The TBR Purge – Part 1

After meeting some new friends and discovering a bunch of new blogs to fall in love with thanks to the #CroneBloggers tag, I spent the weekend reading and commenting on other bloggers pages. If you wanna check it out and read what it’s all about head over to Jenniely’s page.

One particular blogger This Dark Material really inspired me with her post about cleaning up her TBR pile on Goodreads. I thought that was such a wonderful idea because when I look back over my toppling list on Goodreads there are books there that I have no idea how they got there.

So once a month, for the next 5 months, I will be reviewing 20 books in my TBR pile and deciding whether the Keep or Trash the book. If you like this post or disagree with any of my choices, feel free to leave a comment down below and click subscribe to see more posts from me.

Blue hearts of Mars by Nicole Grotepas
Year Added: 2013
Initial Interests: A Robot/human forbidden love story
Action:  Trash
Reason: I’m not really that interested in the story line anymore and it doesn’t hold the appeal that other scifi’s books have lately. Plus I think I entered to win a copy of it.

Persephone by Kaitlin Bevis
Year Added: 2013
Initial Interest: Greek mythology
Action: Trash
Reason: I saw a fav blogger rave about it and it looked interesting at the time, but I wasn’t keen on the high school aged shenanigans in Athens story line. I have Percy Jackson for that.

What’s Left of Me by Kat Zhang
Year Added: 2013
Initial Interest: Two souls coexisting in the same body
Action: Trash
Reason: After reading Stephanie Myers ‘The Host’ I was after something similar to this story, but alas I don’t think this was it. A few bad reviews put me off.

Lies Beneath by Anne Greenwood Brown
Year Added: 2013
Initial Interest: Potential carnivorous mermaids and a love story between hunter and prey
Action: Keep
Reason: It still looks good, and I’m still keen to check this out. It does read a little like a Twilight romance with the whole killer and prey falling in love thing, but I have hopes for it. Plus, my love for mermaid or siren stories should not be underestimated. I am trash for them.

Solutions and Other Problems by Allie Brosh
Year Added: 2015
Initial Interest: I loved her website, ‘Hyperbole and a half’
Action: Trash
Reason: I saw a preview on kindle and it’s pretty much the same content as the website.  I could be spending my money on other books.

Those Left Behind by Joss Whedon, Brett Matthews & Will Conrad
Year Added: 2015
Initial Interest: A continuation of Firefly set after the events of the Serenity movie
Action: Trash
Reason: I bought one comic book in this volume and it was meh, so rather then fork out the big bucks I decided not to worry about it. Maybe one day they will film another movie or something, but for now $80 bucks for a comic volume is just too much.

The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
Year Added: 2015
Initial Interest: Sounds like the movie Heart & Soul where a kid can see ghosts his whole life
Action: Keep
Reason: Everyone raves about this one online and I feel like I should own at least ONE Neil Gaiman book. Also, ghosts. My second favourite paranormal obsession after mermaids. Basically, if a book has ghosts I’m buying it. And a kid being raised by ghosts in a graveyard – EVEN BETTER!

The Little Book of Anxiety: Confessions from a worried life by Kerri Sackville
Year Added: 2016
Initial Interest: Psychology study material
Action: Trash
Reason: I don’t really need to read a book that’s only going to trigger my own anxiety. It looked good as a Goodreads suggestion but there are other books about anxiety that I would rather read.

Uprooted by Naomi Novik
Year Added: 2016
Initial Interest: I’m trash for fairy-tales and a beautiful cover
Action: Keep
Reason: I was on the fence about this one for ages. Do I keep or do I trash? I love fairy-tales stories, especially retelling and this one had the word dragon in the first sentence. So basically a win, right? Right?

You Are Here by Jenny Lawson
Year Added: 2016
Initial Interest: Jenny Lawson – I buy everything she writes
Action: Keep
Reason: The main reason I haven’t bought it is due to demand. I have struggled to get it sent out here to Australia. Shipping costs to AUS is insane and I really only buy books from book depository because there is not shipping costs. None of the local book stores carry it and my brother was going to get it from Amazon but then they had issues and I never got around to receiving it. I still plan too though.

In Real Life: Love, Lies & Identity in the Digital Age by Nev Schulman
Year Added: 2016
Initial Interest: I love the MTV show Catfish and Nev
Action: Keep
Reason: Another book that was hard to get sent to Australia. Now there are more places that stock it, but I never got around to it and I worry it might be outdated by the time I will read it. Still, I have loved watching Nev and his way of storytelling since the film Catfish, so I will add it to my book collection at some stage.

Reckoning: A Memoir by Magda Szubanski
Year Added: 2016
Initial Interest: Love her and want to support her
Action: Keep
Reason: A few people have said it’s not all chuckles, which can be expected as Magda has spoken openly about hard it was to come out as a gay woman. I think she’s amazing and would love to hear more about her journey but I just haven’t got around to picking up a copy from the bookshop.

Where Am I Now?  by Mara Wilson
Year Added: 2016
Initial Interest: I was going through a memoir faze
Action: Trash
Reason: It was an impulse click and after reading a few EW articles about what she’s doing now I think I’m good. My interest has waned.

Heartless by Marissa Meyer
Year Added: 2016
Initial Interest: Everyone raves about it + Alice in Wonderland Queen of hearts story
Action: Keep
Reason: I actually put it on my list of books to buy that my brother and I exchange every year at Christmas. He didn’t end up getting a copy, so I will be aiming to score a copy for my birthday. I love Alice in Wonderland (which is obvious to people who know me as my wedding was a vintage AiW theme)

Short Stories from Hogwarts of Heroism, Hardship and Dangerous Hobbies by J.K. Rowling
Year Added: 2016
Initial Interest: duh – anything written by JKR that involves Harry Potter I will read
Action: Trash
Reason: I will wait to buy it as a book set. I haven’t heard anyone talk about it as a must own. I think this is just a collector’s item that I will buy one day.

The Bone Witch by Rin Chupeco
Year Added: 2016
Initial Interest: After watching the Vampire Dairies & The Originals I was going through a witch stage.
Action: Trash
Reason: I entered to win a copy of the book on GR and obviously didn’t win. Looking back at the premise it doesn’t look nearly as enticing anymore.

Hereafter by Tara Hudson
Year Added: 2016
Initial Interest: Ghost/human romance story, GR recommendation
Action: Keep
Reason: The premise still sounds really interesting and I’m trash for ghost stories. Especially when the story is told from the ghosts’ POV.

Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake
Year Added: 2016
Initial Interest: Added because she wrote Three Dark Crowns
Action: Trash
Reason: I was disappointed by TDC and the premise of some kind of ghost bounty hunter doesn’t sound appealing anymore. Kinda reads like a less cool version of the Winchester brothers.

The H Factor of Personality: Why some people are manipulative, self-entitled, materialistic and exploitive – and why it matters for everyone by Kibeom Lee & Michael C Ashton
Year Added: 2016
Initial Interest: Good source material for psych classes
Action: Trash
Reason: I have a gazillion textbooks already that can answer that question and at this point I don’t need another one. Additionally, I don’t know if this book is backed up by facts and references.

Dreamer’s Pool by Juliet Marillier
Year Added: 2016
Initial Interest: Goodreads competition entry
Action: Trash
Reason: I love fantasy novels and the cover is stunning, but I couldn’t muster any enthusiasm just reading the long synopsis. I worry it’s going to take too long setting up the world and not enough of moving the story along.

Do you agree with my list? How do you keep on top of your TBR lists?