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Ask HN: How do you manage your "TO READ" list?

9 points by terrykohla ↗ HN
I have a long list of books and articles to read on different topics, some are recent, some are old classics and topics vary from latest technology to philosophy and finance, science, fiction & non-fiction, politics, the list goes on and on.

How do you manage this not to read only about one thing or not to get caught reading only the recent stuff (which could be junk).

How many books do you read at the same time?

How do you guys juggle with this problem?

Cheers,

14 comments

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itmag
I don't manage it, I barely cope.

I would probably look into transcranial stimulation and smart drugs if I had more gumption :)

richeyrw
Dailylit.com is great for getting extra reading in. Beyond that I have "Hard" book that I make sure I read at least 30 minutes a day, to ensure I'm not only reading fluff.

As far as articles go, when I find something that I don't have time for right then I drop it into a "Consume" folder in my bookmarks, and then periodically I go in there and power through some of the stuff, it's not optimal, but as long as you have some way of making sure you periodically check it, it is a trusted system.

danielstudds
I have a bookmark folder "to read" which would be better named "I don't really care about this". The best system I found was similar, but just suited my habits better: if I find an article I wanted to read but not right then, I send it to my kindle using the browser plugin, and spend an hour each evening reading through things.
tumba
I try to stay focused by creating a personal syllabus for each subject I'm interested in. I add books to them, as well as objectives and questions I'd like to answer. Of particular value has been the habit of setting written products as my objectives. These help me focus on important aspects of a subject as well as help weed out irrelevant reading material.

I use a simple sequential filing system for articles. I assign incoming articles a serial number. I have a file that allows me to browse these by subject and author, but the serial number makes them easy to reference when I want them.

speedRS
That sounds like a very different approach. Any chance you'd be willing to share some simple examples of how you go about it? I'm intruiged.
danielstudds
Wow, that's impressive - often I struggle to recall the details of what I've read - setting a written product of an objective would be useful. This must take a lot of discipline... how long did it take you to establish this habit?
Oculus
I use Trello. I've got a board with four categories:

- Things I Need to Read: Title of each card is the title of whatever it is I want to read and the description is a link to the book/article so I know exactly where to find it.

- Acquiring: Used as a staging area. The books I'm planning on reading next go into this category.

- Reading: Self Explanatory

- Finished Reading: Self Explanatory

I find this setup to be very useful, but can be a little bit of a pain if you're adding a large reading list at the beginning.

terrykohla
Great tool! Not only for managing my "to read" list but most importantly to manage my "to do" list. Thanks!
mrlyc
I read everything on my Tungsten E Palm Pilot. I have three of the buttons programmed for different reading programs. One is for hard non-fiction, such as Harvard Business Review and other management articles, one is for soft non-fiction like biographies and the third is for fluff, i.e. fantasy, science fiction and westerns.

I have a lot more time for listening than I do for reading. When a new non-fiction book is released, I look up the author on YouTube to see if there's an interview about the book so I don't have to read it. I download the longest one, convert it to an MP3 and listen to it using the fourth button on my Palm Pilot which is for podcasts.

hellotoby
I use Notes app which comes bundled with OS X Mountain Lion, in which I keep lists of books I'd like to read.

For articles which I'd like to read later, I use Instapaper.