Down the TBR Hole #23

Hello Hello! How are you?

Today is Friday, that means it’s time for the TBR Purge! This week has been fairly meeh and long, the weather has been so very hot and I’ve felt not so great, but I’m so happy to be back doing one of my favourite posts on my blog!

I have another confession to make, I actually added a few more books to my TBR this week, I feel like I do this to myself all the time and I’m going to have to work out a way to either stop doing it or really research everything I want to add so I know whether I do actually want to read it (or if I just added it because of its pretty cover, hehe).

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 going to be starting out with 3,906 books on my Goodreads “Want to Read” Shelf, which is once again more than I finished with last week. I’m going to be going through the next 20 books on my list as per usual, starting today at #251. Wish me luck and let’s get on with this purge!

GOODREADS “WANT TO READ” SHELF

Mind Me, Milady by Anne Rothman-Hicks and Kenneth Hicks

Well this week is already starting well, I literally have no idea what this book is about, apparently, it’s a thriller but I’ve never seen or heard about it before today. It sort of sounds like it could be an okay read, but really not my type of book, so I’m going to be kicking this week off with an easy choice.

REMOVE

Moby-Dick by Herman Melville

I have this book on my Kindle, it was actually one of the first I downloaded when I got my first ever Kindle about 10 years ago, and I still have not gotten to it. I have read a few chapters but I think I got bored and gave up. I read And The Ocean is Our Sky by Patrick Ness a few months ago and really enjoyed it, it definitely made me want to read the tale it was based on, so I think I will get myself a physical copy and try to really give it a go one of these days!

KEEP

Scent of Salvation (#1) by Annie Nicholas

I feel like this book/series was recommended to me, or I heard about it on BookTube, but I can’t put my finger on just where this came from. Now, I don’t usually read paranormal romance, I don’t think I’ve read that many to be honest, and when I first saw this book and the genre, I was sceptical, but having read the blurb, I weirdly want to read it now, so I think I will give it a chance.

KEEP

You Asked For Perfect by Laura Silverman

I don’t read much YA contemporary, and if there is one thing I’m not that much of a fan of is adding maths to a story. I don’t really feel drawn to this book, the story does sound quite good, but not really my cup of tea, so I think I will let this one go.

REMOVE

A Fist of Permutations in Lightning and Wildflowers by Alyssa Wong

I don’t think I’ve ever heard of this book or even seen the cover before, but the fact that this is a collection of fantasy short stories sounds really intriguing to me. But it’s only 20 pages long… so I don’t know if it’s worth it. The blurb is really vague as well, I feel like it could be good, but I don’t really want to spend the same amount of money on 20 pages as I have done for 300+ pages, so I think I won’t bother with this one.

REMOVE

Wild Beauty by Anna-Marie McLemore

I love YA fantasy, and I haven’t actually read that many magical realism books, but I’m pretty sure that this is one of Kayla’s (Books and Lala) favourite books. We both like weird books, and even though the blurb is fairly vague, it sounds like a book I could enjoy. I’m interested in the theme of love and disappearance, so I want to give it a chance.

KEEP

Ace of Shades (#1) by Amanda Foody

Another fantasy series *Ellie is clapping happily*, lol. I have heard a lot about this series, but I’ve never read anything with casinos, mafia, gangs, etc, I am, however, really intrigued. It definitely sounds like the kind of book I would enjoy but I think I will go into it with the least amount of expectations just in case it isn’t fully my thing.

KEEP

Three Sides of a Heart: Stories about Love Triangles by Natalie C. Parker

Oh, it’s been a while since I’ve had an anthology on my TBR, especially a YA one. I feel like this could be a really good book, I do tend to really enjoy the love triangle trope, but I think that for me to really enjoy it, it needs to be in a book, preferably a series, and for it to be a bit more slow burn than what these stories imply. I think I’m going to leave this one for now and maybe add it again another time. What did you think of this book?

REMOVE

Forest of a Thousand Lanterns (#1) by Julie C. Dao

If there is one thing I love even more than fantasy and historical fiction, it’s when there is the addition of “retellings”, and that literally wins me over every time. I want to grab this book and run away with it right now, but I’m going to be rational and read the blurb first aha! I hadn’t heard of the story that this book is based on, and I’m pretty sure I’ve not read any Asian tale retellings yet, but that just makes me want to read it all the more. The bit in the blurb about “eating the hearts of those recently killed” scares me a bit, but also makes me want to read this now (I know, I’m weird).

KEEP

Mirage (#1) by Somaiya Daud

Now, I’m pretty certain that the reason this book is on my TBR is because it was one of the previous Fairyloot books from before I started my subscription with them, and I feel like around the time I started getting my Fairyloot boxes, this book was absolutely everywhere. I don’t know if I’m dreaming it, but it seems like this book sounds a lot like another one, but I really like the sound of it!

KEEP

The Dark Beneath the Ice by Amelinda Bérubé

Every time I see a YA horror on my list, I get super scared and then I remember how not scared I was while reading Harrow Lake. I had never heard of this book before, and having read the blurb it sounds a bit like Insidious or one of those horror films, and I’m not that much of a fan of those and they often give me nightmares, so to spare myself, I think I might let this one go.

REMOVE

Into the Drowning Deep (#1) by Mira Grant

I’m starting to get worried that I have quite a lot of horror on my TBR somehow, oops. I do, however, like Mira Grant’s writing in Every Heart a Doorway (Seanan McGuire and Mira Grant are the same person). I love the sound of this book, I don’t think I’ve ever read anything quite like it, and I am excited to see if there is a difference between Seanan McGuire and Mira Grant’s writing styles.

KEEP

Everless (#1) by Sara Holland

The reason I added this book to my list was because of how much it was about on Bookstagram a few years ago, I feel like it was in every other picture for a while there, but then it suddenly disappeared. I adore fantasy series that have a really cool magic system and the fact that this one has a system where blood is currency has totally made me want to read it. I feel like there is a little person jumping about in my head because this blurb makes me happy and I can’t wait to experience it!

KEEP

Goodbye, Perfect by Sara Barnard

This book sounds like quite a fast-paced, intriguing read, and I’m enticed to pick it up, but I’m just not getting the vibes from it as I do from fantasy and historical fiction novels. The plot sounds a bit like Aria and Ezra from Pretty Little Liars which I love, and it sounds like quite a thriller-y type book, but I don’t think it’s really doing that much for me. I am obviously not in a contemporary mood at the moment, so I think I will let this one go and maybe add it again one day.

REMOVE

Dread Nation (#1) by Justina Ireland

This is a young adult historical fiction, and that alone with the cover is just my thing aha! I love the horror, dystopian, zombie vibes I’m getting from this blurb, I’ve never read a book with zombies before, but I’ve heard so many good things about this book that I’m really intrigued about it. I feel like it could have some really interesting political undertones, so I am definitely going to give this a shot.

KEEP

Girl Made of Stars by Ashley Herring Blake

This book sounds like such a hard book to read, but very important and I am definitely going to give it a go. It has really high ratings on Goodreads and even though I don’t read much contemporary, I do like these kinds of books with a hard-hitting theme that really pull me in.

KEEP

Waiting on a Bright Moon by J.Y. Yang

Apparently this is another fantasy short story that I’ve never heard about! Again, this is a book that sounds really vague, and it only has 41 pages, so I don’t think I can be bothered to read it.

REMOVE

Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov

I’ve had this book on my TBR and have wanted to read it for years, I’ve always been fascinated by it without really know what this book was about. In one of my earlier Down the TBR Hole posts, I came across a nonfiction true story about “the real Lolita” and I am definitely intrigued to read that one, so I think I am going to try to tackle that one first, and then maybe this one later on.

REMOVE

The Dangerous Art of Blending In by Angelo Surmelis

This sounds like a really lovely book, but I’m not into YA much anymore, especially YA contemporary, so I might not enjoy this one as much as I would like, there wouldn’t be much point me reading it when I know I probably wouldn’t appreciate it.

REMOVE

Daughter of Smoke & Bone (#1) by Laini Taylor

I’ve had Laini Taylor books on my list for such a long time and I know that they are very hyped and very loved, but I’ve still not read them. I really want to read this book, I think I’m going to love it, it definitely gives me amazing fantasy vibes, and I’m very excited to get to it! This was a great way to end this week’s post, who else has read this book?

KEEP

Well, this probably wasn’t the best week I’ve ever had, but I still managed to remove a total of 9 books out of the 20 I looked through, taking the number of books on my Goodreads “Want to Read” list down to 3,897. I really need to start making more of a dent in this TBR and try to stop adding books! Next week’s purge will be starting at #262.

That’s all for now, I hope you enjoyed this post, tell me about the books you’ve already read from this list, and the ones you are yet to get to. See you soon, stay safe,

Ellie xx