Pages

Thursday, January 27, 2011

Culling the TBR 2011

About once a year, I like to sit down and weed my "To Be Read" list, a sad task, but a necessary one. I've got a lot less that I'm eliminating from the list this year, mainly because I did get the chance to read a lot of things that I was after! I even went back and read a few books from last year's culled list: The Disreputable History of Frankie Landeau Banks by E. Lockhart, and The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness. So, taking them off my TBR doesn't doom them to "unread" status forever... it just seriously lessens the chances that I'll get to it.
So, with no further ado, here's how I'll be narrowing down my TBR this year:

Awakening 
by Kelly Armstrong
HarperCollins
2008

I read the first book in the Darkest Powers series, and didn't care for it as much as I had hoped, so this is an easy one to strike off the list.






3 Willows: The Sisterhood Grows 
by Ann Brashares 
Delacorte Books for Young Readers  
2009 

I've been meaning to read this book forever, and simply haven't gotten to it. I've even checked it out from the library... twice! I think it's time to be honest with myself and admit that even though I loved Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, I don't think I'll be able to find the time to tackle it.



Born to Fly
by Michael Ferrari
Delacorte Books for Young Readers 
2009 

How did this one end up on my list in the first place? I couldn't even remember what this one was about. Off it goes.




Death by Latte 
by Linda Gerber 
Puffin 
2008 

Here's another one that must have caught my interest at some brief moment, but I now feel confident about crossing off the list.






Brooklyn Nine: A Novel in Nine Innings 
by Alan Gratz 
Penguin Young Readers Group 
2009 

I think I put this on my TBR when I was having a moment of thinking I hadn't read enough sports stories to recommend to folks. I feel a little guilty taking this one off the list, especially as there's a chance I might run into Alan Gratz at a booksigning one day. And it is an interesting sounding premise -- about nine generations of baseball players. Still. One can't read everything, as much as one might wish to!

Bearstone 
by Will Hobbs 
Aladdin 
1989 

I'd been meaning to take a look at this one, as it had kicked up a controversy in the blogosphere for it's treatment of Native Americans a while back... but I didn't get to it. Off the list it goes!



Loving Frank 
by Nancy Horan 
Ballantine Books 
2007 

I don't have a lot of time for reading adult fiction, what with all the great YA and middle-grade titles out there, so I am pretty choosy about which books I read to "take a break" from kidlit. I started reading this one, but couldn't get into it. I've been determined to get back to it for ages now... but I think I'll feel better if I let this one go.


How to Ditch Your Fairy 
by Justine Larbalestier 
Bloomsbury USA 
2008 

I started to read this and put it down... it just didn't captivate me as much as I'd hoped. We'll just have to call this one a DNF.






Chalice 
by Robin McKinley 
Putnam Juvenile 
2008 

I love Robin McKinley! I feel a little bad about eliminating this one.





The 13 ½ Lives of Captain Bluebear 
by Walter Moers 
Overlook 
2006 

I loved the wildly inventive City of Dreaming Books, and so, put everything Moers had ever written on my TBR, but I guess it's time to admit that I'm not ever going to get around to reading this book.




The Girl Who Owned a City
by O.T. Nelson
Laurel Leaf
 1975 

I've heard that this one is the Mother of All Dystopian YA. But, it's been on my TBR list for far, far too long, and so, it has to go.






Five Children and It 
by E. Nesbit 
Puffin 
1902

This book is supposed to be such a magical classic, but the scary creature on the cover has always warned me off.



I Don't Know How She Does It 
by Allison Pearson 
Anchor
2002

Again, I don't have much room in my schedule for adult fiction.







The Crystal Cave
by Mary Stewart
Eos
1970

I've had friends hounding me to read this classic over the years, and I loved The Mists of Avalon. But, ultimately, this has been sitting on my TBR for - yes, an astounding, 10 years at least. I think I'll have to take a pass on this series.

Book of Shadows 
by Cate Tiernan 
Puffin 
2001 

I've heard amazing things about the Sweep series, but in the last several years, I simply haven't gotten to it. I might as well start fresh with Tiernan's new series, Immortal Beloved.



Breathless
by Jessica Warman
Walker Books for Young Readers
2009

Here's another title that intrigued me when it first came out, but I know that I won't have time to read now.






And that's it! Only 16 titles eliminated... and my TBR still hovers at around 50 books or so. But, this feels good, very cathartic!

7 comments:

  1. I should sit down and do this, my TBR list is out of control and I keep telling myself I'll read the ones I have before I get any more, but that never works out. I lack self control apparently:)

    ReplyDelete
  2. I used to use a Google spreadsheet to track everything, but I'm using Goodreads now, and it's so hard to resist putting new books on the TBR, with all those shiny, eye-catching cover samples and tantalizing book descriptions Goodreads provides.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I should maybe do that to my list as well, but so far I can't bring myself to do it! :) If I take them off the list, I may forget about them forever! :) I have a huge list on goodreads, but I actually like it that way! Lots of options for new things to read!

    Thanks for hopping by my blog earlier! I LOVE your name, BTW! :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. i just started the darkest powers trilogy! im only on book one but so far so good :) i'll be on the look out for your review!

    Diana

    ReplyDelete
  5. @Em Haha, I have to thin down my TBR list at least once a year. You should see all the books I took off of it last year. It was a ton!
    http://www.madiganreads.com/2010/04/taming-tbr-list.html

    @Lovely Lucky for you, I have already reviewed the first book, The Summoning.
    http://www.madiganreads.com/2010/08/summoning-review.html
    Unluckily, I didn't much care for it, so I don't believe I'll be reading the rest!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Oh Madigan, don't give up on the Crystal Cave! I have loved that book to pieces ever since I read it when I was twelve or so.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Well, I may yet get to it. After all, I thought I'd never read The Knife of Never Letting Go, but when I finally read it, I loved it. It just came to me at the right time, I guess!

    ReplyDelete

LinkWithin

Related Posts with Thumbnails