Tag: TBR

Down the TBR Hole was started by Lia over at Lost in a Story.  All book covers are linked to Goodreads unless otherwise noted.

How it works:

• Go to your Goodreads to-read shelf.
• Order on ascending date added.
• Take the first 5 (or 10 if you’re feeling adventurous) books
• Read the synopses of the books
• Decide: keep it or should it go?

I will be repeating this process until I’ve filtered out my entire TBR.

My TBR pile is down to 670 books, thanks to all the reading I accomplished during Bout of Books!

This week’s books:

At Odds with Destiny by Various Authors – GO.  This is an ebook of books, but it’s mislabeled as book one of a trilogy. I already own one of the books, The Luck of the Weissensteiners by Christoph Fischer, and most of the others don’t sound interesting.

Spirited Away by Maggie Plummer- GO. I try not to judge books by their cover, but what is going on with this one?! Is it a man holding a pregnant woman’s stomach, a woman holding her own pregnant stomach, or something else entirely? Then there’s the synopsis, which is also a confusing mess.  I stopped reading it after the poorly written review that was supposedly from “Publisher’s Weekly.”

The Thief Who Pulled on Trouble’s Braids by Michael McClung – KEEP.  I’m always skeptical of self-published books.  However, this one won a Fantasy blog-off against 267 other self-published books and it has really good reviews.  I’m still skeptical, but I’m willing to give it the 50 page test. The Unwilling Adventurer by Heidi Willard – GO.  The synopsis seemed too good to be true, so I checked some of the reviews, and sure enough, the majority of them are 3 stars and below. I don’t have time in my life for books that are only so-so.

Anais of Brightshire by Jamie Wilson – KEEP. I was initially drawn to this freebie by the title.  The synopsis gives me the impression that the book will have a 50/50 chance of being great or a total dud.  I’m willing to try it.

My TBR pile is down to 667 books. I’ll probably be getting rid of more next week, and since this is a 3-day weekend, I might even be starting the post out with fewer books on the pile.

Down the TBR Hole was started by Lia over at Lost in a Story.  All book covers are linked to Goodreads unless otherwise noted.

How it works:

• Go to your Goodreads to-read shelf.
• Order on ascending date added.
• Take the first 5 (or 10 if you’re feeling adventurous) books
• Read the synopses of the books
• Decide: keep it or should it go?

I will be repeating this process until I’ve filtered out my entire TBR.

My TBR pile is up to 675 books.  A couple of my favorite authors have recently come out with new books, and I couldn’t resist adding them.

This week’s books:

Secrets of the Stonechaser by Nicholas Andrews – GO.  Whoa, that cover is super busy, and the synopsis is, too.  No thanks.

Rise of the Dragons by Morgan Rice- GO. Oh lovely, yet another “sweeping saga” about a teenage girl with a “mysterious inner power” who is the center of a prophecy and is destined to change her world forever. *yawn*

Scarlet and the Dragon’s Burden by Brandon Charles West – KEEP.  This is the 2nd book in the “Scarlet Hopewell” series, and the first book has already made it through one of these posts to stay on my TBR.  Since I already own both of them, I’ll keep this one, too, at least until I read Scarlet and the Keepers of Light. The Book of Deacon by Joseph R. Lallo – KEEP.  I’m skeptical about this one.  I have a feeling it will be very generic Fantasy, but the synopsis is just vague enough to make me think it might be worth my time to read.  We’ll see.

The Arch of Avooblis by Charles Streams – GO. What the heck is an Avooblis?!  The story seems to be fairly serious, but everyone goes to an academy to learn how to fulfill quests, which makes the story come off as a parody of classic Fantasy tropes.  I don’t care enough to find out.

My TBR pile is down to 672 books. Next week’s books will also have a 50/50 chance of being kept or tossed off the mountain.

Down the TBR Hole was started by Lia over at Lost in a Story.  All book covers are linked to Goodreads unless otherwise noted.

How it works:

• Go to your Goodreads to-read shelf.
• Order on ascending date added.
• Take the first 5 (or 10 if you’re feeling adventurous) books
• Read the synopses of the books
• Decide: keep it or should it go?

I will be repeating this process until I’ve filtered out my entire TBR.

My TBR pile is up to 674 books.  I’ve been reading a lot of books, but also adding even more to my wish list.

This week’s books:

Magyk by Angie Sage – KEEP.  Middle-Grade Fantasy.  Why would I get rid of that?

Interesting Times by Matthew Storm- KEEP. A talking cat befriends the MC and then things get interesting. I’m in.

Day of Mindfulness by Milan Barkrania – KEEP.  I like to go back to the basics with Mindfulness and Meditation every once in awhile.

The City Center by Simone Pond – GO.  The synopsis sounds like this book will be very generic Dystopian Fiction.

Elizabeth’s Legacy by Victor Kloss – KEEP. This is another Middle-Grade Fantasy that sounds like it’s right up my alley.

My TBR pile is down one to 673 books.  I’ve got a bunch of Fantasy books coming up for next week, and that means there is a 50/50 chance of keeping them or letting them go.

Down the TBR Hole was started by Lia over at Lost in a Story.  All book covers are linked to Goodreads unless otherwise noted.

How it works:

• Go to your Goodreads to-read shelf.
• Order on ascending date added.
• Take the first 5 (or 10 if you’re feeling adventurous) books
• Read the synopses of the books
• Decide: keep it or should it go?

I will be repeating this process until I’ve filtered out my entire TBR.

My TBR pile is up again to 672 books.  I came across a few books that I couldn’t resist adding to my wish list while I was reading a new-to-me blog.

This week’s books:

Chasing the Flame by Samantha Power – GO.  This is not the book I thought it was.  I thought it was the memoir of someone else who had survived extreme burns over most of his body, but I can’t remember his name.  I just remember watching an interview and then looking for a book that supposedly had the same title.

Eragon by Christopher Paolini – KEEP. This is one of those extremely popular books that everyone but me seems to have read.  My BFF says it was beyond boring, but we sometimes disagree about books, so I’ll give this one the 50 page test.

How to Train a Wild Elephant by Jan Chozen Bays – KEEP.  This is one of the many books on Mindfulness that I own, but I haven’t gotten around to reading it yet.  I probably will the next time I need to “relearn” the skills I learned in therapy.

Go Ask Alice by Anonymous – GO.  I’m just not that interested in reading about a teenager’s story of drug addiction.

Out of Africa by Isak Dinesen – KEEP. I’ve always been curious about this book, since it’s supposed to be the ultimate armchair-travel experience, but I didn’t add it to my TBR until watching “Gilmore Girls.”

My TBR pile is down again to 670 books.  I haven’t yet started any Sci-Fi books for #SciFiSummer, but I’m hoping that now that I’m back home from my trip to Florida, that will change soon.

Down the TBR Hole was started by Lia over at Lost in a Story.  All book covers are linked to Goodreads unless otherwise noted.

How it works:

• Go to your Goodreads to-read shelf.
• Order on ascending date added.
• Take the first 5 (or 10 if you’re feeling adventurous) books
• Read the synopses of the books
• Decide: keep it or should it go?

I will be repeating this process until I’ve filtered out my entire TBR.

My TBR pile is up to 671 books.  I came across a couple of books while I was catching up on the blogs I read, and I just had to add them to my wish list.

This week’s books:

The Emperor’s Knife by Mazarkis Williams – GO.  The synopsis reads like this is a standard Fantasy novel, but everything else I looked at on Goodreads made me think this is not what it appears to be and I would be better off not bothering to find out.

Wish You Were Here by Leslie Simon – KEEP. I’m sure quite a bit of the “today’s music scene” parts of this book will be obsolete, given that it was published a decade ago, but I don’t care.  I still want to read it.

The Whitefire Crossing by Courtney Schafer – KEEP.  Nothing in the synopsis, or anything else on Goodreads gave me pause. So, while I’m not sure this book will be great, I’m going to give it a chance.

The Last Romanov by Dora Levy Mossanen – GO.  This book was a freebie I snatched up with the assumption that it would be Historical Fiction about Anastasia, but apparently it’s more of a Fantasy in an historical setting than anything else and the main character is fictional.  I’ll pass.

Rose of Fire by Carlos Ruiz Zafón – KEEP. I loved The Shadow of the Wind and The Angel’s Game.  The Prisoner of Heaven is on my TBR and The Labyrinth of Spirits is on my wish list.  This is a 30 page short story that is considered to be book 2.5 in the series.

My TBR pile is back down to 669 books.  I’m hoping to make a significant dent in it while Sci-Fi Summer is happening. It starts in a couple of weeks, so I’m trying to finish at least one more book before then, that way I can focus on all of the wonderful Science Fiction on my TBR.

 

Down the TBR Hole was started by Lia over at Lost in a Story.  All book covers are linked to Goodreads unless otherwise noted.

How it works:

• Go to your Goodreads to-read shelf.
• Order on ascending date added.
• Take the first 5 (or 10 if you’re feeling adventurous) books
• Read the synopses of the books
• Decide: keep it or should it go?

I will be repeating this process until I’ve filtered out my entire TBR.

My TBR pile is down to 672 books thanks to Bout of Books.

This week’s books:

The Death Series by Tamara Rose Blodgett – GO.  From what I was able to gather from the synopsis, this is a near-future YA Paranormal Dystopian Mystery series that goes way beyond these first 3 books.  That is just way too much to be good. I’m all for brain candy, but not if it’s going to kill my brain cells.

Out of Time Series by Monique Martin – GO. Again, there is too much going on in these books.  This one is a Time-Travel Mystery that also involves Vampires and Romance.  I love Time-Travel novels.  I also love Vampire novels.  I greatly enjoy Mystery series, but usually only when they are somehow book-related. Y’all know my feelings about Romance. Those individual genres or subgenres are great on their own, but I don’t know how anyone can put them all together and do it well.

The Other Queen by Philippa Gregory – KEEP.  It has been a while since I’ve read any books by Gregory, but I have several of them on my TBR, and I’ve enjoyed all of the others I’ve read. They’re not the most historically accurate, but I don’t think they need to be in order to be good reading.

The Reading Group by Elizabeth Noble – KEEP.  You would be right if you said, “this isn’t your usual genre.” Contemporary Women’s Fiction is definitely not what I usually read.  You would also be right if you said I only got it because it involves books.  That is also why it will stay on my TBR for now.

Planet Urth by Jennifer and Christopher Martucci – GO. The synopsis is too vague and when I looked at the reviews, there were far too many of them that were 2 stars or less.

My TBR mountain is down to 669. At the rate I’m going, I think I can hit my goal for the year, which if I remember correctly, is 625.

Down the TBR Hole was started by Lia over at Lost in a Story.  All book covers are linked to Goodreads unless otherwise noted.

How it works:

• Go to your Goodreads to-read shelf.
• Order on ascending date added.
• Take the first 5 (or 10 if you’re feeling adventurous) books
• Read the synopses of the books
• Decide: keep it or should it go?

I will be repeating this process until I’ve filtered out my entire TBR.

My TBR pile is still at 679 books from last week.  I was hoping to have finished at least one book by today, but that didn’t happen. I am less than 20 pages from finishing Digital Minimalism by Cal Newport, though, so next week should see at least a tiny decrease in the height of the pile.

This week’s books:

Blood Faerie by India Drummond – GO.  As much as I love a story set in Scotland, I’m not into Faeries all that much. I think the only reasons I got this ebook were because of the setting and it was free.

The Girl Who Would Be King by Kelly Thompson – GO. The title doesn’t make sense after reading the synopsis.  Also, the two main characters both have alliterative names, and there doesn’t seem to be any reason as to why.  This was another freebie I picked up at some point, so I’ll pass.

Marking Time by April White – GO.  I’m usually really into stories that involve time travel, but this one doesn’t sound appealing.  It sounds like a weird Sci-Fi mixed in with Historical Romance and a weird Fantasy/Mythology element that I have a feeling won’t make a lot of sense. No thanks.

Creatus by Carmen DeSousa – GO.  The synopsis refers to this book as “Romantic Suspense.” Nope.

Morna’s Legacy by Bethany Claire – GO. The synopsis screams “Outlander” knock-off.  Nope. Nope. Nope.

My TBR mountain is down to 674 books!  I knew at least a couple of this week’s books would find themselves thrown off the TBR, but I didn’t expect all five of them to go.  My goal to get down to 625 books is looking a little more doable.

Down the TBR Hole was started by Lia over at Lost in a Story.  All book covers are linked to Goodreads unless otherwise noted.

How it works:

• Go to your Goodreads to-read shelf.
• Order on ascending date added.
• Take the first 5 (or 10 if you’re feeling adventurous) books
• Read the synopses of the books
• Decide: keep it or should it go?

I will be repeating this process until I’ve filtered out my entire TBR.

My TBR pile is sitting still at 681 books.  I’m reading a lot more thanks to starting a digital decluttering “challenge,” but the books I’m reading are longer or denser in information, so I haven’t finished any of them yet.

This week’s books:

Lichgates by S.M. Boyce – GO.  Why is it that the main female character *always* has to rely on a male with a dark past or secret to navigate the strange and dangerous new world in which she finds herself? Ugh.

Sword Bearer by Teddy Jacobs – KEEP. The title is a bit generic and unpromising and I’m skeptical about the story, but the synopsis is so well written that I’m intrigued enough to give this book the 50 page test.

Wild-Born by Adrian Howell – KEEP.  I have faith that this will be a fun book.  The story involves a boy with telekinetic powers, a girl who relies on telepathy to speak, and a paranormal world full of danger.  It’s not often that Sci-Fi and Fantasy are combined, and even more rare for that combination to do well enough to make it the finals of any competition.

Frey by Melissa Wright – GO.  “Unaware she’s been bound from using magic…” Is it just me or does that sentence not make sense? Another weird word choice in the synopsis is “Hunted by council…” Not “the council” or “a council”, but just “council”? With a synopsis that poorly written, I’ll pass on this book.

Dead of Winter by James Goss – KEEP. It’s a “Doctor Who” book, so of course I’m going to keep it.

My TBR mountain is down two books to 679 books.  All of next week’s 5 books are potentially doomed to be thrown off the side of the mountain since they were all freebies back when I was still a bit impulsive about downloading free ebooks.  See you next week!

Down the TBR Hole was started by Lia over at Lost in a Story.  All book covers are linked to Goodreads unless otherwise noted.

How it works:

• Go to your Goodreads to-read shelf.
• Order on ascending date added.
• Take the first 5 (or 10 if you’re feeling adventurous) books
• Read the synopses of the books
• Decide: keep it or should it go?

I will be repeating this process until I’ve filtered out my entire TBR. Despite the 24-Hour #Readathon, my TBR pile is only down one  book at 682 books.  I finished so many books last weekend, but some of them weren’t on my TBR, and while spending time on Twitter checking out the readathon hashtag and cheering on other readers, I discovered more books to add!

This week’s books:

The Other of One by Brian Burke – KEEP.  The synopsis is interesting enough for me to give this book the 50 page test.

Sword and Laser Anthology ed. by Veronica Belmont and Tom Merritt – KEEP. I love the Sword and Laser book club, so I snatched this anthology up as soon as it was available.

Division of the Marked by March McCarron – GO.  I was considering keeping this book until it mentioned Romance.  No, thank you.

In a Glass Darkly by Sheridan Le Fanu – KEEP.  I’m hoping to finally get to this during the next 24-Hour Readathon in October, especially since the story “Carmilla” is included.

The Girl in Between by Laekan Zea Kemp – KEEP. I don’t know why, but I love the cover of this book.  I’m skeptical of whether or not it will be worth reading, though.  Like the first book on this week’s list, I’ll give it the 50 page test.

My TBR mountain is down one book to 681 books.  Taking a glance at the next 5 books on my list, there is only one that I know I will be keeping without a doubt, so hopefully I will be shedding a few more books next week.

Down the TBR Hole was started by Lia over at Lost in a Story.  All book covers are linked to Goodreads unless otherwise noted.

How it works:

• Go to your Goodreads to-read shelf.
• Order on ascending date added.
• Take the first 5 (or 10 if you’re feeling adventurous) books
• Read the synopses of the books
• Decide: keep it or should it go?

I will be repeating this process until I’ve filtered out my entire TBR.

My TBR pile is holding steady at 685 books.  Though I finished a book this week, I didn’t start another one.  I’m already reading 3 books right now, with hardly any time to actually read, so I didn’t want to pick up a 4th only to have it neglected.

This week’s books:

A Dream of Hope and Sorrow by Jonathan Crocker – GO.  Like several of last week’s books, this book comes off sounding generic and uninteresting.

Call of the Herald by Brian Rathbone – GO. I don’t think the synopsis for this book could be any more nondescript and vague.

The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle – KEEP.  This contains all of the stories involving Professor Moriarty.  Since I have only ever seen film or TV adaptations of the Sherlock Holmes stories, I’m very interested in reading this book.

Anywhere But Here by Jason D. Morrow – KEEP.  I started this one last Summer, but then got distracted by other Sci-Fi books.  I will pick this one up again, hopefully this Summer.

Engines of War by George Mann – KEEP. I would never willingly remove a “Doctor Who” book from my TBR without reading it.

My TBR mountain is down to 683 books.  I still have a long way to hit my goal for this year, but at least I haven’t added any more books.