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Hello Hello! How are you today?
I’m back for my bimonthly foray into my massive TBR list on GoodReads. As you know, this list is out of control, and I can’t seem to stop myself from adding to it. So for the past 2 years, I’ve been slowly making my way through it to try to whittle it down to a manageable number!
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! One change I am making is that instead of ordering the books in ascending date added, I’m now going to do it in alphabetical order. I don’t know why, it just seems to have more sense this way for me. I’m also going to aim to remove 50% of the books mentioned in each post and update my Goodreads with the books I do actually own!
For today’s post, I’m starting off with a grand total of 4,281 books on my GoodReads “Want to Read” shelf, which means I’ve added more books since I last did a clear out! Argh, I really need to practise more self AND shelf control!! I’m now going to go through the next 20 books on the list in alphabetical order, in the hopes of removing 50% or more!
Keep on reading to see how I get on!
Air Awakens (#1) by Elise Kova
I’ve actually just purchased a book by this author, but her other series called “Married to Magic”, the first book being A Deal with the Elf King, so I already know I’m intrigued by her writing/stories. I also really like this cover, it seems very fantasy-esque. And the first sentence of the blurb is literally enough to make me want to keep it: “A library apprentice, a sorcerer prince, and an unbreakable magic bond…”. I’m actually surprised that I haven’t come across this book/ picked it up/ read it before because it sounds just like my kind of read.
KEEP
The Air You Breathe by Frances de Pontes Peebles
This is a historical fiction, set on a sugar plantation in Brazil in the 1930s, in which a friendship between two very different girls blossoms. I love historical fiction, however, I don’t usually tend to like books with female friendships since I read a few very toxic ones and have completely gone off them. Also, since one of the two girls is described as a sort of rich, up-herself brat, it doesn’t make me want to read about her anyway. I’ve got more than enough other historical fictions on this list in all likelihood, so I’ll concentrate on those.
REMOVE
Akata Witch (#1 The Nsibidi Scripts) by Nnedi Okorafor
Ohhh, I’ve seen this book around so much and actually don’t know that much about it! From the blurb, it seems to be an MG/YA fantasy including disabilities/differences and using those to your advantage. I’m curious to see how the representation would be done in this book and hope it wouldn’t be like a super-crip kind of thing… I’ve read way too many of those during my thesis, lol. I’m intrigued as to this book, especially as it seems to be a bit of a mystery at the same time. I’m going to give it a chance and see how it fairs.
KEEP
Alabama 1963 by Ludovic Manchette and Christian Niemiec
This is a French historical fiction mystery book that I already own, and that I want to read, so I will obviously be keeping it, as I bought it only a couple of months ago. It is about murders that occur, and no one takes any notice, because the victims are all black girls… until one detective does notice and does something about it. I heard a lot of good things about it, so I will have to give it a try at some point in the near future.
KEEP
Alanna: The First Adventure (#1 Song of the Lioness) by Tomara Pierce
I hadn’t ever seen or heard about this book before, but was kind of surprised to see it was written by a relatively well-known author, although this series dates from the 1980s, so that might be why I’d not heard of it before, lol. This actually sounds really good, but before reading this author’s backlist, I want to read one of their newer releases. So I’m going to give this a miss at the present time and focus on other books by Tamora Pierce first.
REMOVE
Aldaraia by Clinchandhill
Another book I had never seen before and I have no idea how to pronounce the title, or even the author! I actually can’t believe that I’ve never heard of it before because it is quite recent (2019) and IT SOUNDS SO GOOD! It seems to be a book in the vein of the Robert Langdon series by Dan Brown. It doesn’t seem to have many reviews/ratings, so I think it might be indie, but I do like a good indie book, and I’m willing to give it a go, as it sounds fascinating and full of intrigue!
KEEP
Alecto, L’œuf de l’immortel by Yann Fastier
This is a book I have on another GoodReads shelf as well, one of the library To Be Read lists I’ve been compiling for the past year. I seem to have gone off this synopsis a bit, and it’s not one I am absolutely desperate to read because I have so many others on library TBRs and on my own physical TBR in general that I don’t feel the need to read it as the blurb doesn’t really do it for me anymore. I’ll give this a miss!
REMOVE
Alex and Eliza (#1) by Melissa de la Cruz
I know that I’ve had this book on my TBR for years but it has been so long that I don’t even know what it is about anymore… Ohhhh… It is a young adult historical fiction romance starring Alexander Hamilton, during the American Revolution. I have to admit to not knowing much about the American Revolution and Hamilton, other than what I studied at university, and this would not usually be the kind of book I would pick up, but I feel like it is worth a chance, so I’ll be keeping it on my TBR.
KEEP
Alex in Wonderland by Simon James Green
I’ve however never heard of this book, even though the cover does seem similar. This is a YA LGBT contemporary romance about a young boy who is abandoned by his friends for the summer and finds a job in a nearby arcade called ‘Wonderland’. From the ratings and reviews, it seems to be quite a good book, but I’m afraid it is just in no way my kind of read at my age and with my specific tastes now, so I’m going to give this a miss.
REMOVE
Alex, Approximately by Jenn Bennett
I’ve seen this book all over Bookstagram for SO many years, but I don’t really know what it’s about… oops! Now that I have read the blurb, I think this will be a no for me, for the simple reason that my reading tastes have changed from when I added it to my TBR 5 years ago, and I don’t see a point in reading it since I know it won’t be my cup of tea, even though I’m sure it is a sweet and cute book. Just not for me.
REMOVE
Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood
So far, I’ve only ever read The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood. The first time I read it I basically hated it, but then I reread it and absolutely loved it. I think this book also has a TV show or a film if I’m not mistaken, and I do definitely want to read The Testaments by this author anyway. I’m a bit worried the mental health angle will be a bit iffy, but I really like the sound of this book and the premise is interesting. I know I like Margaret Atwood’s writing style as well, so I’m going to give it a chance.
KEEP
Alice (#1 The Chronicles of Alice) by Christina Henry
This is also a book I already own and that was gifted to me a few years ago, when I was in Stirling, Scotland. Despite having a few books by this author on my shelves and TBR, I still haven’t read anything by her. This book is a bit of a dark retelling of Alice in Wonderland, with a horror twist and it sounds like I’ll have to be in the right frame of mind to read it, but the blurb makes it sound absolutely incredible. All of her fairy tale retellings are dark and in the horror genre, so I’m very excited to discover them!
KEEP
Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
And this is obviously the original version of the classic we have all heard about. I own a beautiful copy of this book which was also gifted to me a few years ago. I know what happens in this story because I’ve seen a few screen adaptations which I really enjoyed, especially the Tim Burton one. I’m a little bit nervous of reading this book so many years after watching the films, but I’ve been told it is very good, and it’s also not very long, so I’m going to give it a go, maybe this year!
KEEP
The Alice Network by Kate Quinn
I started this one as an audiobook when I was studying in Scotland three years ago, listening to it on the bus on the way to university. That is, until the lockdown happened, and I didn’t commute to the university anymore, and this book was basically forgotten… I was really enjoying what I had read so far though, I think I was about 30% in. And I definitely want to know what happens next in this book. I already own The Rose Code by this author, but I’ll have to pick up a copy of The Alice Network and give it another chance.
KEEP
Alice Payne Arrives (#1 Alice Payne) by Kate Heartfield
I’ve seen this book about so much and I was so intrigued by it the first time I saw it, but now I can’t remember the blurb off-hand. From the blurb, I can see it is a science fiction time travel story, but also LGBT and historical fiction. I really like the sound of the premise and I really like the cover. I usually love this kind of story, so I really want to try this one out too.
KEEP
The Alienist (#1 Dr. Laszlo Kreizler) by Caleb Carr
On the other hand, I’ve never heard of or seen this book before. From the cover, I was thinking that it was going to be weird or boring, but now having read the blurb, I’m very intrigued. It is about a sort of rag-tag group of people: a psychologist, a New York Times reporter and a police secretary. The three of them are thrown together in an effort to find a murderer based on patterns in his crimes and hopefully stop him before he strikes again. It is an older book, written in the 1990s, but it is a historical fiction mystery, with I’m sure lots of police and criminology stuff, so I am going to give it a chance, it sounds just like my kind of read.
KEEP
All About Mia by Lisa Williamson
This is also a new one to me, and I don’t particularly like the cover. I have a feeling I’m not going to be interested in this one since it’s YA contemporary “realistic fiction”, but I have to check the blurb first… And as I expected, this is really not my kind of read. It is about three sisters, the straight-A student, the future Olympic champion and “the mess in the middle”. When one of them makes a shocking announcement to her family, Mia thinks she will be “punished” but instead, it’s Mia’s life which spirals out of control. I don’t like the sound of this at all.
REMOVE
All Boys Aren’t Blue by George M. Johnson
When this book came out, it was all the rage and I saw it all over social media and saw lots of people raging about it. I like the cover, and I know it’s LGBTQIA+, but that’s as much as I know about it. And I’m now surprised to find out it’s a nonfiction memoir, I was expecting fantasy or contemporary from the cover! Now that I’ve read the blurb, I think it would be a very interesting read. I don’t usually like memoirs or essays, but it covers very important topics that I want to read more about, so I’ll be keeping it on the list!
KEEP
All Eyes on Her by Laurie Elizabeth Flynn
The minute I saw this cover, I was completely creeped out… I really don’t like it, and I have no idea what this book is about, although I can guess. Ohhhh it is a YA mystery/thriller about a girl, and everyone thinks she killed her boyfriend one day on a hike, and it is told from the perspective of everyone but herself. The blurb also said that it was perfect for fans of We Were Liars and One of Us is Lying, which are two books I love. So I’m hoping I can find another cover, as I want to try this one out.
KEEP
All is Not Forgotten by Wendy Walker
And the final book on this week’s Down the TBR Hole post is one that I’m pretty sure I’ve never seen before. It is a thriller/mystery, and again, I really don’t like the cover… Now having read the blurb, I can tell you that this is not the kind of book I read. One night, the main character got attacked at a party and was given a drug to erase her memory, her father tries desperately to find her attacker and her mum makes out it didn’t happen so as not to tarnish her country club life. Yeah… this is going to be a big nope for me.
REMOVE
I don’t think I did as well as I did last week as I think I kept more books than I got rid of, but it reminded me of a few I really want to read.
So, for this week’s post, out of the 20 books I went through, I was able to remove a total of 7 books, which is not as good as I was hoping for, but better than nothing. I only managed to get rid of 35% of today’s list, but as I said, better than nothing.
That takes the Goodreads Want to Read List down to 4,274 books, which is the same amount I got down to last time. I hope I can keep it at that number until next time I do a TBR Purge.
That’s all for now, I hope you enjoyed reading this post.
See you soon, stay safe,
Ellie xx