Down the TBR Hole #39

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.

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?

Since I’m reaching the end of my TBR list, I’ve decided to cut back to 5 books at a time each week. I also think this will work better so that I can sustain this post, since I don’t add a lot of books to my TBR at a time. Doing 5 at a time will probably keep me going perpetually, which is my aim, since my TBR list will always be long and will continue to grow.

Now, for the list!

Picking up from where I left off:

The Dry – Jane Harper

When three members of a local family are slain, detective Aaron Falk returns to his hometown to look into the mystery. This book seems highly prescient considering it takes place during a severe drought in Australia, which currently in real life is experiencing drought and terrible bush fires as a result of it. This is the first book in a series featuring Falk and I remember seeing it marketed all over. It has a pretty high rating, too. I’m definitely excited to read it.

Verdict: KEEP

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The Hole – Hye-Young Pyun

I remember coming across this book and being intrigued by it. I have a strong interest in Korean culture and I’ve come across some really great fiction by Korean authors. This one is supposed to be a mystery/thriller and it’s been compared to Stephen King’s Misery. This author is also being heralded as a rising star in fiction, so I definitely look forward to reading this book. Hopefully this year!

Verdict: KEEP

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The Tangled Lands – Paolo Bacigalupi

I must have put this on my TBR specifically because I love Bacigalupi and didn’t even read the description. Apparently this is co-written with Tobias S. Buckell and the two authors wrote four novellas that are contained in this book, all featuring different characters in the same world about the city of Khaim. I think the fantasy aspect of it sounds really interesting, but I’m not sure about the set-up, so I think I’ll let this one go for now.

Verdict: GO

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If We Were Villains – M.L. Rio

This sounds like such an amazing murder-mystery involving a group of Shakespearean actors. When one of them ends up dead, they all attempt to appear blameless. One of them goes to jail. The book takes place ten years after the event, when the “murderer” is finally released from prison. The detective who put him there wants to know what really happened. This sounds like the perfect book to read at Halloween time. I really would like to read this book this year, for sure.

Verdict: KEEP

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Checked – Cynthia Kadohata

This book is a middle-grade realistic fiction about a boy who plays hockey. Hockey is his life. It’s his father’s life. He’s sure that that’s the reason why his parents separated. But when his pet, a Doberman, is diagnosed with cancer, he quits hockey so he can pay for chemotherapy. I actually received an ARC of this book through work but didn’t get around to reading it in time before it was published. I really love hockey, myself, which is one of the reasons why I’m drawn to this book. I’m still really interested and I hope to read it soon!

Verdict: KEEP

Results:

Kept: 4

Discarded: 1

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.