TBR Tackle Thursday (#1)

How many of you guys are like me, adding books that sound interesting to either a written list, a Goodreads shelf, or any other form of a “To Be Read” list? If you are like me and are staring at a list that’s 400+ long and you have no idea how you got there, then maybe this will help you out.

I’m sitting down and really *thinking* about why the hell I have some of these books on my list when I know realistically I could never get to them all.

SO. I’m starting from the bottom and working my way up my Goodreads “To Read” shelf to see what I actually want to read will read and what I kinda maybe want to read will never read (realistically).

I’m trying to be more honest with myself and my shelf (ha!) this year and really getting down to read the books I own and decide what I’m going to really be reading from here out.

Going to start with the bottom 10 from that dreaded shelf and see what happens.

1. The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness

Synopsis:

Prentisstown isn’t like other towns. Everyone can hear everyone else’s thoughts in an overwhelming, never-ending stream of Noise. Just a month away from the birthday that will make him a man, Todd and his dog, Manchee — whose thoughts Todd can hear too, whether he wants to or not — stumble upon an area of complete silence. They find that in a town where privacy is impossible, something terrible has been hidden — a secret so awful that Todd and Manchee must run for their lives.

Thoughts:

It does actually sound like something that I would enjoy, and it’s a book I physically own. My friend actually had my copy for years and I just got it back.

Verdict:

Staying. I’m going to keep this one around and hopefully get to it this year.

2. Unearthly by Cynthia Hand

Synopsis:

In the beginning, there’s a boy standing in the trees…

Clara Gardner has recently learned that she’s part angel. Having angel blood run through her veins not only makes her smarter, stronger, and faster than humans (a word, she realizes, that no longer applies to her), but it means she has a purpose, something she was put on this earth to do. Figuring out what that is, though, isn’t easy.

Her visions of a raging forest fire and an alluring stranger lead her to a new school in a new town. When she meets Christian, who turns out to be the boy of her dreams (literally), everything seems to fall into place and out of place at the same time. Because there’s another guy, Tucker, who appeals to Clara’s less angelic side.

As Clara tries to find her way in a world she no longer understands, she encounters unseen dangers and choices she never thought she’d have to make between honesty and deceit, love and duty, good and evil. When the fire from her vision finally ignites, will Clara be ready to face her destiny?

Thoughts:

I mean… eh. Maybe I’m a little tired of the ‘good girl meets bad boy’ trope in these high school- aged books. It has potential, that cover is gorgeous, but eh.

Verdict:

Removed. I had to. I can’t justify keeping it.

3. Wither by Lauren DeStefano

Synopsis:

By age sixteen, Rhine Ellery has four years left to live. She can thank modern science for this genetic time bomb. A botched effort to create a perfect race has left all males with a lifespan of 25 years, and females with a lifespan of 20 years. Geneticists are seeking a miracle antidote to restore the human race, desperate orphans crowd the population, crime and poverty have skyrocketed, and young girls are being kidnapped and sold as polygamous brides to bear more children.

When Rhine is kidnapped and sold as a bride, she vows to do all she can to escape. Her husband, Linden, is hopelessly in love with her, and Rhine can’t bring herself to hate him as much as she’d like to. He opens her to a magical world of wealth and illusion she never thought existed, and it almost makes it possible to ignore the clock ticking away her short life. But Rhine quickly learns that not everything in her new husband’s strange world is what it seems. Her father-in-law, an eccentric doctor bent on finding the antidote, is hoarding corpses in the basement. Her fellow sister wives are to be trusted one day and feared the next, and Rhine is desperate to communicate to her twin brother that she is safe and alive. Will Rhine be able to escape–before her time runs out?

Together with one of Linden’s servants, Gabriel, Rhine attempts to escape just before her seventeenth birthday. But in a world that continues to spiral into anarchy, is there any hope for freedom?

Thoughts:

I can actually see why this interested me when I added it 5 years ago. (yes, it’s that bad) This book sounds interesting and I know my library has a copy.

Verdict:

Staying. There’s something about this one that’s making me want to keep it. Going with my gut on this one. plus the author shares the same name as me

4. Virals by Kathy Reichs

Synopsis:

Tory Brennan, niece of acclaimed forensic anthropologist Temperance Brennan (of the Bones novels and hit TV show), is the leader of a ragtag band of teenage “sci-philes” who live on a secluded island off the coast of South Carolina. When the group rescues a dog caged for medical testing on a nearby island, they are exposed to an experimental strain of canine parvovirus that changes their lives forever.

As the friends discover their heightened senses and animal-quick reflexes, they must combine their scientific curiosity with their newfound physical gifts to solve a cold-case murder that has suddenly become very hot if they can stay alive long enough to catch the killer’s scent.

Fortunately, they are now more than friends. They’re a pack. They are Virals.

Thoughts:

I know exactly why I had added this previously and it all comes down to one word… Bones. I was a sucker for that show (still love it) and that’s exactly why I came across this and added it. That being said… this isn’t really up my alley.

Verdict:

Removed. I won’t ever actually pick this up intentionally. I know that.

5. The Ultimate Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams

Synopsis:

“The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy”

Seconds before the Earth is demolished for a galactic freeway, Arthur Dent is saved by Ford Prefect, a researcher for the revised Guide. Together they stick out their thumbs to the stars and begin a wild journey through time and space.

“The Restaurant at the End of the Universe”

Facing annihilation at the hands of warmongers is a curious time to crave tea. It could only happen to the cosmically displaced Arthur Dent and his comrades as they hurtle across the galaxy in a desperate search for a place to eat.

“Life, the Universe and Everything”

The unhappy inhabitants of planet Krikkit are sick of looking at the night sky- so they plan to destroy it. The universe, that is. Now only five individuals can avert Armageddon: mild-mannered Arthur Dent and his stalwart crew.

“So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish”

Back on Earth, Arthur Dent is ready to believe that the past eight years were all just a figment of his stressed-out imagination. But a gift-wrapped fishbowl with a cryptic inscription conspires to thrust him back to reality. So to speak.

“Mostly Harmless”

Just when Arthur Dent makes the terrible mistake of starting to enjoy life, all hell breaks loose. Can he save the Earth from total obliteration? Can he save the Guide from a hostile alien takeover? Can he save his daughter from herself? 

Thoughts:

I’d read the first book and seen the movie and I loved the humor and the story line. bought the big copy from Barnes and Noble ages ago… It’s still beautiful.

Verdict:

Keeping. I’ve been wanting to read this more and more so I may read one story at a time and a different book in between, but I’m definitely up for this.

6. Endurance by Ann Aguirre

Synopsis:

When rebellion destroys the underground world in which Thimble and Stone have grown up, they take Stone’s son and try to escape the chaos. Along the way, they must evade the Freaks, beings who feed on human flesh. Leaving behind the roles of Builder and Breeder which they were assigned at birth, they wander the underground tunnels, looking for safety yet afraid to go “topside” where legend has it that the light and water will burn their skin from their bones.

Their journey takes them upward to an unimagined world of tinned food, comfortable furniture, and books. Away from their regimented society for the first time, and still facing imminent danger, Thimble and Stone acknowledge the forbidden attraction which both have denied for years.

Thoughts:

Loved this series when I read it, and I still do. BUT I got very sick very quick of these YA authors doing novellas for everything.

Verdict:

Removed. I won’t ever go seek this out. I’m fine with the information I have.

7. The Murder Complex by Lindsay Cummings

Synopsis:

An action-packed, blood-soaked, futuristic debut thriller set in a world where the murder rate is higher than the birthrate. For fans of Moira Young’s Dust Lands series, La Femme Nikita, and the movie Hanna.

Meadow Woodson, a fifteen-year-old girl who has been trained by her father to fight, to kill, and to survive in any situation, lives with her family on a houseboat in Florida. The state is controlled by The Murder Complex, an organization that tracks the population with precision.

The plot starts to thicken when Meadow meets Zephyr James, who is—although he doesn’t know it—one of the MC’s programmed assassins. Is their meeting a coincidence? Destiny? Or part of a terrifying strategy? And will Zephyr keep Meadow from discovering the haunting truth about her family?

Thoughts:

I know exactly why I added this, and I’m sticking to it. I actually caved and bought this last month because it was on sale and I got it for $7.

Verdict:

Keeping it! I’ve got it ready to go, it’s one I’ve been gunning for for a while now.

8. The Program by Suzanne Young

Synopsis:

Sloane knows better than to cry in front of anyone. With suicide now an international epidemic, one outburst could land her in The Program, the only proven course of treatment. Sloane’s parents have already lost one child; Sloane knows they’ll do anything to keep her alive. She also knows that everyone who’s been through The Program returns as a blank slate. Because their depression is gone—but so are their memories.

Under constant surveillance at home and at school, Sloane puts on a brave face and keeps her feelings buried as deep as she can. The only person Sloane can be herself with is James. He’s promised to keep them both safe and out of treatment, and Sloane knows their love is strong enough to withstand anything. But despite the promises they made to each other, it’s getting harder to hide the truth. They are both growing weaker. Depression is setting in. And The Program is coming for them.

Thoughts:

I get why I added it, it’s got an interesting premise. But it feels a little young for me.

Verdict:

Removed. It’s one that if it ended up in my lap, I would possibly give it a read, but it’s not a realistic choice for me.

9. A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin

Synopsis:

Long ago, in a time forgotten, a preternatural event threw the seasons out of balance. In a land where summers can last decades and winters a lifetime, trouble is brewing. The cold is returning, and in the frozen wastes to the north of Winterfell, sinister forces are massing beyond the kingdom’s protective Wall. To the south, the king’s powers are failing—his most trusted adviser dead under mysterious circumstances and his enemies emerging from the shadows of the throne. At the center of the conflict lie the Starks of Winterfell, a family as harsh and unyielding as the frozen land they were born to. Now Lord Eddard Stark is reluctantly summoned to serve as the king’s new Hand, an appointment that threatens to sunder not only his family but the kingdom itself.

Sweeping from a harsh land of cold to a summertime kingdom of epicurean plenty, A Game of Thrones tells a tale of lords and ladies, soldiers and sorcerers, assassins and bastards, who come together in a time of grim omens. Here an enigmatic band of warriors bear swords of no human metal; a tribe of fierce wildlings carry men off into madness; a cruel young dragon prince barters his sister to win back his throne; a child is lost in the twilight between life and death; and a determined woman undertakes a treacherous journey to protect all she holds dear. Amid plots and counter-plots, tragedy and betrayal, victory and terror, allies and enemies, the fate of the Starks hangs perilously in the balance, as each side endeavors to win that deadliest of conflicts: the game of thrones.

Unparalleled in scope and execution, A Game of Thrones is one of those rare reading experiences that catch you up from the opening pages, won’t let you go until the end, and leave you yearning for more.

Thoughts:

My first one was, “goodness, even the description is long”. I tried reading this a while back. Tolkien is hard enough for me to read on a good day, this was too much. Not that I don’t enjoy the story line, but I just don’t know how much this book is for me.

Verdict:

Removed. I know, I know. Blasphemy.

10. Not a Drop to Drink by Mindy McGinnis

Synopsis:

Lynn knows every threat to her pond: drought, a snowless winter, coyotes, and, most importantly, people looking for a drink. She makes sure anyone who comes near the pond leaves thirsty, or doesn’t leave at all.

Confident in her own abilities, Lynn has no use for the world beyond the nearby fields and forest. Having a life means dedicating it to survival, and the constant work of gathering wood and water. Having a pond requires the fortitude to protect it, something Mother taught her well during their quiet hours on the rooftop, rifles in hand.

But wisps of smoke on the horizon mean one thing: strangers. The mysterious footprints by the pond, nighttime threats, and gunshots make it all too clear Lynn has exactly what they want, and they won’t stop until they get it….

With evocative, spare language and incredible drama, danger, and romance, debut author Mindy McGinnis depicts one girl’s journey in a barren world not so different than our own.

 

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**Total kept/ removed: 5/5**

Well. This was more successful than I thought it would be, actually! Got rid of half the ones I looked at for today, so that’s progress! Only 605 to go

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Currently Reading:

Pendragon #9 (page 23)
Roar (just started)

-Laurenxx