Hey bookworm friends, I recently came across a brilliant meme called GoodReads TBR Cleanup on The Corner of Laura. As a person who is not-so-slowly being buried alive under my TBR pile, I feel like this meme was made for me. The number of books currently on my ‘Want to Read’ pile is disgustingly and embarrassingly huge. Are you ready? Hold on to your butts…it’s 2,769 😨😵! In my defence, I mostly use this list as a pile of options rather than a formal ‘TBR’. However, it *is* a bit unwieldy and I *could* use a tad more careful consideration when throwing books on there.
The original creator of GoodReads TBR Cleanup Meme is Mega Bunny Reads.
So How Does It Work?
- Go to your Goodreads want-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.
TBR Cleanup
The number that was randomly generated for me was 646.
Book 1
The Bookseller’s Tale by Ann Swinfen (Oxford Medieval Mysteries)
It’s a historical fiction/mystery set in Medieval England; all things I love.
Keep It
Book 2
Scavenge The Stars by Tara Sim
I didn’t realize this is a retelling of The Count of Monte Cristo, which I have not read. I did read another book by this author that I enjoyed but this one doesn’t have a very high average rating.
Toss it
Book 3
Once Upon A River by Diane Setterfield
I’ve heard great things about Setterfield’s writing style and I want to read more historical fiction. The only element I’m a bit wary of is the potential magical realism. The book is described as a blend of “folklore and science, magic and myth” and I can’t say no to trying that.
Keep It
Book 4
Winter World: The Ingenuity of Animal Survival by Bernd Heinrich
The topic sounds fascinating and I love learning more about animals. It has a decent average rating and a good review from a friend.
Keep It
Book 5
The Castle of Tangled Magic by Sophie Anderson
This whimsical middle-grade fantasy is compared to Howl’s Moving Castle which I love and it looks adorable. I love reading MG from time to time.
Keep It
Alright, those are my 5 books for the Goodreads TBR Cleanup! I only got rid of one but the smallest drop of organization in the ocean of my TBR is better than nothing. I’ll do more of these in the future 😊.
Let’s chat in the comments!
How is your TBR doing? Or, have you read any of these and do you think I made the right choice? 🖤
I’ll have to give this a shot when I get home. My goodreads “wanna read” list is relatively modoest…only 300 or so!
Of your list, I’ve read Winter World and remember enjoying it: I’ve been meaning to read more Heindrich. The Booksellers Tale sounds interesting, especially since the title strikes me as an allusion to The Canterbury Tales, with its “Knights Tale”, “Clerk’s Tale”, and so on.
300 or so is manageable, that’s great! You’re the friend whose review I noticed when looking at Winter World and a big part of why I decided to keep on the list!
Yes, since it’s a medieval setting, it could very be, that’s an excellent point and I suppose another point in its favour!
Oh wow your TBR is massive 😂 although to be fair mine may be as bad. I’m not really sure as I don’t have it on Goodreads but as numerous lists in print and on Word. For the last few years of releases I have split it into an A & B list for ones that I really want to read and ones I’m just more curious about but yeah. It’s a lot. And my current approach to it is the whole figuring out a priority TBR mostly from memory to get it down a bit before I try to tackle truly organising it 😂🙈 out of curiosity how big is your physical TBR?
Anyway well done for removing one book at least. If you plan to do this again next time maybe more will go. Or you could always stumble across a book that makes you instantly want to prioritise it.
I’m kind of curious about that first book and definitely want to read the Diane Setterfield book. Scavenge The Stars is a maybe for me, based on how I find the authors other books. I hope you enjoy the books that you’ve kept whenever you get to them.
It’s absolutely out of control 🤣 Oh I like how you’ve divided into levels of interest, that’s smart, I have no such thing. I hope you are able to get a good priority TBR out of memory, that’s impressive. Also I have not counted my Physical TBR but I would guess it’s somewhere around 50. More manageable but I keep borrowing stuff from the library so have not made a decent dent.
Yeah hopefully next time more will go. But at least doing this exercise might help me remember ones I had forgotten about which might also be good. Exactly, what you said!
I have the 13th Tale from Diane Setterfield so I’ll probably read that one first, if anything. & the first book looks so fun! What other Tara Sim books have you read?
Thank you 🥰
Thinking about it my older lists were similarly divided too so maybe sorting it eventually won’t be too overwhelming. I can’t face reading thousands of blurbs though 😂🙈 it’s going pretty well. Its too long if anything 🙈 although I want to have a quick look at my list too as there’s one quartet that I think I want to add to it but I can’t remember what its called 😂 if it makes you feel any better it sounds like your physical TBR is much more controlled than mine at least. And I also do the library thing
It’s nice looking back at what’s on your TBR anyway. But yes I hope it helps you feel like it’s more organised over time
I need to check if I have that one or not. I don’t own anything by her in print but I think I may have the ebook 🤔 I’ve only read City Of Dusk so I want to finish that trilogy. I also really want to check out We Shall Be Monsters though too which I know you had an arc of.
Oh my gosh I also cannot read that many blurbs, I often fall for the ‘the cover looks cool’ and throw it on there just because of that, which isn’t great but I know that Fantasy is a safe bet for me anyway 🤷♀️ Oh no lol I hope you can remember which quartet you want to add!
Yes, it’s kind of impossible to not do the library thing, especially when mine is like 5 minutes walking distance, I love it!
I agree, it’s fun regardless and thank you 🙂
Yeah City of Dusk is her other series which sounds intriguing to me so I’m glad you read that first book! haha yes, I do indeed 🙂
Oh lol I meant to go back through it. I do generally read them before adding them to my TBR. Although plenty of pretty covers catch my eye too 😂 but at least you know you’re safe with fantasy. I’m hoping when I look at my list the name will sound familiar 😬😂
Ooh cool that’s lovely that its so close. I always argue that at least I’m not buying the books then too 😅
I really need to get on and check out the sequel sometime. Although I’m sure I saw that the third has been pushed back to next year so I suppose there isn’t too great a rush. I hope you enjoy it whenever you check it out.
Oh ahah well I outed myself there didn’t I? I read them sometimes but definitely not every time. Oftentimes I just go off of what other reviews are saying or if it has a theme I like too 🙂
haha yes exactly it’s a money saver that’s for sure 🙂
I did not know that okay in that case better to wait until it’s all out !
To be fair sometimes those blurbs do give way too much away. Some of the future ones on my TBR I’ve read the blurbs of but they’re not really blurbs, more the pitch that the author sold them under 😂
Very true.
I think it still has a date, it’s just not this year anymore.
yes exactly it’s almost got every plot beat in there haha!
Ah okay I see 🙂
2,769 is very impressive! I like the TBR cleanup idea, The Bookseller’s Tale sounds good. Happy reading. I just checked, I’ve got 156 TBR over on Goodreads. 🙂
As soon as I saw the meme I was like I NEED THIS! lol oh 156 is very respectable! I don’t even read 100 books per year so I don’t wanna do the math on how many years it’d take me to finish it😂Happy reading to you too 😊!
My TBR is out of control. If I have the time, I definitely need to participate in this meme. This is such a great idea! 🙂
I thought so too 🙂 Hopefully you can try it and see if you get rid of any books even if it’s just one like me, lol 😅
I have about 1400 books on my Goodreads TBR, which is crazy! But I use it for the same reasons as you do yours.
Oh nice haha apparently we both like having a giant pool of options 🙂
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