Tag: downtheTBRhole

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:

1. Go to your Goodreads To-Read shelf.
2. Order on ascending date added.
3. Take the first 5 (or 10 if you’re feeling adventurous) books
4. Read the synopses of the books
5. Decide: keep it or should it go?
6. Repeat until the entire list has been filtered

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My To-Read shelf on Goodreads now contains 249 books compared with 450 when I last undertook this exercise. In case you’re thinking I’ve read an awful lot of books in the last few months, I have to admit it’s because I created a new shelf on Goodreads for books I want to read but don’t yet own – a wishlist, in other words – and moved books that fit that category there. The ones I’m looking at here then are all books I own, either in physical or digital form.

Bitter by Francesca Jakobi (added 21st October 2018)

It’s 1969, and while the summer of love lingers in London, Gilda is consumed by the mistakes of her past. She walked out on her beloved son Reuben when he was just a boy and fears he’ll never forgive her.

When Reuben marries a petite blonde gentile, Gilda takes it as the ultimate rejection. Her cold, distant son seems transformed by love – a love she’s craved his entire adult life. What does his new wife have that she doesn’t? And how far will she go to find out? It’s an obsession that will bring shocking truths about the past to light . . .

Verdict: Keep – I still like the sound of this and it has some great reviews. 

Chasing Ghosts by Madalyn Morgan (added 22nd October 2018)

1949. After receiving treatment for shell shock in Canada, Claire’s husband disappears.

Has Mitch left her for the woman he talks about in his sleep? Or is he on the run from accusations of wartime treachery?

Claire goes to France in search of the truth, aided by old friends from the Resistance.

Verdict: Keep – A giveaway prize, this is book six in the author’s ‘Dudley Sister’ saga. Ordinarily I wouldn’t be keen to start a series so far through but it’s a sequel to book three which I also have a copy of. I think there may be a little too much of a romance for my taste but I’ll try the earlier book and then decide on this one.

China Blue by Madalyn Morgan (added 22nd October 2018)

At the beginning of World War II, Claire Dudley joins the WAAF. She excels in languages and is recruited by the Special Operations Executive to work in German occupied France with Captain Alain Mitchell, of the RCAF, and the French Resistance.

Against SOE rules Claire falls in love. The affair has to be kept secret. Even after her lover falls into the hands of the Gestapo, Claire cannot tell anyone they are more than comrades.

As the war reaches its climax, Claire fears she will never again see the man she loves.

Verdict: Keep – See above.

Perfume River by Robert Olen Butler (added 30th October 2018)

Robert Quinlan and his wife Darla teach at Florida State University. Their marriage, forged in the fervor of anti-Vietnam-war protests, now bears the fractures of time, with the couple trapped in an existence of morning coffee and solitary jogging and separate offices. For Robert and Darla, the cracks remain below the surface, whereas the divisions in Robert’s own family are more apparent: he has almost no relationship with his brother Jimmy, who became estranged from the family as the Vietnam War intensified.

William Quinlan, Robert and Jimmy’s father, a veteran of World War II, is coming to the end of his life, and aftershocks of war ripple across all their lives once again when Jimmy refuses to appear at his father’s bedside. And a disturbed homeless man whom Robert at first takes to be a fellow Vietnam veteran turns out to have a devastating impact not just on Robert, but on his entire family.’

Verdict: Keep – I loved the author’s book Late City and after reading it added several from his backlist to my wishlist. I think I picked up this one in a charity shop. 

The Art of Love by A. B. Michaels (added 12th November 2018)

At the end of the Gilded Age, the “Golden City” of San Francisco offers everything a man could want—except the answers August Wolff desperately needs to find. After digging a fortune in gold from the frozen fields of the Klondike, Gus heads south, hoping to start over and put the baffling disappearance of his wife and daughter behind him. The turn of the century brings him even more success, but the distractions of a city some call the new Sodom and Gomorrah can’t fill the gaping hole in his life.

Amelia Starling is a wildly talented artist caught in the straightjacket of Old New York society. Making a heart-breaking decision, she moves to San Francisco to further her career, all the while living with the pain of a sacrifice no woman should ever have to make.

Brought together by the city’s flourishing art scene, Gus and Lia forge a rare connection. But the past, shrouded in mystery, prevents the two of them from moving forward as one. Unwilling to face society’s scorn, Lia leaves the city and vows to begin again in Europe. Gus can’t bear to let her go, but unless he can set his ghosts to rest, he and Lia have no chance at all.

Verdict: Dump – This is the first book in a series. I read book five – Josephine’s Daughter – back in 2020 as part of a blog tour and although I enjoyed it I don’t feel inclined to go back to the beginning of the series.  

The Parisian by Isabella Hammad (added 18th December 2018) 

As the First World War shatters families, destroys friendships and kills lovers, a young Palestinian dreamer sets out to find himself.

Midhat Kamal picks his way across a fractured world, from the shifting politics of the Middle East to the dinner tables of Montpellier and a newly tumultuous Paris. He discovers that everything is fragile: love turns to loss, friends become enemies and everyone is looking for a place to belong.

Verdict: Dump – This is one of the oldest books on my NetGalley shelf and probably one of the reasons for that is that it’s 710 pages long. I’m not convinced I have the stamina to read it and it has divided opinions among reviewers.

The Binding by Bridget Collins (added 10th January 2019)

Imagine you could erase your grief. Imagine you could forget your pain. Imagine you could hide a secret. Forever.

Emmett Farmer is working in the fields when a letter arrives summoning him to begin an apprenticeship. He will work for a Bookbinder, a vocation that arouses fear, superstition and prejudice – but one neither he nor his parents can afford to refuse.

He will learn to hand-craft beautiful volumes, and within each he will capture something unique and extraordinary: a memory. If there’s something you want to forget, he can help. If there’s something you need to erase, he can assist. Your past will be stored safely in a book and you will never remember your secret, however terrible.

In a vault under his mentor’s workshop, row upon row of books – and memories – are meticulously stored and recorded. Then one day Emmett makes an astonishing discovery: one of them has his name on it.

Verdict: Keep – Should you keep a book purely on the basis of it’s cover? Probably not, but I still find myself intrigued by this. 

In a Time of Monsters: Travels Through a Middle East in Revolt by Emma Sky (added 22nd January 2019)

Returning to the UK in September 2010 after serving in Iraq as the political adviser to the top American general, Emma Sky felt no sense of homecoming. She soon found herself back in the Middle East traveling through a region in revolt. 

In a Time of Monsters bears witness to the demands of young people for dignity and justice during the Arab Spring; the inability of sclerotic regimes to reform; the descent of Syria into civil war; the rise of the Islamic State; and the flight of refugees to Europe.

With deep empathy for its people and an extensive understanding of the Middle East, Sky makes a complex region more comprehensible. A great storyteller and observational writer, Sky also reveals the ties that bind the Middle East to the West and how blowback from our interventions in the region contributed to the British vote to leave the European Union and to the election of Donald Trump as president of the United States.

Verdict: Dump – I won this book from Readers First and I like the idea of learning more about the fraught history of the Middle East but I can’t see myself ever getting around to reading it. Sorry, Emma.

Things in Jars by Jess Kidd (added 1st February 2019)

Bridie Devine – female detective extraordinaire – is confronted with the most baffling puzzle yet: the kidnapping of Christabel Berwick, secret daughter of Sir Edmund Athelstan Berwick, and a peculiar child whose reputed supernatural powers have captured the unwanted attention of collectors trading curiosities in this age of discovery.

Winding her way through the labyrinthine, sooty streets of Victorian London, Bridie won’t rest until she finds the young girl, even if it means unearthing a past that she’d rather keep buried. Luckily, her search is aided by an enchanting cast of characters, including a seven-foot tall housemaid; a melancholic, tattoo-covered ghost; and an avuncular apothecary. But secrets abound in this foggy underworld where spectacle is king and nothing is quite what it seems.

Verdict: Keep – This is another book that has been on my NetGalley shelf for years. However, I really enjoyed the author’s recent book, The Night Ship, so I’m going to hang on to this one.

Washington Black by Esi Edugyan (added 6th March 2019)

When two English brothers take the helm of a Barbados sugar plantation, Washington Black – an eleven year-old field slave – finds himself selected as personal servant to one of these men. The eccentric Christopher ‘Titch’ Wilde is a naturalist, explorer, scientist, inventor and abolitionist, whose single-minded pursuit of the perfect aerial machine mystifies all around him.

Titch’s idealistic plans are soon shattered and Washington finds himself in mortal danger. They escape the island together, but then then Titch disappears and Washington must make his way alone, following the promise of freedom further than he ever dreamed possible.

From the blistering cane fields of Barbados to the icy wastes of the Canadian Arctic, from the mud-drowned streets of London to the eerie deserts of Morocco, Washington Black teems with all the strangeness and mystery of life. Inspired by a true story, Washington Black is the extraordinary tale of a world destroyed and made whole again.

Verdict: Keep – The moment I discovered this was partly set in Barbados – an island I have visited many times – I snapped up the copy I found in my local charity bookshop. It’s reminding me a little of William Boyd’s The Romantic which I read recently.

The Result – 7 kept, 3 dumped. Not bad, I suppose… Would you have made different choices? 

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:

1. Go to your Goodreads To-Read shelf.
2. Order on ascending date added.
3. Take the first 5 (or 10 if you’re feeling adventurous) books
4. Read the synopses of the books
5. Decide: keep it or should it go?
6. Repeat until the entire list has been filtered

---

It’s time for me to attempt a bit more pruning of my To-Read shelf on Goodreads which now contains 450 books, twenty-six down on last time. Yes!  A lot of that reduction was through deleting books I don’t own from my Want-To-Read shelf. Let’s see if I can be similarly successful with books I do own. 

The Girl in the Letter by Emily Gunnis (added 7th August 2018)

1956. When Ivy Jenkins falls pregnant she is sent in disgrace to St Margaret’s, a dark, brooding house for unmarried mothers. Her baby is adopted against her will. Ivy will never leave.

Present day. Samantha Harper is a journalist desperate for a break. When she stumbles on a letter from the past, the contents shock and move her. The letter is from a young mother, begging to be rescued from St Margaret’s. Before it is too late.

Sam is pulled into the tragic story and discovers a spate of unexplained deaths surrounding the woman and her child. With St Margaret’s set for demolition, Sam has only hours to piece together a sixty-year-old mystery before the truth, which lies disturbingly close to home, is lost forever …

Read her letter. Remember her story …

Verdict: Keep – The subject matter is reminding of several other books I’ve read but I’m still interested in reading this one. 

The Death of Mrs Westaway by Ruth Ware (added 15th August 2018)

On a day that begins like any other, Hal receives a mysterious letter bequeathing her a substantial inheritance. She realizes very quickly that the letter was sent to the wrong person – but also that the cold-reading skills she’s honed as a tarot card reader might help her claim the money.

Soon, Hal finds herself at the funeral of the deceased…where it dawns on her that there is something very, very wrong about this strange situation and the inheritance at the center of it.

Verdict: Keep – I remember this being all over social media at the time which is no doubt why I snapped up a copy. 

The Continuity Girl by Patrick Kincaid (added 21st August 2018)

1969. Hollywood descends on a tiny Scottish village for the making of Billy Wilder’s most ambitious picture yet: a sprawling epic detailing The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes. But the formidable director and his crew soon come into conflict with Jim Outhwaite, a young scientist seeking evidence for monsters.

2014. Stuck just a short walk from the East London street where she grew up, ambitious Film Studies lecturer Gemma MacDonald is restless and hungry for change. A job offer in the Highlands seems to offer escape – but only at a cost to her relationships with family and an equally ambitious American boyfriend.

Then a lost print of Gemma’s favourite film turns up, and with it, an idea…

Two stories, separated by 45 years, are set on collision course – on the surface of Loch Ness, under the shadow of a castle – by the reappearance of the continuity girl herself: April Bloom.

Verdict: Dump – Although the Billy Wilder angle appeals to me, the description of this as ‘a wistfully entertaining romantic comedy’ puts me off a little, as does the dual timeline structure. I think I’ll say ‘Cut’.

A House of Ghosts by W. C. Ryan (added 12th September 2018)

Winter 1917. As the First World War enters its most brutal phase, back home in England, everyone is seeking answers to the darkness that has seeped into their lives.

At Blackwater Abbey, on an island off the Devon coast, Lord Highmount has arranged a spiritualist gathering to contact his two sons who were lost in the conflict. But as his guests begin to arrive, it gradually becomes clear that each has something they would rather keep hidden. Then, when a storm descends on the island, the guests will find themselves trapped. Soon one of their number will die.

For Blackwater Abbey is haunted in more ways than one…

Verdict: Keep – I won this hardback from Readers First but since I won’t get any points for a review after all this time, it’s slipped down the priority list.  I like the period it’s set in and it has generally positive reviews.  

The Distant Hours by Kate Morton (added 13th September 2018)

Edie Burchill and her mother have never been close, but when a long lost letter arrives with the return address of Milderhurst Castle, Kent, printed on its envelope, Edie begins to suspect that her mother’s emotional distance masks an old secret.

Evacuated from London as a thirteen year old girl, Edie’s mother is chosen by the mysterious Juniper Blythe, and taken to live at Millderhurst Castle with the Blythe family.

Fifty years later, Edie too is drawn to Milderhurst and the eccentric Sisters Blythe. Old ladies now, the three still live together, the twins nursing Juniper, whose abandonment by her fiancé in 1941 plunged her into madness.

Inside the decaying castle, Edie begins to unravel her mother’s past. But there are other secrets hidden in the stones of Milderhurst Castle, and Edie is about to learn more than she expected. The truth of what happened in the distant hours has been waiting a long time for someone to find it . . .

Verdict: Dump – I’ve read four other books by the author with an average rating of 3.5 stars.  Do I love the sound of this book enough to get through its 673 pages? I don’t think I do but hopefully someone browsing the charity bookshop it’s destined for will. Another plus point to getting rid of it is that it will free up space for a couple of other books.

Please, Mr Postman by Alan Johnson (added 26th September 2018) 

In July 1969, while the Rolling Stones played a free concert in Hyde Park, Alan Johnson and his young family left West London to start a new life.

The Britwell Estate in Slough, apparently notorious among the locals, in fact came as a blessed relief after the tensions of Notting Hill, and the local community welcomed them with open arms. Alan had become a postman the previous year, and in order to support his growing family took on every bit of overtime he could, often working twelve-hour shifts six days a week.

It was hard work, but not without its compensations – the crafty fag snatched in a country lane, the farmer’s wife offering a hearty breakfast and even the mysterious lady on Glebe Road who appeared daily, topless, at her window as the postman passed by …

Please, Mister Postman paints a vivid picture of England in the 1970s, where no celebration was complete without a Party Seven of Watney’s Red Barrel, smoking was the norm rather than the exception, and Sunday lunchtime was about beer, bingo and cribbage. But as Alan’s life appears to be settling down and his career in the Union of Postal Workers begins to take off, his close-knit family is struck once again by tragedy …

Verdict: Dump – I’ve read most of Alan Johnson’s brilliant memoirs and also his first foray into crime fiction, The Late Train to Gipsy Hill. I’m sure I’d enjoy this one but – and here is the sneaky bit – the book actually belongs to my husband so I can safely remove it from my To-Read list on Goodreads without getting rid of the actual physical copy. 

The Lion Tamer Who Lost by Louise Beech (added 27th September 2018)

Long ago, Andrew made a childhood wish, and kept it in a silver box. When it finally comes true, he wishes he hadn’t…

Long ago, Ben made a promise and he had a dream: to travel to Africa to volunteer at a lion reserve. When he finally makes it, it isn’t for the reasons he imagined…

Ben and Andrew keep meeting in unexpected places, and the intense relationship that develops seems to be guided by fate. Or is it? What if the very thing that draws them together is tainted by past secrets that threaten everything?

Verdict: Keep – I’ve loved every book I’ve read by Louise Beech and it has loads of enthusiastic reviews. 

This Boy by Alan Johnson (added 7th July 2018)

Alan Johnson’s childhood was not so much difficult as unusual, particularly for a man who was destined to become Home Secretary. Not in respect of the poverty, which was shared with many of those living in the slums of post-war Britain, but in its transition from two-parent family to single mother and then to no parents at all…

This is essentially the story of two incredible women: Alan’s mother, Lily, who battled against poor health, poverty, domestic violence and loneliness to try to ensure a better life for her children; and his sister, Linda, who had to assume an enormous amount of responsibility at a very young age and who fought to keep the family together and out of care when she herself was still only a child.

Played out against the background of a vanishing community living in condemned housing, the story moves from post-war austerity in pre-gentrified Notting Hill, through the race riots, school on the Kings Road, Chelsea in the Swinging 60s, to the rock-and-roll years, making a record in Denmark Street and becoming a husband and father whilst still in his teens.

This Boy is one man’s story, but it is also a story of England and the West London slums which are so hard to imagine in the capital today. No matter how harsh the details, Alan Johnson writes with a spirit of generous acceptance, of humour and openness which makes his book anything but a grim catalogue of miseries.

Verdict: Dump – Scoot back up to my comments about Please, Mr Postman as the same applies here. 

The Murder of Harriet Monckton by Elizabeth Haynes (added 7th October 2018)

On 7th November 1843, Harriet Monckton, 23 years old and a woman of respectable parentage and religious habits, is found murdered in the privy behind the chapel she regularly attended in Bromley, Kent.

The community is appalled by her death, apparently as a result of swallowing a fatal dose of prussic acid, and even more so when the surgeon reports that Harriet was around six months pregnant.

Drawing on the coroner’s reports and witness testimonies, Elizabeth Haynes builds a compelling picture of Harriet’s final hours through the eyes of those closest to her and the last people to see her alive. Her fellow teacher and companion, her would-be fiancé, her seducer, her former lover – all are suspects; each has a reason to want her dead.

Verdict: Keep – Great reviews for this and I like the fact it’s based on a true story. 

China Court by Rumer Godden (added 11th October 2018)

Five generations of Quins have lived in China Court, a house built in a remote village on the Cornish moors by Eustace Quin in 1840 and named after the china clay works from which the family draws its prosperity.

With infinite skill Rumer Godden has merged Then and Now into a timeless tapestry of human lives. A flower, a dog, a scent, the decorations of a dinner table, a word sharply spoken, a look evaded – all are significant in the pattern of life which flows through China Court. Although the canvas is a large one, there is no confusion. Each personality is clear and memorable, each incident set in delicate balance with another. 

Verdict: Dump – This is difficult because I have a secondhand copy, complete with dustjacket. On the other hand the blurb above, which is from this Book Club edition, doesn’t fill me with enthusiasm. Also some reviewers have described the writing style as ‘stream of consciousness’.  

The Result – 5 kept, 5 dumped. Not bad, I suppose… Would you have made different choices?