Down The TBR Hole is a meme created by lost in a story that revolves around cleansing your TBR of all those books you’re never going to read and sort through it all to know what’s actually on there.
I’ve been doing pretty well with this exercise. Since last week, in which I brought my TBR down to 572. I only add one book since that time! Which I think is pretty awesome! So I’m stoked to continue paring down my list. Here we go again!
The rules:
- Go to your Goodreads to-read shelf.
- Order on ascending date added.
- Take the first 5 (or 10 (or even more!) if you’re feeling adventurous) books. Of course, if you do this weekly, you start where you left off the last time.
- Read the synopses of the books
- Decide: keep it or should it go?
Picking up from where I left off:
The Three Musketeers – Alexandre Dumas
I’m a bit mad at myself for dragging my feet on this one. Dumas is one of my favorite authors (one of my favorite books is The Count of Monte Cristo) and yet I still haven’t read this book! I mean, this book’s got sword fighting, history, and lots of drama. What’s not to love? Plus, I think Dumas’ writing is really some of the best in classic literature. I know for sure that I will want to get to it eventually, so I’m not going to be removing from my list. Here’s hoping I’ll read this sooner, not later!
Verdict: KEEP
The Man in the Iron Mask – Alexandre Dumas
Well, looky here! Another Dumas! And in the same series, too! Well, I’ve seen the movie the movie and I loved it enough that I put it on my list to read. I find it odd that I just put the first (Three Musketeers) and the third-ish (Man in the Iron Mask, it’s complicated) on my list and not the others. But there it is. I’m still going to read this book, too, since I particularly enjoyed the story (at least, how it was portrayed in the movie!) and I hope to enjoy it in book form, too.
Verdict: KEEP
I seem to have the habit of putting books in a series on my list out of order. This book is the third and final volume in the series, and yet it’s the only one I have on my list. I don’t remember coming across this book or why I ended up putting it on my TBR despite it being the third book in the series, instead of the first. I must have just paid attention to the fact that it was about King Arthur and I have an interest in Arthurian legend. As cool as this book about Arthur’s final struggles sounds, I don’t think I’m going to be picking it up any time soon.
Verdict: GO
Another Lisa See book! If you remember from my last post, I decided to keep Snow FlowerI guess I was interested in this book because of the sister relationship and the Asian historical fiction aspects. It’s a WWII book, and while I do love historical fiction, I’ve found I’m not as interested in WWII as other periods. Reading back the synopsis, I don’t find it as interesting to me now. I won’t rule out that I’ll eventually read it, but I don’t think I’m excited enough about it to keep it on my list.
Verdict: GO
Well, well, well. Another Lisa See book! I remember putting this on my TBR because I was interested in the unique romance plot. It involves a ghost! How cool! I think I’m more drawn to this book based on synopsis than the one above. Judging by the potential of a woman haunting her husband and his new wife, I’d say I’m very interested in this book and I’m going to keep it.
Verdict: KEEP
I remember putting this on my TBR when I heard a friend talking about it. Said friend is very well read and someone I look up to and I think I just wanted to seem more cultured to her. Or I felt that, since I was an avid literary enthusiast and I’d never heard of this book, I felt I was in some way lacking. So I put it on my TBR and have not had the desire to pick it up since. And, to be honest, I still don’t. The plot doesn’t interest me in the slightest and while I know Zadie Smith to be a very good writer, I don’t think this particular story will interest me.
Verdict: GO
Till We Have Faces – C. S. Lewis
I put this book on my TBR in college. Outside of some of the Narnia books, I’ve not read anything else by Lewis. This is one of his literary works and I do love Greek mythology, so I’m sure that’s why I decided to put this book in my list. I mean, the story of Cupid and Psyche is really interesting to me, but this is told from the perspective of Psyche’s older, ugly sister. While I think this story could really interest me, I don’t find myself particularly psyched to read it 🙂
Verdict: GO
Robinson Crusoe – Daniel Defoe
I definitely put this book on my TBR because it’s a classic that I felt I needed to read. Being an English major, I feel remiss not having read certain classics. This is one of them. I’ve never read any books by Defoe and this is one that often gets brought up when discussing classic literature. I’m surprised I was never assigned to read it during school. I don’t have a particular interest in it outside of it being a classic. I won’t rule out ever reading it, but I don’t want to keep it on my TBR anymore.
Verdict: GO
I have no memory of this book or why I put it on my TBR. It’s another historical fiction book about Chinese immigrants and their American children. I’ve seen it liked to The Joy Luck Club, which, though I liked, I wouldn’t have chosen to read if it wasn’t a school assignment. Without having the book in front of me to see how the writing is, just going by the synopsis, I don’t really have any particular interest in the story. So I think I’m going to let this one go as well.
Verdict: GO
Kill Your Darlings – Terence Blacker
I think I was going through a 1001 books before you die type of book when I came across this. While the description makes it sound like it could be interesting, reading a variety of reviews calling this book “pretentious” has me worried. The idea of a struggling writer who wants a big break and perhaps seeks devious means to get it sounds intriguing, I’m not so sure how it’ll shake out for me. However, I think I’ll keep this one on the list so that I can see for myself what I think about it. This might be one of those books where I need to read the first chapter to see if it’s something I’ll want to pursue.
Verdict: KEEP
Results:
Kept: 4
Discarded: 6
This seems to be my pattern. I tend to keep four and discard 6. Still, I think that’s pretty good, since I’d rather discard more than I keep. I want to bring my TBR down to a more manageable level.
Thoughts?
So, what do you think? Any books I cut that you wouldn’t? Any books that I’m keeping that aren’t worth my time? Let me know! I’d love to hear from you. See you next week for another meme post.
The Knitpick 