I recently came across the Down the TBR Hole challenge from Lost in a Story and decided this was a great concept!

I have had my Goodreads account since November 2012 (weird that it’s November now…that was not planned), which was WAY before I started Bookstagramming, Blogging, or even really keeping track of what I read with any sort of consistency. As such, my Want To Read shelf is just a huge messy jumble, and I love the idea of sorting through it. But I am going to make some slight changes!

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How It Originally 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. Next time, you start where you left off the last time.
• Read the synopses of the books
• Decide: keep it or should it go?
• Discuss here.

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How I Will Make it Work:

• Go to your Goodreads to-read shelf.
• Ask Siri to pick a number between 1 and however many books are on the list.
• Go to that book and look at it and the 4 after it, for a total of 5.
• Read the synopses of the books.
• Decide: keep it or should it go?
• Discuss here.

I’m going to aim to do this at least once a month, maybe twice a month if I get ambitious or my TBR gets extra crazy (I do add to it all the time).

And so, without any further ado, let’s start purging!

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The Deepest Blue by Sarah Beth Durst

The natural magic of the classic The Island of the Blue Dolphins meets the danger and courage of The Hunger Games in this dazzling, intricate stand-alone fantasy novel set in award-winning author Sarah Beth Durst’s beloved world of Renthia.

Life is precious and precarious on the islands of Belene. Besieged by a capricious ocean full of malicious spirits, the people of the islands seek joy where they can. Mayara, one of the island’s fearless oyster divers, has found happiness in love. But on the day of her wedding to the artist Kelo, a spirit-driven storm hits the island with deadly force.

To save her loved ones, Mayara reveals a dangerous secret: she has the power to control the spirits. When the storm ends, she is taken into custody by the queen’s soldiers and imprisoned with other women like her.

They vary in age and social status, but to many they are heroes who will aide the country or witches that will sacrifice themselves trying. No matter who they are, the women are sent to a terrifying place—an island filled with bloodthirsty nature spirits, and left without food, water, shelter, or any tools except their own instincts and magic. Whoever survives the Island of Testing will be declared heirs to the queen. But no matter if she wins or loses, Mayara knows that the life she dreamed of is gone.

Oh, it’s very clear to me why this got added to my TBR – LOOK AT THE COVER! I am a sucker for a great cover. The blurb also sounds super intriguing, and I liked the one Sarah Beth Durst book I’ve read.

VERDICT: Keep

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Tarot by Marissa Kennerson

Anna was never supposed to exist. Born of a forbidden union between the Queen and the tyrannical King’s archnemesis, Anna is forced to live out her days isolated in the Tower, with only her mentors and friends the Hermit, the Fool, and the Magician to keep her company. To pass the time, Anna imagines unique worlds populated by creatives and dreamers—the exact opposite of the King’s land of fixed fates and rigid rules—and weaves them into four glorious tapestries.

But on the eve of her sixteenth birthday and her promised release from the Tower, Anna discovers her true lineage: She’s the daughter of Marco, a powerful magician, and the King is worried that his magical gifts are starting to surface in Anna. Fearing for her life, Anna flees the Tower and finds herself in Cups, a lush, tropical land full of all the adventure, free-spiritedness, and creativity she imagined while weaving.

Anna thinks she’s found paradise in this world of beachside parties, endless food and drink, and exhilarating romance. But when the fabric of Cups begins to unravel, Anna discovers that her tapestries are more than just decoration. They’re the foundation for a new world that she is destined to create—as long as the terrors from the old world don’t catch up with her first.

I probably added this because it was around the time I was getting into actual Tarot and it sounded interesting. On second look, the cover is pretty lame, and the reviews are not great.

VERDICT: Discard

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An Affair of Poisons by Addie Thorley

After unwittingly helping her mother poison King Louis XIV, seventeen-year-old alchemist Mirabelle Monvoisin is forced to see her mother’s Shadow Society in a horrifying new light: they’re not heroes of the people, as they’ve always claimed to be, but murderers. Herself included. Mira tries to ease her guilt by brewing helpful curatives, but her hunger tonics and headache remedies cannot right past wrongs or save the dissenters her mother vows to purge.

Royal bastard Josse de Bourbon is more kitchen boy than fils de France. But when the Shadow Society assassinates the Sun King and half of the royal court, he must become the prince he was never meant to be in order to save his injured sisters and the petulant dauphin. Forced to hide in the sewers beneath the city, Josse’s hope of reclaiming Paris seems impossible―until his path collides with Mirabelle’s.

She’s a deadly poisoner. He’s a bastard prince. They are sworn enemies, yet they form a tenuous pact to unite the commoners and former nobility against the Shadow Society. But can a rebellion built on mistrust ever hope to succeed?

I really don’t read Historical Fantasy/Fiction these days, and when I do I tend to be rather meh about it. This one sounds okay, but I am not getting excited about it.

VERDICT: Discard

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Wires and Nerve: Volume 2 by Marissa Meyer

The world of the Lunar Chronicles comes alive in this thrilling continuation of Wires and Nerve. Iko–an audacious android and best friend to the Lunar Queen Cinder–has been tasked with hunting down Alpha Lysander Steele, the leader of a rogue band of bioengineered wolf-soldiers who threaten to undo the tenuous peace agreement between Earth and Luna. Unless Cinder can reverse the mutations that were forced on them years before, Steele and his soldiers plan to satisfy their monstrous appetites with a massacre of the innocent people of Earth.

And to show he’s serious, Steele is taking hostages.

Cinder and Kai, Scarlet and Wolf, Cress and Thorne, and Winter and Jacin all feature in this epic new battle. But it is Iko who must face her deepest fears when she uncovers the truth about her own unusual programming. Questions of love, friendship, and mortality take Iko on an emotional journey that will satisfy and delight fans of this bestselling series.

So I loved the Lunar Chronicles, and I actually have Volume 1 of Wires and Nerve, although I don’t think I ever actually read it. HOWEVER, I am trying to broaden my horizons by checking out some graphic novels, and this is definitely one I will need to at least own, and probably would read.

VERDICT: Keep

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Prince Charming by Rachel Hawkins

Meet Daisy Winters. She’s an offbeat sixteen-year-old Floridian with mermaid-red hair, a part time job at a bootleg Walmart, and a perfect older sister who’s nearly engaged to the Crown Prince of Scotland. Daisy has no desire to live in the spotlight, but relentless tabloid attention forces her join Ellie at the relative seclusion of the castle across the pond.

While the dashing young Miles has been appointed to teach Daisy the ropes of being regal, the prince’s roguish younger brother kicks up scandal wherever he goes, and tries his best to take Daisy along for the ride. The crown–and the intriguing Miles–might be trying to make Daisy into a lady . . . but Daisy may just rewrite the royal rule book to suit herself.

So I didn’t recognize this at first glance until I realized it was originally marketed as Royals and had a totally different cover. Not gonna lie, I way prefer this new incarnation, as the cover is way more “rom com” and way less “princess diaries knockoff”. I also found out there is a spin-off novel called Her Royal Highness, so that’s cool. I love me a good YA Contemporary, and the royalty trope is always fun.

VERDICT: Keep

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So the final count is: Keep 3, Discard 2. I call that progress!!!! I definitely enjoyed this process, so expect to see this as a more regular thing! I challenge you to do a Goodreads Purge of your own and then to tag me so I can see!!! Good luck!