Down the TBR Hole #21

Hello Hello! How are you all?

It’s that time of the week again, and I’m happy to be back for another round of the purge because I’ve not been very good this week and I think I may have added a few books to the TBR, oops. At this point, does it surprise you? Probably not. I’ve had one of those weeks where you think you’ve done a lot, but you actually haven’t, although you haven’t done that bad, do you know what I mean? It’s definitely time for a spring clean in the shelves I think! I’m doing this post a day earlier than usual because I have something planned for tomorrow, but it’s the same old purge!

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!

Today, I’m starting with a total of 3,908 books on my Goodreads “Want to Read” shelf, which is surprising and means I haven’t added any since last week, so that means I’ve taken about a million screenshots on my phone instead aha! I’m now going to look through the next 20 books on my shelf, starting at #233 and hopefully be a bit more successful than previous weeks!

GOODREADS “WANT TO READ” SHELF  

The Boy in the Black Suit by Jason Reynolds

We are already starting with a book I’ve never heard of and can’t remember adding to the list. Reading the blurb, I think I recognise it and have heard about it, but it’s not my type of book and I know I won’t really enjoy it if I do read it.

REMOVE

Everything That Makes You by Moriah McStay

The blurb for this one sounds quite intriguing, but I don’t read that many high school, teenager type books anymore and they don’t really take my fancy, so this is going to be another easy remove.

REMOVE

An Orchestra of Minorities by Chigozie Obioma

This book sounds really intriguing, and I do want to read some more books set in Africa, but the synopsis is just not drawing me in. I feel like this book would be a bit boring to me and I’m not a fan of reading books where the characters get dumped on with bad luck throughout, so I think I’m going to leave this one for now and maybe come back to it again another time.

REMOVE

Uprooted by Naomi Novik

I’ve got quite a lot of Naomi Novik books on my TBR, and this is the first one she wrote and I’m so glad it sounds intriguing. I love YA fantasy, and this one sounds like a really unique plot, I’m definitely going to give it a shot and I hope it doesn’t disappoint.

KEEP

The Collective by Sacha Clow

Usually, the ones I add to my TBR without knowing and stumble upon them during these posts are contemporaries, poetry collection or nonfiction, but today we have a YA fantasy that I’ve never heard about before. However, the blurb is really vague and I’ve never heard about this book before, it sounds more like science fiction than fantasy and doesn’t really sound that great to me, so I’m going to let it go.

REMOVE

The Chemist by Stephenie Meyer

The only books I’ve read by Stephenie Meyer so far are the Twilight ones, but I know she has written loads more, even though it seems weird that she has jumped from paranormal fantasy to mystery/thriller, or maybe that’s just me being strange. And now that I’ve actually read the blurb, I’m really intrigued, I don’t usually go for these types of books, but it sounds a bit like Johnny English or James Bond, and I’m a sucker for those, so I’ll just have to read this one I suppose!

KEEP

The Bone Witch (#1) by Rin Chupeco

You know me and my love for YA fantasy series, I get so excited every time I see a new one on my Goodreads TBR ehehe! I love books with magic and witches and this one sounds incredible with the necromancy and Tea’s gift of raising the dead, it sounds great and I can’t say no to great sounding fantasy.

KEEP

The Kind Worth Killing by Peter Swanson

I’ve heard of this author before, but not his book, and having read the blurb, I really don’t fancy this one. If you know me, you’ll know I’m not a fan of these types of thrillers with weird family plots and strangers that arrive out of the blue, I don’t really like such contemporary settings, so I’m going to get rid of this one.

REMOVE

In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex by Nathaniel Philbrick

Oh, we have some nonfiction and again, I didn’t know it was on the TBR, but I bet I added it because of the cover and the title which seems to really draw me in for some reason. I had no idea that this was about the whaling ship that inspired Moby Dick, and I’ve only just read And the Ocean Was Our Sky by Patrick Ness, so I’m quite intrigued. I’m quite interested by it, but I think I’m going to concentrate on the nonfiction I already have on the TBR and maybe come back to it again later, but I’m going to definitely try to remember this one if I’m ever in the mood.

REMOVE

The House with the Blind Glass Windows (#1) by Herbjørg Wassmo

I have never heard of this book and have no idea how it got on the list, I seem to be going through quite a few of those, so hopefully, there are still a lot of books that I can remove. Apparently it’s Scandinavian literature, it sounds interesting and it’s a really important and hard-hitting topic, but it’s not really my cup of tea, so I don’t think I’m going to bother.

REMOVE

The Silence of Bones by June Hur

It makes me laugh so much to see how many YA historical fiction novels I have on my TBR when I thought I didn’t have any. Ohhhh, I’ve just read the blurb, and it sounds rather good, I like mysteries, and I don’t think I’ve read many if any, historical fiction mysteries, so I feel like giving this book a chance!

KEEP

A Very Large Expanse of Sea by Tahereh Mafi

This one has been on my list for a super long time, and you’ve guessed it, it’s because the cover is so pretty. However, I don’t read many YA contemporary novels anymore, and even though the blurb could potentially draw me in, it’s not doing much. I think I’m going to concentrate on some other contemporaries first and come back to this one later if it takes my fancy.

REMOVE

Grave Mercy (#1) by Robin LaFevers

There is just something about this cover that gives me massive fantasy Robin Hood vibes and I think I need to read it right now, I will read any YA fantasy series, especially with strong female characters (who are assassins, which totally wins me over). This book sounds like a few others I have on my TBR and already read, but there is something about fantasy that even though they all sound the same, I still want to read them all (just me?). Eeeeek, this book sounds amazing, and I’m going to try to read it super soon!!

KEEP

The Same Deep Water as You by Chad Lutzke

Firstly, I thought the cover was beautiful, and then I looked at the genres, saw “horror” and got scared, but then saw “YA” and remembered how utterly not scared I was reading Harrow Lake, and now I’m very indecisive aha! I was going to keep it just for the sake of seeing if it scared me more, but I honestly don’t understand the blurb or what this book is supposed to be about, so I think I’m going to let it go.

REMOVE

Even If I Fall by Abigail Johnson

Never heard of this book before, so I suppose we can say we’re on that bandwagon again this week, I promise I’ll stop adding books without reading the blurbs. It actually sounds a lot like A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson but without the actual mystery/ investigation, I feel like giving it a shot, but I also know myself and know that I probably won’t really end up enjoying it, or be the right reader for it, so I’m going to save myself the time and energy.

REMOVE

Elsey Come Home by Susan Conley

This sounds a lot like Where’d You Go Bernadette, and again, it’s another one I hadn’t heard of or ever seen before. I’m not a fan of books like this, it’s contemporary, and it sounds a bit boring for my personal taste, so I’m going to take it off the list.

REMOVE

The Dreamers by Karen Thompson Walker

I’ve had this book on my TBR ever since it was released because of the title and the cover and oh my gosh, what is wrong with me and my TBR? Another book about a pandemic and a quarantine? LOL! But this time, we have a book where people mysteriously fall asleep and no one can wake them, it sounds super cool, in that weird unexplainable cool setting and cool plot kind of way, you know? This is definitely staying on the list, I need to know what it’s all about!

KEEP

The Far Field by Madhuri Vijay

I’m pretty sure I added this book because of the flowers on the cover, I’m a sucker for flowers, I have too many books with flowers that I’ve not idea what they are about. I think it’s going to be the type of book that I’m not interested in, but I nearly want to read it because the main character is from the city my ancestor was born in 😲 The blurb doesn’t pull me in, and I don’t think I’m going to read it for the sake of the coincidence, but I nearly did aha.

REMOVE

Thick: And Other Essays by Tressie McMillan Cottom

Yay, another nonfiction essay collection, I haven’t read any yet, and I’m really looking forward to finally getting my hands on a few and trying them out, so if you have any recommendations, tell me about them in the comments! It sounds really good and I can’t wait to dive in.

KEEP

An Anonymous Girl by Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen

I added this after hearing Kayla from Books and Lala ON YouTube, and never really wanted to look into it. Over the past few years that I’ve been reading a lot more, I’ve realised that I don’t particularly enjoy thrillers, I’m definitely more in the murder mystery team, and this just doesn’t sound like my cup of tea, so I’m wrapping this week up with another easy choice.

REMOVE

I feel like I’ve done quite well this week, I had a lot of books I’d never heard of before, and quite a few duds, but overall, I’ve managed to remove a total of 13 books out of the 20 I looked through. I’m really happy about that, and I spy some more thrillers for next week, so hopefully, I can get more of the list again! My Goodreads “Want to Read” shelf is now down to 3,895 books and I’ll be starting next week’s purge at #240!

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

Ellie xx