Down The TBR Hole #1 – The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up

Down The TBR Hole is a weekly meme that revolves around cleansing your TBR of all those books you’re never going to read and sort through it all to know what’s actually on there. It was created by Lost in A Story and I found out about it from SepiaReads.

The idea is that your Goodreads Want To Read shelf is probably enormous. I definitely have a problem with just adding a bunch of books to it and never thinking about them again. So, the plan is to go through on a regular basis and choose some books. Figure out if they’re going to stay or go.

Maybe I’ll channel my Marie Kondo lessons and see if these books spark joy before keeping them or going.

Currently, my Want To Read shelf is 911 books, so pray for me, please.

It works like this:

  • Go to your goodreads to-read shelf.
  • Order on ascending date added.
  • Take the first 5 (or 10 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?

[book-info]

 

Verdict: Discard.

I originally put it on my list because I felt like it was an important, impactful work, but the more I think about it, the less interested I am in Holden Caulfield’s teenage angst. I’m realizing I only have so much time to read and I don’t want to waste it.

[book-info number=”1″]

 

Verdict: Keep.

Every time I read this synopsis, I find my attention is caught again. It’s a shorter book, so I might try to squeeze it in for March.

[book-info number=”2″]

 

Verdict: Keep.

I didn’t even need to think about this one. It’s been on my list for forever and I am going to read it. This year. This is the year, I promise.

[book-info number=”3″]

 

Verdict: Discard.

I have started Les Miserables like three or four times now and I get about halfway through before calling it quits. I thought that it was just my problem with the classics, but I breezed through the Count of Monte Cristo. I can’t keep circling back around for now, but maybe one day.

[book-info number=”4″]

 

Verdict: Keep.

I have been fascinated with this book for forever and I’m still determined to read it. Just like with Mice and Men, the synopsis gets me every time.

13 thoughts on “Down The TBR Hole #1 – The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up

  1. Haley says:

    My friend has warned me off Moby Dick she said it’s so much detail and so little action so I’ve decided to kick that to the side for now. Also, it’s funny but my hubs and I have this ongoing debate at home, he loves Steinbeck and I absolutely despise the man, if he were alive I would go egg his house. I wouldn’t say Of Mice and Men wasn’t worth reading, just that it helped instil the fact that I hate him lol. But I always have a fond spot for Catcher in the Rye 🙂

    • trulybooked says:

      Oh man, I was so excited for what I thought would be a swashbuckling adventure. I’m going to have to double check this list.

      Haha you’d egg his house?! Why do you hate him so much? Maybe I’ll have to switch the two.

    • trulybooked says:

      I think I would do well for the first little bit and then lose steam during some of the more long-winded descriptions. I had the same problem with Hunchback of Notre Dame, too.

  2. Isabelle @ BookwyrmBites says:

    wait is “just adding a bunch of books to it and never thinking about them again” not how TBRs are supposed to work? oops ? but in all seriousness, it really is such a struggle keeping the TBR under control – I personally wouldn’t recommend any of the books on your list today (I went through a major classics phase in middle/high school so I’ve actually read them all! except Les Mis because that book is really. long) but I hope you get to them soon and enjoy!

      • Isabelle @ BookwyrmBites says:

        Of Mice and Men was alright, and I might have enjoyed it more if it hadn’t been part of a high school English class. Frankenstein is an interesting story, and I’d recommend reading it just to be able to appreciate all the contemporary references (because they are literally everywhere, once you know the story beyond “Dr. Frankenstein makes a monster”), though I didn’t really like Mary Shelley’s writing style. but I really didn’t like Catcher in the Rye (some people love it, but I couldn’t relate to Holden’s angst and hatred of the world at large) and I DNF’d Moby-Dick just a few pages in.

        of course, all of this is just my opinion, so take with a grain of salt ?

        • trulybooked says:

          I really wanted to watch Frankenstein after I watched Extra Credits break it down.

          Catcher in the Rye… Even now, I feel a little guilty about taking it off, but at the same time I know that I’m really not feeling a book about an angsty young man who hates the world… It’s something that shows up in the news too much now.

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