Down The TBR Hole #5

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Hello Hello! How are you?

It’s that time of the week again: the Purge! I’ve had to move my post forward a day because I had something else planned for Friday, but this is the same concept as each week, trying to cut my TBR down to a number that isn’t ridiculous.

As always, you can find my first Down the TBR Hole post here. This week I’m starting with 5,272 books and I’m going to be looking through the next 20 books on my Goodreads “Want to Read” shelf, starting at #49 today, hopefully, I’ll soon be able to get to #100 and then I’ll only have a million more to go! Yes, sometimes I do question my sanity, but let’s get this rolling and get some more books cleared off the TBR!

GOODREADS “WANT TO READ” SHELF

The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas by John Boyne

I saw the film a few years ago and it completely destroyed me, I think I even cried from the middle to the end, so I knew I wanted to read the book. I don’t have to read the synopsis to know that this is definitely on my list and I really need to get to it soon. Historical fiction is one of my favourite genres and I really like reading about WWII, it’s always so vivid, and it leaves me in pieces but I really like reading about it.

KEEP

Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert

I recently read Rust: A Memoir of Steel and Grit by Eliese Colette Goldbach, and I loved it so, so much. It was my first-ever memoir and I loved the experience so I decided I wanted to read some more memoirs! I love travelling and this blurb just sounds so intriguing and I’m looking forward to knowing more about Elizabeth Gilbert’s journey to finding herself, I think it could be a beautiful read.

KEEP

Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe

I’ve had this on my TBR for what seems like years, and I know that I have this one at home, and it’s in my TBR jar, so hopefully, when I get home to France and start using the TBR jar again I’ll get to this one fairly soon!

KEEP

Candide by Voltaire

I also have this one at home, I bought it on a whim in a charity shop because I studied philosophy in high school and really enjoyed it, but now that it’s been sitting on a shelf and gathering dust for years, I’m sort of not really bothered with it, I don’t think I can find the energy to read this one because it’s just probably one of those long and drawn out French books, so I think I’ll take it off for now and maybe unhaul it too!

REMOVE

The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold

At first I knew I really wanted to read this one, but now I’m not too sure. I’m not too bad about anything like this, and I don’t have any triggers like those in this book, but it feels a bit weird to me to want to read this book now. I feel like I have another book on my list that is similar and that has better ratings and I think that when I finally find it again I might read that one first and then add this one if I liked it, but it doesn’t really interest me much now.

REMOVE

Into the Wild by John Krakauer

YES, YES, YES, no question about it, I absolutely want to read this book. It’s my all-time favourite film and I have watched it about a million times, I need to watch it again soon because I really miss it! I’m definitely going to get to the book this year too because it’s on a few of my challenge TBRs! Who else has seen this film? What did you think?

KEEP

Schindler’s List by Thomas Keneally

Apparently this week we are on the WWII and morbid bandwagon, this TBR is definitely in a mood of its own! I saw this film a few years ago as well and I loved it so much, my parents actually had the book as well so I added it to my list straight away, but it’s been waiting ever since. I might not get to this one straight away because I have a lot of hard-hitting books to get to first but it’s definitely a priority for the future!

KEEP

The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien

I initially didn’t know what this one was about but added it for its title (yes, I know, that’s bad!), and since I’ve read the blurb I’m just not interested anymore, I don’t really like stuff about Vietnam and the war, and I know that I’ve got a ton of other historical fiction books to get through that are more my type, so I’m going to concentrate on those instead.

REMOVE

A Separate Peace by John Knowles

Apparently another book set around the period of WWII. The blurb really intrigues me, I really want to find out what happens between these boys at boarding school, but at the same time, I know I have a ton of other classics to read first, so I might add it back on the last later, but right now I don’t really feel like reading it.

REMOVE

Prisoner of Night and Fog (#1) by Anne Blankman

Okay, so this is WWII bandwagon week, I mean, seriously, how can this be possible every week? I think I watched one of Hailey’s videos on her YouTube channel Hailey in Bookland, and I immediately added it to my TBR because she is one of the few BookTubers that have the same reading tastes as me. As I’ve already said, WWII historical fiction is an immediate yes for me, so this is staying on the list, but I will remove the other book(s) in the series in case I don’t decide to continue it when I finally get to the first book.

KEEP

Watching Glass Shatter by James J. Cudney

My reading tastes have changed quite drastically over the years, I would have loved reading this book a few years ago, but now the thought of it just bugs me, I don’t really like reading family tragedy/secret stories and this is no exception.

REMOVE

Every Heart A Doorway (#1) by Seanan McGuire

I’ve wanted to read this book ever since Kayla from BooksAndLala on YouTube talked about it in a few of her videos and my lovely friend, Fiona from Fi’s Bibliophiles has since recommended it to me, so I’m going to endeavour to get to at least the first book in the series this year. I’ve added it to one of my challenge TBRs, so hopefully it won’t be too long until I can read it, as always, I’m removing the other books in the series until I decide whether I want to continue reading it. By the way, I have over 20 books by Seanan McGuire on my TBR, how is that possible? I’m not convinced it’s the same person though so I might wait to get to the other books before I remove them all!

KEEP

Counting by 7s by Holly Goldberg Sloan

I added this book to my TBR when I finished reading The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon because I adored it so much and this was one of the books recommended to read next by Goodreads. I’ve heard quite good things about it for a few years and the blurb is especially really interesting.

KEEP

The Winner’s Curse (#1) by Marie Rutkoski

It seems like forever since a fantasy book has popped up on my Goodreads “want to read” shelf, actually, I think this might be the first one I’ve come across, who wants to bet with me that next week will be fantasy bandwagon week? I can’t remember when I decided to add this one to this list, but I’m quite convinced it was a cover add, and I’m so glad I followed my whim because it sounds incredible! I love books like this one, I’m such a sucker for fantasy, especially with unexpected love interests, so I need to make it a priority to get to this one. I’ll be removing the other books in the series until I’m able to read the first book.

KEEP

These Broken Stars (#1) by Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner

I read Aurora Rising by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff in February and absolutely loved it, so I’m definitely willing to read a book by another collab with Amie Kaufman. I don’t think I’ve ever read a Meagan Spooner book, but I think I have some of hers on my TBR (I think I can say that about a million authors at least). I’m also new to science fiction, especially books set in space, but, I’ve decided to go out of my comfort zone this year and try some different genres, so I think I might give this one a chance! This blurb actually really intrigues me, especially the bit about how each book follows a different love story! I also made sure to take off my list any other sequel by Amie Kaufman/collabs with her.

KEEP

Then She Was Gone by Lisa Jewell

I have quite a few Lisa Jewell books on my TBR and I have to say that it’s a bit strange when a character from a thriller novel shares your name, it actually spooks me out a bit… but, this one actually seems really interesting, I sometimes struggle with family thriller type novels, but I want to give this one a shot.

KEEP

Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee: An Indian History of the American West by Dee Brown

I very rarely read non-fiction, in fact, aside from my coursework, I don’t think I’ve ever read a piece of non-fiction, but I’m studying American Indian History at the moment and I’m adoring it, it’s so heartbreaking but it’s also really uplifting and I’d love to find out all I can about anything in this subject, so this is an immediate yes!

KEEP

The Da Vinci Code (#2) by Dan Brown

I read the first book in the Robert Langdon series a few years ago and I really enjoyed it, I just haven’t found the time to get to the second book, even though it’s been on multiple monthly TBRs. Loads of people have told me that this is one of the hardest books to read, and I don’t know whether I should take them seriously or not, because I didn’t struggle at all with the first book, sure it’s a bit complicated to keep track of everything and there are loads of theories and it’s a bit of an info-dump at times, but I didn’t find it hard, so I’ll just have to find out for myself. I’ll be taking the other sequels off before I get to this one!

KEEP

Red Dragon (#1) by Thomas Harris

I’ve seen the different Hannibal Lecter films multiple times and always enjoyed them and I bought the whole book series a few years ago when I saw them in a charity shop, but I still haven’t gotten a chance to read them. I’m going to try to get to the first book soon though!

KEEP

The Captain’s Daughter by Leah Fleming

If I remember correctly, this is another book that I purchased because it was about something I liked, a film I watched or a subject I was interested in. In this case, it was to do with the Titanic. I watched the film when I was a kid for the first time, and then at least 10 times since, and it still makes me sob right from the start. I really like reading and learning more about real events and since I went to the Titanic Museum in Cobh in Ireland last year, I’ve really wanted to read some more about it, so I’ll have to get to this one soon! Can you tell that when I like a film, I immediately have to see what it’s like in book form? I’m curious to see what this book is like since it’s more of a retelling than the actual thing.

KEEP

This took so long this time I feel, and I did even worse than last time! It seems like it gets worse and worse every week, but on the bright side I did manage to get rid of some more sequels and books by the same authors, so I’ve still made quite a nice dent in the TBR. I’m now currently on 5,247 books and at #63, so hopefully I’ll get some more books off the list next week!

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

Ellie xx