Happy Spring!
A lot of us don’t think about our digital clutter but with important paperwork and memos going online, it’s very real. So this year, I want to clean out my TBR list on GoodReads.
At the start, I had 573 books on my TBR list. I want to get rid of 10%, so 57 books, leaving me with 516 books.
I’ve been thriving under the mantra of “if it’s important it’ll make its way back to me.” Having anxiety, I always feel like I have 34 tabs open in my mind at once, so I’ve been trying to relax and let go in all areas of my life. This was an easy experience as I know if I really want to read it, it will come back to me.
To begin, I sorted my books from lowest rating to highest, went through each book I don’t remember the description to and decided which ones got the chop. I also deleted multiple books by the same authors if I’ve never read them (for example, I had half a dozen books by H. G. Wells even though I’ve never read him, I just kept the most interesting ones). I also had some duplicates of the same book on my list for some reason.
Now, let’s go through the ones I deleted and why!
Classics
The Legend of Sleepy Hallow by Washington Irving
The Woman in Black by Susan Hill
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button by F. Scott Fitzgerald: It’s so short, I don’t think I’ll miss much. Also, I wasn’t blown away by The Great Gatsby
Tender is the Night by F. Scott Fitzgerald
Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathan Swift: I know it’s a classic, but I’m just not excited about it
Contemporary
The Pisces by Melissa Broder
Nine Perfect Strangers by Liana Moriarty: Although I loved Big Little Lies, I was disappointed in What Alice Forgot
Wilder Girls by Rory Power
Albatross by Terry Fallis
You Deserve Each Other by Sarah Hogle
The Secret Lives of Baba Segi’s Wives by Lola Shoneyin
Science fiction
Earthlings by Sayaka Murata: The first line of the description is “[main character] is not like other girls.” Barf
Artemis by Andy Weir: I liked The Martian a lot, I mean, how could you not love a book whose first line is “I’m pretty much fucked.” But this book didn’t sound super interesting and reviews by readers I trust aren’t crazy about it
The Psychology of Time Travel by Kate Mascarenhas
Short stories, poetry
His Hideous Heart edited by Dahlia Adler: These are short stories based on Poe’s work, I think I’ll just read the original if anything
The Bricks that Build the Houses by Kae Tempest
The Crowd by Ray Bradbury
Horror, thriller, mystery
The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon by Stephen King
The Survivors by Jane Harper
From the Wreck by Jane Rawson
Before the Fall by Noah Hawley
The Wife Between Us by Greer Hendricks
Rattle by Fiona Cummings
Non-fiction
81 Days Below Zero by Brian Murphy
Climate Wars by Harold Welzer
Black Mass: The True Story of an Unholy Alliance Between the FBI and the Irish Mob by Dick Lehr
Too Fat, Too Slutty, Too Loud by Anne Helen Petersen: There are better feminism books to be read that don’t feature molester Lena Dunham
Round Ireland with a Fridge by Tony Hawks
Yes Please by Amy Poehler: Celebrity memoirs don’t really do it for me unless I really love them
Animals Strike Curious Poses by Elena Passarello
Lost Boy by Brent W. Jeffs
Escape by Caroline Jessop: Can you tell I went on a crazy adding binge of similar books after I read Stolen Innocence? Although I loved it, I think the only other FLDS book high on my list is Under the Banner of Heaven
The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference by Malcolm Gladwell
Marbles: Mania, Depression, Michelangelo, and Me by Ellen Forney
Women Don’t Owe You Pretty by Florence Given
Young adult
The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants by Ann Brashares
City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau
Flush by Carl Hiaasen
Truly Devious by Maureen Johnson
The Maze Runner by James Dashner: I just really can’t be bothered with series, especially young adult
Historical fiction
The Signature of All Things by Elizabeth Gilbert
Of Women and Salt by Gabriela Garcia
Any one of these I should add back to my list?!
Photo by Sincerely Media
Artemis was disappointing – it does not compare to The Martian.
The Maze Runner series was alright – I only liked two of the five books.
I am planning to listen to The Wife Between Us and Of Women and Salt, I’ll let you know how those turn out.