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 went down one to 687 books.  I finished reading Smash! by Ian Winwood and started Cinderella’s Big Score by Maria Raha. I also started reading Day After Night by Anita Diamant.

This week’s books:

Halfway Dead by Terry Maggert – KEEP.  “Come for the waffles. Stay for the magic.”  That’s the first sentence of the synopsis on Goodreads.  Yes, please!

The Space Between by Diana Gabaldon – KEEP. This one is a no-brainer, considering my love for all things “Outlander.”

Shadow of the Sun by Laura Kreitzer – GO.  This book sounded like it might be vaguely interesting until the last couple of sentences in the synopsis.  At that point it sounded like the author had tried to put too many elements into the story and the plot would wind up being ridiculous.  No, thanks.

Sora’s Quest by T.L. Shreffler – GO.  I have the feeling that even though the synopsis doesn’t mention any romance, this is going to basically be a Paranormal Romance.  Not interested.

Everflame by Dylan Lee Peters – GO. “…an epic battle of good versus evil.”  What is it with these free ebooks and their generic story lines?!

My TBR mountain is down to 685 books.  It would be lower if I hadn’t added a couple of books to my wish list, but it could have been higher had I not finished a book and started two others.  The one good thing, for my wallet anyway, is that I haven’t bought any more books this week.  Instead, I checked out Day After Night from my local public library.

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 went up again to 688 books.  After I finished reading Escape From Mr. Lemoncello’s Library by Chris Grabenstein, I immediately added the next books in the series to my wish list.

This week’s books:

Heap House by Edward Carey – GO.  The synopsis is a little confusing and what I thought was a book done in the style of Edward Gorey, or at least in his “mood,” just seems to be a book about an unhappy child that can “hear” inanimate objects talking to him about weird things.  On the surface that sort of sounds interesting, but…I don’t know…I’m just not feeling it.

Roverandom by J.R.R. Tolkien – KEEP. I’ve read this one before, but it’s been well over a decade.  It’s one of my fave non-Hobbit-related tales by Tolkien and it’s also one of my favorite titles!  I love saying it 🙂

Double Booked for Death by Ali Brandon – KEEP.  This is the first book in one of the many book-related Mystery series I would love to try out.  I’m trying to get through a couple of other series before I pick this one up, though, so it’s still on my wish list.

Tommy Black and the Coat of Invincibility by Jake Kerr – KEEP.  I absolutely LOVED Tommy Black and the Staff of Light, so there is no way I won’t be reading this at some point.  I’m in no hurry, though, since the 3rd book in the series was supposed to have been released in 2016, but is still not available as far as I can tell.

Child of the Prophecy by Juliet Marillier – KEEP. I’ve been wanting to read this one for a long time now, but it’s long, and I’m afraid my few bits of time to read during the week will make it difficult for me to stay in the story.  Marillier writes stories you really have to immerse yourself in and only stop reading to come up for tea, food, and bathroom breaks every once in awhile.  I need a long weekend with nothing to do and nowhere to go when I’m also not sick.

My TBR mountain is down one to 687 books.  I’ve proven to myself that not adding any more books is nearly impossible, especially when I start a new-to-me Middle-Grade series.  I’m perfectly fine with adding more books to my TBR if it means I’m loving what I read!

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 shot up to 686 books, mostly because I finally got around to adding the books I’ve bought in the past few months, and partly because I added some books to my wish list.

This week’s books:

Rest Haven by Erik Therme – KEEP.  This book sounds like the perfect kind of Horror for me to read during the Dewey’s 24-Hour Readathon in October.

The Reader by Traci Chee – KEEP. I found out about this book during a panel at the Texas Book Festival several years ago.  The story is set in a world where no one reads or even knows what books are, and that is terrifying to me.  I must read it!

Burn Baby Burn by Meg Medina – KEEP.  I found out about this one during the very same panel.  It’s YA Historical Fiction about a time I know very little about, 1977 in New York when a serial killer known as Son of Sam was out killing people on the streets.

Curse of the Boggin by D.J. MacHale – KEEP.  I found out about this book at a different panel that day at that Texas Book Festival.  It’s written by the creator of the show “Are You Afraid of the Dark?”  This book also involves a mysterious library.  I’m hoping to finally pick this one up during the 24-Hour Readathon.

The Forever King by Molly Cochran – KEEP. I bought this book when I realized that I already had the 2nd book in the series, The Broken Sword.  I started it quite awhile back, but got sidetracked by another book and never picked it back up.  I think reading it sometime this Spring is a good idea.

My TBR mountain is still at 686 books.  I’m only a couple of posts away from getting into the books I added in 2017 and the halfway point of the mountain, assuming I don’t add any more books.  I wonder if that’s even possible?!

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.

I’ve been very sick this past week, which means I’ve had time on my hands to read whenever I’m not sleeping.  My TBR pile is down one to 674 books.

This week’s books:

The 131/2 Lives of Captain Bluebear by Walter Moers – KEEP.  This is the first book in the “Zamonien” series, of which I have read books 4 and 6, The Labyrinth of Dreaming Books and The City of Dreaming Books. The series doesn’t have to be read in order, similar to Terry Pratchett’s “Disc World” series, but some of the books (including the 2nd) haven’t been translated into English from the original German yet.

Deadlight Jack by Mark Onspaugh – KEEP. I got this book through Netgalley quite a long time ago and still haven’t gotten around to reading and reviewing it. It’s supposed to be a Fantasy Horror Thriller, similar to the kind of fantastic stories written by Joe Hill.  We’ll see.

The Boy in the Cemetery by Sebastian Gregory – KEEP.  I’m not gonna lie, it was the cover and the title that grabbed my attention.  They remind me of something Neil Gaiman would write, such as The Graveyard Book.  The synopsis didn’t end that feeling so I’ll keep this one and keep my fingers crossed that it lives up to my expectations.

The Screaming Staircase by Jonathan Stroud – KEEP.  Like The Boy in the Cemetery, this book’s title and cover were what made me pick it up, and the synopsis sealed the deal on me keeping it.  Also, the “Readers Also Enjoyed” section on this book’s Goodreads page is full of books I loved reading, including Greenglass House by Kate Milford.

Here, There Be Dragons by James A. Owen – KEEP.  An atlas of all of the lands in myth and legend? A ship that can take you to any of them?!  Yes, please!!

My to-read shelf is holding steady at 674 books. Sometimes the slightly younger version of me knew what she was doing when she added books to her TBR.  This week’s batch of books is proof of that.

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 676 books despite my late-night under the blanket reading by book-light after the Boyfriend went to sleep.

This week’s books:

Quest by various authors – KEEP.  This is an 8 book Fantasy bundle that I’m sure has at least one book I will enjoy reading.

Harbinger of Doom by Glenn G. Thater – GO. This bundle is the first 3 books in a 9 book series with a description of the Main Character being “an enigmatic warrior of unknown origins and mystical power. No mortal man is his match in battle. No sorcery can contain or confound him. No scholar or sage can outwit him.” No.  Not even Kvothe has that sort of unlimited talent or skill for all things.

Mischief, Mayhem, The Blue Men of Minch by Monte French – KEEP.  This story takes place in Scotland and involves all sorts of interesting mythical creatures.  There’s no way I’m not giving this book a chance.

From the Dust Returned by Ray Bradbury – KEEP.  A Vampire story by Ray Bradbury?  Yes, please and thank you!

The Barefoot Queen by Ildefonso Falcones – KEEP.  One of the Boyfriend’s Aunts, who is a retired Librarian, was reading this awhile back and it looked interesting.  She has never steered me wrong in book recommendations, so I will definitely be giving this book a try.

It’s a little surprising to me that I only ditched one book this week.  When I was looking at my TBR last week, I thought for sure I would be throwing more off of my book mountain.  Maybe I’m being more forgiving of the pile since I have been doing another round of KonMari with all of my other belongings (No, I haven’t watched the show on Netflix yet). Hopefully I will have at least one less book on my TBR by next week, but 675 books is pretty good for this early in the year.

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.  

I know I usually post these on Saturdays, but I posted my #FitReaders check-in yesterday and I prefer not posting twice in one day if I can help it. Thanks to the #24in48 Readathon, my TBR pile is down to 679 books.

This week’s books:

Jim Morgan and the Pirates of the Black Skull by James Matlack Raney – GO.  When I got this, I didn’t realize it was the 2nd book in a series.  I added the first book, Jim Morgan and the King of Thieves to my wish list, but I’m removing this 2nd book until I read the first. I’ll decide from there whether or not I want to add the 2nd back to my list.

Summer by V.L. Dreyer – KEEP. I’m very skeptical of this one, but it does sound like a Post-Apocalyptic Zombie novel, so I will give it the 50 page test.

Ascension by Brian K. Fuller – GO.  The synopsis makes this book sound like a ridiculous attempt at an Epic Fantasy, and I’m just not interested.

The Twelve Stones by R.J. Johnson – GO.  I was vaguely interested until the synopsis mentioned that the main character’s father is killed by a “billionaire industrialist.” I nearly gagged at the last line, “A thrilling tale that mixes romance, cutting edge science, and oh yeah, the fate of human civilization.” Just No.

Travelers & Shifters & Fey by Dennis W. Green, R.J. Ellison, and A.R. Miller – GO.  This is a collection of 3 Fantasy novels all set in Iowa.  Not one of the books seems interesting enough to read, and it’s not because they’re set in Iowa. Bye-bye!

My to-read shelf is down to 676 books. After looking a little further down my TBR list, I have a feeling the trend of throwing books off the mountain will continue for at least another 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.

I know I usually post these on Saturdays, but I’ve been so busy this past week with work that I wanted a day away from computers and went out to spend time enjoying a rare (for this week) non-rainy day. Thanks to Bout of Books, my TBR pile is down to 681 books.

This week’s books:

The Three Day Runaway by Katarina Green – KEEP.  Though I think $100 a day seems like a bit much for most long-weekend trips, I’m interested in all of the tips and strategies for saving money on my adventuring.

Aerisia: Land Beyond the Sunset by Sarah Ashwood – GO. The synopsis made this book out to be really generic sounding with a predictable plot.

Dragon Time and Other Stories by Ruth Nestvold – GO.  The synopsis has me confused about the sub-genre of this short story collection.  It comes off as a mix of Fantasy and Romance, but I’m really not sure.  Maybe I’m feeling picky today, but I really don’t care to find out.

The Sword of Light by E.J. Gilmour – GO.  Another extremely generic Epic Fantasy with a male main character.  I’m just not interested.

Forsaken by Kristen Day – KEEP.  The synopsis made this book sound so good until it got to the romance part.  Still, I want to give this one a chance, especially after ditching the 3 previous books on my TBR.

My to-read shelf is down to 678 books. Next weekend is the 24 in 48 Readathon, so I’ll be taking another week off from “Down the TBR Hole”.

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.

This is the 1st “Down the TBR Hole” post of 2019 and my TBR pile is sitting at 686 books. My goal is to get it down to 625 by the end of the year.  If I meet my Goodreads reading goal of 50 books, that means I only have to remove 10 books from my TBR.  I think that’s more than doable.

This week’s books:

Aster Wood and the Book of Leveling by J.B. Cantwell – KEEP.  This is the 2nd book in the “Aster Wood” series.  I already own it and the 1st book, Aster Wood and the Lost Maps of Almara.  I’m going to keep this one for now and decide whether or not to keep it after I read the 1st book.

Darkness Brutal by Rachel A. Marks – GO. The synopsis sealed this book’s fate with “But when he meets Kara, a broken girl who can spin a hypnotic web of passionate energy…” What?!  No, thank you.

Hammers in the Wind by Christian Warren Freed – GO.  The synopsis makes it seem like this book is a confused mishmash of two different stories that I highly doubt will turn out to be enjoyable reading for me.  Good-bye!

The B-Side Diaries by Brian Joyce – KEEP.  Stories involving music are in my wheel-house.  I’ll give this one a try.

Hero, Second Class by Mitchell Bonds – KEEP.  The cover and the synopsis make me think this book will be the kind of “Monty Python” hilarious I love.

My to-read shelf is down to 684 books.  I’m already on a roll!  Next week is Bout of Books, so I’ll be taking a week off from “Down the TBR Hole”.

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.

This is the last “Down the TBR Hole” post of 2018! My TBR pile is down three to 687 books.

This week’s books:

Gods and Mortals by various authors – KEEP.  This is a set of 14 ebooks I got as a freebie at some point.  I figure at least one of the books has to be good, so I’ll keep it on my Kindle for now.

Confliction Compendium by M.R. Mathias- GO.  This is the first 3 books in the “Dragoneers Saga” along with a few short stories.  I looked up the synopsis for the 1st book in the series, The Royal Dragoneers, and I was not impressed.

The End of Innocence by Stephanie Baumgartner – KEEP.  This is a story about a young woman who goes to Germany pre-WWII to help her aunt in a library.  I’m very interested in reading it since it’s not often that I come across a book depicting events in Germany leading up to WWII.  A story involving a library is a bonus.

Firemancer Collection by Rachel  M. Humphrey-D’aigle – KEEP.  This is a Middle-Grade Fantasy omnibus containing the first 3 books in the “Fated Saga” series.  I’m adding it to my Summer reading list.

The Girls From Alcyone by Cary Caffrey – GO.  I don’t know where I got this ebook, but I suspect it was a freebie that I got just because it’s Sci-Fi.  The synopsis sounds like it’s bad Sci-Fi, so Goodbye.

My to-read shelf is down to 685 books!!!  I didn’t think I could do it. There are still a couple of days before New Year’s, and my goal for 2019 is to whittle the mountain down to 625.  I better get started!

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 692.  My TBR goal for the remainder of the year is 690.  With only one more “Down the TBR Hole” posts for 2018, it might be a close call unless I finish reading 2 more books.

This week’s books:

This is the Night by Jonah C. Sirott – KEEP.  I don’t remember when or why I got this ebook, but the synopsis sounds like it might be an interesting read so I’ll keep it for now.

The Girl from Krakow by Alex Rosenberg- GO.  I’m pretty sure this was a freebie.  I got it based on the assumption that it had to do with WWII.  While a large part of it does, I can’t get past the line in the synopsis, “…Rita is armed with a secret so enormous that it could cost the Allies everything, even as it gives her the will to live.” I just don’t find that plausible at all.  Even worse, the book is explained again in the author’s bio, but this time as a “thriller” and mentions the main character’s “lover.”  Nope.  Can’t do it.

Sleepless by Michael Omer – KEEP.  This book will either be absolutely horrible or totally awesome.  I am determined to find out, probably next October.

The Einstein Prophecy by Robert Masello – GO.  The synopsis makes this book sound like The Da Vinci Code minus the religious aspects.  Just No.

Sit. Stay. Heal. by Spike Gillespie – KEEP.  Spike Gillespie is from Austin, Texas, and if I remember correctly, I came across her and her book on Twitter.  As someone who has suffered from mental illness, I look forward to reading what she has to say.

My to-read shelf is down to 690 books!!!  Yay, I did it!!!  I’m not going to dare to try to get it down to 685 by New Year’s Day, but there is one more “Down the TBR Hole” post before then, and I’m on vacation. Let’s see if I can knock a few more off the mountain before the end of the year.