My name is Jen, and I have too many books, physical and electronic, in my TBR (to be read) pile!

That’s partly because as an author I read widely to learn, improve my writing craft, research topics I’m writing about and keep up-to-date with what’s popular in different kinds of fiction.

However, I always have too many books I want to read because I’m a booklover and have been since childhood.

My devotion to reading means I often “fit in a few pages” when brushing my teeth or on hold for a call centre.

Last weekend, when I was tidying a bookshelf, Tech Guy asked me how many of my books I’d read again, and how many titles I had on my TBR list.

As any bookish person knows, his first question, how many of my books I’d re-read, is beside the point! Books are like good friends. I may not see them for years, but they’re always there when I need them.

However, Tech Guy’s second question, how many books are in my TBR pile, made me think.

While I’m not about to admit to the number (I stopped counting once I got to a hundred), I realized that I’ll reach the end of my life with still many more books to read.

Is that a bad thing?

Not to me! I love getting lost in stories and would choose reading over most other leisure-time activities.

While waiting in a grocery store line recently, I noted that the teenager serving customers wore a book-themed sweatshirt, and a book was propped on a shelf behind her—open to read in quiet moments.

When I reached the checkout, we talked about books while she scanned my purchases.

She said she never worries about running out of books because along with old ones to discover, new ones are always being published!

Like my friend Susanna Bavin (who also writes as Maisie Thomas and Polly Heron) said to me on Twitter (now X) in 2014, a comment I printed out to save: “Think of TBR pile as bibliographic pet. Enjoy it. Be happy, not stress. TBR does essential job. You’ll never run out of reading.”

So, there’s your answer, Tech Guy.

My name is Jen, and I’m celebrating having a lifetime of books in my TBR pile!

I hope you’ll choose to add some of my books to your own TBR pile. I have two new releases in 2025, both in September:

The Hero Next Door as Jen Gilroy from Harlequin Heartwarming (first in a new sweet, small-town contemporary romance miniseries set in Strawberry Pond, New Hampshire).

The Teacher Evacuees as Rose Warner (first in a new WW2 saga/historical women’s fiction series set on the British home front).