The Tottering TBR // Episode II

Last week I started what will hopefully be a weekly post about the status of my ridiculous TBR…

Added to the General TBR:

Bonus: the cover is adorable.

Believe it or not, I only added one title to the list – The Museum of You by Carys Bray, which Cleopatra reviewed this week.  She said –

I was worried that this book may be too saccharine for my tastes, but evidently not, this isn’t one of those that obviously makes a play for your emotions but creeps up over you until you can’t help but want the best for each and every one of the people that grace the pages, even those whose stories can’t be changed. It is a very rare book indeed that makes me shed real tears – this book was one of them!

Off the General TBR:

Books that I’ve read don’t get “officially” removed until I review them.  This week, I published a review for Signs Point to Yes by Sandy Hall.  However, I also wrote a minireview that will be published at the end of the month – Wait for What Will Come by Barbara Michaels.  So – two books off the TBR!

In addition, I also frequently find myself removing books if I reread the synopsis and think they look lame.  This week, I chucked three books without even opening them!

Frequently, I realize that I have books on the General TBR when they ought to be somewhere else – usually on one of the lists for series.  This week, the General TBR lost four books that actually just got shifted to another locale.

I kind of hated this book… but love the cover, so there’s that!

Finally, I have no compunctions when it comes to DNFing a book.  I try to give them fifty pages, and if I have felt nothing by that point, I usually just let it go.  Dress Shop of Dreams by Menna van Praag and The Heart’s Treasure by Catherine Palmer both are back in the library-return bin.  I simply could not stand the writing style of Dress Shop – the present tense was driving me batty, and I didn’t like any of the characters well enough to struggle through a writing style that was making me shudder with every page.  The Heart’s Treasure centers on a couple who have been estranged for a decade, and that’s a trope that I rarely enjoy – even when they get a happy ending, the fact that they wasted so many years just because they couldn’t use their words really depresses me.

So, all in all, this was actually a great week for TBR reduction:  a grand total of ELEVEN books off!

Total for the General TBR:  842 (down ten!)

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Added to My Personal TBR:

(JJ Feilds is still adorable, btw)

These are books I have purchased, either in physical or ebook form, and that I haven’t read since I started blogging my reviews.  This week, I have zero books that fall into that category!  I did purchase both Austenland (which I actually reviewed by comparing it with its movie counterpart), and I am also collecting the Codex Alera series because I enjoyed them so much – but they don’t count!

Off the Personal TBR:

I had one minireview this week that won’t be published until the end of the month, but because I wrote it – it counts!  You can anticipate an intense review of The Ghost Rock Mystery by Mary C. Jane – an old Scholastic Book Club book from the 1950’s.

Total for the Personal TBR:  551 (down one)

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Added to the Series TBR:  

Two of the books that were removed from the General TBR got kicked over the Series TBR because they have more than one sequel.  Someday, I might get around to reading the Pretty Crooked series by Elisa Ludwig and the Uncertain Choice series by Jody Hedlund.

Off the Series TBR:

I’m a little embarrassed about how emotionally vested I became in these characters.

I finally read and reviewed the final book in the Codex Alera series, First Lord’s Fury.  Even though there are only six books in this series, they average in that 500 page range, so they make for some hefty reading.  However, I totally loved this series and was super sad to end my time in Alera.  These are really fabulous books with engaging characters and a great over-arching story.  Butcher definitely does an amazing job crafting a tale wherein his characters are faced with some difficult choices.  I loved watching everyone grow and evolve.  This series is highly recommended.

Total for the Series TBR:  137 (up one)

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Added to the Mystery TBR:

One of the other books removed from the General TBR was Eeny Meeny by M.J. Arlidge.  Apparently, this is the first book in the Helen Grace series, so it will now have to languish on this tab of the TBR…

Removed from the Mystery TBR:

Nothing this week – I’m still working through the Amanda Jaffe series.

Total for the Mystery TBR:  63 (up one)

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Added to the Nonfiction TBR:

This is the tab that I add to and never take away, because I’m quite terrible at reading nonfiction.  This week, my final book that I moved from the General TBR was a memoir by Cary Elwes, who played Westley in The Princess Bride.  His book, As You Wish, is his behind-the-scenes view of the making of that absolute classic of a movie.

Removed from the Nonfiction TBR:

Nothing.  And, if I’m honest, I’ve only read maybe ten pages of nonfiction this week.  I’m hopeless!

Total for the Nonfiction TBR:  49 (up one)

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Grand Totals for the Week:  Five added and thirteen removed, so net loss of eight books from the overall TBR!