Happy Tuesday, friends! šš»
One of my goals for this year is to really make the effort to clean up my bookshelves. I have so many books that I have either lost interest in and will never read, or have read and didnāt like. I only want to keep books that I do have an interest in or will likely read again so that I can keep my shelves looking nice and neat. Because right now, my poor shelves are suffering with how cluttered they are.
I tend to have two reasons as to why I remove a book from my TBR without reading it: Iām just not interested in the book anymore, or the author and their book are irredeemably problematic. I know that everyone talks about “separating the art from the artist” but if the author integrates their awful views into their book, Iām not going to give them my money or my support.
The Gentlemanās Guide to Vice and Virtue by Mackenzi Lee - I feel like I shouldnāt have to explain why Iāve removed this book from my TBR if youāre up to date on the situation surrounding Mackenzi Lee signing books by POC authors. This would be bad enough if she were signing books by other white authors because why would you sign someone elseās book, but doing it to POC authors that sheās not friends with is just unacceptable. Plus, Iām over reading M/M books that are written by women.
Dorothy Must Die by Danielle Paige - I originally put this book on my spring TBR but then took it off when I realised that Iām just not interested in it anymore. Iām kind of bored of “fairytale” retellings, and even more sick of retellings that are retellings of books that used to be copyrighted. The Wizard of Oz, Peter Pan, Tarzan, Alice in Wonderland, Frankenstein? Yeah, none of those are fairytales and two of those arenāt even childrenās books.
Abandon by Meg Cabot - I constantly forget that this book exists and that I even have a copy. Iām not the worldās biggest fan of Meg Cabot anymore, so Iām definitely going to unhaul this one.
The Shining by Stephen King - I have tried twice to read this book and both times I didnāt finish it because the beginning is unbearably slow. Iāll probably just stick to the movie for this one, despite everyoneās protests.
2001: A Space Odyssey by Arthur C. Clarke - As much as I love sci-fi, this is the book that taught me the difference between hard and soft sci-fi. And believe me when I say that this is hard sci-fi. Iām not well-versed in the hard sciences (physics, chemistry, biology, astronomy, geoscience) so books that realistically depict machinery and space travel down the most minute detail are not for me.
Sweet Peril by Wendy Higgins - When I was 16, I really enjoyed the first book in this series and Iām pretty sure I bought the second book as soon as it came out, but somewhere down the line, I really fell out of love with YA paranormal romances, especially those of the steamier variety, like this series. Iām going to be 25 this year and reading books where teenage boysā bodies are described in loving detail makes me feel a little gross.
The Iron Fey by Julie Kagawa - Yes, the whole series. After not finishing The Cruel Prince, Iāve realised that fairy books are really not for me. Plus, this series seems pretty long and Iām not one for neverending series.
Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi - I know that this series is still extremely popular among book bloggers, but I put it on my TBR way back in 2012 just because everyone else did and then just forgot about it. Plus, a lot of the quotes Iāve read are so purple and flowery that I know Iād find myself yelling “just get to the damn point”.
Heist Society by Ally Carter - Do you ever buy a book and then get home to realise that itās not the first in the series? Thatās what I did with this series. I bought the final book in the trilogy without knowing that it was part of a series and itās just sat on my shelves ever since. Itās highly unlikely that Iāll ever get around to reading this series so off the TBR it goes.
Enderās Game by Orson Scott Card - I donāt give money to homophobes.
talk to me!
How often do you clean up your TBR? What books have you removed from it lately?
I enjoyed The Shining, but youāre absolutely right that it has a slow beginning. I donāt blame you at all for sticking to the film for that one. š
My TTT .
Author
I might pick it up again and really try to get through it some day but that might be a long time.
I also need to focus on cleaning up my TBR! Goodreads currently lists it at 402 books which is just not realistic to get through when Iām constantly adding new books! š
And oooh, Iāve also heard lots of critiques of Mackenzi Lee, which is why Iāve also held off on reading The Gentlemanās Guide to Vice and Virtue despite hearing great things about the actual book. I didnāt hear about the signing drama tho! What exactly did she do?
Author
The story is that sheās been signing books that arenāt by her, and mainly by POC authors, which has rubbed a lot of those authors a wrong way, and I really donāt blame them.
Like going into bookstores and signing othersā books? Or at book events?? But either way, thatās insane
I admit, faery books can be hard to get into at times. You either love em or not. Though Iām kinda sad to see other faves here! Lol. Abandon was a unique retelling of the Persephone myth, Shatter Me is another love it or not kind of read that I almost didnāt get into until I saw it in the bargain section at a bookstore and thought, why not try it for $3-4? Dorothy Must Die started out on a pretty strong note, but I felt like the middle books were a tad “middle” like but the series wasnāt too bad overall.
And then the rest are ones that were never on my radar! I think I almost picked up Wendyās series but then another unfavorable review had me changing my mind and set it back on the bookstore shelf. Lol.
Hereās my Tuesday Post
Have a GREAT day!
Old Follower š
Author
Ahh, I didnāt know that Abandon is a retelling! I picked it up a really long time ago without looking into what itās about other than it being a Meg Cabot book.
Love your comment on Enderās Game! Short and succinct!
Author
It was all I had to say on the subject!
I havenāt taken books off my TBR lately. I did read the final book of a series once and I loved the book so much that I went and read the series from the beginning. The first book wasnāt as good as the last book, which helped me see that sometimes oneās debut book is not as good as their subsequent ones.
Author
I feel that way about going back to debuts sometimes. I read The Near Witch last year, which is VE Schwabās debut, and itās nowhere near as good as her more recent stuff.
I actually quite liked Shatter Me, which I just read about a month ago for the first time, though I donāt read much YA usually. Itās worth a try, I think!
Author
I keep going back and forth between wanting to read it and not being that interested, but I think at the moment Iām probably not that interested.
Shatter Me is THE WORST! Youāre not missing anything by skipping it.
Author
That does make me feel a little less guilty about taking it off my TBR.
First off, love the name and the graphics.
Also, Dorothy Must Die was such a disappointment. The concept is really interesting but the execution ugh!
Author
Thank you! š„° I keep picking up Dorothy Must Die and looking at the back of it and putting it down again, so I think itās about time to unhaul it.
I read the Mackenzi Lee book (actually just before all that signing stuff came out) and it was really disappointing. I wonāt be reading any of her other books.
I read Shatter Me but quit that series after that book. I just found the way it was written so irritating.
Author
Iāve read a few quotes of Shatter Me with the crossings out and it would definitely get on my nerves a whole lot.
I read The Shining for the first time last year, and while I thought it was good, I actually liked the movie better. Which I know is an unpopular opinion. š
Author
Nothing wrong with having an unpopular opinion! I probably will try The Shining again some time in the future but for now Iām fine with just knowing the movie.
Such a shame about Mackenzi Lee!! I rather enjoyed her books but ugh… what is she thinking?! I have read a few of these when they came out but not sure I would like them today!!
Author
That was definitely a bad call on her part.
I was very irritated with Dorothy Must Die - letās just say it takes forever to actually get to the what is on the back of the dust jacket…
Author
I canāt deal with books that take forever to get to the actual plot š«
Except for Arthur Clarkeās book and The Shining, these are all new books to me. And that reminds me I couldnāt finish Kingās IT and completely forgot to put it on my list. I think you are very brave to declutter your shelves without having read the books. I simply canāt do it.
Thanks for visiting my blog.
Author
Every time I look at IT I completely chicken out of even trying to read it because it would take me so long to finish it.
… oh wow. I had to google what Lee did and just… WOW. My mind isa blown that she thought this was okay.
Author
Same here. I just donāt understand why an author would sign and doodle in a book that isnāt theirs, especially if itās a book by a POC author, and then think that thereās nothing wrong with that.
I have the same problem with Mackenzi Lee. Her Loki book is waiting on my shelf and I was so excited about it. But after reading that she signs POC authorsā books, Iāve lost interest.
Author
I donāt blame you for losing interest in her Loki book, what she did has completely killed any interest I had in Gentlemanās Guide.
I DNFād both Shatter Me and The Gentlemanās Guide. You arenāt missing out on anything there in my opinion.
I totally get you not wanting to support authors who are doing or supporting things you think are problematic. I read Enderās Game as a child and I still love it — but I wonāt read more of Cardās works now. Itās a weird place to be in.
I donāt clean up my TBR often. I use Goodreads and my TBR is far too long to manage well. Perhaps Iāll start a meme on my blog about removing things from that list… Itās over 1500 books right now. Yikes.
Author
Good to know I wonāt be missing out on much! There are a couple of authors who I loved when I was a child but I wonāt read any of their books anymore because of being problematic.
Iāve never unknowingly bought a book that was part of a series. That must be so frustrating!
I also havenāt read The Shining by Stephen King. Iām sticking to the movie.
Author
It really is frustrating! It doesnāt happen much now that I know to check Goodreads, but it has happened a lot to me in the past.
Iām still hopeful Iāll someday read Allyās just because they sound like lots of fun! š
Thanks so much for the visit to Finding Wonderland last week.
Author
They do sound fun but I think I would have enjoyed them more when I was younger. I hope you get to read them š
Totally agree about Gentlemanās Guide, that is gone from my list too! And Iād not buy a Card book if it was the literal last book on Earth because HARD same there. I also very much agree about hard sci-fi, I just canāt wrap my head around those!
Author
I like to think that they call it hard sci-fi because it can be so inaccessible for those of us who canāt wrap our heads around it. I donāt want to read a bunch of statistics, I just want a cool space adventure!