Down the TBR Hole #48

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Hello Hello! How are you?

I have to say, thank goodness it’s Friday. I think this has been one of the busiest weeks I’ve had in a while, but it was also a very productive week. It’s my week in online classes next week, I just have to go in on Monday for an exam, but I’m glad I get to lounge about in comfy clothes next week again! I’m glad to be back for the usual TBR Purge because I have once again done damage to my TBR.

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!

My Down the TBR Hole post is starting today with a total of 3,729 books on my Goodreads “Want to Read” shelf, which means I’ve added more books since last time… As usual, I will be making my way through the next 20 books on this list to see what I can get rid of, and I’ll be starting today at #424.  

GOODREADS “WANT TO READ” SHELF

Inkheart (#1 Inkworld) by Cornelia Funke

I’m starting this week off with a YA fantasy that I have seen about everywhere in the last couple of years, but I’ve never actually read the blurb. And oh wow, now that I finally have read this synopsis, I’m hooked and I need this in my life right now. I love books about books and this story sounds like it’s going to be full of adventure, magic, that it will be high-stakes and that I’ll have a lot of fun.

KEEP

Artemis Fowl (#1 Artemis Fowl) by Eoin Colfer

Another series I have seen about a lot lately and one that again, I’m not really sure what it is about, but I’ve heard it is actually better than Harry Potter. I have to be honest though and say that I’m not too sure what this book is about. I think I saw the film a little while ago, but I fell asleep in the middle, this is not what I remember seeing aha. I think that I will give this one the benefit of the doubt and pick the first book in the series up to try.

KEEP

The Dead Fathers Club by Matt Haig

Matt Haig is an author who has been getting very popular in the book community in the last years and I think the book that really made me notice him was The Midnight Library. I’m still yet to read that though. Anyway, this is apparently a YA mystery, which is a genre I’ve been loving lately. It is also a retelling of Hamlet, which… OMG YES!!! I might struggle with the whole “dead father club” aspect, but I will give it a try because I think it sounds incredible.

KEEP

A Single Glance (#1 Irresistible Attraction) by Willow Winters

I am not into straight-up romance like what this book is and very rarely do I ever read any because it’s just not a genre that appeals to me much. I would have probably have picked this book up a few years ago and loved it, but since moving towards SFF and historical fiction, I’ve just not fancied romances that much, so I’ll let this one go.

REMOVE

Those Who Rise by J. Dolores Perry

This is a YA dystopia that I have never heard of before. I do actually love dystopias and I have read my fair share, but for some reason, this book just doesn’t appeal to me. I think the whole religious factions plot is kind of not doing anything for me, and I don’t think I would enjoy this one as much now as I would have some years ago, so this is another book I’ll get rid of.

REMOVE

Every Last Word by Tamara Ireland Stone

This is a YA contemporary, and as you know, it’s not a genre I read anymore. I also just don’t fancy this one at the minute, and I don’t think I would enjoy it. I know it has a really important theme, mental health, but I do know that I have a load of books dealing with mental health on my TBR that actually appeal to me a lot more than this one, so I will stick with those for now.

REMOVE

Bit Grim, Isn’t It? by Christopher Galvin

This is a short story collection that I’ve never heard of before, but the title is really drawing me in. It’s about death, which IS a bit grim, but I am a grim kind of person and I am very intrigued by this blurb. It is only a little book with 10 short stories from a range of genres, so I think I want to give this one a try.

KEEP

All Our Yesterdays by Cristin Terrill

This one is another unknown-to-me book which is also a YA science fiction, time travel, dystopia, which is a mouthful. And oh my goodness, this book sounds incredible, and much more my kind of read. I love a good time travel story and this sounds to be more on the darker side, which I really enjoy anyway, so I definitely want to try this one out!

KEEP

Under Rose-Tainted Skies by Louise Gornall

I’ve heard about this book a few times already, mainly seeing it on Bookstagram and noticing it because of the pretty cover, but I have no idea what this book is about other than the fact that it is YA contemporary, also on the topic of mental health. Again, I have a lot of other books on my TBR that are about mental health and that take my fancy a lot more than this one, so I won’t beat about the bush, and I’ll remove it.

REMOVE

Of Beast and Beauty by Stacey Jay

This is obviously a retelling of Beauty and the Beast, and you know that I love a good retelling, especially when they are on the darker side, which is what this book seems to promise. This also actually sounds like it turns the fairy tale on its head a little bit. Needless to say, I am very intrigued.

KEEP

The Glass Casket by McCormick Templeman

Another book I’ve never heard of or seen before. It’s a YA fantasy retelling of, quite obviously, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and I have to say that I absolutely hate that cover. It sounds also really dark, but I don’t know why, this one is not doing anything for me. I think the cover killed it and I know it’s bad to judge a book by its cover, but I frankly don’t want to own that cover, so I’ll have to make do with my other books ahah.

REMOVE

Illusions of Fate by Kiersten White

Apparently this week we are on a cover theme bandwagon because this is the third book in the row with a girl and with a focus on her hands. This is an unknown-to-me YA fantasy romance. Uhmmm, I’m not really sure what I think of this one, the blurb is a little bit too vague for me to really know if I like the sound of it or not, and since I have so many fantasies already on my TBR, I think I will let this one go.

REMOVE

Of Metal and Wishes (#1 Of Metal and Wishes) by Sarah Fine

Oh look, another cover with a girl on it. This is also a YA fantasy retelling, so we are doubling up on the bandwagons it seems. I think I would have pounced on this book when I was a teenager, but since then, I’ve discovered what I really like to read about. I thought I would want to pick this book up, but again, the blurb is just not doing anything for me to be honest.

REMOVE

The Fairest of Them All by Carolyn Turgeon

And yet again, another YA fantasy retelling. And a girl on the cover. And a cover I hate! This is a kind of mish-mash of quite a few fairy tales and quite frankly, I am very confused. I think that from the blurb, it is trying to do a little too much, and I just don’t want to pick it up, so I guess I’ll just have to concentrate on other fairy tale retellings on my TBR.

REMOVE

Ember by Bettie Sharpe

Another YA fantasy retelling… and MORE hands!! However, the blurb has just totally put me off with that first sentence: “Everyone loves Prince Charming. They have to—he’s cursed. Every man must respect him. Every woman must desire him. One look, and all is lost.” I just don’t like where that is going or what that implies, so I’m getting rid of this one.

REMOVE

Shadows on the Moon (#1 The Moonlit Lands) by Zoë Marriott

More YA fantasy retellings with girls on the cover, I think I must have been quite trigger-happy on the “Add” button at this point. It sounds like it’s a retelling of Cinderella, which is not one of my favourite fairy tales, and I don’t think anything can now live up to Cinderella is Dead by Kalynn Bayron. Once again, this is not a book that appeals to me much, so I’m going to let it go.

REMOVE

The Scarecrow King by Jill Myles

I can’t believe that this week has been filled with so many covers with girls pictured on them. I don’t usually like actual pictures of people on covers, unless it’s a nonfiction book, and I much prefer an illustration for fiction. I just don’t like this cover at all, and it’s another fantasy retelling of King Thrushbeard, which I have never heard of before. I might have picked this up a few years ago but my tastes have changed and I just don’t fancy it.

REMOVE

House of Ivy & Sorrow by Natalie Whipple

Oh phew, finally a better cover, and just a usual YA fantasy, with witches, so that bodes well. I also love anything floral on covers so I’m liking this a lot more than previous ones. However, I didn’t really understand what the blurb was about, and I’ve never heard of this book before, so I think I will stick to some other fantasies with witches I have on my TBR.

REMOVE

Heart’s Blood by Juliet Marillier

I think I spoke too soon because we are back to YA fantasy retellings with girls on the cover. I think this is a retelling of Beauty and the Beast but can’t really be sure because the blurb was a little vague and all over the place. I’m honestly not in the mood for this book and while I adore fairy tale retellings, the ones that have been on my list today haven’t appealed to me at all, so this is an easy choice.

REMOVE

Panic (#1) by Lauren Oliver

And the final book on my list for this week is a YA contemporary (I don’t know whether to say “phew” or “oh no”) and this is by an author that I’ve heard a lot about but I don’t think I’ve ever read a book by her. From what I can gather from the synopsis, this is about a game that relies on its competitors to have secrets? I might be completely wrong, but I don’t think this would be a book for me.

REMOVE

Well, that was quite a weird list today, but I am glad that I was able to remove a lot of books that I either would never ever have picked up or might have done when I was younger. Either way, I won’t be picking them up today and I’m glad they are off my list.

Today, I was able to remove a total of 15 books from the 20 I went through, which is so much better than I’ve done in the past weeks. And now my Goodreads “Want to Read” shelf is down to 3,714 books – progress! I will be starting my usual post next week at #430.

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

Ellie xx