I have been using my TBR jar for a long time now, although I only started keeping track of them just before the end of 2014. I have had mixed results with the ‘official’ rules, but I decided about a year ago that I would create my own more relaxed rules and recently a shiny new TBR jar as well. I have been reading a lot of randomly chosen books since, and earlier this month I finally made it to magic number of 25 TBR jar picks! I thought it was the perfect time to review the numbers.
First of all, let me introduce you to the 25 books that have made it to this list:
- The Racketeer by John Grisham (December 22nd 2014) 3 stars
- I Am Legend by Richard Matheson (January 7th 2015) 4,5 stars
- The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett (February 22nd 2015) 4 stars
- Inferno by Dan Brown (March 18th 2015) 3 stars
- The Storyteller by Jodi Picoult (April 17th 2015) 4,5 stars
- A Twist In The Tale by Jeffrey Archer (May 1st 2015) 1,5 stars
- Falling Into Place by Amy Zhang (May 17th 2015) 3 stars
- The Diviners by Libba Bray (June 19th 2015) 4 stars
- Trust Me, I’m Lying by Mary Elizabeth Summers (June 20th 2015) 2,5 stars
- The Kings Of Cool by Don Winslow (August 15th 2015) 4 stars
- The Geography Of You And Me by Jennifer E. Smith (August 21st 2015) 2,5 stars
- I Was Here by Gayle Forman (September 3rd 2015) 3,5 stars
- The Winner’s Curse by Marie Rutkoski (September 29th 2015) 3 stars
- The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern (October 11th 2015) 4 stars
- The Valentine Circle by Reinaldo DelValle (November 4th 2015) 3 stars
- Where’d You Go, Bernadette by Maria Semple (November 23rd 2015) 3 stars
- Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman (January 4th 2016) 5 stars
- Serafina And The Black Cloak by Robert Beatty (January 6th 2016) 4 stars
- Snow Like Ashes by Sara Raasch (February 4th 2016) 4 stars
- Extraordinary Means by Robyn Schneider (February 12th 2016) 4,5 stars
- The Liar’s Chair by Rebecca Whitney (March 22nd 2016) 0 stars DNF
- Beautiful Darkness by Kami Garcia (March 29th 2016) 3,5 stars
- The Conspiracy Of Us by Maggie Hall (April 8th 2016) 5 stars
- The Name Of The Star by Maureen Johnson (May 2nd 2016) 4 stars
- Love Letters To The Dead by Ava Dellaira (May 10th 2016) 3,5 stars
Let’s review my TBR jar choices, shall we? On to the numbers… (Yes, this was also me rediscovering Excel after not having used it in ages haha)
First of all some quick facts. The 25 books on this list have a total page count of no less than 9.001 pages; an average of about 360 pages per book. The average rating is 3,46 stars, which is actually quite low, but also includes one 0 star rating (DNF). 5 books had a 4,5 or 5 star rating and only 4 books received a rating below 3 stars, so it seems like my TBR jar in general gives me pretty good choices.
And now some graphics for those who like them as much as I do. 😉
I know I have been reading a lot of YA books since the beginning of last year, so I’m actually surprised the amount of Adult books is only slightly lower. I don’t read a lot of Middle Grade though, so that number wasn’t a surprise.
It seems like I have been reading way more books written by female authors than male authors. Interesting! I guess that might partly be because a lot of YA books I have read seem to have been written by female authors…
The main genre is basically the most dominant genre I think each book belongs to. There is no surprise here are a lot of mystery/thriller and fantasy reads on this list since they are two of my favorite genres, even though my TBR jar picks are random. (Realistic) fiction and historical fiction are well represented as well.
This was quite a surprise, since I feel like I’ve been reading more series than stand-alones, but that might just be my reading in general. I will have to do another one of these for all my 2016 reads soon!
Most books that belong to my list of TBR jar picks are recently published, which is no surprise since I’m guilty of reading a lot of recently published books in the first place. It did surprise me 2000-2013 was higher than the 2014 or 2015 publish date though! And having only 16% for books published before 2000 makes me feel I’m neglecting older books…
Last graphic: it seems that most books I’ve read have between 300 and 399 pages, which seems to be the norm with the books I’ve read so far this year as well. It’s a sign of a story that’s not too short and not too long, and I like that in general. (There are exceptions of course; some stories are just too complex to be told in under 400 pages)
Tired of numbers yet? I know I am! That’s it for this TBR jar picks review; I’m looking forward to the next 25… Do you have a TBR jar and does it work for you? Feel free to comment. 🙂
I just started using a TBR jar for my library books and I think I’m going to start using one for all my books because I really love using it. It makes things so much easier because I don’t have to try and decide what to read haha
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That’s part of why I used my TBR jar as well haha; if I really don’t know what to read next I always have an option ready. It’s also a great way of picking up books you normally wouldn’t have read straight away (or at least in my case it is). 😉
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Definitely! It helps me vary my reading material because otherwise I would end up prioritizing the same couple of genres (usually fantasy and sci-fi) even if I had others that I would end up enjoying just as much.
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I love the idea of having a TBR jar! I might actually do that! Thanks for the tip 🙂
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A TBR jar is definitely a great way of reading those books that sometimes are ‘ignored’… Especially if you’re not using strict rules so you actually read them. 😉
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Awesome breakdown! I might start using this for my TBR reads!
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Thanks! 😀
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This was a great post. I love seeing statistics like this! Do you have a copy of your excel file you could share?
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Sure, here’s the Excel file of my TBR jar picks. 🙂
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Awesome, thank you!
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You’re welcome! 🙂
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I really enjoyed reading this post and like how you’ve found a way to make the TBR jar work for you. I’ve been thinking about making a TBR jar to help me read some of my own books and your post has inspired me to make a start on one but to adapt it so that it works for me. Thank you 🙂
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I’ve definitely found that creating my own rules helped actually using my TBR jar in a better way… I hope you’ll find a way to make it work for you as well! 🙂
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This is a good idea, because I’ve been having trouble picking which books from my personal library that I should read. 🙂
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A TBR jar is definitely an entertaining way of deciding what to read next. 🙂
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