Taming the TBR thread

[bibliomania]

Some of us in the 50 book thread are ruefully contemplating the piles of books we mean to read someday, but have never quite got round to. This is a proposal for a one-week experiment in pruning the pile:

• It can apply to books in any form (physical, e-books, audio)
• You choose seven books: each day during week, read the first 10 pages of one of them (and/or page 67 - a tip from the ever-wise PepeLePew on the 50 book thread) or equivalent, adjusting for format. If you're intrigued and keen to continue, keep the book. If you're not, then you let it go. Donate to charity, delete from your Kindle, sell online.
• It doesn't have to be 7 - set yourself whatever goal works for you.

Anyone fancy a go, starting from this coming Monday, 20th March?

The only Tim Pears I've read was also fucking tedious

I've just DNFd Infinity In The Palm Of Your Hand by Marcus Chown

I'm all for Popular Science, love it, but this was lightweight, money for old rope and close to being patronising in its simplicity.

I'm on a roll here. Today's book was The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon - I realised I've already read the first few chapters & given up more than once. I tried p67 & the style still didn't work for me, so despite the fact that everyone else seems to like it, it's on the charity shop pile.

I'm enjoying this so much I've now moved on to weeding a scattering of dd's books that she's abandoned on my shelves in case I want them. Started out with The Butterfly Isles by Patrick Barkham, in which the author tries to see all of Britain's species of butterflies over one summer. Definitely a keeper, I've put it next to my bed as a nice gentle chapter a day read.

Trying to make up my mind about The Diaries of Nella Last. I think I'll end up skim-reading it and then let it go.

Am struggling to decide about The Shock of the Fall. It has excellent reviews but the first 10 pages and page 67 really didn’t do it for me. It comes across as a bit YA which I’m not into. Has anyone read it?

I haven't read that one, Baru, although I've read the same author's non-fiction on mental health and thought it was brilliant. Apologies, this is not the right thread for recommendations!

Lol thanks for the rec Biblio.
I reckon I will hold onto it for now.
My other book today was Rodham by Curtis Sittenfeld. I read An American Wife by the same author and loved it. But I didn’t click with this one. I think if she had fictionalised Hilary Clinton as she did Laura, then I’d find it a better read. This one was a delete.

I really liked Rodham I thought it was an intriguing look at what might have been.

Book 4 (Non-Fiction) - How to be Champion by Sarah Millican. I’ve found previous books I have read by female comedians to be pretty hit and miss. I liked, but did not love, books by Tina Fey, Mindy Kaling and Amy Schumer but loathed and DNF books by Amy Poehler, and a few others. I really like Sarah Millican and need not have worried, I laughed 5 times in the intro alone (ranging from a gentle chuckle to an actual LOL). Definite KEEP and I think this will be my next non-fiction read.

Book 4 (Fiction) - The School for Good Mothers by Jessamine Chan this book makes me anxious and irritated in equal measure. Not a good combo. CHUCK.

Book 4 - Stone’s Fall by Iain Pears.

This is a keeper as I’m already intrigued by the start. An elderly man at a funeral in Paris is approached by a young lawyer and informed he has a mysterious parcel for him, left by someone he hasn’t seen for thirty years.

It’s written in straightforward, traditional style. No present tense (which I detest) and it has the feel of an Edwardian or Victorian novel, so all good.

Todays chuck is The Given Day by Dennis Lehane on my Kindle TBR since probably 2010, I've just got to admit defeat that I will never read it.

Mr latest keep is Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro. Picked up following hearing it spoken about a couple of times on a bookish podcast that I listen to.
Very little idea what it's about, the first chapter was very intriguing so that's a definite keeper.

Have started to properly read one of the books I did 10 pages of earlier in the week. It was lovely finishing my current read and not having to ponder which book on the shelf to pick up.

Really enjoying this thread, it's certainly helped to boost my reading mojo.

That's great, toomuch!

I'm getting rid of Victoria: A Life, by A N Wilson.. I've read it before and it's a really good read, but somebody else can have it now.

I think I'll hang on to Fat Man on a Roman Road, by Tony Vernon. Published 40 years ago, it's a travelogue of a cycling trip from Devon to Scotland. I like a good travelogue.

I really hated The Shock of the Fall it was a DNF about halfway through.
It is one of those really annoying books where a big event has happened and is hinted at but is not revealed until the end of the book.
I think the writing stile is intentionally YA as it is supposed to be a teenager telling his story but I didn't like it, I don't want to read a book written by an unskilled teenager.
I was so annoyed by it that it put me in a slump, I started thinking that I just don't like books and I couldn't read for days afterwards 😥

Never Let Me Go is a real marmite book on the 50 books thread, and one of the ones we regularly have debates on. For what it's worth I am very much Team Ishiguro so I think you've made the right choice.

Book 5 (Non-Fiction) - Factfulness: Ten Reasons Why We Are Wrong About the World - and Why Things Are Better Than You Think by Hans Rosling So glad I’ve started this one. It starts with a quiz on what you think you know and then moves to tell you why things are not as bad as they seem. I’ll have to check when this was written, I bet it was before Trump and Boris the twin blonde buffoons took power. Still, as a bit of a pessimist I’m looking forward to this book. KEEP

Book 5 (Fiction) - The First Wife by Emily Barr Started this then realised I’d already read it, and it’s not one I want to read again so CHUCK.

Yesterday I chucked My Year Of Rest And Relaxation by Ottessa Moshfegh and Keisha The Sket by Jade LB, I really wanted to read the latter but it became obvious to me I was going to find the slang and dialect impenetrable

I'm chucking Papillion in paperback today - too thick to be read comfortably

Chucking out Seb Falk The Light Ages - A Medieval Journey of Discovery, largely because the science lost me completely. No reflection on the author's writing, BTW. Also Linn Ullmann Before You Sleep (' a story of the eccentric and formidable women of the Blom family, moving from present day Olso to 1930s Brooklyn'.) I did a charity shop blind shop, picking up fiction on spec as I don't read enough of it and didn't want to spend too much money on something I might not like. No speech apostrophes and started off explaining 'why all this family drinks too much and will drink too much today at my sister's wedding.' OK then.

Keeping - and don't laugh here - Rupert of Hentzau by Anthony Hope. I bought this years ago from a charity shop, largely because according to a note in the front it was one Diana Jordan's holiday reading in 1950 (I suspect from the writing school holidays). Written in 1895, high Victorian swashbuckling adventure in central Europe with unrequited love, duty, friendship, comradeship, betrayal, loyalty, moral dilemmas and the victory of good (I also have prequel The Prisoner of Zenda in the pile).

Also keeping Journey into Russia by Laurens Van Der Post - Moscow to Siberia at the height of the Cold War. Who can resist this on page 67?

'Russian musichad a permanent background, as in Rembrandt's paintings, of great space and vast silences. It expressed the immensities; the song of the first bird at dawn, the vast stillness of the night, the howl of a pack of wolves on the rim of the great Siberian plains.' Knew I wasn't chucking it after reading that.

I've been reading my book club book all week so haven't had much time to look at my unread Kindle list.

What I've started doing is moving all the books that I've read in real life a long time ago but bought on Kindle as I thought I might want to read them again, into my read pile.

And I've just made my first two deletions - a thriller called Safe House and some sort of self-discovery romance ( no idea why I would have bought this!) called The Man who Rained by Ali Shaw. Neither of these had Kindle page numbers which was a bit annoying so I just read the first 10 minutes or so.

It feels good!

Late to this, but love the idea.

I've already pulled together the oldest unread books on my kindle and started to work through them. I will use this approach too as it will speed up the process.

I’ve deleted quite a few in the last couple of days. In fact the only one I’ve saved is The Shining Girls - a speculative fiction serial killer which has a really sinister atmosphere. From this experience so far I’ve learned not to buy 99p thrillers/ crime novels without a recommendation!

I’m feeling really dumb. What’s litfic? Can you give me an example?

tia x

Hi @Wellillsayitifnoonelsewill litfic is literary fiction where the story focuses more on the development of the character than the plot so it can be quite slow moving at times. A good example is Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout.
It can cross over with other genres too so for example Hamnet is both literary fiction and historical fiction. (That’s my understanding anyway- I could well be wrong!)

thanks! I wanted to ask because I also like some crime books and some fantasy but I’m soooo picky. I find an author I like and avidly read EVERYTHING by them and then re read them multiple times but find it very very hard to find new authors I love.

lit fic doesn’t seem like my way forward though 😂xxx

Yes I know what you mean about the crime and fantasy authors. It’s great when you find someone new! Have you tried historical crime? Some good ones from CJ Sansom set in Tudor times. (And S J Parris too)