Welcome folks to the tenth round of Down the TBR Hole. For those of you who have no idea what I’m talking about, check out my ninth, my eighth, my seventh, my sixth, my fifth, my fourth, my third, my second or my first round post or check out Lia at Lost in a Story who is the creator of this wonderful meme/project.
I’m trying to make this a regular feature of my blogging schedule because it’s good to regularly reevaluate if/why you want to read a book – that way you don’t come back to your TBR years later and have no clue why a title piqued your interest in the first place. I’ve also added a summary of results bit at the bottom of each round so I can track how many books I’ve kept and ditched from my TBR shelf in each round and overall.
Just a reminder of how this works:
- 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?
Outside of doing these posts semi-regularly I have also been culling my TBR list at random points when I’m bored – all of this is good in terms of getting my TBR to a reasonable amount of books but it also means that these posts are getting harder for me to do as I’m beginning to really agonise over whether to ditch or keep books on there. Not that any of this is a bad thing! Let’s get going on the 10 books under scrutiny today…
1. House on the Strand by Daphne du Maurier
Why is it there? As you may have gathered, I quite like Daphne du Maurier’s books. Rebecca is one of my all-time favourites and I’ve recently been trying to branch out and collect/read her (many) other novels. This is one of those. It’s apparently Gothic = great. It apparently features time travel which um, yes please? I’m intrigued about how that fits in with what I’ve come to expect from du Maurier’s writing.
Do I own it? Yes
Verdict? Keep
2. The King’s General by Daphne du Maurier
Why is it there? Well it’s Daphne du Maurier and, if you need to know why that matters, then read no. 1 more closely.
Do I own it? No
Verdict? Keep
3. The Glass-Blowers by Daphne du Maurier
Why is it there? Uh, yeah, see above.
Do I own it? No
Verdict? Keep
4. Julius by Daphne du Maurier
Why is it there? You know the drill…
Do I own it? Yes?
Verdict? Keep
5. A History of the World in 10 1/2 Chapters by Julian Barnes
Why is it there? Once upon a time, I studied an excerpt from this during English class and I didn’t hate it so I added it to my TBR. Now, having read a Julian Barnes novel and hating it, maybe it’s not the best idea to keep this book on my virtual and/or physical TBR shelf.
Do I own it? Yes
Verdict? Ditch
6. Homage to Catalonia by George Orwell
Why is it there? I think everyone goes through a phase of thinking they should probably read some Orwell. Considering I haven’t even made it through 1984 yet (I DNFed it a few years ago, no I don’t know why) or Animal Farm, it’s probably overreaching to assume I’ll rush out and read this too. However, Orwell’s non-fiction intrigues me, potentially more than his fiction does, to be perfectly honest.
Do I own it? No
Verdict? Keep
7. The Road to Wigan Pier by George Orwell
Why is it there? Much like Homage to Catalonia, this example of Orwell’s non-fiction intrigues me more than his novels, probably mostly because it’s about his experience of the working classes in Yorkshire and Lancashire, both counties that I have lived in so I have something of a vested interest in hearing a little of their industrial history, especially since it fell onto hard times, the effects of which are still felt in those areas and communities today.
Do I own it? No
Verdict? Keep
8. Dr Faustus by Christopher Marlowe
Why is it there? Can you believe I got through an entire 3 years of a BA in English literature and then did an MA specialising in Early modern literature yet I still managed to not read Dr Faustus?! No, neither can I, clearly I’m a fraud and need to address this oversight immediately. (Side note: the only Marlowe plays I have read are Tamburlaine and Edward II, both of which I really enjoyed so this stands me in good stead for when I finally get around to this!)
Do I own it? No
Verdict? Keep
9. A View from the Bridge by Arthur Miller
Why is it there? This was clearly added to my TBR shelf around the same time as I realised I had a gap in my knowledge of certain playwrights – Arthur Miller is another one I’ve read something from (The Crucible, not by choice, for school) but didn’t then pick up anything else by him. Turns out that, years later, I don’t really care that I haven’t read this play so… this isn’t exactly a difficult decision… sometimes life is just too short, guys.
Do I own it? No
Verdict? Ditch
10. Engleby by Sebastian Faulks
Why is it there? Soon after Birdsong made it onto my favourites shelf, Engleby was added to my TBR, along with some of Faulks’ other novels. I’ve yet to read this, I’ve yet to even think about borrowing it from the library or buying myself a copy of the book… I think that’s quite telling.
Do I own it? No
Verdict? Ditch
Results
This round:
Kept – 7
Ditched – 3
Overall:
Kept – 56
Ditched – 44
That, my friends, was the tenth round of my Down the TBR Hole project. But have I made a terrible mistake in ditching some of these titles? Or have I kept some that really aren’t worth my time? Let me know in the comments below!
The Terror of Knowing 
6 responses to “Down the TBR Hole #10”
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Not sure how you didn’t manage Dr. Faustus! Think that was the first book I read in my BA Eng Lit degree! I still think it’s great.
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I ditched Engleby from my tbr too. I borrowed the book from my grandmother ages ago but it’s not something I want to read at the moment. I do still have it though, so perhaps I’ll keep it for a much later date.
I also think I read A View From The Bridge at school. I can’t remember if I liked it or not but it is one of those plays I do want to revisit some point.
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