GoodReads Clean-Up #01

I made my GoodReads account about a year ago now (add me!) and have recently taken up reading again. Plowing through the Harry Potter books in less than three weeks made me realize how much I can enjoy it and even on my worst mental health days, making progress in a book is always a good feeling.

With that, I went through my to be read books and either binned or kept them. With the books I kept, I sorted them by high or medium priority and if they can be rented digitally from my home library in Arizona or from the Brighton library. The lists below are just a sample of the books, it would take ages to type them all out!

Let’s get into it…

Kept, low priority

  • The Lovely Bones by Alive Sebold
  • It, Carrie and Bill Hodges trilogy by Stephen King: I really enjoyed Mr. Mercedes (Bill Hodges 1), so I will probably tackle those first.
  • The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot
  • I am Legend by Richard Matheson
  • Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
  • Jurassic Park books by Michael Crichton
  • Girl, Interrupted by Susanna Kaysen
  • To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before by Jenny Han
  • The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson: I cannot watch horror movies, but they are some of my favorite books.

Kept, medium priority

  • The God Instinct by Jesse Bering
  • The Man in the High Castle by Phillip Dick
  • The Exorcist by William Blatty
  • Ready Player One by Ernest Kline
  • A Brief History of Everyone Who Has Ever Lived by Adam Rutherford
  • Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden
  • Room by Emma Donoghue: I loved this movie and have it reserved at the library to read next. Thursday, come quick!
  • The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo series by Steig Larsson
  • The Tattooist of Auschwitz by Heather Morris
  • Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie: I actually haven’t read any of her books yet, so this should be interesting!

Kept, high priority

  • Dominion: The Power of Man… by Matthew Scully: the topic of religion and the way we treat animals has greatly interested me since my Environmental Ethics class in my undergraduate degree, I hope to get this one under my belt soon.
  • Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari: I have heard nothing but good things about this book and I love me a popular science book. I have it reserved from the library for early next month.
  • Leaving Time by Jodi Picoult: Although I binned some books on my TBR list by her, this one seems sweet.
  • The Book Thief by Markus Zusak: I love WWII historical fiction.
  • The Lord of the Rings books by J.R.R. Tolkien
  • In Order to Live by Yeonmi Park: I bought this at Waterstones the other day and can’t wait to dive in soon.
  • Roadmap: The Get-It-Together Guide for Figuring Out What to Do with Your Life: Lord knows I need it.

Binned

  • Sperm Wars by Robin Baker: I read something similar by Jared Diamond and thought it was just okay. Interesting, but I don’t need to read another book on the topic.
  • House Rules and Lone Wolf by Jodi Picoult: She has written probably my favorite book of all time, The Storyteller, and a few others I enjoyed. However, one of the last books I read by her (The Pact) really let me down and a lot of these plots sound kind of same-same. When you read her books enough, you can see what kind of twist is coming.
  • Some feminist books e.g. The Second Sex (thought Bad Feminist was just okay)
  • Lies She Told by Kate Holahan
  • Into the Water by Paula Hawkins: I thought The Girl on the Train was just okay, it was like Gone Girl for wussies.
  • Some popular science books e.g. Bottlemania
  • Men Who Stare at Goats by Jon Ronson
  • Everything, Everything by Nicola Yoon: It just sounds cringey.
  • Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell: Because my dad didn’t like it and I trust his taste
  • Vox by Christina Dalcher

Are there any books I should un-bin? Move up in priority? Forget about? Let me know if you see one of your favorite books!

Photo by Florencia Viadana.

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9 Comments

  1. November 19, 2018 / 3:40 pm

    Such a great list! Jenny Han’s books are amazing! I was not a fan of the Lovely Bones. The Tattooist of Auschwitz is incredible! If you like WWII books I highly recommend that one! <3

    • rachelwuest
      Author
      November 21, 2018 / 5:40 pm

      Was a tad let down by The Nightingale. A good book, but not as incredible as my aunt said it would be.

  2. November 19, 2018 / 3:45 pm

    I definitely think you should un-bin Vox, I listened to the audiobook last week and thought it was incredible, I couldn’t stop listening.
    I had to drop Everything, Everything from my TBR, I tried to read it twice and just couldn’t get in to it.
    I need to clear out my Goodreads shelves too haha.
    Cora | http://www.teapartyprincess.co.uk/

    • rachelwuest
      Author
      November 21, 2018 / 5:39 pm

      Hm, okay will do! Thanks!

  3. November 28, 2018 / 12:38 pm

    All the Harry Potter books in three weeks?!?! Impressive! I read The Lovely Bones for A-Levels and actually really enjoyed it, despite having to pick it apart and analyse everything!! Love To All The Boy I’ve Loved Before as well!

  4. November 28, 2018 / 3:00 pm

    I’m dying to read the Tattooist of Aushwitcz but it must be popular because the wait list is a mile long at my local library. Currently reading The Immortalists which is excellent so far.

  5. December 2, 2018 / 8:14 pm

    Wow, what an awesome post – so many of these books are ones which I have been wanted to read for ages, Jenny Han’s especially after watching the film version! Just want to say as well your blog design is absolutely gorgeous!

    Imogen x https://imogenchloe.co.uk

    • rachelwuest
      Author
      December 2, 2018 / 9:18 pm

      That book isn’t what I usually go for but I’ve heard so many good things! Thanks, darling x

  6. February 5, 2019 / 2:26 am

    Oh lordy, I need to clean up my Goodreads to read list as well… Great idea! I don’t know why I never thought of that since my list is sooo big and it takes some time to scroll through to see what I want to attempt to read. I love your idea of low and high priority.

    I would say move The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks up to priority! I loved that book and it was soooo interesting to see how modern medicine came to be by her.

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