Down the TBR Hole #17

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Hello Hello! How are you?

For the first time since starting this series on my blog a few months ago, I don’t think I’ve added or removed a single book, well, maybe only 1 aha! I can’t believe I’ve been doing this for as long as I have, I enjoy this post so much and I love when it comes around every week. You may be wondering why I’m posting it on a Thursday instead of a Friday this week, and it’s because I have something else planned for tomorrow, so keep a lookout! I have an MRI this afternoon, so I thought I’d get this post up early so I can wallow on the sofa when I get back from the hospital later!

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 have so many books bookmarked on Twitter, saved in my browser or screenshots on my phone, but I keep holding back from adding them to my Goodreads TBR because I know it’s going to go crazy again. Am I the only person who does this?

So, this week I’m starting with a total of 3,904 books on my Goodreads “Want to Read” shelf, and as usual, I’ll be making my way through the next 20 on the list, starting at #187. Let’s see how many books I can remove this week and what exciting ones I can rediscover that I need to get to soon. Wish me luck!

GOODREADS “WANT TO READ” LIST

The Map of Salt and Stars by Zeyn Joukhadar

I’ve been so intrigued about this book ever since it was released and I can’t really believe it’s taken me this long to get to it. I love historical fiction and this one seems to have some sort of fantasy element to it, as well as some amazing cultural Middle Eastern and Northern African elements, which really interests me a lot. I don’t read as many books as I would like set outside the U.S. or the UK, and I think this will be a great opportunity to do so, and I love the cartography side to this story.

KEEP

Spinning Silver by Naomi Novak

I’ve heard some very different opinions of this book, some people have told me they hated this book, and some have told me they loved it, and that just makes me want to read it to find out what it’s all about! I love fantasy retellings and I’m quite intrigued by the blurb, I’ve had this one on my TBR for ages because of the cover and the hype it received, but as I trust the person who hated this implicitly and we have the same reading tastes, I’m going to go into this one with no expectations and see what happens.

KEEP

The Book of M by Peng Shepherd

This is another book that’s been on my TBR for a long time, mainly because I saw it so much on Instagram and Goodreads that I added it to my list without really reading the blurb. Also, who can blame me when you see that cover? I rest my case. I’ve been reading so many apocalyptic books and disaster books with pandemics lately, and really enjoying them, I have to say this synopsis completely won me over, it sounds incredible, so unique and I want to read it straight away!

KEEP

Year One (#1) by Nora Roberts

I’m going to say it again, I think I have a lot of books on my TBR which focus on pandemics, and I’m actually finding that quite eerie, but also I’m not too bothered cause I’ve enjoyed every one I’ve read recently! I don’t know if this book is more fantasy or science fiction/dystopia as Goodreads says its both, but I’m really feeling this blurb and I actually sort of want to read it now aha! I’ll have to apologise to the 10 or so books I’ve got on the go at the minute. It sounds amazing that technology and science disappears and magic appears in its place and I’m so glad I have this one on my TBR, I had no idea!

KEEP

The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang

I love my fantasy and I love it when fantasy and historical fiction come together, I’ve had this on my TBR for ages and still not got around to it, I’ve heard such good things about it and I know I need to get to it soon because it sounds so great and so original! I am not doing a very good job of removing books this week so far, but if I find such great books as these I still need to read, I’m not complaining!

KEEP

The Shape of Water by Guillermo del Toro and Daniel Kraus

This book sounds so weird to me, but I think that’s why I’m drawn to it, I have heard some good stuff about the film and I don’t really fancy watching it, so I think the book will be a great way to get this story, I’ve not got any expectations because I don’t know what to expect, but I’m optimistic that it’s going to be interesting. Have you read this one? What did you think?

KEEP

The Princess Saves Herself in This One (#1) by Amanda Lovelace

I don’t read as much poetry as I would like, mainly because Milk and Honey by Rupi Kaur didn’t do anything for me and I’ve been a bit underwhelmed. But I really want to read some more poetry collections and have had my eye on this series of books for a while. It sounds like something really impactful and beautiful, it focuses on women, so I can’t wait to get to it.

KEEP

Leviathan (#1) by Scott Westerfeld

I have wanted to read some steampunk novels for ages but never knew where to start, as this is the first one that came up on my Goodreads Want to Read shelf, I suppose I should start here. I love how this is set during WWI, I think the blurb sounds so great and I know I need to start this series soon as I fancy a little something different!

KEEP

The Immortal Life of Henriette Lacks by Rebecca Skloot

This sounds like such an interesting book and frankly a bit scary maybe and I’m definitely inclined to read it, but I think it might be a bit much for me to start with, so I’m going to keep it in mind but concentrate of some of the other nonfiction books I have on my TBR first.

REMOVE

Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver

I’ve had this book on my TBR since I was a teenager, and I no longer read as much contemporary fiction as I used to, I just don’t enjoy it as much. This one seems like one of the ones that doesn’t really take my fancy anymore, so this is an easy choice to make, and I’m finally getting some of the books off the list!

REMOVE

Rebel of the Sands (#1) by Alwyn Hamilton

Yay, another fantasy series on my TBR!! This one sounds so full of gorgeous culture, magical beasts, I’m most intrigued about the djinn though, I’ve not read a book with a djinn yet and I loved Aladdin. I also love strong female leads and this seems like the perfect mix of all I love!

KEEP

Red Rising (#1) by Pierce Brown

I’ve been trying to get out of my comfort zone for a while and science fiction has been at the top of the list of genres I want to read more of. I know that this book has been on my list ever since I discovered it and I just really want to read it soon, it sounds amazing and I’ve heard such great stuff about this series, so I really need to dive in soon.

KEEP

The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah

If you know me, do I even have to explain this one? This book incorporates everything I love, historical fiction, WWII, and it’s even set in France I’ve heard so many amazing things about this book and this author and I need to get myself a copy soon because I’ve been loving the historical fiction mood I’ve been in lately, I can’t wait to experience this story, I have such high expectations!

KEEP

All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr

I’ve heard so much about this book, and again, it’s been on my list for years and it sounds like everything I look for in historical fiction picks. I’ve heard some amazing things about the jewel mentioned in the blurb from Gabby, she did an amazing blog post on this and I urge you to go read it, it was so great, and you can find it here! I have been itching to pick this book up ever since!

KEEP

Truly, Madly, Guilty by Liane Moriarty

I’ve had quite a few of Liane Moriarty’s books on my TBR for a while and I know that quite a few people rave about them, but I’m honestly not bothered about books like this, it’s just not my cup of tea and I don’t think I want to make time to read it, so again, an easy decision.

REMOVE

The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead

YES, don’t need to explain this any more than that really, I’ve had my eye on this book for ages, I actually really must get my hands on a copy soon. I think I have this one on one of my challenge TBRs for this year and I can’t wait to learn more about the underground railroad and have more of an insight into slavery in America, especially from a woman’s point of view as I’ve only read a few.

KEEP

Lullabies by Lang Leav

I do want to read more poetry collections, but I think that the only way that I’m going to really enjoy them is if the blurbs really draw me in, and this one doesn’t, so I might take it off the list and come back to it in the future, but for now, I think it has to go!

REMOVE

Come on All Your Ghosts by Matthew Zapruder

I have to say that I’ve never heard of this book before and I can’t even tell you how it got on the list, apparently, it’s another poetry collection and I really am not drawn to it at all, so this is going to be another easy remove.

REMOVE

Two Kisses for Maddy: A Memoir of Loss and Love by Matthew Logelin

I probably am not correct, but I feel like I’ve seen a film about this? Maybe not, anyway, I am not a fan of memoirs about people instead of like events or something, and this one just doesn’t take my fancy. I’ll only rarely read one about a specific individual, for instance, if it’s a person that I find interesting or inspirational, and I don’t think this is one of those occasions, so again, another easy remove.

REMOVE

The Dogs I Have Kissed by Trista Mateer

I have no idea how this is on my TBR, and I don’t know what it is about, it has a bit of a dubious title, doesn’t it? Apparently it’s a blogger’s second poetry book, that I’ve never heard of and there isn’t any more information about it, so again, one last easy remove!

REMOVE

So, that didn’t start too well, did it? Even though I got off to a bit of a rocky start, I managed to remove a total of 7 books out of the 20 I have gone through today, and I’m quite happy with that, I was starting to get worried I wouldn’t be able to remove any at all at one point! I feel like even though I didn’t remove my usual amount, I rediscovered some amazing books I’ve been putting off and I’m so excited to get to them sometime soon!

I was able to get my Goodreads “Want to Read” list is now down to 3,896 books and will be starting next week’s post at #201 and it looks like I will have quite a few nonfiction books to go through, which is really exciting to me as I’ve been in a nonfiction mood for a while but I’ve been struggling to settle on anything for a long amount of time! I’m really looking forward to next week’s post now!

That’s all for now, I hope you enjoyed this post, let me know if you’ve read any of these books and what your thoughts were! See you soon, stay safe,

Ellie xx