Which of these are worth reading?

[RabbitPies]

I need to cull some of my books. They're cluttering up my home,and I have so many to read,including 1000+ on Kindle,that I'll never get round to reading many of them.

I'd appreciate if anyone could pick out any of those listed that are worth my time.

The rest will go to the charity shop.

[notnowImreading]

Are you going to put the list? I got excited and then felt very cast down.

[Goblinchild]

So, no list.
Give them all to the charity shop.

[RabbitPies]

The Outcast-Sadie Jones
Reconstructing Amelia- Kimberly McCreight
Fatal Frost- James Henry
Before The Poison- Peter Robinson
Eve Green- Susan Fletcher
Missing-Susan Lewis
The Secret Keeper-Kate Morton
What Alice Forgot-Liane Moriarty
A Capital Crime-Laura Wilson
The Crow Trap-Anne Cleeves
The Judas Sheep-Stuart Pawson
Instructions For A Heatwave- Maggie O'Farrell
The Lewis Man- Peter May
Dead Man's Time- Peter James
Tell It To The Skies- Erica James
Life Death and Vanilla Slices-Jenny Eclair
Thinking of You-Jill Mansell
Dead Water- Anne Cleeves
A Darker Domain- Val McDermid
The Book of Souls-James Oswald
The Drowning People-Richard Mason
Beneath These Stones-Ann Granger
Except The Dying-Maureen Jennings
Vanish -Tess Gerritsen
All The Colours of Darkness- Peter Robinson
Me Before You-Jojo Moyes
One Moment,One Morning-Sarah Rayner
The House At Riverton-Kate Morton
The Snow Child- Eowyn Ivey
The Secret of Crickley Hall- James Herbert

TIA

[RabbitPies]

Sorry,I was just making the list.

[Costacoffeeplease]

Keep - Me before you, The house at riverton, Life death and vanilla slices, One moment one morning, the snow child, the lewis man, the secret keeper, missing

Ditch instructions for a heatwave and any jill mansell (read one, read them all)

Haven't read the others

[RabbitPies]

There's also Trick Of The Dark- Val McDermid

And Looking Good Dead by Peter James.

All of these were given to me by friends and family,which is much appreciated,but they're piling up,and I don't want to keep books that I'll never read.

There are more,but I've selected these for culling.

[RabbitPies]

Also there's about ten of the Wycliffe series.

[TheWanderingUterus]

I'd just get rid of all of them.

If you haven't read them by now then you probably won't read them at all. I've had books on my shelves for years telling myself I would read them another day. When I have finally got round to it, I generally realised my gut instinct was right all along and they are rarely something i enjoy. The only exception in ten years has been. Precious Bane.

They are all relatively popular modern fiction that you can pick up for pennies in the future should you change your mind.

[RabbitPies]

I've had them for about 5 months.

You may be right,but I would like to read some of them. My attention span is awful when my depression is particularly bad,as it has been for about 6 months,so I've barely been reading at all. Even my usual non fiction,which makes up 90% of my reading material.

[RabbitPies]

It's a little better now,so I'm hoping to get back into the habit.

[TheWanderingUterus]

I've been there with the depression, my sympathies.

If you don't mind me suggesting I would stick to happy books, books with happy endings etc.

I read a lot more fantasy and YA when I am coming out of a depressive period. I find books really affect my mood so I have a stack of books that make me feel warm and happy and tie up all loose ends/answer all questions etc. They all detach me from reality and put me in a happier place, or at least one where the bad things are happening outside of my own experience. I find modern fiction the hardest to deal with for some reason.

Having stacks of unread books to feel guilty about on your shelves can't be helping either!

[mum2jakie]

The Snow Child is a beautiful read. I'd definitely recommend reading that one.

I've haven't read any Jenny Eclair but she is on my list as I've read good reviews. I think her books are supposed to be easy reading and quite funny so might be a good choice for you if you want something fairly light-hearted and non-taxing.

[cheapskatemum]

I agree with CCpls, keep the 2 Kate Mortons, they are the only ones I think I have read from your list. Hope the depressions keeps away, it's a bummer I know. I take St Johns Wort, but I'm aware it interferes with some other meds.

[notnowImreading]

The House at Riverton is a nice read - a bit Rebecca-ish. I definitely recommend The Outcast and I quite liked Eve Green. Bin anything by Peter James - all utter shite.

[RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie]

Not read many of them but here's my tuppence worth:

The Outcast-Sadie Jones - dreadful
The Secret Keeper-Kate Morton - really, really dreadful
Instructions For A Heatwave- Maggie O'Farrell - dull
The House At Riverton-Kate Morton - really, really dreadful
The Secret of Crickley Hall- James Herbert - not v good but much better than all of the above.

If you are looking for feel-good books, I always find Bill Bryson hits the spot.

[MabelStark]

The Jenny Eclair one is good, I've enjoyed all her books.

[HappydaysArehere]

I have been there too. I would suggest Gone With The Wind. It's far from your present day situation and full of vivid characters. There is also Fall of Giants by Ken Follet for a page turner. However, for depression I found drawing and painting a life saver. I know it's not relevant to this thread but art is well known to be therapeutic. The reason is that it uses the non verbal side of the brain and has the ability to absorb. I have been helping a small group to paint and one of the group who is really suffering refers to the painting as "my therapy". I was in a really dark side twenty years ago so know what you are going through. Perhaps the clear out will make you feel better if you just keep one or two.

[JimmyCorkhill]

Keep 'What Alice Forgot'. I've read this twice and could easily read it again.

[mummytime]

The Ann Granger is likely to be a bit frothy Murder mystery type, its probably what I'd like to read if I was depressed.

[BumgrapesofWrath]

Keep The Snow Child and ditch the rest

[SarahAndFuck]

Ditch One Moment, One Morning by Sarah Raynor, it's absolutely dire.

If you've read the back cover then you've read the entire book. Nothing happens in it. Some bloke dies on a train and three women spend the rest of the book boring you senseless.

[mimbleandlittlemy]

Definitely keep The Lewis Man but only if you've read The Blackhouse. They are really excellent and with The Chessmen form The Lewis Trilogy which is often cited on here.

I enjoyed Instructions for a Heatwave, though don't think it's her best, and I loved Me Before You. Snow Child is a perfectly OK read but not great. Dead Water is one of the Ann Cleeve's Shetland books - they do stand up on their own but it really helps to have read the others.

I'd personally ditch all of Kate Morton's entire output and I've only read one Sadie Jones and it wasn't that one and I've not read the rest.

[bibliomania]

Of the authors on your list, my favourite is Ann Cleeves, but I'm not sure I'd reach for her if I were depressed. I didn't like the Peter May book I tried (think it was The Lewis Man). I thought the Liane Moriarty books were a good read, and personally I wouldn't bother with Kate Morten.

But that's all personal taste and it's better to be guided by your own rather than mine. I'd suggest a quick triage operation - set a timer and give each book 2 mins to wow you. Flick through them, see if you like the tone, if you want to find out what happens next. Have a "yes", "no" and "maybe" pile. Makes it a bit less overwhelming.

[colleysmill]

I really enjoyed both the Ann Cleeves books on your list and subsequently bought more.

However I've been increasingly annoyed by the tv series of Vera - some of the adaptations are so different from the books (and I'm talking significant differences like completely different characters being murdered) that I can't enjoy the telly programme at all anymore.

[BasketzatDawn]

It's hard to make decisions like that when depressed. Later, ypou may like the crime ones but they may be too gruesome and complicated for just now. I like Val McD and Ann Cleeves and would keep them for later. The lighter ones like Jenny Éclair might be okay for now. I'd dump the One Moment, one morning. It wasn't rubbish but it's not that great and kind of sad, not one to keep if you want to cull. Having said that, I have my copy too and there's no way I'd reread it .