Look at me, posting one on an actual Thursday! I’m proud of myself! xD
For those of you who haven’t done this before but need to get rid of some books from your ever-growing TBR list, here’s what to do:
- Go to that list of yours wherever it’s at.
- Go to the OLDEST stuff listed.
- Pick a chunk (5,10,15, 25, however many you want to go through) of books.
- Read the synopsis, and decide if you’re going to keep it on that list or if it’s one of those books that sounded good at the time.
- Post your list and your verdicts!
Here’s the last couple I’ve done if you’re curious: Part 12, Part 13, Part 14
1. The Testing by Joelle Charbonneau
Synopsis:
Keep your friends close and your enemies closer. Isn’t that what they say? But how close is too close when they may be one and the same?
The Seven Stages War left much of the planet a charred wasteland. The future belongs to the next generation’s chosen few who must rebuild it. But to enter this elite group, candidates must first pass The Testing—their one chance at a college education and a rewarding career.
Cia Vale is honoured to be chosen as a Testing candidate; eager to prove her worthiness as a University student and future leader of the United Commonwealth. But on the eve of her departure, her father’s advice hints at a darker side to her upcoming studies–trust no one.
But surely she can trust Tomas, her handsome childhood friend who offers an alliance? Tomas, who seems to care more about her with the passing of every gruelling (and deadly) day of the Testing.
To survive, Cia must choose: love without truth or life without trust.
Thoughts:
It does sound like it’s got some potential! I tend to enjoy books/ shows with premises like this.
Verdict:
Keeping!
2. Steelheart by Brandon Sanderson
Synopsis:
Ten years ago, Calamity came. It was a burst in the sky that gave ordinary men and women extraordinary powers. The awed public started calling them Epics.
But Epics are no friend of man. With incredible gifts came the desire to rule. And to rule man you must crush his wills.
Nobody fights the Epics…nobody but the Reckoners. A shadowy group of ordinary humans, they spend their lives studying Epics, finding their weaknesses, and then assassinating them.
And David wants in. He wants Steelheart — the Epic who is said to be invincible. The Epic who killed David’s father. For years, like the Reckoners, David’s been studying, and planning—and he has something they need. Not an object, but an experience.
He’s seen Steelheart bleed. And he wants revenge.
Thoughts:
Okay. So, I added this because I happened across a signed copy at B&N and ended up buying it… didn’t read the synopsis but I’d heard good things. This sounds amazing!
Verdict:
Keeping it! I own it anyways. :p
3. The Eye of Minds by James Dashner
Synopsis:
Michael is a gamer. And like most gamers, he almost spends more time on the VirtNet than in the actual world. The VirtNet offers total mind and body immersion, and it’s addictive. Thanks to technology, anyone with enough money can experience fantasy worlds, risk their life without the chance of death, or just hang around with Virt-friends. And the more hacking skills you have, the more fun. Why bother following the rules when most of them are dumb, anyway?
But some rules were made for a reason. Some technology is too dangerous to fool with. And recent reports claim that one gamer is going beyond what any gamer has done before: he’s holding players hostage inside the VirtNet. The effects are horrific—the hostages have all been declared brain-dead. Yet the gamer’s motives are a mystery.
The government knows that to catch a hacker, you need a hacker.
And they’ve been watching Michael. They want him on their team.
But the risk is enormous. If he accepts their challenge, Michael will need to go off the VirtNet grid. There are back alleys and corners in the system human eyes have never seen and predators he can’t even fathom—and there’s the possibility that the line between game and reality will be blurred forever.
Thoughts:
All these books are the same colors. This sounds kinda like Warcross, I like it!
Verdict:
Keeping! I like Dashner as an author, may as well check it out!
4. Kissed by an Angel by Elizabeth Chandler
Synopsis:
The unbreakable bonds of love are put to the test in this romantic and suspenseful collection of the New York Times bestselling Kissed by an Angel trilogy.
A love beyond life…a danger beyond doubt.
When her boyfriend, Tristan, died, Ivy thought she’d lost everything, even her faith in angels. But now she’s discovered that he’s her guardian angel — his presence so strong that she can feel the touch of his hand, the beat of his heart. Ivy needs Tristan now more than ever because he knows she’s in terrible danger. Only Ivy’s guardian angel can save her now that his killer is after her.
But if Tristan rescues Ivy, his mission on earth will be finished, and he must leave her behind forever. Will saving Ivy mean losing her just when he’s finally reached her again?
Thoughts:
I think I burned myself out on books like this in high school.
Verdict:
Removing.
5. Sylo by D.J. MacHale
Synopsis:
Does Tucker Pierce have what it takes to be a hero when the U.S. military quarantines his island?
Fourteen-year-old Tucker Pierce prefers to fly under the radar. He’s used to navigating around summer tourists in his hometown on idyllic Pemberwick Island, Maine. He’s content to sit on the sidelines as a backup player on the high school football team. And though his best friend Quinn tells him to “go for it,” he’s too chicken to ask Tori Sleeper on a date. There’s always tomorrow, he figures. Then Pemberwick Island is invaded by a mysterious branch of the U.S. military called SYLO. And sitting on the sidelines is no longer an option for Tucker, because tomorrow may never come.
It’s up to Tucker, Quinn, and Tori to uncover the truth about the singing aircraft that appears only at night—and the stranger named Feit who’s pushing a red crystal he calls the Ruby that brings unique powers to all who take it. Tucker and his friends must rescue not just Pemberwick Island, but the fate of the world—and all before tomorrow is too late.
Thoughts:
I love the way MacHale writes, and I think this has potential!
Verdict:
Keeping! I want to read this one.
6. The Princess in the Opal Mask by Jenny Lundquist
Synopsis:
Every Fairy-Tale Ending Has a Price. . .
Orphaned as a child in the crumbling village of Tulan, Elara is determined to learn her true identity, even if it means wielding a dagger. Meanwhile, in Galandria’s royal capital, Princess Wilha stands out as someone to either worship or fear. Though no one knows why the king has always made her conceal her face—including Wilha herself.
When an assassination attempt threatens the peace of neighboring kingdoms, Elara and Wilha are brought face to face . . . with a chance at claiming new identities. However, with dark revelations now surfacing, both girls will need to decide if brighter futures are worth the binding risks.
Thoughts:
Ehh… I feel like it’ll be like any other story like this.
Verdict:
Removing!
7. Rosebush by Michele Jaffe
Synopsis:
Instead of celebrating Memorial Day weekend on the Jersey Shore, Jane is in the hospital surrounded by teddy bears, trying to piece together what happened last night. One minute she was at a party, wearing fairy wings and cuddling with her boyfriend. The next, she was lying near-dead in a rosebush after a hit-and-run. Everyone believes it was an accident, despite the phone threats Jane swears were real. But the truth is a thorny thing. As Jane’s boyfriend, friends, and admirers come to visit, more memories surface-not just from the party, but from deeper in her past . . . including the night her best friend Bonnie died.
With nearly everyone in her life a suspect now, Jane must unravel the mystery before her killer attacks again. Along the way, she’s forced to examine the consequences of her life choices in this compulsively readable thriller.
Thoughts:
Meh. I don’t really like thrillers.
Verdict:
Removing.
8. Rot & Ruin by Jonathan Maberry
Synopsis:
In the zombie-infested, post-apocalyptic America where Benny Imura lives, every teenager must find a job by the time they turn fifteen or get their rations cut in half. Benny doesn’t want to apprentice as a zombie hunter with his boring older brother Tom, but he has no choice. He expects a tedious job whacking zoms for cash, but what he gets is a vocation that will teach him what it means to be human.
Thoughts:
I love zombies. I’ll give pretty much any zombie book a try!
Verdict:
Keeping it, for sure!
9. The Moon Dwellers by David Estes
Synopsis:
In a desperate attempt to escape destruction decades earlier, humankind was forced underground, into the depths of the earth, creating a new society called the Tri-Realms.
After her parents and sister are abducted by the Enforcers, seventeen-year-old Adele, a member of the middle-class moon dwellers, is unjustly sentenced to life in prison for her parents’ crimes of treason.
Against all odds, Adele must escape from the Pen and find her family, while being hunted by a deranged, killing machine named Rivet, who works for the President. She is helped by two other inmates, Tawni and Cole, each of whom have dark secrets that are better left undiscovered. Other than her friends, the only thing she has going for her is a wicked roundhouse kick and two fists that have been well-trained for combat by her father.
At the other end of the social spectrum is Tristan, the son of the President and a sun dweller. His mother is gone. He hates his father. Backed by only his servant and best friend, Roc, he leaves his lavish lifestyle in the Sun Realm, seeking to make something good out of his troubled life.
When a war breaks out within the Tri-Realms, Tristan is thrust into the middle of a conflict that seems to mysteriously follow Adele as she seeks to find her family and uncover her parents true past.
In their world, someone must die.
Thoughts:
Well, color me intrigued! This sounds so good! 😀
Verdict:
Keeping it! I’m super excited.
10. Lockdown by Alexander Gordon Smith
Synopsis:
Furnace Penitentiary: the world’s most secure prison for young offenders, buried a mile beneath the earth’s surface. Convicted of a murder he didn’t commit, sentenced to life without parole, “new fish” Alex Sawyer knows he has two choices: find a way out, or resign himself to a death behind bars, in the darkness at the bottom of the world. Except in Furnace, death is the least of his worries. Soon Alex discovers that the prison is a place of pure evil, where inhuman creatures in gas masks stalk the corridors at night, where giants in black suits drag screaming inmates into the shadows, where deformed beasts can be heard howling from the blood-drenched tunnels below. And behind everything is the mysterious, all-powerful warden, a man as cruel and dangerous as the devil himself, whose unthinkable acts have consequences that stretch far beyond the walls of the prison.
Together with a bunch of inmates—some innocent kids who have been framed, others cold-blooded killers—Alex plans an escape. But as he starts to uncover the truth about Furnace’s deeper, darker purpose, Alex’s actions grow ever more dangerous, and he must risk everything to expose this nightmare that’s hidden from the eyes of the world.
Thoughts:
I’m sold! It sounds fascinating and it’s got great reviews!
Verdict:
Keeping it!
*** Total Kept/ Removed: 7/3 ***
Not too terrible, I would say! At least I got rid of some that have been on there for YEARS!
-Laurenxx