How to organize a TBR list so you actually pick the next book

Last updated: 4 November 2026 · By Quicksloth

A TBR (to-be-read) list is supposed to make the next choice easy. When it grows to a few hundred titles it does the opposite: you scroll, nothing stands out, and you pick whatever is nearest. Here is a way to keep it short and useful, shown on the real TBR of a filled-in example file, and it works in any spreadsheet or notebook.

Short version: keep two lists, not one. TBR is for books you have (or can get now) and mean to read in the next few months, about three months of reading; everything else goes on a Wishlist. Give each TBR book its pages, its series and number, and whether you own it. To pick the next one, ask in order: is it the next in a series I'm reading, do I have it, does its length fit right now. Every few months, move the books you keep skipping to the Wishlist or off the list.

Two lists: TBR and Wishlist

Most overgrown TBR lists mix two kinds of books: the ones you're actually going to read soon, and every book that sounded good once. Split them. TBR is the short list you pick from. Wishlist is the long list of maybes: books to buy, borrow or look into later. Nothing is lost by moving a book to the Wishlist, and the TBR stays small enough to read at a glance.

Keep both in one list of books with a status, rather than in separate tabs: a book then moves from Wishlist to TBR to Reading to Read by changing one cell. Why one list works better is in How to track a reading challenge in a spreadsheet.

Emma, the made-up reader in the example file of our Book Tracker, has 11 books on her TBR and 4 on her Wishlist: Rainbow Valley, Rilla of Ingleside, The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes and Jo's Boys.

How long should a TBR be?

Measure it in time, not in books. Divide the books on your TBR by the books you read in a month:

• Emma finished 33 books from January to October 2026, so 3.3 a month. Her 11 TBR books are 11 ÷ 3.3 = 3.3 months of reading.
• In pages: her TBR adds up to 4,624 pages, and in 2026 she read 41.6 pages a day (12,140 pages in 292 days), so 4,624 ÷ 41.6 = about 111 days.

Our rule of thumb, not a measured figure: about three months of reading. Long enough to have a choice for every mood, short enough that every book on it is one you still want. If your TBR is a year long or more, most of it is a Wishlist.

Columns that help you choose

Title and author identify a book; they don't help you choose it. These do:

• Pages (or hours for audiobooks): a 200-page book and a 750-page one suit very different weeks.
• Series and #: the number in the series, so you know which one comes next.
• Owned (Yes / No) and Format (physical, ebook, audiobook): whether you can start it tonight.
• Genre: for picking by mood.
• Notes: one line on why it's there ("recommended by Sam", "for the beach").

Here is Emma's TBR with those columns, from her Library:

In the Book Tracker, the TBR shelf on the Shelves tab shows Title, Author, Series, # and Pages by itself; Format, Owned, Genre and Notes are in the Library, where you can filter Status to TBR. The planner doesn't have a priority column: the TBR shelf lists books in the order they appear in the Library. If you want to mark the next few, type "next" at the start of their Notes and filter the Notes column for it.

Picking the next book: three questions

When you finish a book, go down the TBR with three questions, in this order. They usually leave two or three books; pick between those by mood.

1. Is it the next one in a series I'm reading? A series you're in the middle of is the easiest next book: you already know you like it.
2. Do I have it? A book you own, or can borrow today, beats one you'd have to order.
3. Does its length fit right now? Before a busy week, the shorter one. If you're behind on a yearly goal, see what to do when you're behind.

For Emma, after Anne of the Island: The Return of Sherlock Holmes (#6, owned, 336 pages) and Little Men (#2, owned, 384 pages) pass all three. Twenty Years After is also next in its series, but it's an ebook she hasn't got yet and 768 pages, about 18 days at her 41.6 pages a day: a better pick for a quiet month.

Series: the next number, and the gaps

For each series, the next book is the unread one with the lowest number. Books you didn't finish (DNF) don't count as read and are never "next". The Series tab of the Book Tracker works it out from the Series and # columns; here is Emma's:

Anne of the Island is the next to read even though it isn't on the TBR: Emma is reading it now, and it stays "next" until it's marked Read.

Watch for gaps. Next to read only knows the books in your list. Emma has numbers 1, 2, 3, 5, 7 and 8 of the Anne books, so when she finishes #3, Next to read will say Anne's House of Dreams (#5) and skip #4, which isn't in her Library. If you read a series in order, add the missing numbers too, on the Wishlist if you don't have them yet: a Wishlist book can be the next to read, so the gap shows up as the next book to get. Typing the Total in series (8 for Anne) also keeps the progress honest: 2 / 8 instead of 2 / 6.

Books you won't read

A TBR stays short only if books can leave it. Three cases:

• Maybe some day: change the status to Wishlist. It leaves the TBR shelf and stays findable.
• Not interested any more, never started: remove it. In the Book Tracker, select its cells from Title to Notes and press Delete; the gray columns of that row empty themselves. Don't mark an unstarted book DNF: DNF is for books you started and stopped.
• Started and stopped: mark it DNF, with the day you stopped as its Finished date, and a note if you might go back. Emma's Mansfield Park says "Stopped at chapter 12; maybe later." In the Book Tracker, the Check column reminds you if the date is missing ("DNF: add the day you stopped as Finished."), and a DNF book never counts against your goal or your average rating.

Every few months, read the TBR from top to bottom. Our rule of thumb: a book you've passed over at every pick since the last review goes to the Wishlist. That's usually enough to keep the list near three months.

The method without our file

None of this needs a template. In a notebook, a notes app or a blank spreadsheet:

1. Write one line per book with a status: TBR, Reading, Read, DNF or Wishlist.
2. Add pages, series and number, and whether you own it.
3. Keep the TBR to about three months of your reading; the rest is Wishlist.
4. For each series, write down the next number to read, and list missing numbers on the Wishlist.
5. When you finish a book, ask the three questions: next in a series, do I have it, does the length fit.
6. Every few months, move the books you keep skipping to the Wishlist or off the list.

In a spreadsheet, a filter on the status column gives you the TBR in one click. Count the TBR by status ("the number of rows where Status is TBR") rather than by non-empty cells, so the header and leftover blanks don't count.

Start your own

Our Book Tracker keeps all of this in one Library of 1,000 rows. Change a book's Status and it moves by itself between the Currently Reading, TBR and Wishlist shelves (up to 25, 500 and 300 books), with nothing to copy between tabs. The Series tab shows In my library, Read, Progress and Next to read for every series; Owned, Format, Genre and Notes are columns of the Library. It works in Excel and Google Sheets, in a light and a dark theme, and is coming soon to our Etsy shop.

Setting a yearly goal? See Reading goal for 2027: how many books, and how many pages a day. Coming from Goodreads, where your TBR is the to-read shelf? See How to move your Goodreads library into a spreadsheet.

Emma and her library are made up, from the example file of our Book Tracker; every number on this page was recalculated from the file. The three-month length and the review every few months are our suggestions, not measured figures. The books are classics in the public domain in the United States. We used AI tools to help write this article and the calculations.