Decluttering my Goodreads TBR #11

Happy Wednesday, everyone! I did one of these posts not too long ago, and when I was writing it, I was in the mood to keep cleaning my TBR. So here we are with the ninth round of decluttering my Goodreads TBR. Last time was (as always) a major failure, so let’s hope this one is better! You can read the others here!

This was started by Lia @ Lost in a Story and is a good way to organize your Goodreads to-read list!

It works like this:

• Go to your goodreads to-read shelf.
• Order on ascending date added.
• Take the first 5 (or 10 (or even more!) if you’re feeling adventurous) books
• Read the synopses of the books
• Decide: keep it or should it go?

I should just say that from last time I did this post, the next 10ish books were all books that I 100% intend on reading at some point. So these were the next few books I wasn’t sure about.

The Vegetarian by Han Kang

Before the nightmare, Yeong-hye and her husband lived an ordinary life. But when splintering, blood-soaked images start haunting her thoughts, Yeong-hye decides to purge her mind and renounce eating meat. In a country where societal mores are strictly obeyed, Yeong-hye’s decision to embrace a more “plant-like” existence is a shocking act of subversion. And as her passive rebellion manifests in ever more extreme and frightening forms, scandal, abuse, and estrangement begin to send Yeong-hye spiraling deep into the spaces of her fantasy. In a complete metamorphosis of both mind and body, her now dangerous endeavor will take Yeong-hye — impossibly, ecstatically, tragically — far from her once-known self altogether.

I’ve heard a ton of good things about this, and it sounds super interesting, AND I’m always trying to read more translated women, so this is staying!

Verdict: keep

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Girl on the Verge by Pintip Dunn

In her small Kansas town, at her predominantly white school, Kanchana doesn’t look like anyone else. But at home, her Thai grandmother chides her for being too westernized. Only through the clothing Kan designs in secret can she find a way to fuse both cultures into something distinctly her own.

When her mother agrees to provide a home for a teenage girl named Shelly, Kan sees a chance to prove herself useful. Making Shelly feel comfortable is easy at first—her new friend is eager to please, embraces the family’s Thai traditions, and clearly looks up to Kan. Perhaps too much. Shelly seems to want everything Kanchana has, even the blond, blue-eyed boy she has a crush on. As Kan’s growing discomfort compels her to investigate Shelly’s past, she’s shocked to find how much it intersects with her own—and just how far Shelly will go to belong…

This has a ton of mixed reviews, and honestly just doesn’t sound like something I’d be interesting in anymore. I’m not really the biggest fan of domestic thrillers as it is, and idk how I feel about a teenage one.

Verdict: remove.

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The Black Dahlia by James Ellory

On January 15, 1947, the torture-ravished body of a beautiful young woman is found in a vacant lot. The victim makes headlines as the Black Dahlia—and so begins the greatest manhunt in California history. Caught up in the investigation are Bucky Bleichert and Lee Blanchard: Warrants Squad cops, friends, and rivals in love with the same woman. But both are obsessed with the Dahlia—driven by dark needs to know everything about her past, to capture her killer, to possess the woman even in death. Their quest will take them on a hellish journey through the underbelly of postwar Hollywood, to the core of the dead girl’s twisted life, past the extremes of their own psyches—into a region of total madness.

I added this because I’ve heard a ton about the Black Dahlia murders, and this is a fictionalized book based on those. Honestly, I think I’d rather not read a fictionalized book where there will be no resolution? So I think I’ll remove this one.

Verdict: remove

Wink, Poppy, Midnight by April Genevieve Tucholke

Every story needs a hero.
Every story needs a villain.
Every story needs a secret.

Wink is the odd, mysterious neighbor girl, wild red hair and freckles. Poppy is the blond bully and the beautiful, manipulative high school queen bee. Midnight is the sweet, uncertain boy caught between them. Wink. Poppy. Midnight. Two girls. One boy. Three voices that burst onto the page in short, sharp, bewitching chapters, and spiral swiftly and inexorably toward something terrible or tricky or tremendous.

What really happened?
Someone knows.
Someone is lying.

So this also has a ton of mixed reviews, but I still think it sounds super interesting. Also, I love the title and cover, sooooo

Verdict: keep

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Helter Skelter: The True Story of the Manson Murders by Vincent Bugliosi and Curt Gentry

Prosecuting attorney in the Manson trial, Vincent Bugliosi held a unique insider’s position in one of the most baffling and horrifying cases of the twentieth century: the cold-blooded Tate-LaBianca murders carried out by Charles Manson and four of his followers. What motivated Manson in his seemingly mindless selection of victims, and what was his hold over the young women who obeyed his orders? Here is the gripping story of this famous and haunting crime.

I don’t know anything about the Manson murders and I really want to learn more about them, so this is staying!

Verdict: keep

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Total

Keep: 3
Delete: 2
Added to “read soon or remove”: 0

Total kept: 34
Total deleted: 13

Okay so not bad, considering this is me! Removing two is pretty good! But anyway, have you read any of these books? Which should I prioritise? Let me know!

Ally xx

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