Down the TBR Hole #16

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Hello Hello! How are you?

I had a little blog break last week so you won’t have seen a Down the TBR Hole but I’m back at it today and a lot of things have changed on my Goodreads “Want to Read” shelf since the last time we were here! It’s been a gloomy few days in France and the weather is making me feel a bit run down, I usually love cooler weather but it’s made me irritable and tired this week. I’m so glad to be back doing one of my favourite posts on my blog though, let’s see what I can get removed from the monster of a list!

You know the drill if you haven’t ever read any of my Down the TBR Hole posts before but you want to find out why I started and what rules to follow to do your own TBR list purge on your Goodreads, head over to the first edition of this post to find out more!

I spent a few days last week going through all the sequels on my Goodreads “Want to Read” shelf and was able to remove a scary number of books, I have no idea why I had like 10+ book series of over 15 books all on my TBR, I don’t know why I do it, I really don’t! I’m sure I’ve got a tonne more books that are on the list for no reason and I don’t know how they got on here (well I do, but I’ll feign ignorance), but we’ll get to that bridge in due time. I’ve also added about another 100 books in the past few days, because … well, do I really need to tell you why aha?

For today’s post, I have a total of 3,923 books on my Goodreads “Want to Read” shelf (last time I left with 4,262 books, so I’ve removed a bunch!). I can’t believe I’m already nearly halfway down from where I started, I know this other half will be much harder to navigate though, so I’m getting things rolling today at #177 and will be looking at the next 20 books on my list. I was going to schedule a bunch of these in advance, but I add so many books to my TBR list every week that I would just end up not doing it in the type of way that I like (I know I’m strange). Here goes, let’s see how many books I can get off the list this week!

GOODREADS “WANT TO READ” SHELF

The Overstory by Richard Powers

I’m pretty sure that this is another one of those books that I saw countless times on Instagram and just added it to the list without even reading the blurb (complete Ellie move right?). I think the first time I read the blurb I wondered why I had added it, but I don’t remember ever having read what I did just now, and I sort of want to read it? Have you read it? I think I’m going to give it a chance, I’m feeling in a bit of an environmental activist mood and I’m very curious about this book that has been receiving rave reviews since its release.

KEEP

A Place for Us by Fatima Farheen Mirza

I really love books with a mix of cultures like what I expect this book to be, but I really struggle with this time of family-contemporary story, so I think I’m going to give this one a miss and try to find some of the same themes and cultures but in historical fiction or fantasy because I know I’m going to like that more than having to push through a contemporary.

REMOVE

You Think It, I’ll Say It by Curtis Sittenfeld

After reading the blurb, I’m still not too sure what this book is about and don’t really feel drawn to it. I do want to read more short stories, but I’m drawn to ones like Black Enough or Not That Bad, whereas this short story collection doesn’t feel like it has a theme, yeah, I might just give this one a miss and concentrate on the ones I mentioned.

REMOVE

Everything Here is Beautiful by Mira T. Lee

That cover is so beautiful, however, the blurb doesn’t do much for me, I just don’t fancy family stories, it’s not something I regularly read and when I do, I don’t enjoy them as much as I want. I already have a lot of books about mental health and with mental health rep on my TBR, so I’m going to focus on those first and maybe come back to this later.

REMOVE

Every Note Played by Lisa Genova

I think I’ve discovered the problem with my TBR, I have too many adult contemporaries that I rarely appreciate and not enough YA contemporaries that I like a lot more (I just hope I won’t go on an add-everything-ya-contemporary spree after this post goes up aha!). I don’t do books with terminally ill characters, it just hits a bit too close to home and I know that there are a lot more contemporaries out there that are more my cup of tea, so this is an easy choice.

REMOVE

The President Is Missing by Bill Clinton and James Patterson

The reason this is on my TBR, is because I have this book at home, I think it must be from one of our charity shop hauls from a long time ago, and I have no idea what it’s about or why we even have it! The fact that this book was actually written by a former US President (right?) is weird to me and makes me not want to pick it up, and the blurb is just not interesting to me, so I think I’ll stick to the mystery and thriller books I have already gone through and kept.

REMOVE

Bring Me Back by B.A. Paris

I wouldn’t usually read psychological, family thrillers, but the blurb has really drawn me in and I actually do want to read this book! I’ve heard so much about B.A. Paris and you know me, I would usually check the order of publication for the books, but I recall reading B.A. Paris’s blurbs for all their books and only liking a few, so I’m going to roll with this one and see what happens!

KEEP

The Wife Between Us by Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen

I will admit that the blurb is very intriguing to me and almost (ALMOST) convinced me to pick it up, but if there is one thing I have learned about myself in the past 5 years since I’ve been reading avidly, is that I do not like thrillers about families, I just don’t, and if I happen to read one, I’ll most likely give it only 3 or 4 stars, it doesn’t mean I don’t like it or it’s rubbish, I just really don’t like it, so once again, this is an easy decision. I know this is controversial because the previous book is family orientated, but I have a good vibe about it lol!

REMOVE

The Woman in the Window by A.J. Finn

Uhmmm… having one of those “Do I really want to know” moments with this synopsis actually, I have heard insane amounts of praise for this book and author, like so many people have told me to read it, but I don’t think I fancy it actually, so I think I might remove it for now and maybe add it again later, but as you know, I’m just not a fan of these family thriller types of books!

REMOVE

The Witch Elm by Tana French

I adore books with detectives and police, I don’t know why, I have a thing for murder mysteries and have been known to binge-watch Criminal Minds for weeks, so this blurb sounds so intriguing and I have wanted to read this book for years! Hopefully, I’ll soon be able to pick it up! Who else has read this? Did you like it?

KEEP

Sometimes I Lie by Alice Feeney

I don’t do psychological thrillers, I thought that the more medical side to the story would be enough to make me want to read it, but I don’t think there is much point me forcing my way through when I already know I’m not a fan of this subgenre, is there?

REMOVE

The Chalk Man by C.J. Tudor

I think I first heard about this book in one of Kayla’s videos (Books and Lala) and I have wanted to read it ever since because I’m pretty sure she loved it. I think the blurb sounds so intriguing and this is definitely more my type of mystery/thriller. I’m going to try to get my hands on a copy soon because I’ve been in the mood for this type of book for ages!

KEEP

Something in the Water by Catherine Steadman

I think this week is definitely a “meeeeh” thriller week for me, I really do not fancy most of the thriller books I have on my TBR and I have no idea why they are on here. The first part of the blurb was just a bit boring and then the interesting bit was sort of not interesting enough? Ahaha, I’m so strange, but I think I’ll leave this one for a while and maybe come back to it in the future!

REMOVE

Next Year in Havana by Chanel Cleeton

If you know me, you know I’m a historical fiction junkie, and when this book released, as soon as I knew it was historical fiction set in Cuba, I added it to my TBR without a second thought! Having read the blurb, I feel like I need this in my life really soon, I love learning about new and exotic cultures and I’m sure that this book will have some fabulous Cuban elements to it, I can’t wait to pick it up, I’ve got high expectations!

KEEP

The Clockmaker’s Daughter by Kate Morton

I get so excited when I see historical fiction as a genre aha, I have to get a handle on my book obsession! And oh my lord does this book sound good, amazing, I’m sure I’m going to love it! I really need to read more books with artists because I seem to really enjoy them and the added sort of murder mystery and disappeared woman who no one remembers just seems so cool to me, I just really need to pick this one up soon, I’m sure it has some really great historical vibes as well.

KEEP

The Summer Wives by Beatriz Williams

I love historical fiction, and I’m trying to get into more mysteries and although I’ve kept repeating in this post how much I don’t like family type books, this blurb sounds very intriguing to me. It reminds me a bit of We Were Liars, one of my all-time favourite books and I feel like the historical elements are going to make me enjoy it more, I think I might give it a go!

KEEP

Warlight by Michael Ondaatje

I’m going to be boring and say it again, but anything and everything historical fiction is just so intriguing to me, especially when it’s set around, during and just after WWII, so you wanna bet that I’m going to want to pick this book up soon!

KEEP

Unsheltered by Barbara Kingsolver

I think this must be one of the books I’ve seen the most often in photos on Bookstagram, I literally saw it every day for weeks and weeks a few years back and added it to my TBR without knowing anything about it (typical right?). I’m quite intrigued about the information and research about the house side of this story, but I don’t think that’s enough to make me want to pick up yet again another family saga type book.

REMOVE

The Tuscan Child by Rhys Bowen

Again, this week’s post has been full of contradictions, but when it comes to WWII historical fiction, I can’t really say no… I feel like this one will be different to some of the family type books I’ve removed and I’m really curious to learn about the Tuscan way of life, so I think I might give this one a go one of these days.

KEEP

White Rose, Black Forest by Eoin Dempsey

Finally, another historical fiction set in WWII, it sounds really intriguing, I really like a bit of mystery in these types of stories and I’m sure it’s going to be really enjoyable, so this is a really easy choice!

KEEP

Well, this was a rather complicated and controversial week, I struggled to decide on so many books, but most of the ones I removed were family orientated thrillers that I really don’t care for! Out of the 20 books I looked through today, I was able to remove a total of 10 books which I’m quite happy about, it may not be much but at least it’s cutting the list down every week!

My Goodreads “Want to Read” shelf is now down to 3,903 books and I will be starting next week again at #187. I’m really looking forward to my next Down the TBR Hole, I’m sure I’m going to be able to start removing a few more every week and hopefully I’ll rediscover some really cool sounding books!

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

Ellie xx