The Terror of Knowing

Welcome folks to the twenty-fourth round of Down the TBR Hole!

For those of you who have no idea what I’m talking about, check out the previous posts via the tag 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. I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith

Why is it there? As is typical of most classics on this list, I’m not entirely sure when or why this was added. However, having had a quick glance on Goodreads at the verdicts of my fellow readers, they said it’s a must read for fans of Jane Austen so I probably should give it a go.
Do I own it? Yes
Verdict? Keep

2. Love in a Cold Climate and Other Novels by Nancy Mitford

Why is it there? Once again, I have little to no recollection of how this ended up on my TBR. I likely decided that I knew nothing about the Mitfords so should give this a go. The thing is, so little time, so many books I want to read…
Do I own it? No
Verdict? Ditch

3. Decline and Fall by Evelyn Waugh

Why is it there? For some reason, I’ve decided I’ll quite like Evelyn Waugh books. The thing is… I’ve never read one. However, I’ve seen enough synopses to reckon out that I will probably indeed enjoy the likes of Brideshead Revisited and this book too.
Do I own it? Yes
Verdict? Keep

4. Bleak House by Charles Dickens

Why is it there? It’s something of a mission of a lot of classics lovers to read the complete works of Dickens. Somehow I’m not sure I’ll ever get that far as some don’t appeal to me at all. This one seems to be about the law and lawyers and, to be honest, I can’t really say that immediately appeals at this present moment in time.
Do I own it? Yes
Verdict? Ditch

5. The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton

Why is it there? Much like Evelyn Waugh, I’ve decided through no basis at all that I might like Edith Wharton’s stuff. This has no evidence to back it up but I bought myself a pretty Penguin English Library edition of this which usually means I’m at least halfway serious about maybe reading this at some point.
Do I own it?
Verdict? Keep

6. The Supernatural Enhancements by Edgar Cantero

Why is it there? I heard this described as Night Film meets National Treasure with a touch of the Gothic thrown in for good measure. That seems like a pretty fun and intriguing combination.
Do I own it? No
Verdict? Keep

7. The Jew of Malta by Christopher Marlowe

Why is it there? As a graduate of Early modern literature, I’m a little ashamed to say I’ve only read a handful of drama. I’ve read a couple of Marlowe plays before and found them really interesting. Will I ever actually read this one though?
Do I own it? No
Verdict? Ditch

8. Deadly Class, Vol. 1 by Rick Remender

Why is it there? Back when I was trying to branch out and find more graphic novels and comics, this was on a list that people recommended. Nowadays, I’m fine just sticking with the few series I enjoy and leaving it at that so I’ll likely not get to this.
Do I own it? No
Verdict? Ditch

9. The Gigantic Beard That Was Evil by Stephen Collins

Why is it there? Story time everyone! Every single time I go into Waterstones in town, I do a cursory wander over to the graphic novels and comics section and flick through this. If anyone ever actually buys that copy, I’ll be bereft. I just love the art style. If I keep doing this maybe I’ll actually manage to read the whole thing without ever even buying it!
Do I own it? No
Verdict? Keep

10. A History of Capitalism According to the Jubilee Line by John O’Farrell

Why is it there? Way back when I watched the incomparable Baz Pierce on YouTube, he read this and said it was good. Apparently that was enough for me to add it to my TBR without really knowing anything about it. That’s not really a good enough reason for me to keep it on here now though, especially now I’m trying to be brutal.
Do I own it? No
Verdict? Ditch

This round:
Kept – 5
Ditched – 5

Overall:
Kept – 124
Ditched – 116

That’s all folks for the twenty-fourth round of my Down the TBR Hole project. I’m struggling more and more nowadays to ditch books but my TBR currently stands at 627 books. Although that still seems an insurmountable number, it’s not too bad considering how many books were on there before I started doing this project and slowly whittling that number down. I think my future just must hold a lot of reading for me to hope to get to all of these books!

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!

Goodreads | Twitter | Instagram