Down the TBR Hole #38

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Hello Hello! How are you all?

I’m sorry I missed doing my post last week, I was having a very busy and frustrating few days and I just couldn’t get around to doing my post, but I’m glad it’s Friday and that I’m back with my latest purge post! I’ve been looking forward to it all week!

You know the drill if you’ve never 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’m starting off this week’s purge with 3,688 books on my Goodreads “Want to Read” shelf and starting at #333, I’m going to be working through the next 20 books on my list and I’m really looking forward to it, so wish me luck!

GOODREADS “WANT TO READ” SHELF

Just looking at the titles for today’s post, I think it’s going to be one of those where I fail because the books all look so good. Oh dear, well, here we go! They are mostly all books that I’ve heard of or seen before, but I’ll let you know if they are “new to me” books!

A Brightness Long Ago by Guy Gavriel Kay

This is historical fiction fantasy, and I was expecting to want to keep this one on the list because the cover looked so cool and I love anything fantasy and historical fiction, so mixed together it was totally my thing. but the blurb just didn’t pull me in, unfortunately, so I’m going to have to let this one go.

REMOVE

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The Raven Tower by Ann Leckie

OOOOhhhh, now this sounds more like it. I have wanted to find more books like Game of Thrones for a while, not specifically like it, but the same vibe of fantasy and political intrigue, loads of great characters, and this sounds like it. It has a very unique plot, with gods and I feel like I’m going to enjoy this one a lot!

KEEP

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The Midnight Lie (#1) by Marie Rutkoski

I’ve seen this book about so much since it was released and I even nearly got myself a Fairyloot special edition, but then I realised who the author was and read the blurb, so now I know that I need to read the Winner’s Trilogy first, I’m weird like that aha! I’m taking it off the list for now, but will be adding it back on again once I’ve read her previous books!

REMOVE

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Gingerbread by Helen Oyeyemi

I added this book to my list a while ago because I had seen it a lot on Instagram and then I had it on my 2020 Popsugar Reading challenge list, or maybe another one, and I never got to it. I don’t actually own this book, which I’m glad of because I don’t really know what I feel about the blurb. It does sound interesting, especially the kind of Hansel and Gretel retelling I suppose you could call it, but I think I might take it off the list for now.

REMOVE

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Magic for Liars by Sarah Gailey

This is a fantasy mystery that I also added to my list after seeing it all over social media, but I have to confess that I absolutely hate the cover. The blurb is also fairly vague and I’m not sure it’s going to be fully my cup of tea, but it kind of intrigued me, so I think I’ll give it a shot!

KEEP

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The Testaments (#2) by Margaret Atwood

I added this to my list as soon as I heard it was going to be released. I read The Handmaid’s Tale last year for university. The first time around I didn’t like it at all, at ALL, it just felt so strange and nope, I couldn’t handle it. But then I had to reread it for my paper, and I ended up loving it. I have no idea why, but maybe because I had already read it once and was no longer discovering the story, I was able to fully appreciate it! I would really like to read the sequel and see what happened after the end of the previous book!

KEEP

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The City We Became (#1) by N.K. Jemisin

Ohhhh yes! Again, another great book that I have heard a lot about and seen a lot of lately. However, I’m going to be weird again and say that I would like to read this author’s other books first, I have them all on my list, but I’ll come back to this one, once I’ve read her backlist!

REMOVE

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Black Leopard, Red Wolf (#1) by Marlon James

I nearly bought this one when I was in London a few years ago and it was calling to me, and I have no idea why I didn’t pick it up because it sounds so amazing. I love fantasy series so much, especially if there is history and myth mixed in, which is what it says in the blurb, and it’s African myth and history, which just wins it go me. I’m definitely keeping this one on the list and hope to get to it soon!

KEEP

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The Test by Sylvain Neuvel

I added this book to my list when I saw it in a BookTube video a while ago and it just kind of called to me. The blurb is so vague, but it sounds like a very interesting book and I really want to see what it’s like, even though it’s not my usual read!

KEEP

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The Magnolia Sword: A Ballad of Mulan by Sherry Thomas

Well, this blurb kind of won me over. When I first saw this on my list, I had forgotten I had added it on a whim, and I was going to remove it because I’ll have to be honest, I really didn’t like Mulan the film for some reason, I absolutely have no idea why. But this book sounds so good! I just have to give it a chance! And the cover is beautiful so who could say no?

KEEP

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Gods of Jade and Shadow by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

I am currently reading Mexican Gothic by this author (yes, I know, I’m *still* reading it!) and I don’t know why, but I never made the connection that she wrote this book too. I’m actually studying Maya culture and writing for a paper, and I’m enjoying it so much, so this book is definitely interesting to me. And wow, that blurb, I am definitely going to read this book, hopefully, sooner than later!!

KEEP

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Descendant of the Crane by Joan He

I already own this book and I’m afraid that I can’t remember the blurb even though I’ve read it loads of times before! Ohhhh, this is a YA fantasy and I have no idea why I keep forgetting the blurb because it sounds awesome! I’ll just have to hope it’s soon chosen in my TBR game I’m setting up in 2021!

KEEP

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Princess of Thorns by Stacey Jay

This is one of the only books on this week’s list that I’ve never heard of before, and I really don’t like the cover!! But if there is one thing that I absolutely adore, nearly more than fantasy and historical fiction, it’s fairy tales and their retellings. This is apparently a retelling of Sleeping Beauty daughter, it sounds really fascinating and I just have to keep it on the list!

KEEP

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Stray (#1) by Elissa Sussman

This is also a YA fantasy fairy tale retelling that I’ve never heard of before, however, this one is not really what I was expecting. Whereas I was willing to give the previous book a shot, this one’s blurb just doesn’t do much for me, unfortunately, so I think I’m going to concentrate on other fairy tale retellings on my list first!

REMOVE

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Defy (#1) by Sara B. Larson

Another YA fantasy series (oh yay!), I’ve heard of this one before though and I really like the cover! This one sounds exactly like the kind of YA fantasy that I binge in one day and absolutely adore, so it is definitely staying on the list, I can’t believe I haven’t read it sooner!

KEEP

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Death Sworn (#1) by Leah Cypess

I’m pretty sure I haven’t heard of this one before, but it’s YA fantasy, so it should be promising. I love books with magic and this one sounds very unique, I don’t think I’ve ever read a book where someone who has lost their magic has to teach it to someone else, it sounds great! I’m keeping this one on the list as well!

KEEP

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The Shadow Prince (#1) by Bree Despain

I’m not very sure about this. I haven’t heard of it before, and I feel like I want to read it, but also that it won’t be that great, I don’t know if that makes any sense ahaha. Because I’m a bit sceptical about it, I think I’m going to leave it off the list and maybe come back to it later.

REMOVE

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The Falconer (#1) by Elizabeth May

I already have this one on my wishlist and I think I added it when I read a great review about it a while ago! Apparently, this is a YA fantasy, science fiction, steampunk, historical fiction novel, which is quite a mouthful, but even if it’s just one of those things, I would be happy! Ooooh, now I remember why I added this book to my list, I only read a few lines of the blurb and I was totally won over, I hope I get to this one soon!

KEEP

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Deception’s Princess (#1) by Esther M. Friesner

This is a YA historical fiction fantasy, which is giving me the same vibes as the previous book did. Both characters are young ginger heads, and that screams Brave to me, a film that I absolutely adored, so I’m kind of biased already ahah! This actually sounds really really good, it has history, fantasy, a strong main character and it’s a series!

KEEP

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Shapes of Native Nonfiction: Collected Essays by Contemporary Writers edited by Elissa Washuta

And the final book on my list this week is one I’ve not heard of before, but if the title is any indication, I think I’m going to want to keep this book! However, I don’t think it’s going to be for me now that I’ve read the blurb. I have a real interest in Native writers and Native stories, but I’m not that much of a fan of poetry and don’t think this one would be for me, so I’ll have to get rid of it.

REMOVE

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This was a really interesting week and even though I kept quite a few of the books, I was able to remove a few as well. Out of the 20 books that I looked through today, I removed a total of 7 books, which is a lot less than my usual amount, but I’m still happy about it.

I also got to remove a few books from authors, because I want to read their backlist first, and my Goodreads “Want to Read” shelf is now down to a total of 3,679 books, it’s slowly going down! Next week, I’ll start my post at #345, and I hope I’ll remove some more books from the list!

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

Ellie xx