Taming the TBR thread

I have to say, this thread certainly helped give me some direction with my next few reads. I decided to make the half dozen books that I read the 10 pages of my immediate priority to read in full. One is now finished, one half complete and ongoing. It's nice to have a smaller selection to choose from. I think I will repeat the exercise when I've read this smaller selection.
Thank you @bibliomania for starting this thread and giving me some direction and motivation!

Just refreshed myself on the rules. Sorry. Will try and summon the courage to do this. I am supposed to read one I have between each new one. At least.

Just segued from one book from the TBR shelf (Mythos by Stephen Fry) to another (the latter on my New Kindle!) - A Change of Climate / Hilary Mantel. Struggling a bit with it, but for some reason I am drawn on. I'm just not a quitter.

Thanks again @bibliomania - this process has confirmed to me that I am not good at clearing out books without reading them, but I have a little more space on my shelf!
KEEP
Yes Please by Amy Poehler and Whisky Galore by Compton Mackenzie both passed the 10 pages plus page 67 test and stay for now.
CHUCK
Why Mummy's Sloshed by Gill Sims
Toxic Childhood by Sue Palmer
Detoxing Childhood by Sue Palmer
Very low hanging fruit, these are all books that I acquired but wouldn't have chosen, all definitely going out (along with a couple of books that I have read and know that I won't reread - so 5 going out in total).

As others have said, I could imagine using this method again in future for books that are taking up space on my shelves, both books I haven't read like these and also books that I read a long time ago and I'm wondering if they still merit holding on to. Thank you all - I've liked the motivation of being part of this thread!

The Last Runaway was fine, but I thought The Underground Railroad depicted the horrors of slavery much more memorably. I rate Tracy Chevalier as an author, however I think she’s better when painting on a smaller canvas. A Single Thread was excellent. Very understated and - if you like a bit of needlework as I do - interesting.
Everyone Brave is Forgiven is the only Chris Cleave novel I’ve read and I enjoyed it. Books set in London during the Blitz are my kind of thing as a rule though.

The Last Runaway by Tracy Chevalier is a keep for now. Quaker Honor leaves 1850s England for a new life in America and comes face to face with slavery. I’ve never read any Chevalier but have somehow ended up with 3 of her books.

I've only read one Chris Cleave and it was absolutely dreadful

Birdcage Walk has been consigned to the get rid pile already. I also loved Exposure, liked The Siege and was indifferent to A Spell of Winter and this felt like it might be ok, but just ok.

I got 20% of the way through Birdcage Walk a could of years back but wasn't really enjoying it. Maybe it's one to delete. Loved Exposure and z the Betrayal by the same author though. Also read the Updike a few years back and found it rather misogynistic. It'll be good to hear you're thoughts.

I've got a Hollinghurst to try next The Stranger's Child, also White Noise by Don De Lillo. Neither is filling me with enthusiasm which I guess is why they're on the TBR pile.

DP has a copy of Birdcage Walk, & I've never been tempted to pick it up either! We have quite different tastes in fiction though, so at least I don't feel obliged to try his books

I’ve been crap at starting this but I’ve identified 2 piles of books that I’ve had for a long time but never feel tempted to pick up. This is pile one that I’m going to work my way through over the next few days.

Are you stopping here @bibliomania I was maybe going to keep it up for a month

I'm another one who is going to keep this up until I have tamed my list some more.

Book 7 (Non-Fiction) - The Conscious Parent: Transforming Ourselves Empowering Our Children by Shefali Tsabary I’m by no means a perfect parent, like all of us I’m doing my best and hopefully getting it right more than I’m getting it wrong. However this book is mostly focused on areas where I think I’m doing ok, such as nurturing your child’s spirit, not trying to mould them to your desires and expectations, but might have been more helpful if I’d read it years ago when I bought it. CHUCK

Book 7 (Fiction) - The Mermaid and Mrs Hancock by Imogen Hermes Gowar I’m going to KEEP this one for now.

Yes, thanks from me to biblio . I've got a pile to go to the charity shop, & two books to read next weekend when we're away for a break.

I might try the first 10 pages / p67 trick on some of my Dad's kindle library when I next need something to read.

Two Stef Penney books today. I enjoyed The Tenderness of Wolves and must have bought two more by her accordingly.
At first glance they seem very different.

The Invisible Ones is a missing person story and starts with a private investigator waking up in a hospital bed without a clear memory of what’s happened.
Unfortunately it’s in the present tense .. which I detest. Not sure I can be bothered.

Under a Pole Star looks more promising. A man and a woman leading rival expeditions to cross the Arctic Circle in the late 19th century. A keeper I think.

It’s been great biblio. Thanks for setting it up. I might keep going until the end of the month to try and cut out more nonsense. I’ve kept both of today’s Field Grey by Philip Kerr (a Bernie Gunther thriller set in post war Germany) and Beneath Devil’s Bridge by Loreth Anne White (True crime podcasters start poking into a cold case)

I have lost count now but keeping The Lost Pianos of Siberia by Sophy Roberts - a hunt for the pianos taken into exile with them by 19c political exiles. I did start it but think it deserves another try, mostly because it's such an unlikely obsession for anyone to have.

The Clan of The Cave Bear brings back teen nostalgia memories! I really liked Wolf Winter when we did it for book club a few years back but it's a slow burner so probably wouldn't pass the first 10 pages test.

I've also got The Shining Girls on my Kindle. I think the author lives near me and is a friend of a friend so I want to make the effort with this one.

@Wellillsayitifnoonelsewill Robin Hobb is my favorite fantasy author if you're looking for something. She's a bit grittier than David Eddings but really good once you get into her world.

So I've done a charity shop haul today and I've got rid of the paperbacks mentioned earlier plus:

Daughter Of Fortune by Isabel Allende
Master And Margarita and Crime And Punishment (have both in other formats)
Roots by Alex Haley
Innocent Traitor by Alison Weir
That Summer by Andrew Grieg
The Clan Of The Cave Bear by Jean Auel
Wolf Winter by Cynthia Eckback
The Magic Mountain by Thomas Mann

Happy to leave the rest of my physical TBR alone for a while and just work on Kindle now

Book 6 (Non-Fiction) - The Secret State: Whitehall and the Cold War by Peter Hennessy I picked this up as Peter Hennessy was one of my tutors at university and I always found his lectures and seminars really interesting, despite the fact I was more of a medievalist than a modern historian. I must admit I expected that this would be one I got rid of, but the first few pages of this book, which focuses on the plans should Britain be subjected to a nuclear strike, were really interesting. It’s a KEEP.

Book 6 (Fiction) - Love in the time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez I’ve had this for years and just never got round to reading it. The first 10 pages were enough for me to want to give it a few more pages at least. It's a KEEP, for now anyway.

Today's chuck is Smoke And Mirrors by Neil Gaiman

Keeping 3 different Patrick Ness books I have yet to read

Oh sorry - I love David Eddings - they are more of the magic/sorcery/gods/good v evil/going on a big quest type of fantasy (I know good fantasy for one person is another’s idea of hell) but I love the characters and have read them countless times. Xx

id also recommend Terry brooks “the word and the void” trilogy. Totally different thing to “Shannara” and seems to get overlooked.