Down the TBR Hole #12

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Hello Hello! Happy Friday! How are you?

The start of the week went by really slowly for me, but now it’s speeding up and I can’t believe it’s already Friday and we should be home around this time next week hopefully! But right now it’s time for the 12^th edition of Down the TBR Hole, one of my favourite posts to write on my blog!

If you want to find out more about this post and what you have to do to follow the TBR purge like me, head over to my first Down the TBR Hole where I explain all about it!

I’m happy to say that I did a little clear-out of my Goodreads “Want to Read” shelf yesterday, so I’ve gotten rid of quite a few sequels and books by the same authors that weren’t in the right order (publication), so this list is slowly going down!

I’m starting this week at 4,245 books, that means I’ve taken over 200 books off this list just with sequels, so I’m sure that I’ll be removing so many more. While I was removing the sequels yesterday, I saw some very strange books around the 1,000 mark, and I think that I might actually have a few posts where I’ll remove ever single book aha! I’m currently at #131 and wil be working my way through another 20 books today, even if I only remove one this week I’ll be quite happy after yesterday’s spring clean!

GOODREADS “WANT TO READ” SHELF

Even in Paradise by Chelsey Philpot

I had forgotten what this one was about before I read the blurb and I think I must have added it during my “John Green / contemporary” stage because I’m not really into this type of book right now. I have so many great contemporaries on my TBR that I know I do what to read, so I think I’m going to remove this for now. And I’ve never been into the whole “girl/boy falls in love with best friend’s brother/sister” anyway.

REMOVE

Life by Committee by Corey Ann Haydu

I want to say that I added this one because of a film that was either about this/adaptation, or that referenced it, but I might be totally wrong. This is another YA contemporary and I have a feeling we’ll be seeing a lot of these today. The blurb doesn’t do anything for me and I don’t really like books with this type of plot where you are in a club and have a mission/assignment, it sounds very bribe-y, I don’t know, don’t fancy it, easy remove.

REMOVE

In the Woods (#1 Dublin Murder Squad) by Tana French

This book sound right up my street, I think I’ve lately discovered that I don’t really like most thrillers, but I DO really like most mysteries, I’m much more of a whodunnit type of girl instead of a family thriller type of book. This blurb sounds so intriguing and I’ve not ever read a book where a victim of a crime became an investigator and the same crime seems to happen again. It sounds really interesting and I’m a sucker for these types of police/detective series so I hope I’m going to enjoy it. I’ve also heard such great things about Tana French, so fingers crossed.

KEEP

We Are All Made of Molecules by Susin Nielsen

I think I must have added this book because A) the cover looks cool and B) the title sounds cool, but unfortunately, the blurb does not sound cool. I don’t like this type of plot anymore and I don’t want to put myself through reading it when I have a million more on my shelf.

REMOVE

Love May Fail by Matthew Quick

I can see why this book would have appealed to me a few years ago, even though I’m pretty sure it’s the first time I’ve read the blurb, but I don’t fancy it at all now, so it’s another easy remove.

REMOVE

The Wrath and the Dawn (#1) by Renée Ahdieh

I’m happy to finally have some more fantasy on the shelf because there haven’t been that many yet. I have this first book in the series at home and have wanted to read it for ages. Reading the blurb I felt sure that this was a retelling and I checked the genres and it is, I don’t know of what, but I love retellings and the blurb just sounds so great, I’m really looking forward to picking this up!

KEEP

Flame in the Mist (#1) by Renée Ahdieh

I would usually take this one or the previous one off the list because of the order of publication and my obsession with only reading books in a certain order BUT, I already messed the order up last year by reading The Beautiful first AND the series aren’t linked or in the same universe, so I think I can cut myself some slack for once. I was actually going to remove this until I got to the end of the blurb and it sounded really good, so I want to give this one a chance.

KEEP

Himself by Jess Kidd

I started reading Things in Jars by this author this year but ended taking it back to the library because I wasn’t really in the mood and didn’t have time to continue it, but I do know that I like her writing style. This book is the sort of book that I do usually like, but the blurb doesn’t sound “wow” to me, so I think I might concentrate on her other books first.

REMOVE

Almost Love by Louise O’Neill

Urgh, I don’t know why I added this book but even a few years ago it wouldn’t have been my jam so I must have added it in one of my “add everything in case it disappears” moods, so this is another really easy remove.

REMOVE

Conversations with Friends by Sally Rooney

I’ve honestly heard so much about Sally Rooney that I just added her books to my Goodreads without even reading the blurbs, and I think that if I had, I wouldn’t have added them, this one at least for sure. I used to read anything I could get my hands on before I realised what I liked and didn’t like, and although I’m trying to read more out of my comfort zone this year and try some new genres, this synopsis just does nothing for me, it’s not my type of book, so again, another easy remove.

REMOVE

Roar (#1 Stormheart) by Cora Carmack

Oh, thank goodness for fantasy! And this sounds like my type of fantasy! One of the things I love the most about fantasy is all the different magic systems, and this one – storm magic – just sounds so cool, it’s giving me some Percy Jackson vibes actually, so I’m definitely going to be picking this up and I hope it’s going to be another great new series!

KEEP

Moonrise by Sarah Crossan

At first, the plot sounded rather blaaaah until the bit about the brother being on death row and then I really wanted to read this book. In the Goodreads genre section, it says it’s poetry, so now I’m even more intrigued. It’s not really my type of book, but I’m definitely willing to give it a shot. Has anybody else read this? Tell me what you though!

KEEP

Billy and Me (#1) by Giovanna Fletcher

I feel like this week is really meeeh so far, nearly every book I go through either sounds so boring or isn’t a genre I read much of anymore, and this one is not an exception, I don’t read women’s fiction/ chick-lit (like ever, okay maybe I’ve read the odd one) because I generally don’t like them. I’m also not a fan of reading about celebrities in books, so I think I’m going to let this one go.

REMOVE

Beautiful Broken Things (#1) by Sara Barnard

Yep, definitely a YA contemporary bandwagon, hopefully as I get towards the middle-end of the Goodreads “Want to Read” shelf, there will be less and less of these types of books, thank god, because when I come across loads that don’t sound good I just have the urge to remove every single book, but I’m going to stop myself in case there is a gem waiting for me aha! I would usually like this type of book because the blurb reminds me a bit of We Were Liars by E. Lockhart, one of my all-time favourite books, but right now I don’t think I feel like reading this book, I might add it later, but it’s just not grabbing me now.

REMOVE

When We Collided by Emery Lord

I’m 99.9% sure that this was a cover-add, I mean, it just looks so cool, right? And I usually wouldn’t go for this sort of YA contemporary but the blurb really drew me in, so I want to give it a go!

KEEP

How it Feels to Fly by Kathryn Holmes

I don’t know why this is on my TBR either because I’ve never heard of it before. I’m really not a fan of books with sport elements and even more so when they are linked with mental health/ eating disorders. I like to read books with/about mental health, but not really in this type of setting, so I’m going to take this one off of the list.

REMOVE

Paper Princess (#1 The Royals) by Erin Watt

I’ve had this one on my list for so many years and I’ve heard so much about this series. Reading the blurb, it doesn’t sound as exciting as I remember but I do want to give it a shot to see whether I would like it or not.

KEEP

Bleed Like Me by Christa Desir

Once again, I have no idea how this one got on my list and I don’t think it’s a book for me, it doesn’t sound like some of the YA contemporaries that I think I’ll like, so I’m going to remove this one as well. I’m removing quite a lot today, aren’t I?

REMOVE

The Zookeeper’s Wife by Diane Ackerman

I actually asked for and got this one for Christmas in 2019 and it sounds absolutely incredible. Before I read the blurb and looked at the genres again, I didn’t realise that it’s actually nonfiction, but now I want to pick it up even more. What really drew me in when I added this to my list was that it’s set in WWII in a zoo where the owners smuggle Jews into the animals’ cages to keep them safe, and how they care for both the Jews and the animals. I thought it sounded right up my alley and possibly like a tear-jerker, so I’m looking forward to this one!

KEEP

The Awkward Path to Getting Lucky by Summer Heacock

Another contemporary, this time romance, and once again (surprise surprise) I didn’t know it was on this list nor have I ever heard about it before. Reading the blurb I’m like “nooooooooo”, this is not a book for me.

REMOVE

So, out of this week’s 20 books, I have removed a total of 12 books, which I’m actually really happy about and also quite relieved now that I know that those are off my list, it was a very weird mix today and most were books that I would never read anyway, be it teenage me or adult me. I know that I still have a lot of books like the ones I removed that are still on the list, so I can see it getting reduced quite drastically in the next Down the TBR Hole posts.

My Goodreads “Want to Read” shelf is currently at 4,232 books, I can’t believe that I’ve nearly removed 2,000 books from this list! I still have a long way to go, but I’m optimistic I’ll have a great and much smaller TBR soon! Next week, I’ll be starting again at #139!

That’s all for now, I hope you enjoyed this post, see you soon, stay safe,

Ellie xx