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Hello Hello! How are you?
Well, itβs that time of the week again, and now we are in October, which is crazy! I had a relatively calm week, next week is going to be bonkers though, so Iβm going to try to get some posts ready in case university work swallows me! How has your week been?
Iβve actually waited all week to do this post, Iβm pretty sure I havenβt added any (maybe read that as many) books to my TBR shelf on Goodreads, but it still needs a lot of work and I love going through all the books!
You know the drill if you havenβt 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 weekβs TBR purge, Iβm starting with a total of 3,795 books on my Goodreads βWant to Readβ Shelf, itβs still an insane number, but Iβm getting there! As usual, I am going through the next 20 books on this list, starting at #297, I have no idea whatβs in store for me today, but looking forward to rummaging through the books to find out! Wish me luck!!
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GOODREADS βWANT TO READβ SHELF
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The Wake (#1) by Paul Kingsnorth
First off, I have never heard of this book, which isnβt surprising if you know me. Iβm kind of intrigued because itβs historical fiction (one of my favourite genres) and it has quite high ratings! Iβm actually really stuck on this one, because some parts of this plot sound very promising and right up my alley, but others parts kind of make me want to say no. It doesnβt have that many reviews compared to some books I read, and I do think I would enjoy it, but I think I will keep it in mind and remove it for now.
REMOVE
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Barkskins by Annie Proulx
Another unknown to me book, itβs kind of becoming embarrassing now aha! This cover is really cool looking to me, I donβt know what it is, but it makes me want to pick it up, it is also historical fiction and it has what seems to be an environmentalist stance, so that could be interesting. I donβt really get the environmentalist part as the blurb doesnβt have that much to do with nature, again, it sounds very interesting and potentially something that I would enjoy, I have read family sagas like this one before and enjoyed them, but I think I will concentrate on my other books first.
REMOVE
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Fever Dream by Samanta Schweblin
I donβt know what you think, but this looks like a really scary book to me, you know that I donβt really read that much horror because Iβm a bit of a wimp, Iβm pretty sure some books have actually scared the terror out of me though because Iβve read a few horror novels this year and not even blinked at the scary factor moments! The blurb is really vague and doesnβt really make me want to pick it up, so this is an easy choice.
REMOVE
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Train Dreams by Denis Johnson
Another historical fiction set in America with a really vague blurb that I donβt really understand. I kind of feel like these past three books have been sort of colonialism seen through the eyes of white people going to live in America and the stories of their children, grandchildren, etc, and I have to admit itβs really not something that sparks an interest for me.
REMOVE
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Confessions of the Fox by Jordy Rosenberg
Guess what? Another historical fiction book that Iβve never seen or heard of before, but this time, it is apparently LGBT, and that already sounds better than the previous ones! Wow, this blurb completely drew me in though, apparently it is a retelling of Brechtβs Threepenny Opera (I donβt know what that is and donβt really want to know) but I love the sound of it, it has some very important themes, I think that it will be very interesting and Iβm glad it found its way into my TBR because Iβm keeping it!
KEEP
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News of the World by Paulette Jiles
Another unknown to me historical fiction, oops. This is also described as a Western and I suppose you could say that the previous ones I removed were Westerns too. I donβt think Iβve ever read a Western though, do you have any recommendations? Once again, itβs a book that sounds interesting to me and I would pick it up and most likely enjoy it, but Iβm really not in the mood for it right now, so I think I will let it go.
REMOVE
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A Constellation of Vital Phenomena by Anthony Marra
I think itβs fair to say that this is one of those unknown to me historical fiction bandwagons kind of week! What are the rules for a book to be historical fiction? It seems like the setting is much too contemporary to me (2004) for it to actually be a historical fiction, no? Itβs described as similar to The English Patient, which is a film I adored and want to read the book so badly, so instead of keeping this one, I think Iβm going to try to pick up the other one soon as this blurb didnβt pull me in and I canβt even remember what itβs about!
REMOVE
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Doc (#1) by Mary Doria Russell
Another unknown to me historical fiction Western, yikes, I am so glad that the crazy βadd everything before it disappears in case of them is goodβ period has ended and Iβm a lot more controlled now because it would be disastrous otherwise. I struggled to read this blurb, it just doesnβt sound like something I would enjoy, so Iβm going to let this one go.
REMOVE
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Shadow Country (Shadow Country Trilogy #1-3) by Peter Matthiessen
Ohoh, what do we have here? Another unknown to me historical fiction! *hides* Apparently this book is a cut-up version of the trilogy put into one big book, that kind of sounds a bit weird to me because I love big books for one reason (itβs not the only one, but you know): because they have DETAILS, INTRICACIES, COMPLEXITY, and if there is one thing I love in a book, itβs those things! Iβve read the blurb of the first book too and unfortunately, this does nothing for me.
REMOVE
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Ulverton by Adam Thorpe
Iβm going to stop repeating myself and only tell you when the genre changes because itβs getting ridiculous now, I love historical fiction but I had no idea I had so many on my list that Iβve never heard of before and most of them donβt sound very good to me either. I kind of like the sound of this book, I especially like the format, Iβm a big fan of mixed-media in books, but the actual setting/plot of the book doesnβt take my fancy.
REMOVE
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A Wrinkle in Time (#1) by Madeleine L’Engle
Finally, a book that I have heard about before and that is fantasy, and a series, YAY, I was starting to get a little bit worried there for a moment!! Iβm a little bit sad that the blurb is so short as it doesnβt tell me what this book is about at all, but I have had it on my list for ages and I do sometimes prefer going into fantasy fairly blind, I know this book is loved by a lot of people, so Iβm just going to have to dive in one of these days!
KEEP
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A Heart in a Body in the World by Deb Caletti
Phew, Iβm glad the bandwagon for this week seems to be changing, itβs another book that Iβve heard about before, and this time its YA contemporary, which isnβt my favourite, but we will have to see what the blurb says! I kind of have no idea what this book is about which really bothers me because it has an absolutely amazing rating on Goodreads and I think that people do really enjoy this book, Iβm not a fan of sports and I think that the whole book about one character running around the U.S. and not knowing why isnβt enough to draw me in, unfortunately!
REMOVE
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Dream Country by Shannon Gibney
Oh no, we are back on the unknown to me historical fiction bandwagon, this time it is a YA book though. When I first started reading this blurb, I was really expecting to remove the book, Iβve read books like this one before such as Roots by Alex Hailey (one of my all-time favourites β go read it now please) and Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi, so I was expecting it to be like that, but actually, it sounds really good, I love books that delve into slavery and this isnβt a setting that Iβve heard of before, so it needs to stay on my list!
KEEP
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Dear Rachel Maddow by Adrienne Kisner
Back to some YA LGBT, but I still have not heard of this book! This book honestly sounds a little bit weird to me for some reason, as Iβve said, I love mixed-media in books, but Iβm not a fan of the high school setting, so I think I will take this one off my list.
REMOVE
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You Bring the Distant Near by Mitali Perkins
Iβm pretty sure that I have heard of this one before, although the cover is not very appealing to me so it must have been the blurb that made me add it. It is YA historical fiction which is a genre/subgenre that I hadnβt even really known about until recently! Again, this book sounds interesting, it has some very important themes and it is diverse, but the blurb is just not enough for me to want to pick it up.
REMOVE
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Fire Song by Adam Garnet Jones
Another YA LGBT book that I havenβt heard of before! This book is about indigenous people on a reserve in the U.S., a theme that I adore BUT, the book just doesnβt sound that good, which makes me so sad because I love learning and reading about Native Americans, so I would love some recs if you have any. Iβm not a fan of suicides and tragedies in books, so Iβm going to have to remove this one, unfortunately.
REMOVE
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Picture Us in the Light by Kelly Loy Gilbert
I am going to have to admit that I really do not like that cover, at all. I am no longer really interested in reading this type of YA, I generally donβt like family/friendship/mundane life kind of settings and this blurb is giving me exactly those vibes, I just donβt read that anymore and I know I wouldnβt really enjoy it, so an easy choice!
REMOVE
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Hurricane Child by Kheryn Callender
This is such a beautiful cover and I am very happy because this is a middle grade book, yay! Itβs also LGBT, which Iβm pretty sure I havenβt read yet in MG, so Iβm really interested in reading the blurb. This is much more on the contemporary side of MG, and I usually read fantasy, but, it does sound rather intriguing and I want to give it a shot!
KEEP
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What the Night Sings by Vesper Stamper
As you can probably guess, I have not heard of this YA historical fiction before! I believe it is set in the aftermath of WWII, a time period that I really enjoy reading about but this is one of those mundane stories that donβt really do much for me, so Iβm going to let it go.
REMOVE
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Marcus Vega Doesn’t Speak Spanish by Pablo Cartaya
This is another MG book, I donβt think Iβve heard of it before and this time itβs realistic fiction, which Iβm pretty sure is not my cup of tea. This is the kind of book that I would have read a few years ago and it just doesnβt take my fancy at the moment, so Iβm ending this week on another easy choice.
REMOVE
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So, this was a really good purge again, loads of books that I had never heard of before and that were just a bit too vague or a bit too weird for me, which is unfortunate because I could have kept quite a few more of these if the blurb had been a bit more enticing.
Out of the 20 books that Iβve looked through today, I was able to remove a total of 16 books, taking my Goodreads βWant to Readβ shelf down to 3,779 books, which Iβm really happy about. Next week, I will be starting the purge off at #301, yaaaas, Iβm finally on page 4, I think I deserve a pat on the back for that one ahaha!
Thatβs all for now, I hope you enjoyed this post, see you soon, stay safe,
Ellie xx
I love that your books tend to be grouped together in themes. You did great this week!
I know, it’s so peculiar but it makes me laugh every single week! Thank you so much Brooke! π
Wow well done for removing 16 books this week Ellie! You’re making great progress!
Thank you, I’m glad I’m getting them down! π
Looks like you did great this week going through the list. I always find it interesting how they seem to be grouped together in a way as you go through the list.
β₯ Mae
Thank you, I know, it’s so weird but I’m glad I’m getting loads off the list aha!