TBR, Read Shelf, Mood Reader, DNF

In this series I explain terms used in the low impact movement, lifestyle terms, and other verbiage that I use on my blog and in my daily life. Here they are defined simply, in case they are new to readers. In some cases, I have done some research on them, but these definitions are mostly what I understand them to be and how I use them.

So clearly, BookTube (the offshoot of YouTube that’s all about books) is my new thing. Getting into a new niche community always comes with language that you learn as you go along. BookTube has those in spades. But they are not only for use in BookTube. These words and phrases can be used by all readers.

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TBR
This term is used a lot on BookTube. Quite plainly it stands for “To Be Read”. This term refers to books you own and want to read (Physical TBR), books you’ve heard of and want to read (Mental TBR), or any number of lists or places where there are books that you want to read. Readers keep TBR lists, TBR shelfs, TBR spreadsheets. Readers have life time TBRs, monthly TBRs, or TBRs of specific styles and genres.
Personally since I have a lot of books that I have accumulated from thrifting, library sales, or books found or given to me, I only consider the books I’m actively planning on reading my TBR. I keep these on a shelf or two and swap them out either after reading, or after deciding I’m not ready to read them yet.

Read Shelf
This term is pretty self-explanitory, but often gets a little confusing bc when spoken it sounds like “red shelf”. A Read Shelf is where one keeps all their already read book, books that they have read or completed. Some readers only store books that they have actually read here, some put all the books on they own on these shelves. Some people are collectors and find their favorite editions to collect, some collect whole series whether they have read them or not. Many reader keep every book they have ever read but there are people who only keep what they enjoyed and get rid of low star reads. Just like collecting, each reader has their own flare for how they organize and decorate their Read Shelves. Alphabetical, by genre, by color, be length, are just a few ways people organize Read Shelves.
I try to keep only physical books that I enjoyed, culling every few months. I keep my shelves organized alphabetically.

Mood Reader
Again, this term is pretty clear. Mood Reader refers to a reader who chooses what to read by the mood they are in. Many readers make a TBR and stick to it or read to accomplish some goal, but mood readers read what they feel like reading when they feel like.
I’m definitely a mood reader, so I like to peruse my TBR piles, but what I pick depends on how I feel.

DNF
Standing for “Did Not Finish”, this term is used to describe a book that one started reading but didn’t finish. There are many reasons why someone doesn’t finish a book but some of the most commonly referred to in BookTube is not liking a book and stopping reading it, not being in the right mood for a book, or starting a book when you are already reading other which take precedence. DNF can be “ for now” or forever.
I don’t generally DNF, I try to finish all the books I start. But I will sometimes DNF for now. If I’m really not vibing with a book, it’s better for me to put it down for a while then struggle thru.

Do you use any of these reading terms or were they new to you? What other BookTube or reading terms do you use?

BookTube is a Thing

And I’m loving it.

I only discovered it a little over a moth ago and I’m already hooked! I already can’t remember how I first discovered it, but I know that some of the first videos I watched were BooksandLaLa’s Closet Clean Out Unhaul series (see below). I stayed up late one night and watched every video. I was hooked.

Here’s what wikipedia says about BookTube. A subset of YouTube, it was basically started by publishers to drum up interest in physical books again. Although it is a tool for publishers (and authors) to make money and often features new releases and focuses on books that the publishing world want to make popular, BookTube has taken on a life of it’s own.

Videos you may see include book reviews, hauls, reading vlogs, wrap ups, tag videos, and to be read (TBR) posts. Many BookTubers read those popular books, many do book subscription unboxing and other commercial aspects of this subculture. But many go their way; read classics, make interesting reading choices, read secondhand books, or otherwise make it their own. One of the biggest goals for BookTubers is to connect to other readers thru the books they read and the videos they make.

If this sounds interesting to you, here are some channels to get you started. I was lucky enough to find BooksandLaLa and her series where she looked back at her first TBR list and either read or unhauled the books each month.

A lot of BookTubers are women and it’s a little harder to find male driven channels (much like all of youtube). I really enjoy Gabriel Armstrong’s channel bc he has an engaging style and reads interesting books. His videos are sparse, but really entertaining. The Mid Year Book Freak Out Tag was the next thing I became obsessed with on BookTube, and I really enjoyed his.

If you watch videos mainly for the aesthetic, we have the flip side from the last rec, which is KalynAbridged. Her videos are so pretty! She reads a lot of course, but she also does more traditional influencer vids like night routines, DITL, bullet journaling, and thrift with me’s as well.

I have so many other recommendations for this niche in youtube land, it was hard to pick only three! Let me know if you want to learn more of my favorites or share your own in the comments!

Videos about Videos

As you may have noticed, I want to start a YouTube Channel.

(Well, okay, I already have one. You can visit it here. But be warned, I haven’t posted there in a long while!)

Over the last 5 or so years, I’ve really gotten into watching YouTube. Watching videos and hearing people stories has really helped me on my Zero Waste journey, taught me sewing techniques, helped me better understand composting, shown me the joys of marble racing, and much more. I hope one day I can make videos that make people happy too!

I’ve been watching Renee Amberg for a few yers now. I really like a lot of her videos (about books, manifestation and planning), and others not so much (her lifestyle is very different from mine, so I skip a lot of her vlogs). I thought these “honest” tips for starting a channel were really helpful.

Jania On Film, is not a youtuber I ever watched before searching this topic, or the kind of youtuber I watch normally. But I found this video while seraching videos about how to become a youtuber and how much money creators make and I was really captivated by her style. I plan to explore some more of her content!

Another new to me creator is Jada Jones. I came across her in a video about up-and-coming yourtubers and I really enjoy her vibe. I like the way she talks to the camera as she would to a friend. This video echoed a lot of things that Renee said, but it was good to see another take on it.

My OG favorite channel abut building a youtube channel, tho is channelnotes by MuchelleB. I love her style, her voice and I think she has a lot of great advice. She breaks it down way more and shares more detailed aspects of how to create a youtube channel. I highly recommend her vids! She’s paused channelnotes but her main channel is still great!

Do you have a Youtube? How did you get started?