Current TBR shelf: 3633
Last week's TBR shelf: 3640
The rules
- 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. Of course if you do this weekly, you start where you left off the last time.
- Read the synopses of the books
- Decide: keep it or should it go?
Wildwood (Wildwood Chronicles #1) by Colin Meloy
Prue McKeel's life is ordinary. At least until her brother is abducted by a murder of crows and taken to the Impassable Wilderness, a dense, tangled forest on the edge of Portland. No one's ever gone in, or at least returned to tell of it. So begins an adventure that will take Prue and her friend, Curtis, deep into the Impassable Wilderness. There they uncover a secret world in the midst of violent upheaval, a world full of warring creatures, peaceable mystics, and powerful figures with the darkest intentions. And what begins as a rescue mission becomes something much greater, as the two friends find themselves entwined in a struggle for the very freedom of this wilderness. A wilderness the locals call Wildwood.
I love middle grade fantasy especially when it gives me fairytale vibes.
Verdict: Keep
Butter by Erin Jade Lange
A lonely obese boy everyone calls "Butter" is about to make history. He is going to eat himself to death-live on the Internet-and everyone is invited to watch. When he first makes the announcement online to his classmates, Butter expects pity, insults, and possibly sheer indifference. What he gets are morbid cheerleaders rallying around his deadly plan. Yet as their dark encouragement grows, it begins to feel a lot like popularity. And that feels good. But what happens when Butter reaches his suicide deadline? Can he live with the fallout if he doesn't go through with his plans?
Not sure how I feel about this one, I'm just a little uncomfortable with the premise although from reviews it sounds like it's handled well. I just don't think I want to read about it.
Verdict: Remove
Getting Lost with Boys by Hailey Abbott
Cordelia Packer hates the unexpected, but she's in for a surprise when Jacob Stein offers to be her travel companion, all the way from San Diego to her sister's place in northern California. Before she knows it, her neatly laid out summer plan has turned into a wild road trip, where anything can—and does—happen. Who knew getting lost with a boy could be so much fun?
Probably cute (I love a road trip) but it sounds a lot like Amy & Roger's Epic Detour which is one of my favourite books of all time and I think I'd just end up comparing it the whole time.
Verdict: Remove
Rules of the Road by Joan Bauer
Meet Jenna Boller, star employee at Gladstone
Shoe Store in Chicago. Standing a gawky 5'11" at 16 years old, Jenna is
the kind of girl most likely to stand out in the crowd for all the wrong
reasons. But that doesn't stop Madeline Gladstone, the president of
Gladstone's Shoes 176 outlets in 37 states, from hiring Jenna to drive
her cross country in a last ditch effort to stop Elden Gladstone from
taking over his mother's company and turning a quality business into a
shop-and-schlock empire. Now Jenna Boller shoe salesperson is about to
become a shoe-store spy as she joins her crusty old employer for an
eye-opening adventure that will teach them both the rules of the road
and the rules of life.
Whilst she's not an author I feel I really want to read, I do already have two of her books on my TBR shelf so I don't think I need to keep a third.
Verdict: Remove
Just Like That by Marsha Qualey
When Hanna breaks up with her boyfriend of almost a year, she knows she's supposed to feel...something. Liberated, maybe? Sad? Instead, there's only one thing she feels for certain: She's in for a pretty dull winter. Well, there is her job in the swimwear department. What better way to spend her time than watching strangers squeeze into bikinis?
But then, in an instant, everything changes. Hanna finds herself the bearer of a major secret. She can't possibly tell her mother or her two best friends. She can't tell anyone. Even drawing and painting—always her therapy in the past—even these things aren't the recipe for the calm they once were. So when Hanna finds herself drawn to Will, the elusive boy she's noticed around town, the kind of boy who'd increase any girl's pulse, she doesn't hold back. Anything. What she learns about him will astonish her. But what she learns about herself—her friendships, her family, her life—will affect her far more.
I'm not getting anything from this other then a fairly generic contemporary.
Verdict: Remove
The Good, the Bad and the Barbie: A Doll's History and Her Impact on Us by Tanya Lee Stone
During her unparalleled fifty-year history, Barbie has been the doll that some people love-and some people love to hate. There's no question she's influenced generations, but to what end? Acclaimed nonfiction author Tanya Lee Stone takes an unbiased look at how Barbie became the icon that she is, and at the impact that she's had on our culture (and vice versa).
I love books like this but the reviews are pretty much all three stars. I was never a die hard fan of Barbie so I don't feel like this is a book I need to get my hands on.
Verdict: Remove
Get Well Soon by Julie Halpern
Anna Bloom is depressed—so depressed that her parents have committed her to a mental hospital with a bunch of other messed-up teens. Here she meets a roommate with a secret (and a plastic baby), a doctor who focuses way too much on her weight, and a cute, shy boy who just might like her.
But wait! Being trapped in a loony bin isn’t supposed to be about making friends, losing weight, and having a crush, is it?
This has some scathing reviews that criticize the handling of mental illnesses in here. I think I can pass on it.
Verdict: Remove
Suicide Notes by Michael Thomas Ford
I'm not crazy. I don't see what the big deal is about what happened. But apparently someone does think it's a big deal because here I am. I bet it was my mother. She always overreacts.
Fifteen-year-old Jeff wakes up on New Year's Day to find himself in the hospital. Make that the psychiatric ward. With the nutjobs. Clearly, this is all a huge mistake. Forget about the bandages on his wrists and the notes on his chart. Forget about his problems with his best friend, Allie, and her boyfriend, Burke. Jeff's perfectly fine, perfectly normal, not like the other kids in the hospital with him. Now they've got problems. But a funny thing happens as his forty-five-day sentence drags on: the crazies start to seem less crazy.
This has better reviews plus I already own it!
Verdict: Keep
Right Behind You by Gail Giles
When he was nine, Kip set another child on fire. Now, after years in a juvenile ward, he is ready for a fresh start. But the ghosts of his past soon demand justice, and he must reveal his painful secret. How can Kip tell anyone that he really is--or was--a murderer?
I'm sure this would have been a book I would have loved when I was 14/15 but I don't see myself picking it up as an adult.
Verdict: Remove
After the Strawberry by Kathryn Pope
Lydia Poole wants to be a good person—the kind of person who does everything right and deserves to be loved. To accomplish this, she eats only one cup of Cheerios per day and lets her weight drop below ninety pounds. When Lydia’s sister introduces Jesse, a new friend and filmmaker, Lydia agrees to be the subject of his documentary.
Jesse’s camera follows Lydia as she’s hospitalized for anorexia, as she walks the line between hoping for death and wanting life, as her weight continues to fall. With the camera running, Lydia shifts from the viewfinder’s object to the eye behind the camera. In doing so, she discovers how she wants to see her world.
I've mentioned before how I find eating disorders a diffcult topic to read about and therefore I'm pretty fussy with the ones I do choose to pick up and a lot of people dislike this one for it's lack of substance.
Verdict: Remove
This Week:
Kept: 2
Removed: 8
Overall:
Kept: 188
Removed: 412
No comments
Post a Comment