Down the TBR Hole #3

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Hello Hello! How are you?

I’m so happy to finally be posting on my blog again after a week of university assignments. It’s nice to take a little break and work on some bookish stuff before I have to start all over again for my next assignment! Something tells me that I’ll go on a binge reading session on Tuesday when everything is submitted!

I’ve already explained all about the Down the TBR Hole posts, but you can read my first one here. Last week I was able to remove quite a few books from my Goodreads “Want to Read” shelf, somehow I managed to add two books to the list even though I don’t remember doing it, so I am starting this week with 5,299 books, I am currently at #20 and looking at another 20 books for this round. Let’s see how I get on!

GOODREADS “WANT TO READ” SHELF

Anna and the French Kiss (#1) by Stephanie Perkins

I’ve wanted to read this series for just so long, but now that I’m actually reading the synopsis, I don’t really know if I want to read it anymore. I feel like the time for reading this book has passed and I might add it again later, but don’t feel like reaching for it right now.

REMOVE

Second Chance Summer by Morgan Matson

The reason why I added this book to my “to be read” list was that I was in a contemporary phase where I added all the books recommended in YouTube videos, and now I’ve lived to regret it. I think that this one could be beautiful, but also devastating, I quite like hard-hitting contemporary and I’m quite intrigued by the synopsis, but also the fact that it has an average rating of over 4 stars, I don’t see that happen a lot with these types of stories, so I’m willing to give this one a go!

KEEP

The Miseducation of Cameron Post by Emily M. Danforth

I’ve had this one on my TBR since I started to look for more complicated and thought-provoking books after my teenage Twilight phase (which is actually still going on in my life), and I stumbled across this one in another YouTube video. I have to say that I have seen this one talked about quite a bit, less so recently, but I think it could still be really enjoyable. I’m actually looking forward to this one because of the way it is portrayed as an LGBT coming-of-age story, and I actually feel like getting to this one quite quickly.

KEEP

I Am The Messenger by Markus Zusak

I have to admit that when I saw this title in my Goodreads list that I was intent on keeping it on here, but actually now that I’ve read the synopsis, I can’t really be bothered. I’m going to try to get to The Book Thief this year and if I like his writing style I might add this one later, but right now I don’t really fancy this story.

REMOVE

The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer (#1) by Michelle Hodkin

This book is giving me We Were Liars vibes, it is one of my favourite books and I’m craving reading something similar right now. When I read the synopsis my brain was screaming “YES” and I actually added this one to my “Series I wanted to read” list in my bullet journal, so I’m determined to get to this one soon. I’m going to remove the sequels for the time being and just keep the first book of this series and the first book of her other series and add them later if I decide to continue with them. Also, that cover is dragging me in, ahah!

KEEP

I See You by Clare Mackintosh

Apparently we are back on the thriller bandwagon for this week, I honestly don’t know what gets into me sometimes because although I do enjoy reading thrillers, it’s not my favourite or go-to genre. When I’m looking for a bit of mystery, I usually watch an episode of Criminal Minds, but since I’m trying to read some more books out of my comfort zone, I’m going to see if I can add some thrillers to my permanent TBR. This one is intriguing, but I think I’m going to try something else first, so I might add it later, but I’m not feeling this one just now.

REMOVE

He Said/She Said by Erin Kelly

This book seems like it could be a really good read, but I don’t think I’ve ever heard anyone speak about it. Sometimes I struggle with the whole “I am not who you think I am” trope and this could probably actually annoy me more than anything else. I’m sure there are much better thrillers out there just waiting to be read, so I’m going to take this one off the list.

REMOVE

Don’t Wake Up by Liz Lawler

Now this one seems much more up my alley. I don’t know what is going on with the whole bright neon, bold letters theme on covers of thrillers I’ve got on my Goodreads list though, I don’t know why it bothers me… I think that this one could actually be a bit spooky, I’ve never read a thriller that starts in a hospital, but I do like the idea of a deal struck between the characters. I’m hoping to get to this one sometime in the future.

KEEP

Sweet Little Lies (#1) by Caz Frear

I really like thrillers and mysteries with police investigations, so I’m thinking that I’ll like this one. I’m a sucker for any TV show about murder investigations and if I could, I’d spend my life watching Criminal Minds, Jack Frost, CSI, Silent Witness, etc, it’s a bit of an obsession! But I don’t read many mysteries, so I think that this could be a good place to start to get back on track! I’m really intrigued to find out more about this family element, they are often the most haunting and disturbing stories, so I really want to read this one now! I’ve also removed the sequel in case I don’t decide to continue and bog down my TBR again.

KEEP

After I’ve Gone by Linda Green

This one sounds weird, but also quite cool. I haven’t read many thrillers, let alone any with a plot like this one, but I’m feeling adventurous and might see if I can get to this one soon. I don’t know if this one will in any way resemble time travel stories, but I have to say that the fact that the main character realised that time has moved forwards by 18 months, that she is supposedly dead and has a child, really interests me and I want to know more!

KEEP

Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

I’ve wanted to read this book since I was 17 when I went to watch a theatre play inspired by the book, and this year I’m finally going to try to get around to it because it’s on my Popsugar Reading Challenge TBR, so obviously, this is a no-brainer, but I do need to get myself the English version because I think I only have it in French!

KEEP

The Colours of Snow by Kate Fenton

I have no idea why, but this book doesn’t have a synopsis on Goodreads. I have this one at home on my bookcase and have done since I’ve had a bookcase in my bedroom, so at least 10 years, but I’ve never gotten to it. I know it’s also probably in my TBR jar, but I’m not feeling this one. It’s actually made me aware of quite a few books that I’ve acquired over the years and just don’t have any interest in, so I might be doing an unhaul when I get back to France!

REMOVE

Billy Elliot by Melvin Burgess

I remember watching the film when I was a child, and I have to say that I think it’s still one of my favourite movies from when I was young, along with Flash Dance. There is just something about stories of people dancing that inspires me, so I’m definitely going to try to read this one sometime in the future. I know that I have a French edition of it on my bookcase, but I might unhaul that one and purchase an English one because I really struggle reading books written in English but translated into French, it’s just never done very well.

KEEP

The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe (#1) by C.S. Lewis

My mum read this book to me when I was a child, and I’ve watched at least the first and second movies adapted from these books, but I never took the time to read it for myself and enjoy one of my all-time favourite stories from my childhood. This is making me want to go on a little children’s/middle-grade book binge, by the way, keep your eyes peeled, something like this might be coming along quite soon!

KEEP

Black Beauty by Anna Sewell

I think it’s clear to say that throughout my years of updating my Goodreads “Want to Read” shelf, I’ve gone through quite a few different phases, each week on this blog you see a new one. This week, we are delving into the world of my owned TBR, books I’ve had on my bookshelves as long as I can remember. I’ve seen the film countless times, both in animated and normal adaptations and love it so much, so I’m definitely going to try to read the book too!

KEEP

The Workhouse Child (#3) by Geraldine Symons

I’ve had this on my shelves forever as well, I didn’t know it was a series, and I don’t even need to read the blurb to know that I don’t really want to read this book, there isn’t really a reason, it just feels a bit off for me, so I might unhaul this one too!

REMOVE

Une Putain d’Histoire by Bernard Minier

One of the many French books I own and still haven’t read, oopsy. I got this a few years ago for my birthday I think, since I’ve started reading a lot more in recent years I’ve moved away from French books and stayed solely with English ones, I think I only read one French book last year… but I have so many French books that I know I either have to make a start or unhaul them. This one is apparently a thriller and the Goodreads blurb doesn’t say much, but I have the distinct recollection from the blurb on the back of my copy that it’s about people on a deserted island… It sounds cool, when I eventually get around to it I might DNF it, but I’ll try it out!

KEEP

Le Dernier Jour d’Un Condamné by Victor Hugo

Les Misérables by Victor Hugo is my all-time favourite book, I adore it so much and could reread it endlessly. I’m going to try to reread my new special edition I got for Christmas this year actually! I love his writing style and the messages he manages to convey, so when I saw that my fiancé had this book in his bedroom I pinched it and it’s been sitting on my bookshelves ever since. I should probably get to it soon…

KEEP

Mes Amis, Mes Amours by Marc Levy

I have a ton of Marc Levy books on my bookshelves because my fiancé went through a phase where he read loads of his books, but then he suddenly stopped and hasn’t picked up a book since, but he keeps telling me that a few of his books were really good, so I might have to get to them sometime soon! I’m going to remove all the other books by him I have on my Goodreads shelves because I have all the titles written in my TBR jar, so I’ll just add them on here if and when I decide to read them!

KEEP

Le Fantôme by Danielle Steel

Once again, I went through a phase where I would see names of authors I recognised in charity shops and buy as many as I could, even if they weren’t in English, so I have about 30 Danielle Steel books but don’t really fancy reading them because they are written in French. I know I want to read some of her books, but I think I might do an unhaul of the French books and buy only one of her books in English to see if I like it, but I’m going to remove this one from the list for the time being because I don’t really fancy this story!

REMOVE

I feel like I haven’t done too bad this time around, out of the 20 books I decided to work through, I managed to remove 7, it’s not the best I’ve done, but it’s still getting this enormous list down! By removing these, the sequels and other books by the same authors, I’m now down to 5285 books on my Goodreads “want to read shelf” and I’m feeling optimistic for next week’s post, hopefully, I’ll get some more books out of the way!

Tell me how big your TBR is and we can cry together over the fact that we’ll probably never read all the books we want in our lives ahah!

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

Ellie xx