Down the TBR Hole #40

Click to listen! Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

Hello Hello! How are you all?

It’s been a few weeks, but I am finally back with a TBR Purge post and I’m really looking forward to seeing how many books I can remove!

It’s also my birthday today! I have a presentation this morning but once that’s over at noon, I should be free until next week at least, so I’m really looking forward to finally sleeping a little longer, reading a lot more and doing some more bullet journaling! I’m so excited for my little break!

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 this week’s DTTH post at 3,696 books on my Goodreads “Want to Read” shelf, which means that somehow, I added nearly 30 books to this list since my last post… oh dear! I’m going to do my best to cut that number down this week by working through the next 20 books on the shelf, starting at #349. Wish me luck!

GOODREADS “WANT TO READ” SHELF

The Substitute by Nicole Lundrigan

Well, we are already starting this week off with an unknown-to-me book, I’m going to have to stop adding books left and right aha! It actually sounds like a book I would really enjoy, but, I have never seen it before or heard if it actually any good, and I do have a lot of mystery books on my TBR, and want to add some more well-known ones as well, so I think I will try to read those first and maybe come back to this one another time.

REMOVE

The Room by the Lake by Emma Dibdin

This is an unknown-to-me book and the fact that it is a thriller is really putting me off, I’m definitely still not in a thriller mood! Unfortunately, this sounds like one of those thrillers that I have absolutely no desire to read as it’s just not my cup of tea, so I’m going to let this one go!

REMOVE

Land of Shadows (Detective Elouise Norton #1) by Rachel Howzell Hall

Again, I’ve never seen this book before, but the fact that this seems to be a detective series is really intriguing to me because as you know, I love anything with detectives and criminology and whatnot! Ohhhh… this was doesn’t sound exactly like what I am looking for in my detective mysteries, but since I am in a really big mystery mood right now, I think I am going to give it a chance!

KEEP

The Disappearing by Lori Roy

Apparently, this is going to be a mystery bandwagon week and again, I’m sure you’ve guessed, this is a new one to me! this one sounds really interesting. Well, the first and last paragraphs are really intriguing to me, however, I got a little bit bored in the middle of the blurb, so I think I’m going to give this one a miss as it’s just not sparking my interest as much as I would like!

REMOVE

The Living and the Dead by Todd Travis

I’ve never seen this book before either and apparently, it is a horror, so along with the cover, I’m not too confident about this book, to be honest. It’s actually a short story collection and I’m a little bit intrigued about it, but since I am not in a horror mood and I’m a little bit of aw imp, I think I will leave this one off the list, and I might add it again later if I feel like it!

REMOVE

Bright Burning Stars by A.K. Small

Finally, a book that I have seen before, but I don’t think I’ve heard another about it, so it doesn’t help me much! But this is a YA contemporary, so again, not too confident about this one. I’m not really into books about dance and this one kind of sounds a little strange to me if I’m honest. I don’t think it’s my cup of tea and I wouldn’t enjoy it very much, so I’m going to give this one a miss as well.

REMOVE

Defender by Graham McNamee

This is a YA mystery and I have been loving this genre lately, so I’m keeping an open mind for this book! However, this one sounds like a family story and I’m not the biggest fan of those, especially in thrillers and mysteries, so I don’t think I’ll bother reading this one!

REMOVE

In Your Light by A.J. Grainger

Another YA contemporary that I’ve never seen before. It sounds more like a mystery to me, but again, I’m not really into YA contemporaries and it sounds a little bit like it would be about a sect, which I’m really not interested in reading about, so this is an easy choice.

REMOVE

A Danger to Herself and Others by Alyssa B. Sheinmel

Another unknown-to-me YA contemporary, so I think we have changed bandwagons this week! This is about a girl who has been institutionalised, and I don’t know why, but for some reason, the blurb gives me a sinister vibe, and I don’t think I fancy this book at all actually, so I’ll be taking it off of my list.

REMOVE

Dreaming Darkly by Caitlin Kittredge

We are back to YA mysteries and again, I’ve not seen or heard about this book before today. This one sounds really atmospheric, it is about family secrets, BUT, there is just something about this book that is pulling me in, and even though I’ve never seen anyone speak about it, I think I am going to give it a chance!

KEEP

The Better Sister by Alafair Burke

Finally, another book and author that I have heard about before! I’ve only read a few lines of the blurb, but I already know that this is not the kind of book for me. In my experience, I just don’t get on with domestic noir or psychological noir, especially with a family and secrets involved, so I’m not going to bother reading more of the blurb, I won’t be picking up this book!

REMOVE

Hidden Pieces by Paula Stokes

We are back to YA mystery again, there is quite a mix of genres on my list this week, and they are all ones that I don’t usually read or get on well with. And finally, this one sounds more like my kind of book, it is giving me really big Pretty Little Liars vibes and I love that TV show, so I am definitely going to give this one a go and I hope it will be good!

KEEP

Three Truths and a Lie by Brent Hartinger

Another YA mystery that I’ve not seen before and I’m not really a fan of the cover if I’m honest. And the book also sounds a little bit like Pretty Little Liars, but it doesn’t have that spark to pull me all the way in, so I am going to give this one a miss and concentrate on some other YA mysteries already on my list.

REMOVE

The Last Wish of Sasha Cade by Cheyanne Young

And now we are back to a YA contemporary! It has really good reviews on Goodreads and it sounds a lot like 13 Reasons Why, but I don’t read many contemporaries anymore, they just don’t grab my attention as much as I would like and I’m so used to reading more complex stories that they always seem to be a little disappointing, so I’m going to let this one go.

REMOVE

The Missing Season by Gillian French

Ohhh, this is a YA mystery, and this time, I believe that I have seen and heard of this book and author before. And this one also sounds like it has a bit of a horror element, and for once, I’m not worried about it because the blurb sounds really intriguing, so I am going to keep this book on my list.

KEEP

The Tenderness of Thieves by Donna Freitas

Back to YA contemporary, and I don’t like this cover at all… I’m not a fan of people on the cover of books or this kind of font that is on a lot of YA contemporaries from a few years ago. I’m not a fan of this kind of plotline anymore, so I am going to give this one a miss and take it off of my list.

REMOVE

The Letting Go by Deborah Markus

Back to YA mystery again aha, I was apparently on a strange adding spree. I’ve never seen this book before but the cover is fairly interesting! Unfortunately, though, this book doesn’t sound like my thing. The blurb does sound fairly interesting and I think I could enjoy it, but it’s just not giving me that spark, so I’ll let it go.

REMOVE

Losing Leah by Tiffany King

This is an unknown to me YA mystery and I absolutely hate the cover… I suppose it sounds kind of interesting, but also a little strange, and the cover has really put me off. I know I should judge books by their covers, but in this case, I would really struggle with that creepy picture, so I am giving this one a miss.

REMOVE

The Lynching of Louie Sam by Elizabeth Stewart

This is …. Kind of a weird title, a very strange cover and a historical fiction that I have never heard about before. This book features a Native American as a protagonist and I would usually be intrigued by a book just for that element, but the blurb sounds like the book will be brutal and not one that I want to read at all, so this is an easy choice.

REMOVE

This Splintered Silence by Kayla Olson

And the final book on the purge for this week is a YA science fiction, so this has been a really mixed list! This book is about a virus, so maybe NOT the best book to have on my TBR at the minute, but I’m apparently morbid because it doesn’t bother me in the least. It just doesn’t sound like a book I would want to pick up and read though, so this week is ending on another easy choice for me.

REMOVE

Well! I am really proud of what I accomplished this week and I feel like I am back on track after a little wobble last time. This was another strange week and a lot of these books were completely unknown-to-me, but I did discover a few that sound like they will be enjoyable.

Today, I was able to remove a total of 16 books, taking my Goodreads “Want to Read” shelf down to 3,680 books! Next week, I’ll be starting on the purge again at #353 and from a quick look at the next 20-odd books, I don’t think I’ll do too badly!

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

Ellie xx