This meme was originally created by Lia at Lost in a Story as a way to tackle the gargantuan To-Read shelves a lot of us have on Goodreads.
The rules are simple:
- Go to your Goodreads To-Read shelf.
- Order on ascending date added.
- Take the first 5 (or 10 if you’re feeling adventurous) books
- Read the synopses of the books
- Decide: keep it or should it go?
- Repeat until the entire list has been filtered
Every year I say to myself, this is going to be the year I buy less new books and read more of the books I already own. Every year. Yet I have 233 books on my To-Read shelf on Goodreads, hence continuing this exercise. All the books I’m looking at are ones I own, either in physical or digital form. (I have a separate ‘Wishlist’ shelf with 193 books on it which is where temptation lies.) Books I mark to ‘dump’ will go to my local charity bookshop and, I hope, have a second life.
Leonard and Hungry Paul by Ronan Hession (added 4th June 2020)
Leonard and Hungry Paul are two friends who see the world differently. They use humour, board games and silence to steer their way through the maelstrom that is the 21st century.
‘The figure in Munch’s painting isn’t actually screaming!’ Hungry Paul said. ‘Really, are you sure?’ Replied Leonard. ‘Absolutely. That’s the whole thing. The figure is actually closing his ears to block outa scream. Isn’t that amazing? A painting can be so misunderstood and still become so famous.’
Verdict: Keep – Along with the fact this has thousands of positive reviews, it was a recent ‘Bring Your Own Book’ pick on BBC’s Between the Covers programme.
Miss Benson’s Beetle by Rachel Joyce (added 29th July 2020)
It is 1950. London is still reeling from World War II, and Margery Benson, a schoolteacher and spinster, is trying to get through life, surviving on scraps. One day, she reaches her breaking point, abandoning her job and small existence to set out on an expedition to the other side of the world in search of her childhood obsession: an insect that may or may not exist – the golden beetle of New Caledonia.
When she advertises for an assistant to accompany her, the woman she ends up with is the last person she had in mind. Fun-loving Enid Pretty in her tight-fitting pink suit and pom-pom sandals seems to attract trouble wherever she goes. But together these two British women find themselves drawn into a cross-ocean adventure that exceeds all expectations and delivers something neither of them expected to find: the transformative power of friendship.
Verdict: Keep – I loved other books I’ve read by the author such as The Music Shop, so it stays.
Miss Austen by Gill Hornby (added 30th August 2020)
It’s 1840, twenty-three years after the death of her famous sister Jane, and Cassandra Austen — alone and unwed — returns to the vicarage in the village of Kintbury. There, in a dusty corner of the sprawling vicarage, she discovers a treasure trove of family letters — and within them secrets that she feels certain must not be revealed.
She resolves to burn the letters, even those written by Jane herself. But why destroy so much of her sister’s legacy?
As Cassandra casts an eye back on her youth and the life of her brilliant yet complex sister, she pieces together long-buried truths from both her and Jane’s pasts, and knows she must make a terrible choice: let the contents of the letters colour Jane’s memory for ever – or protect her reputation no matter the cost.
Verdict: Keep – I love the idea behind this and I know the author is a real Jane Austen aficionado.
Expectation by Anna Hope (added 13th September 2020)
What happened to the women we were supposed to become?
Hannah, Cate and Lissa are young, vibrant and inseparable. Living on the edge of a common in East London, their shared world is ablaze with art and activism, romance and revelry – and the promise of everything to come. They are electric. They are the best of friends.
Ten years on, they are not where they hoped to be. Amidst flailing careers and faltering marriages, each hungers for what the others have. And each wrestles with the same question: what does it take to lead a meaningful life?
Verdict: Dump – I don’t think I’ll be able to relate to the characters.
On Canaan’s Side by Sebastian Barry (added 23rd September 2020)
Dublin, 1918. At the end of the First World War, Lilly Bere and her sweetheart Tadg are forced to flee Ireland for America. They plan to marry and forge a new life together, in the hope that their past will not catch up with them.
Seven decades later, Lilly, mourning the loss of her grandson, tries to make sense of her own life and the lives of the people she has loved.
Verdict: Keep – This was a hard one. It’s the fourth in the series and I haven’t read the previous three, although some reviewers have said the book can be read as a standalone. Other reviewers have commented it’s similar to his book The Secret Scripture but not as good. But since I loved Days Without End and Old God’s Time, I’ll give this one a chance.
The Devil and the Dark Water by Stuart Turton (added 8th October 2020)
It’s 1634 and Samuel Pipps, the world’s greatest detective, is being transported to Amsterdam to be executed for a crime he may, or may not, have committed. Travelling with him is his loyal bodyguard, Arent Hayes, who is determined to prove his friend innocent.
But no sooner are they out to sea than devilry begins to blight the voyage. A twice-dead leper stalks the decks. Strange symbols appear on the sails. Livestock is slaughtered.
And then three passengers are marked for death, including Samuel. Could a demon be responsible for their misfortunes?
With Pipps imprisoned, only Arent can solve a mystery that connects every passenger onboard. A mystery that stretches back into their past and now threatens to sink the ship, killing everybody on board.
Verdict: Keep – This was another difficult one. It has lots of 5 star reviews but also quite a few DNFs on Goodreads, some mentions of ‘grim and gruesome’ moments and it’s 550 pages long. But… I love historical crime mysteries and I have a lovely signed edition so after much reflection it stays, for now.
The Ninth Child by Sally Magnusson (added 16th October 2020)
Loch Katrine waterworks, 1856. A Highland wilderness fast becoming an industrial wasteland. No place for a lady.
Young doctor’s wife Isabel Aird, grieving the loss of her many unborn children, finds unexpected freedoms among these hills echoing with gunpowder blasts day and night.
With new life is quickening within her again, Isabel can only wait. But a darker presence has also emerged from the gunpowder smoke. And he is waiting too.
Verdict: Dump – Many reviews of this describe it as a blend of historical fiction and magical realism, and the latter is something I struggle with. I have a copy of her more recent book, Music in the Dark, that sounds like much more my thing.
The Last Days of Ellis Island by Gaëlle Josse, trans. by Natasha Lehrer (added 19th November 2020)
New York, November 3, 1954. In a few days, the immigration inspection station on Ellis Island will close its doors forever. John Mitchell, an officer of the Bureau of Immigration, is the guardian and last resident of the island. As Mitchell looks back over forty-five years as gatekeeper to America and its promise of a better life, he recalls his brief marriage to beloved wife Liz, and is haunted by memories of a transgression involving Nella, an immigrant from Sardinia.
Told in a series of poignant diary entries, this is a story of responsibility, love, fidelity, and remorse.
Verdict: Keep – Even though set in the 1950s, this seems to have contemporary relevance and I’m still intrigued enough to want to read it.
The Disoriented by Amin Maalouf, trans. by Frank Wynne (added 27th November 2020)
One night, a phone rings in Paris. Adam learns that Mourad, once his closest friend, is dying. He quickly throws some clothes in a suitcase and takes the first flight out, to the homeland he fled twenty-five years ago.
Exiled in France, Adam has been leading a peaceful life as a respected historian, but back among the milk-white mountains of the East his past soon catches up with him. His childhood friends have all taken different paths in life — and some now have blood on their hands.
Verdict: Keep – More contemporary relevance because this book is set in Lebanon and although it only has a few reviews they’re all positive. So for now I’m going to overlook the fact it’s over 500 pages long and some of the typeface is quite small.
How Much of These Hills is Gold by C Pam Zhang (added 11th December 2020)
Ba dies in the night; Ma is already gone. Lucy and Sam, twelve and eleven, are suddenly alone and on the run. With their father’s body on their backs, they roam an unforgiving American West dotted with giant buffalo bones and tiger paw prints, searching for a place to give him a proper burial.
Forever changed, Lucy and Sam must now forge their own paths in the twilight of the Gold Rush. Sam wants to live in their father’s violent shadow, while Lucy seeks a different way. Denied and menaced at every turn, they encounter a sinister fur trapper, a brothel owner, a wealthy girl who offers conditional comfort . . . but amid these new gods of greed, wealth and opportunism, can the siblings stay true to who they are? Will their shared family history – and the secrets behind it – bring them together or break them apart?
Verdict: Keep – Longlisted for multiple literary awards, including the Booker Prize, as well as being a Barack Obama Book of the Year 2020. Say no more.
The Result – 8 kept, 2 dumped. Not surprising perhaps as most of these books I bought myself rather than being sent to review. Would you have made different choices?
What Cathy Read Next... 