I'm Dini (she/her), a thirty-something book lover based in Indonesia. I mostly read fantasy and romance, but I love to dabble in other genres. I tend to stay away from horror and ghosty things though because I'm The Ultimate Chicken™️. I'm always happy to meet other book lovers so feel free to chat with me!
It’s time for another Friday Favorites hosted by Kibby @ Something of the Book! This weekly meme is where you get to share a list of all your favourites based on the list of prompts on Kibby’s page. Sounds fun, right? This week’s prompt is: favorite books from my childhood! I feel like this is a topic that I’ve already done once or twice, most recently with my TopTenTuesday: Childhood Favorites post, so I don’t want to repeat myself (I’m also feeling particularly lazy tonight as it’s already late and I’m tired AF–soz folks). But here are some other favorites that have just come to mind!
I have to admit that until today I STILL try to watch The Snowman as much and as often as possible! It still makes me feel all the feels and immediately transports me back to my childhood. Such a beautiful story and haunting music!
What are some of your childhood favorites? Please come tell me in the comments below and let’s chat!
Yayaya, HAPPY FRIYAY, book lovers and friends 😍We’re back with another First Lines Friday! This is a weekly featurefor book lovers hosted by Wandering Words. What if instead of judging a book by its cover, its author or its prestige, we judged it by its opening lines?Here areTHE RULES:
Pick a book off your shelf (it could be your current read or on your TBR) and open to the first page
Copy the first few lines, but don’t give anything else about the book away just yet – you need to hook the reader first
Finally… reveal the book!
First lines:
“New Orleans is a city ruled by the dead. I remember the moment I first heard someone say this. The old man meant to frighten me. He said there was a time when coffins sprang from the ground following a heavy rain, the dead flooding the city streets. He claimed to know of a Créole woman on rue Dauphine who could commune with spirits in the afterlife.”
Do you recognize the book these first lines come from?
In 1872, New Orleans is a city ruled by the dead. But to seventeen-year-old Celine Rousseau, New Orleans provides her a refuge after she’s forced to flee her life as a dressmaker in Paris. Taken in by the sisters of the Ursuline convent along with six other girls, Celine quickly becomes enamored with the vibrant city from the music to the food to the soirées and—especially—to the danger. She soon becomes embroiled in the city’s glitzy underworld, known as La Cour des Lions, after catching the eye of the group’s leader, the enigmatic Sébastien Saint Germain. When the body of one of the girls from the convent is found in the lair of La Cour des Lions, Celine battles her attraction to him and suspicions about Sébastien’s guilt along with the shame of her own horrible secret.
When more bodies are discovered, each crime more gruesome than the last, Celine and New Orleans become gripped by the terror of a serial killer on the loose—one Celine is sure has set her in his sights . . . and who may even be the young man who has stolen her heart. As the murders continue to go unsolved, Celine takes matters into her own hands and soon uncovers something even more shocking: an age-old feud from the darkest creatures of the underworld reveals a truth about Celine she always suspected simmered just beneath the surface.
At once a sultry romance and a thrilling murder mystery, master storyteller Renée Ahdieh embarks on her most potent fantasy series yet: The Beautiful.
Have you read The Beautiful or is it on your TBR? Leave me a comment and let’s chat 🙂
Meet Nina Hill: A young woman supremely confident in her own…shell.
The only child of a single mother, Nina has her life just as she wants it: a job in a bookstore, a kick-butt trivia team, a world-class planner and a cat named Phil. If she sometimes suspects there might be more to life than reading, she just shrugs and picks up a new book.
When the father Nina never knew existed suddenly dies, leaving behind innumerable sisters, brothers, nieces, and nephews, Nina is horrified. They all live close by! They’re all–or mostly all–excited to meet her! She’ll have to Speak. To. Strangers. It’s a disaster! And as if that wasn’t enough, Tom, her trivia nemesis, has turned out to be cute, funny, and deeply interested in getting to know her. Doesn’t he realize what a terrible idea that is?
Nina considers her options. 1. Completely change her name and appearance. (Too drastic, plus she likes her hair.) 2. Flee to a deserted island. (Hard pass, see: coffee). 3. Hide in a corner of her apartment and rock back and forth. (Already doing it.)
It’s time for Nina to come out of her comfortable shell, but she isn’t convinced real life could ever live up to fiction. It’s going to take a brand new family, a persistent suitor, and the combined effects of ice cream and trivia to make her turn her own fresh page.
The Bookish Life of Nina Hill was just as quirky and relatable as I expected and I enjoyed every minute I spent with Nina Hill and the odd mix of characters we encounter in this book. This was one of the more hyped books in the last few months on bookstagram, which intimidated me for a while (hype and I have a love/hate relationship), but I’m glad that I took the plunge and finally read it!
“It also meant she thought of books as medication and sanctuary and the source of all good things. Nothing yet had proven her wrong.”
I’m not sure what expectations I had going in, but the writing style was very different to what I expected, though not necessarily in a bad way. It definitely enhanced the quirkiness of the story and fit it quite well, but I’m not sure if I’d prefer or enjoy this style in a different book. As this was a character driven story, there wasn’t much in the way of a plot. We follow Nina as she navigates having her perfectly structured world turned completely upside down with the introduction of family members that suddenly appear in her life, difficulties at work that could lead to the loss of her safe space, and Tom: #1 trivia nemesis turned potential love interest. The writing was simple, engaging and infused with great humor, which had me speeding through the pages and made it an even greater pleasure to read.
There was so much friendly banter between all of the characters and it made me feel warm and fuzzy inside, as as much as I was constantly smiling and laughing at their interactions. I really enjoyed meeting Nina’s many siblings and nieces/nephews. Peter was sassy, smart and I loved how he so readily embraced and accepted Nina. I also ended up really liking her brother Archie, but especially sweet little bookish Millie! Although I was initially unsure of how I felt about Nina’s character, she quickly grew on me, as did most of the others, and by the end I don’t think there was one I disliked (surprisingly). As a fellow bookworm and appreciator of all things bookish, but also as someone who really appreciates structure, it felt at times that Nina Hill’s story was picked right from my own life; obviously I related to her a lot. What I enjoyed most about Nina was that although she preferred being alone with her books, she still kept up a very busy and active social life — trivia nights, book clubs, yoga etc., and even though she was an introvert she never actually shied away from doing things that I personally would’ve panicked to get out of (i.e. go to a wedding alone). I really admired those traits in her and it was a refreshing perspective to see in a fellow bookworm!
“Being with you is as good as being alone.”
The romance aspect of Nina’s story also had me in giggling fits! The interactions between Nina and Tom were sweet but incredibly awkward at times. I loved that we got to see both of their thoughts during these interactions because it made it all the more hilarious and it endeared me even more to their characters. Their relationship is really a case of where opposites attract, and I thought Tom was such a sweetheart of a character. I do wish we got more personality from him, but he seemed like a really sweet guy that I wanted to give endless hugs to? I found it really adorable how he was so smitten by Nina!
“Being surrounded by books was the closest she’d ever gotten to feeling like the member of a gang. The books had her back, and the nonfiction, at least, was ready to fight if necessary.”
I was thoroughly entertained throughout Nina’s story. I honestly didn’t look too much into the believability and ease in which things happened because of course, life never falls so seamlessly into place as it does for Nina. BUT I still loved it because who doesn’t love a story about a character who’s so much like yourself? Especially when they get happy endings! Overall, this was the perfect fluffy read that I know many book lovers will get a kick out of reading.
Have you read The Bookish Life of Nina Hill? What did you think? Let me know in the comments and let’s chat!
A few *months* ago Alys @ Alys in Bookland tagged me to do The Netgalley Book Tag! Of course in my typically late fashion, I am only now getting around to it. Thanks so much for the tag, Alys! You all should check out her lovely blog — her aesthetic is just ridiculously cute and amazing and her reviews and posts are awesome!
RULES:
Link back to the tag’s creator.
Thank and link back to the person who tagged you.
Answer the questions the best you can. If you don’t use NetGalley, you can substitute other sites or places where you get books!
Tag a few people to do this too.
Auto-Approved:Who’s one author whose books you automatically want to read, regardless of what they’re about?
I’d have to say Taylor Jenkins Reid for this one. I haven’t read all of her books yet but all of the ones I’ve read have been 4-5 stars and I can’t imagine myself disliking any of her books. I could end up being completely wrong, but I’m on a mission to build my collection of her books! Not that I’ve ever seen her books on NetGalley nor (I’m sure) would I ever be approved even if I wished for it 🤣
Request: What makes you want to request a book that you see on NetGalley?
The first thing that always catches my eye is the cover — I know, I know, don’t judge a book blah blah. Yeah, but it’s true, I do this. Then I read the synopsis and if I’m on the fence about it I check it out on Goodreads and sometimes I’ll skim reviews. Do other people do that? For the most part I decide based on the synopsis!
Feedback Ratio: Do you review every book you read? If not, how do you decide what books to review?
If it’s an ARC, of course! Ever since I started my blog I’ve also tried to write a review for all the books I read and for the most part I’ve done a pretty good job of it, minus a few here and there. I’m working on it!
Badges: If you could create your own badge to display on your blog, what would it be for?
I’m sure this is already out there somewhere but I haven’t seen it yet (although I honestly haven’t looked for it yet either) but I’d like to make a badge as an international book blogger for the obvious reason. Or…. SOMETHING WITH A PANDA ON IT because… pandas? 🐼🐼🐼
Wish for it: What’s one book that you are absolutely dying to read?
One of the upcoming releases that I’m absolutely dying to get my hands on is The Toll by Neal Shusterman. The release date is coming up right quick and I CAN’T WAIT to get my hands on this book. Like, I NEED TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENED YESTERDAY please and thank you.
2019 NetGalley Challenge: What was the last book that you received as an ARC that you reviewed? If you’ve never received an ARC, what’s the last book you reviewed?
The last e-ARC that I received and reviewed was My Life as Marlee by Victoria Anders. Unfortunately for me, this one just didn’t work well for me. You can read my review here!
I’M TAGGING ANYONE WHO WANTS TO DO THIS!
(I’m sorry, I’m just too lazy… If you do this tag, please link back to me so I can see your post too!)
I’ve been seeing everyone joining in on #blogtober and I was feeling a little FOMO even though it was my fault/choice to not be more organized and join in from the start. If you haven’t heard, Blogtober is a month of blogging every single day, and thanks to Anniek and Haf, we’ve been gifted with a list of autumn/halloween related prompts for every day this month! Even though I’ve already missed out on the first 10 days, I thought I’d finally join in for today’s prompt on my Reading Challenge Update!
I don’t normally participate in reading challenges throughout the year because I’m generally just weak when it comes to sticking to any sort of TBR as a mood reader. I also feel like I’m not organized enough to continuously check in on my progress against the set out prompts as the month or year goes on. If there’s one reading challenge that I always set for myself at the beginning of every year it’s the Goodreads Reading Challenge. I set my first reading challenge in 2017 when I started to use Goodreads more frequently. Since then, I’ve set myself a goal that has steadily increased as the years have passed.
At the start of 2019, I set my reading goal to 75 books (I think, my memory fails!). I really surprised myself when I managed to achieve that reading goal quite early on in the year, after which I decided to bump my goal up to 90 books. I’ve always managed to “beat” my reading goals by reading way more than I thought I would, but this year really takes the cake especially since we’ve still got a few months to go and I’ve already far exceeded my own expectations for how much I’d read and could read in one year!
2019 Goodreads Reading Challenge
This year has been an absolute whirlwind of ALL THE BOOKS and although I’ve always loved to dive into books and relied on them to keep me company at night, I’ve never been as into books as I have this year. I know that my reading 160 of 90 books by this point in the year is in large part due to my involvement in the book community through my book blog and bookstagram, not to mention the e-ARCs through NetGalley; although as international blogger the list of ARCs I read still pale in comparison to the new releases/backlist books I read. I know that there’s a little bit of ‘negativity’ around the Goodreads Challenge because it sets up some negative vibes when people take things too seriously and see it as a show-off competition, but I’m not bothered by how much other people read. I set my goal for me, and not to compete with anyone else, and while the rest of my life is a hot HOT mess, I can at least say that I’m proud of what I’ve managed to accomplish when it comes to books. And that makes me happy 🙂
Wowow friends, that got way deep way quick. Sorry! 🤣 Thanks for tuning in and listening to me blather on!
Do you set a reading goal for yourself every year? How is your reading challenge coming along? Leave me a comment below and let’s chat!
Goodreads: My Life as Marlee Publish date: 18 September 2019 Publisher: Alt 19 Publications Genre: Young Adult Contemporary, Young Adult Romance Panda Rating:
I’m officially a sixteen-year-old insane hermit, thanks to my best friend moving away. Until I meet Noah.
Noah is my oxygen. He’s those fleeting, deep breaths keeping my world from going black, from drowning into the darkness of my past. He’s the one who helps me find my passion for swimming again, even though it’s a direct reflection of my nightmare. As my mom moves closer to the deep end, barely treading water, Noah’s the only thing holding me afloat. My fear is that her illness will drain her and I’ll have nowhere to go but across the country. Back to the darkness. Back to my father.
Not even Noah can extinguish my demons.
When my life gets sucked in by the riptides, I have to ask myself, is my father truly evil or just broken? Is Noah’s oxygen enough to save me as the muddy waters swallow me whole?
My name is Marlee, and this is my life.
This book started off very well for me but the further I got, the more I was confused about where the author was taking the story. Then at the turn of events in the last 10% of the book, I was left completely baffled (not in a good way) at the direction the book took. I think I understand what the author was trying to do but IMO it didn’t add anything to the story other than unnecessary drama.
*Warning: Minor spoilers ahead*
Marlee is a typical high schooler who is trying to find her place now that her best friend has relocated and she’s left to deal with the last two years of school alone. I like how she decided to remove herself from a toxic group situation, even if it meant being alone/friendless. From the start you can tell that Marlee has been through a lot and that there’s some serious emotional and mental baggage in her past, but I liked how she kept trying to see the positive and the lessons life was throwing her way in each moment. Although most of it was cheesy for me now, I can imagine my younger teen self being totally onboard with all of the positive affirmation she kept on her wall. There were times when I really liked Marlee and how she was quite level-headed for a teenager, but then there were moments where she’d have these really nasty and incredibly selfish thoughts that just threw me off completely. Moments like these showed just how inconsistent her character was and I get it, she’s a teenager, but to be going on about how much her mum means to her and how much she missed her best friend, her actions in the story didn’t really reflect it very well.
SPOILER
This was especially the case when Marlee got home from Thanksgiving and her mother was feeling worse than usual. She hadn’t seen Noah in a few weeks, and was running towards him when her mother collapses and her first thoughts were something along the lines of: “why did she have to be so weak and collapse right now? if it weren’t for her, i’d already be in Noah’s arms, but instead he’s going to her.” I mean… Your mother has cancer dude. Are you serious rn?
END SPOILER
I’m also on the fence about this romance. It really comes off as insta-lovey because they become a couple 2-3 days after officially meeting. Their chemistry is pretty obvious from the start, but I also felt the ‘can’t-eat-can’t-sleep-can’t-breathe-without-you’ love happened FAST. I started off really enjoying the descriptions of having a high school crush, swimming in lust and all those raging hormones of teenage-hood. It sent me laughing down memory lane remembering my own very cringeworthy, boy-crazy moments. So I can understand getting caught up in emotions and everything, but I felt this crossed over to the unhealthy kind of love where they’re so codependent on each other. Maybe I’m too cynical or old (lol) but I don’t believe the kind of love that Noah and Marlee had was really healthy — especially when everything and everyone else falls to the side (like your very sick very dying mother). Marlee does face a moment where she realizes she has no idea who she is without Noah but other than trying for one activity without him, it really doesn’t go anywhere and that was disappointing too.
Noah was genuinely a very good guy though a little too perfect for my tastes and as a result, got slightly boring for me. He didn’t get much of a personality other than the shining, electrifying, life saving light to Marlee’s dark. Which as a teen I’d probably be all over but now not so much. I loved most of their friends, like Stella, who at times seemed much more likable than Marlee! I would’ve definitely liked to see more of them in it.
The really bizzare and out of the blue ending was what really brought the rating down for me. I don’t understand why it the author had to do it. I actually had to double take when I got to this part of the story because I couldn’t believe that the author brought it in this direction. It was just weird and so unnecessary. There’s a lot more I could get into about how the situation with her father was handled (amongst other things including the situation with her brother!), and how Marlee continued to hide the truth, but I’m not gonna go there because it’s just gonna end up being a rant.
In the end, even though this started off well, the inside content just wasn’t as appealing to me as the outside cover. The story was almost nauseatingly perfect at times–everything was so easily resolved and of course, it was predictable, which isn’t always bad if the execution is good. But in this case, it just wasn’t there for me.
Thanks to Book Sirens and the author for the e-ARC in exchange for an honest review. This book is now available. Have you read My Life as Marlee? Let’s chat in the comments!
It’s time for another WWW Wednesday, a weekly meme hosted by Sam @ Taking On A World of Words, which means I’ll be answering these questions:
What did you read last?
What are you currently reading?
What will you read next?
What did you read last?
I managed to finish four books since last Wednesday! I finally finished The Bookish Life of Nina Hill yesterday and even though I didn’t fall head over heels for the cast of very quirky characters, I still thought this was an adorable read! Nina was such a great bookish character and the whole story in general was very quirky and charming! Fairlady, Vol. 1 was a fantasy graphic novel that I enjoyed for the world building but I was disappointed that the stories were so disconnected. My Life As Marlee was an ARC I got from Book Sirens and which I’m so proud of finishing before the deadline (this is sad really lol)! While the book started off well for me, I didn’t end up enjoying the rest of the story as much as I thought I would. Maybe I’m just too old and cynical for these types of YA romances? The Wall of Winnipeg and Me was by far my favorite out of all of these and I’m so glad I picked up another Zapata book after being somewhat let down by the first of hers that I read. I’m a fan of the slow burn romance and this was one heckuva slow burn but never have I been so damn satisfied by it! All the reviews for these books are coming as soon as I finish getting my thoughts down and organizing them coherently 😅
What are you currently reading?
I’ve been reading House of Salt and Sorrows since last week and it’s taking me so long only because my last week was hella busy and I didn’t have as much time to read it at night, but it’s mostly because I’m too scared to read it alone at night in my flat. I’ve been trying to read it at work during my lunch breaks but people keep chatting to me 🙃and I’m trying to be a little less anti-social at work LOL that said, I’m almost done and I really don’t want to wait until tomorrow to continue reading it but will I be able to conquer the chicken in me? Not sure. It’s creepier than I thought it’d be!!! I’m also reading Dear Aaron by Mariana Zapata, which I started late last night as my melatonin was kicking in and will continue to read tonight, I think. I’ve been really bingeing on romances lately, it seems to be the mood I’ve settled in for now!
What will you read next?
I’m still trying to give priority to several eARCs that are well overdue! Even though I’m *obviously* not doing as well as I’d hoped in tackling them, there’s still time to improve! I’m hoping to read TH1RT3EN next because I’ve seen a ton of people posting about it and I think it’d be great to stick to my goal of reading more creepy books this month. I’ve heard great things! Shadow Frost is also a bit of a priority since it was just published 01 October! 🤦🏻♀️
What are you currently reading? How’s your week going? Leave me a comment and let’s chat 🙂
It’s that time of the week again, friends! We’re back with another Top Ten Tuesday, a weekly meme hosted by Jana @ That Artsy Reader Girl. This week’s prompt is: character traits I love to see in book characters/things that make me love a book character (submitted by Hannah @ Books Life and Other Oddities). and the minute I read the prompt, my mind drew a straight blank. Had I actually read any books with numbers in the title? Thankfully I have my awesome buddy that’s known as Goodreads to help me figure this out! I found a few titles but I’m not sure if there are enough to amount to ten, so let’s see how it goes!
Book Lover/Reader. This one doesn’t really need explaining right? I’m a sucker for someone who loves all thing bookish on the page, as much as I love finding them in real life too!
Not afraid to show their nerd. This might sound similar to the bookish trait, but it goes beyond just books. I love when a character isn’t afraid to nerd out about something they’re really passionate about, especially when I least expect it of a character!
Sassy/Sarcastic/Humorous. Give me all the sass, sarcasm and humor. Any character who can make me laugh already has me halfway to rooting for them — whether they’re main characters, side characters or even on the rare occasion, the villain!
Cinnamon rolls. When I think of characters who are cinnamon rolls, I always immediately think of Tanner from Autoboyography first. He’s such a pure sweetheart of a character who deserves so much and I love characters who make me want to scoop them up, hug them forever and keep them in my pocket wherever I go!
Grumpy/gruff exterior but a softy at heart. For the most part I’m thinking about the male leads of my favorite romances for this trait. I’m a total sucker for that grumpy bear of a lead whose walls slowly come down the more we get to know them, and who end up being total softies. Swoon! 😍
Sticks to their guns. I love a character who will basically stick to their convictions. Practice what they preach. Whatever you wanna call it. Wishy-washy characters give me a headache and drive me absolutely insane!
Acknowledging past mistakes and proving their maturity. I often read about characters who have ‘changed/grown up’ but their actions never speak to that growth. Give me a character who actively acknowledges what a spoiled, immature idiot they’ve been when they were younger, and who actually shows that they’ve matured through their actions!
Loyalty. Maybe it’s a little cliche but it’s such an important trait to me in real life and adds an incredible amount to the respect and attraction I feel for a person, so it obviously makes sense that I’d find this attractive in a fictional character too.
Kind. Plain, simple, kindness. I feel like being kind is underrated in a lot of books but give me a character who shows genuine kindness to others and I’ll be a definite fan.
What are some traits that make you love a character? If you’ve done a TTT for today, please leave your links in the comments so I can mosey over to your blog and check it out! 🙂
Goodreads: Mooncakes Publish date: 15 October 2019 Genre: Graphic Novel, Young Adult, LGBTQIA+, Fantasy Rating:
Nova Huang knows more about magic than your average teen witch. She works at her grandmothers’ bookshop, where she helps them loan out spell books and investigate any supernatural occurrences in their New England town. One fateful night, she follows reports of a white wolf into the woods, and she comes across the unexpected: her childhood crush, Tam Lang, battling a horse demon in the woods.
As a werewolf, Tam has been wandering from place to place for years, unable to call any town home. Pursued by dark forces eager to claim the magic of wolves and out of options, Tam turns to Nova for help. Their latent feelings are rekindled against the backdrop of witchcraft, untested magic, occult rituals, and family ties both new and old in this enchanting tale of self-discovery.
How cute can a graphic novel be?! I’ve seen Mooncakes making the rounds on a few blogs and it sounded so cute I just had to pick it up asap. It’s a very quick and enjoyable read that is full of representation and diversity. We have queer grandmas, a queer young witch that wears hearing-aids, and a nonbinary young werewolf. We also have lots of magic, books and cute little forest creatures! Not to mention a demon and a cult… This fantasy graphic novel really has it all! The artwork was rich and full of vibrant autumn colors that leant a cozy but also a darker mood to the story. The art style reminded me of the late 90s-early 00s comics that I’d always read.
Tam and Nova are lovely main characters and the relationship that blossomed between them was sweet. The grandmas were also great and extremely supportive–I loved the little grandma jokes and banter! I do wish that we got more backstory to the characters. Nova and Tam got together pretty early on and while they were ‘picking up where they left off’ as the reader, I found their chemistry lacking at that point and I would’ve liked to know more about their history together as kids and how their friendship grew, and had the potential for romance. I still enjoyed their relationship and how they learned to grow together and as individuals. Everyone was heartwarmingly supportive in this comic!
Another issue I had was that it initially felt like we were jumping into the middle of a story that was already almost finished because there was very little backstory and world building. I wanted to know more about the place and the history! I also found it a little unbelievable that they could get away with carting a demon in a floating magical cage and there were still zero people around? Where were the townspeople that they’d occasionally mention? Unless they actually live in seclusion but that wasn’t the impression I got!
Overall, a quick, witchy and heartwarming read. I can’t wait to see the finished product and the bonus material that will be included. I would definitely recommend it to those who love cute, magical, and queer comics!
Thanks to NetGalley and publishers for the e-ARC in exchange for an honest review. Have you read Mooncakes or is it on your TBR? This is out in October 2019 so be on the look out!
We’re back with another episode of Down the TBR Hole! Last week I mentioned how I went up to 1,022 books and after removing a few, and then adding some more, this week I’m at a solid 1,020. Still a lot but at least it’s not more than last week, right?! 😂I didn’t do so well with removing books last week, but let’s see how we do with this week’s 10! I’m trying out a new format that I saw someone else do on their blog, which will make the whole process much quicker.
Down the TBR Hole is a weekly book meme created by the wonderful Lia @ Lost in a Storythat attempts to organize our ridiculously long Goodreads TBR list by choosing either to keep or eliminate the books we’ve saved on there. Here’s how it works:
Go to your goodreads to-read shelf.
Order on ascending date added.
Take the first 5 (or 10 (or even more!) if you’re feeling adventurous) books. Of course, if you do this weekly, you start where you left off the last time.
Read the synopses of the books
Decide: keep it or should it go
Verdict: Keep
Firefly Lane by Kristin Hannah. Seeing as how I only read my first Kristin Hannah books this year, I’m surprised to find that I added this one to my list in 2012! Both her books are candidates for my favorites of the year, so I’m quite excited to see if I feel the same about her others!
Magic Hour by Kristin Hannah. Wow, another Hannah I added in 2012! I’m keeping this on for the same reason as the above. The premise of this sounds eerily similar to Where the Forest Meets the Stars which I read (and loved!) earlier this year…
Mornings in Jenin by Susan Abulhawa. All I needed to read was this, and I knew I’d have to keep this because I love The Kite Runner: “A heart-wrenching, powerfully written novel that could do for Palestine what The Kite Runner did for Afghanistan.”
Verdict: Bye-Bye-Bye
Me & Emma by Elizabeth Flock. I’m actually really intrigued by the so-called ‘big twist’ that’s mentioned in the synopsis, but if I’m honest, I don’t know if I’ll ever pick this up…!
Loving by Henry Green. I think I added this book around the time that I was watching (and loving!) Downton Abbey because reading the synopsis gives me major downstairs-of-the-house DA vibes. I’m a little intimidated but I’m keen to try it.
Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov. This has been on my bookshelf for so long and I know there is so much controversy around it but I think I definitely will read this book. I’m very curious to see what it’s like and what I’ll think of it. I’m terrified!
1984 by George Orwell. I’m honestly not even sure why I haven’t read this yet. I think I’m just worried I won’t like it even though I do usually enjoy the genre. I will read it though! *determined face*
Damn, people… I’m really sucking at removing books from my TBR! I’m keeping 6/10 books from this week’s round and I’m really hoping that I’ll read the ones that I’ve decided to keep 😂
Have you read any of these books? How easy is it to cull your TBR list?Leave me a comment and let’s chat!
