Down the TBR Hole #20

Hello Hello! How are you?

It’s that time of the week again, and I’m back for my 20^th edition of what I affectionately call the TBR purge! This week has gone by so fast, and I’m afraid I think I’ve added quite a few books to the Goodreads “Want to Read” shelf again, so luckily it’s Friday and time to do the Down the TBR Hole post! This is really keeping me accountable and if you feel like you need to have a proper clear-out, I can definitely recommend this method!

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!

For this week’s post, I’m starting with a total of 3,920 books, which is only 4 less that what I started at last week, yikes! I’m going to tackle the next 20 books on my Goodreads “Want to Read” shelf, starting at #227, and I really hope I can get another bunch removed before this list gets crazy again (or should I say crazier?).

GOODREADS “WANT TO READ” SHELF

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid

I think it’s fair to say that this book has had an insane amount of hype since it’s release a few years ago, and I definitely jumped on that bandwagon and added it to my TBR. But I still haven’t picked it up, I don’t even have a copy yet. Last year, I read Daisy Jones & The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid and adored it, and I know this book has a similar writing style/format, and I just can’t help but be drawn in by the blurb, I think it’s going to be great and I need to get to it sooner rather than later!

KEEP

The Wicked King (#2 The Folk of the Air) by Holly Black

I read The Cruel Prince with Noly from The Artsy Reader at the start of the year and I think we both enjoyed this one, I certainly enjoyed the darkness and twisty side of this story, although, neither of us thought it was amazing. I do want to continue this series, I don’t think I’ve ever given up on a series in my life, and I do want to understand the hype because I still don’t get it. I got the Fairyloot special edition of The Queen of Nothing last year, and recently purchased the matching editions of The Cruel Prince and The Wicked King, so I might do a reread of the first in the series as soon as they arrive and then finish the series right after! What did you think of this series?

KEEP

The Kiss Thief by L.J. Shen

I’ve read one of this author’s books, and although I did enjoy it and feel like the blurb is quite intriguing, I don’t think I’ve heard much about it. I also know that I have a lot of other romances on my TBR, even though it’s not a genre I typically read often, so I think I might take this off the list for now and maybe add it again later!

REMOVE

An Unremarkable Body by Elisa Lodato

Well, I’ve never heard of this book before and don’t recall adding it to my TBR, this always surprises me, but at the same time, it’s so typical of me aha! While this book sounds quite intriguing, I think I know myself enough to know that I probably won’t end up enjoying this one as much as I would like. It feels like more of a thriller to me than a mystery, and I’m not much of a fan of this type of plot, so I think this is an easy decision!

REMOVE

Wicked Saints (#1) by Emily Duncan

I feel like this book has been getting a lot of hype as well, I think the second book came out recently and the third one has been announced, so now would be the perfect time to get to it. I love YA fantasy series and I’m really drawn to this book, especially with the “gothic” element part of the synopsis. I got this book last year when I went to Birmingham (PS, the Waterstones there is amazing), so I’m hoping to get to it one of these days!

KEEP

Between Before and After by Maureen Doyle McQuerry

I only just said that I hadn’t read a YA historical fiction before In The Neighborhood of True, and typically, a million are now going to come along, however, I don’t remember adding this one, or ever hearing about it! the cover is gorgeous, and although I usually like the sound of most historical fiction, this one seems quite boring to me, I don’t really like family secret type books, so I think I have to take this one off the list!

REMOVE

The Name of the Wind (#1) by Patrick Rothfuss

This book has apparently been out for over 12 years, and I think I only started hearing about it last year, which surprises me because I feel like it has also been getting a lot of hype – would this week be the hype bandwagon week? I also think it might be the highest rated book on my Goodreads “Want to Read” shelf, which is saying a lot with over 3,900 books on it. I am SO intrigued by this book, I have heard amazing things and by this point, I just want to find out all about it for myself!

KEEP

The Love & Lies of Rukhsana Ali by Sabina Khan

I’m not in that much of a contemporary mood at the minute and haven’t been for quite a while, but there is something about this book that intrigued me. I love reading diverse books, especially both diverse in terms of sexuality and gender, but also race and culture, so I think this is going to be a really great book on all fronts!

KEEP

Slayer (#1) by Kiersten White

Ohhhhh, I’m all for some YA fantasy with some chosen one and “last ever” one vibes, this one sounds really intriguing. I love books where the characters have to come to terms with who they are and learn to wield their powers and live in a world that they don’t accept/like, it sounds like a book I’m going to love and I want to drop everything and go read it now!

KEEP

Famous in a Small Town by Emma Mills

I don’t know why but this book blurb is giving me kind of Pretty Little Liar vibes, but also not really. I added all of Emma Mills books to my TBR after reading one of her other books last year and I can’t for the life on me remember the title. I quite enjoyed it, but I’m not a fan of this blurb, so I think I’m going to get rid of it.

REMOVE

The Dead Queens Club by Hannah Capin

I read the little publisher blurb at the top of this page, and … I’m not impressed aha! I haven’t read that many Shakespeare plays or seen them actually, and the few I do want to read seem a lot more interesting than this one. I read King Richard III last year for university and nearly clawed my eyes out cause I found it so boring, and this blurb is really not making me want to pick it up, so I’m going to take it off the list.

REMOVE

The Girl King (#1) by Mimi Yu

I’m pretty sure I added this book to my TBR because the cover looked so cool! WOW! I don’t think I’ve ever read a book with sibling rivalry, but I do love fantasy series with royalty and a battle to win the throne, so this book seems right up my alley!

KEEP

We Hunt The Flame (#1) by Hafsah Faizal

Another book that has been on my radar ever since it was released, this book sounds so intriguing and original to me. I read a lot of fantasy series, so they tend to sound alike quite a lot of the time, but this one really grabbed me because of how different it seemed. I also love books with missions and this is giving me some National Treasure vibes, so I’m definitely going to read it! I’m also really looking forward to the culture and Arabian inspiration behind this book.

KEEP

All American Boys by Jason Reynolds

I’ve never heard of this book before, and I’ve already said it a lot this week, but I can’t remember adding it to the list, oops! This book sounds extremely similar to The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas, and I loved that book so much, however, I don’t really want to keep reading books that are exactly the same, even though they sound great. I’ve got a lot more books on my TBR that deal with police brutality and racism with a different type of plot, so I think I’m going to try those ones first and maybe come back to this one later.

REMOVE

It’s Kind of a Funny Story by Ned Vizzini

I remember that this book has been on my TBR ever since I started on Goodreads quite a few years ago, and I’m not even sure I’ve ever known what it is about. I was surprised to see it was a book published by Disney-Hyperion too. I usually really liked reading books with mental health, but I’m not sure this would be a book I would enjoy as I’ve struggled with my weight my whole life, I think that this one would be a bit too close to home for me, so I’m going to pass on it.

REMOVE

Memoirs of a Teenage Amnesiac by Gabrielle Zevin

This book does actually sound rather good, and I’m intrigued, however, I have a lot of contemporary novels on my list that I’ve heard a lot about, and this isn’t one of them, so I’m going to take it off the list for now and maybe add it again at a later date if I hear good things about it.

REMOVE

This Side of Salvation by Jeri Smith-Ready

This week is definitely an “I didn’t know I added this book to my list” bandwagon week, isn’t it? Honestly, this book sounds a bit strange to me, I’m really not a fan of books with a lot of religion, not being religious myself I don’t particularly get it. Usually, I would give these types of books a chance, but since I’ve never heard about it and don’t really want to bother reading something I’m pretty sure I’m not going to enjoy, I’m going to make another easy decision.

REMOVE

Learning Not to Drown by Anna Shinoda

I can’t remember adding this book, again, I sound like a broken record now, and I don’t read that much contemporary. This doesn’t sound like something I would enjoy at all, and I have too many books on my TBR to worry about it, so again, this is another easy remove.

REMOVE

Don’t Fail Me Now by Una LaMarch

I’m not going to repeat what I’m sure you all already know by this point aha, I think I need to stop adding books without ever reading the blurbs. It sounds interesting, but again, I’m not a big fan of contemporaries and I don’t really feel this one to be honest.

REMOVE

Just A Girl, Standing in Front of a Boy by Lucy-Anne Holmes

This has been the longest a bandwagon has run I believe, and luckily it was a bandwagon I don’t particularly care for, so they have been easy choices to make this week. I’ve never heard of this book and quite frankly, I don’t want to read it, I don’t read that much romance and I don’t think I want to know what “The Smiling Fanny Manifesto” is.

REMOVE

I think this week has been one of the most boring in terms of books on my TBR, I don’t particularly care for any of the ones I removed and I’m glad they are off the list and I don’t have to tackle them. That seems a bit harsh, but I don’t have the time or energy to read books that don’t sound like what I like aha!

However, this week has been really successful for removes, and out of the 20 book I went through today, I was able to remove 12 of them, which I’m really proud of. My Goodreads “Want to Read” shelf is now currently down to 3,908 books and next week I will be starting the purge at #233 and hopefully removing another bunch!

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

Ellie xx