 2012 at 9:14 pm
GoodReads has saved me in the reboot of this challenge! You can make exclusive shelves and I have finally been able to separate out my to be read (owned) list from my to be read (everything else) list! I love GoodReads!
Shauna May 23, 2012 at 9:08 pm
This is a great idea! My TBR list on Goodreads has over 200 books on it!
Stephanie July 17, 2012 at 9:15 pm
Oh Shauna! How I wish for 200. Only 200! I think the number ended up being 1800. Yeah, it’s that bad!
Alicia June 2, 2012 at 12:57 am
Just joined! My TBR list has gone from being a small list on goodreads to tons memos on my phone and post-it notes on my wall! Lol
Stephanie July 17, 2012 at 9:25 pm
Good luck! I’m hear to tell you GoodReads is what keeps me sane.
novareylin July 9, 2012 at 1:15 pm
What a fabulous idea!!! I always get books and then leave them for MONTHS if not years just waiting to be read. The poor things! I'm so joining this!
Stephanie July 17, 2012 at 9:27 pm
I have so many books that so many people have raved about just sitting in a room waiting to be read. It’s what led me to this challenge. I’d see someone talking about the great book they had read and I’d be all like “Hey, I have that book, I should really read that book.” And then I’d buy like 50 more and said awesome book never gets read. I’m hoping to get to those poor neglected books with this challenge.
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California Blu August 11, 2012 at 8:09 pm
Awesome Challenge! I won’t be purchasing another book until I’ve reduced my TBR pile significantly – both Kindle and the boxes and boxes and boxes of paperbacks I have stored in the garage. So I’m looking at making my next purchase in about 2020 or so. smh
Alysia @My Little Pocketbooks August 15, 2012 at 9:32 pm
1. What the !@!#? Boxes! WOW! I thought I was…oh wait I have mine in bags. Oops!! LOL!!
2. What a great idea?
3. I’m kinda doing that but I am doing a giveaway for books I have read and/or don’t want to reduce the number.
4. I’m going to join you in this one.
I feel you! I have to do my post now. Thanks
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