Project TBR Zero: After a Year

June marks one year of my Project TBR Zero, and I have to say that after a whole year, it’s been hard to keep focus and find meaning in this project. Not what I expected to write about since I’ve been so motivated throughout this project. And right on the final stretch. Since I didn’t finish my TBR, this is not the end of the project. But it does mark the end of a year focused on reading the books I own. And it’s also a reflection on how I’m feeling about it, how my reading was affected by it, and how much progress I made.

Reading for me is a fun activity, a hobby, a recreation, a pastime, whatever you want to call it. It’s not work or a chore. It’s something I do because I enjoy doing it. And throughout this project, that feeling never changed. It just made me shift my attention to the books I own instead of going out and looking for new ones. And I discovered I already have books that can be my next favourite. I just haven’t read them yet. And because I’ve been setting them aside week after week, month after month, it doesn’t turn the story into something less enjoyable instead, it’s harder to remember why I wanted to read it in the first place. And so this project pushed me to finally take that step and pick up those books.

February and March

But it doesn’t matter how many good books I read, when a reading slump hits, there’s not much else to do. These last four months have been conditioned by a big reading slump. After spending a month reading A Clash of Kings by George R R Martin, I was at the edge of a reading slump. I could feel it coming. I did a quick break from Westeros and read The DUFF by Kody Keplinger, which I already reviewed and loved, but it didn’t get me off the hook. Next, I read A Dangerous Fortune by Ken Follett. Loved it as well. But once I closed that book, I knew I was in trouble.

The DUFF by Kody Keplinger and A Dangerous Fortune by Ken Follett.

April

When April comes around, I’m back to reading big books with House of Leaves by Mark Danielewsky. Probably not the smartest idea when on the verge of a reading slump to read such a slow-developing novel, but I was in the mood for it, so I took the opportunity. Since the beginning of the year, I’ve only read one book at a time, which isn’t something I usually do. Because House of Leaves isn’t quite comfortable to take around, I decided to get back to reading multiple books at once and picked up Queenie Malone’s Paradise Hotel by Ruth Hogan.

I can’t say for sure when it happened and why, only when I realised I was in a reading slump. Halfway into Queenie Malone’s Paradise Hotel, I DNFed it because I didn’t care anymore. The story wasn’t grabbing me, and it became a chore to read some chapters. I was so detached that I started having trouble understanding what was even happening.

Then, I decided to try Milkman by Anna Burns. At first, I was very interested. The writing style is quite different from what I usually read, and I enjoyed it. But no matter how much I tried, I wasn’t excited o read anymore. And I decided to accept that sometimes the best thing to do is to not read. I put all the books aside and instead spent my time doing other things while not forcing myself or feeling bad for not reading.

May

Unfortunately, I can’t say that I’m already out of it. But listening to an audiobook for Under the Heavens by Ruth Fox was a way to get back into reading without doing all the work. Which has kick-started my sci-fi mood that I’m still currently in. I’ve once again started multiple books from Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert A Heinlein to The End of the World Running Club by Adrian J Walker to a reread of Lost Solace by Karl Drinkwater. So far, none of them have really lifted me up from the depths of the slump. Not even a non-fiction book about Madeleine McCann’s disappearance from the perspective of the leading inspector back in 2007. The reading slump was here to stay.

After a year of reading my TBR

In my last post, I signed off by saying I was curious to know how many more months it would take me to finish this project in its entirety. And looking back on the last four months, I’ll say this is going to be a lengthy project. With buying ban exceptions and reading slumps, the progress I made is very much a roller coaster. Although I also have to point out that in a full year, there was serious progress made. I started this project in June 2022 with 96 books in my TBR. And ended May 2023 with 76 books. So this project is working, it’s on the move. It would move quicker if I didn’t buy anything, but sometimes it’s best to go up to then go back down.

If I break down the numbers and put aside the books I bought (which were 11, by the way), I read 29 books from my TBR which is not bad. Not bad at all. Although at this rhythm, I still have 2 and a half years ahead of me before I can say I read my entire TBR. And looking back on my past Goodreads challenges, I’m not that far off. So I guess I was already pretty good at reading from my TBR, the only difference is that right now I don’t spend as much money on new books as I usually do, having spent only close to 150€, which is half of how much I usually spend per year. Also, in April, I bought the remaining books in the A Song of Ice and Fire series that I was missing, which account for half of the money I spent.

Ending a year-long journey on a reading slump is something that isn’t alarming all that much. I usually go through a reading slump every year, but never around the same time of the year. I probably should do a case study to see if I can find a reason for my reading slumps. Because if I could predict them, it would be awesome! I wish I could have dodged this bullet and had a bunch of splendid months as I had in June last year. Sometimes I still dream about that time and wish I could relive it. I just don’t know how.

For the next year

While being in the middle of a reading slump gave me a lot of time to think about this project. Is it really worth it? Should I be limiting myself so I can say I read all the books I own? Should I lift the buying ban and go to town? Will that make me recover from my reading slump? Should I continue doing this? And I don’t believe the answer to all these questions lies in the books. I don’t think the problem is the books I own but instead, my disposition to read them. And reading slumps are quite tricky because they mess with your head. I look to the side and see shiny new books that promise stories far more interesting than the old dusty ones I have on my shelf. But that’s not true. Every book I bought I did it for a reason, and some I bought quite recently. So if I’m not reading them, it’s because I don’t want to. It doesn’t mean they are less interesting than a new one.

And so while my slump brain might be telling me to just give in and finish off this project, I don’t want to. I want to continue because I can see with my own eyes how many books I’ve moved from my TBR shelf to my Read shelf and seeing those books moving gives me satisfaction. I haven’t done that lately, which makes it harder to remember how it felt. Although this project is more than saying I read them all, is about being able to pick up a new book I want to read without worrying about all the ones I have yet to read.

Ultimately, this is my project, my personal challenge, and if at any point I feel I need to bend or change the rules, I will. One thing is for sure, I’ll not abandon it. I’m determined to see this thing through and be able to understand what it’s like to be on the other side, a side without a huge pile of books yet to read. Until then, see you in the next quarterly update when I’m sure I’ll have kicked out this reading slump.