Down the TBR Hole #42

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Hello Hello! How are you?

It’s Friday again and after a busy week doing some thesis work and trying to rest more before my second-semester classes start on Monday, I’m glad to be back for my weekly TBR Purge. I’ve been looking forward to this post all week as last week was a very strange mix of books, and I hope that it’s not the same story this week ahah!

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 TBR Purge with a total of 3,674 books on my Goodreads “Want to Read” shelf and I may or may not have added some books to this list this past week… but today, I’m going through the next 20 books on my list, starting at #356 and hoping to make another dent in this massive TBR!

GOODREADS “WANT TO READ” SHELF

The Silence Between Breaths by Cath Staincliffe

Well, we are already starting this week with an unknown-to-me book and I have to admit that from my little look at these next 20, I don’t think I recognise any of them again… This is a thriller which I would probably have picked up a few years ago, and I suppose it could still enjoy it now, but I’m just not in the mood for this kind of book, to be honest.

REMOVE

Here We Lie by Sophie McKenzie

This is another thriller and I’m already not a huge fan of the cover. Again, this is one I could have maybe picked up before and it does still draw me in, but I much prefer murder mysteries to be honest. I’ll keep this one in mind if I’m ever in the mood, but I think the best choice right now is to get rid of it.

REMOVE

Broken Blades by Aleksandr Voinov

This is a historical male/male romance and it’s actually the first romance I’ve had on my list for a few weeks if I’m not mistaken. As you know, I don’t read much romance, but I do often pick one up to help me get out of a slump or if I’m in the mood. This is actually set in the second world war, and I love anything like that, so although this might not fully be my cup of tea, I think it deserves a chance from me.

KEEP

The Dreams You Made in the Dirt by Lisa Henry

This is another male/male romance and I have to say that the blurb is set up in such a strange way, it seems to be a letter from a reader to an author, and I’m honestly not sure what this book is about. I’ve never heard of it before and I don’t really fancy reading the whole letter when I’m not even sure if it will help me understand, so I’m going to let this one go.

REMOVE

Breathing Again by Sofia Grey

Another male/male romance and another strange blurb written as a letter. I really don’t get this, but I think that this and the previous book were actually originally short stories and they were based on a photo prompt. But I don’t fancy reading this one and the blurb is very vague.

REMOVE

Don’t Wake Me Up by Hunter Frost

Oh look, another male/male romance with the same format in the blurb. This is so strange as I’ve never seen this before, and here it’s happened three times in a row! Again, this does not sound like the kind of romance that I would enjoy, so I’m going to be removing it from my list.

REMOVE

Time After Time by Wendy Godding

We are back to normal blurbs and this is categorised as both young adult and new adult, so I’m a little bit confused. Oooh, this book sounds a little bit like The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle but kind of reversed and although I’ve never heard about it before and it doesn’t have that many ratings, I think I want to give it a shot, I think I might enjoy it. However, I’ve looked on 7 different websites and bookstores, and I can’t find this book at all, so I’m going to keep it off my list for now, and hope that I can find it one day.

REMOVE

Save Me by Mandasue Heller

We are back to thrillers now and I absolutely hate this cover and I just don’t feel a spark from the blurb. This is not a book for me and I know I wouldn’t enjoy it, so I’m not going to bother reading it.

;

REMOVE

Never Look Back (DI Mike Lockyer #1) by Clare Donoghue

Oh, we finally have a mystery, I’m keeping my fingers crossed! I would usually give any type of murder mystery with a detective or police person a shot because I am a little bit obsessed, but this blurb is just not doing anything for me, unfortunately, so I think I’ll let this one go.

REMOVE

A Cry in the Night by Tom Grieves

This is a mystery/thriller and again, I’m not a fan of the cover. And this sounds like that mix of thriller and mystery which is based on secrets that I’m not the biggest fan of. I don’t think that I would enjoy this book, so again, this is another easy choice for me.

REMOVE

Dead Lovely (Dead Lovely #1) by Helen Fitzgerald

Another thriller and apparently this week is an ugly cover bandwagon, I just do not like this cover at all and it’s kind of creepy. The blurb is very short and it seems a lot like a husband-wife thriller storyline that I usually really don’t enjoy, so I’m going to be removing this one from my TBR.

;

REMOVE

The Art of Drowning by Frances Fyfield

Oh, I think I have heard of this book before! This blurb is so over the place that I didn’t really understand what it was about and just couldn’t be bothered to read right to the end.. so I think it’s clear that this is not going to be a book for me.

;

REMOVE

An American Homo in Paris by Vanessa North

Back to male/male romance and to the strange “dear author” blurbs. I’m just not even going to bother reading this blurb and I’m going to remove this book straight away. I’m very picky with what romances I pick up as they are not a genre I read much of, and I really don’t like how the blurbs are set up as I can’t get the gist of what the story will be about. I’m sure there are loads more romances that will spark an interest more than these anyway.

REMOVE

Serious Moonlight by Jenn Bennett

Oh yay, another book I’ve heard about before and this time I’m sure of it. This one and a few others like it were all the rage a few years ago and I don’t think I even know what this young adult contemporary is about! I’m not too sure about this book, to be honest, I would definitely have given it a shot a few years ago, but my reading tastes have changed, and I think I’m not too interested in it now. That might change in the future, but I think for now I’ll be removing it.

REMOVE

Field Notes on Love by Jennifer E. Smith

I’ve definitely heard of this book before and I think that the cover of this contemporary romance is so cute! I already want to read it, but I’ll check out the blurb first ahah! And I actually think I might give this one a go, it’s not my usual kind of read, but it sounds cute, fun and quick, so I’m hoping it will be good.

KEEP

Call It What You Want by Brigid Kemmerer

Apparently, the new bandwagon is contemporary romance, which I’m not chuffed about, but at least this also means that I have already seen and heard about these books before, which is honestly a relief after so many unknown ones. However, this one doesn’t really sound like my kind of romance story and I’m going to let this one go.

REMOVE

The Shortest Distance Between Love & Hate by Sandy Hall

Another YA contemporary with a very cute cover, at least we can give this genre a bonus for that! I actually got another one of this author’s books for my birthday and I’ve heard some really good things about it. I don’t read many books set in high school or college/university, but this one sounds sweet, funny and again, a quick read, so I’m willing to give it a chance.

KEEP

If I’m Being Honest by Emily Wibberley, Austin Siegemund-Broka

Another known-to-me YA contemporary, but I feel like this might not be my cup of tea for some reason. I feel like this could be another fun and quick read, but the blurb is not really pulling me in like the other ones, so I’m not going to keep this one, although I may add it back in the future if it takes my fancy!

REMOVE

Red Sparrow (Red Sparrow Trilogy #1) by Jason Matthews

I know I added this book to my list because I thought that the film looked really cool, and when that happens and I find out that there is a book it’s based on, I usually skip the film and go straight to the book, which is the case here. This is a spy thriller which I don’t think I’ve ever read any of before. This book kind of sounds good, but also not my cup of tea, so I might just watch the film instead if I fancy it.

REMOVE

Here and Now and Then by Mike Chen

And the final book on this week’s purge list is a science fiction that I don’t think I’ve heard of before, although the author’s name does ring a bell. This book is also a time travel novel which I generally love, so I’m hoping that the blurb is gripping… the premise of this book seems really intriguing, but I’m just not sure about it, so I think I’m going to let this one go for now.

REMOVE

Well, this was a bit of a better week since I had already heard of some of the books, which is a lot better than previous weeks where I’d not heard of any! I also found this week to be quite successful which is a relief as the TBR list keeps going down and down, even if it is taking a really long time to get it down to a non-crazy number.

I was able to remove a total of 17 books from the 20 I looked through today, taking my Goodreads “Want to Read” list down to 3,657 books, which is not many less than last week (because of all the books I added), but it’s better than not going down at all. Next week, I’ll be starting my post at #359.

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

Ellie xx