Down the TBR Hole #15
It’s time for another Down the TBR hole post; it’s been a while since I last reviewed my reading list.
To recap, the meme was created by Lia @ Lost in a Story. The idea is to review the books on your TBR to decide if you still want to read them. The rules are as follows: –
- Go to your Goodreads to-read shelf.
- Order on ascending date added.
- Take the first 5 (or 10 if you’re feeling adventurous) books.
- Read the synopses of the books
- Decide: keep it or should it go?
So, without further adieu, let’s review the next ten books on my list!
That Inevitable Victorian Thing – E. K. Johnston
Goodreads – That Inevitable Victorian Thing
Set in a near-future world where the British Empire was preserved, not by the cost of blood and theft but by effort of repatriation and promises kept, That Inevitable Victorian Thing is a novel of love, duty, and the small moments that can change people and the world.
Victoria-Margaret is the crown princess of the empire, a direct descendant of Victoria I, the queen who changed the course of history two centuries earlier. The imperial practice of genetically arranged matchmaking will soon guide Margaret into a politically advantageous marriage like her mother before her, but before she does her duty, she’ll have one summer incognito in a far corner of empire. In Toronto, she meets Helena Marcus, daughter of one of the empire’s greatest placement geneticists, and August Callaghan, the heir apparent to a powerful shipping firm currently besieged by American pirates. In a summer of high-society debutante balls, politically charged tea parties, and romantic country dances, Margaret, Helena, and August discover they share an unusual bond and maybe a one in a million chance to have what they want and to change the world in the process —just like the first Queen Victoria.
When I added this book to the TBR, it is because I was enticed by the history behind the book; particularly, the influence of Victoria I’s reign.
Having read the synopsis again though, I have to admit it’s lost its appeal. I don’t deny that this will probably make for an enjoyable read for someone, I am not so sure it’s my cup of tea.
Verdict: Bin
Before It’s Too Late – Sara Driscoll
Goodreads – Before It’s Too Late
In this powerful K-9 crime thriller, FBI Special Agent Meg Jennings and her trusted search-and-rescue Labrador, Hawk, must race against the clock before a diabolical killer strikes again…
Somewhere in the Washington, D.C., area, a woman lies helpless in a box. Beneath the earth. Barely breathing. Buried alive. In Quantico, the FBI receives a coded message from the woman’s abductor. He wants to play a game with them: decipher the clues, find the grave, save the girl. The FBI’s top cryptanalysts crack the code and Special Agent Meg Jennings and her K-9 partner, Hawk, scramble to the scene of the crime. Cryptic clues lead them astray and by the time they solve the puzzle, it’s too late. But the killer’s game is far from over . . .
Soon another message arrives. Another victim is taken, and the deadly pattern is repeated–again and again. Each kidnapping triggers another desperate race against time, each with the possibility of another senseless death. That’s when Meg decides to try something drastic. Break the Bureau’s protocol. Bring in her brilliant sister, Cara, a genius at word games, to decipher the kidnapper’s twisted clues. Meg knows she’s risking her career to do it, but she’s determined not to let one more person die under her and Hawk’s watch. If the plan fails, it could bite them in the end. And if it leads to the killer, it could bury them forever . . .
I added this book to the list about a year ago, but this one keeps my interest! Not only do I think this would be exciting to read, but I want to know if I could figure it out if I was in Jennings’ shoes. I can totally see myself devouring this in one sitting…
Verdict: Keep
Moonrise – Sarah Crossan
‘They think I hurt someone.
But I didn’t. You hear?
Coz people are gonna be telling you
all kinds of lies.
I need you to know the truth.’From one-time winner and two-time Carnegie Medal shortlisted author Sarah Crossan, this poignant, stirring, huge-hearted novel asks big questions. What value do you place on life? What can you forgive? And just how do you say goodbye?
I must have added this off the back of a review because the synopsis doesn’t give away much. Rarely do I resort to reading some spoiler-free reviews for a hint.
This book written in poetry form, which I didn’t know. I’m intrigued by the subject matter, but I don’t get along with poetry and it put me off this book. I’m sorry, but I’ve changed my mind on this book too.
Verdict: Bin
Soul of the Fire – Terry Goodkind
Richard Rahl has traveled far from his roots as a simple woods guide. Emperor of the D’Haran Empire, war wizard, the Seeker of Truth—none of these roles mean as much to him as his newest: husband to his beloved Kahlan Amnell, Mother Confessor of the Midlands.
But their wedding is the key that unlocks a spell sealed away long ago in a faraway country. Now a deadly power pours forth that threatens to turn the world into a lifeless waste.
Separated from the Sword of Truth and stripped of their magic, Richard and Kahlan must journey across the Midlands to discover a dark secret from the past and a trap that could tear them apart forever. For their fate has become inextricably entwined with that of the Midlands—and there’s no place so dangerous as a world without magic…
I have actually read a part of Soul of the Fire before. I discovered this series in my school library, of all places! It has been years since I last picked up any of the books though. I can remember parts of the plot, but I would benefit from a re-visit before I pick up this book again.
One thing is for sure; I will pick up this book again. One day.
Verdict: Keep
Mr. Mercedes – Stephen King
Now an AT&T Audience Original Series
WINNER OF THE EDGAR AWARD FOR BEST NOVEL
#1 New York Times bestseller! In a high-suspense race against time, three of the most unlikely heroes Stephen King has ever created try to stop a lone killer from blowing up thousands. “Mr. Mercedes is a rich, resonant, exceptionally readable accomplishment by a man who can write in whatever genre he chooses” (The Washington Post).In the frigid pre-dawn hours, in a distressed Midwestern city, desperate unemployed folks are lined up for a spot at a job fair. Without warning, a lone driver plows through the crowd in a stolen Mercedes, running over the innocent, backing up, and charging again. Eight people are killed; fifteen are wounded. The killer escapes.
In another part of town, months later, a retired cop named Bill Hodges is still haunted by the unsolved crime. When he gets a crazed letter from someone who self-identifies as the “perk” and threatens an even more diabolical attack, Hodges wakes up from his depressed and vacant retirement, hell-bent on preventing another tragedy.
Brady Hartsfield lives with his alcoholic mother in the house where he was born. He loved the feel of death under the wheels of the Mercedes, and he wants that rush again. Only Bill Hodges, with two new, unusual allies, can apprehend the killer before he strikes again. And they have no time to lose, because Brady’s next mission, if it succeeds, will kill or maim thousands.
Mr. Mercedes is a war between good and evil, from the master of suspense whose insight into the mind of this obsessed, insane killer is chilling and unforgettable.
This book comes so highly recommended to me that I cannot say no. I have had several people say that I will enjoy this – I have no doubt I will. I love Stephen King’s writing so far. His understanding of how people think is both astounding and scary at the same time. This is a definite keeper.
Verdict: Keep
Gerald’s Game – Stephen King
Stephen King cranks up the suspense in a different kind of bedtime story. A game of seduction between a husband and wife goes horribly awry when the husband dies. But the nightmare has just begun…
This book comes so highly recommended to me that I cannot say no. I have had several people say that I will enjoy this – I have no doubt I will. I love Stephen King’s writing so far. His understanding of how people think is both astounding and scary at the same time. This is a definite keeper.
Verdict: Keep
The Bone Season – Samantha Shannon
The year is 2059. Nineteen-year-old Paige Mahoney is working in the criminal underworld of Scion London, based at Seven Dials, employed by a man named Jaxon Hall. Her job: to scout for information by breaking into people’s minds. For Paige is a dreamwalker, a clairvoyant and, in the world of Scion, she commits treason simply by breathing.
It is raining the day her life changes for ever. Attacked, drugged and kidnapped, Paige is transported to Oxford – a city kept secret for two hundred years, controlled by a powerful, otherworldly race. Paige is assigned to Warden, a Rephaite with mysterious motives. He is her master. Her trainer. Her natural enemy. But if Paige wants to regain her freedom she must allow herself to be nurtured in this prison where she is meant to die.
The Bone Season introduces a compelling heroine and also introduces an extraordinary young writer, with huge ambition and a teeming imagination. Samantha Shannon has created a bold new reality in this riveting debut.
Reviews are very hit-and-miss on this book! Yes, I’ve referred to reviews again. Based on the synopsis, I’m totally on the fence. I can’t say I’m inspired based on the reviews either. Some YA fans even found this either difficult or dull, but others loved it. As I don’t read YA that often, I’m not sure how well this book is going to sit with me after all. If I am teetering one way more than the other, it’s for this book to go. Maybe I’ll come back to it in the future…
Verdict: Bin
A Plague of Giants – Kevin Hearne
Goodreads – A Plague of Giants
In the start of a compelling new series, the New York Times bestselling author of The Iron Druid Chronicles creates an unforgettable fantasy world of warring giants and elemental magic.
In the city of Pelemyn, Fintan the bard takes to the stage to tell what really happened the night the giants came . . .
From the east came the Bone Giants, from the south, the fire-wielding Hathrim – an invasion that sparked war across the six nations of Teldwen. The kingdom’s only hope is the discovery of a new form of magic that calls the world’s wondrous beasts to fight by the side of humankind.
After reading reviews of this book, I pre-ordered it straightaway. That’s how captivated I am! This is a definite keeper too! Fantasy, magic and war… who could ask for more?
Verdict: Keep
Brave New World – Aldous Huxley
Brave New World is a dystopian novel written in 1931 by English author Aldous Huxley, and published in 1932. Largely set in a futuristic World State of genetically modified citizens and an intelligence-based social hierarchy, the novel anticipates huge scientific developments in reproductive technology, sleep-learning, psychological manipulation, and classical conditioning that are combined to make a utopian society that goes challenged only by a single outsider.
This classic has been on my list pretty much since I became a serious blogger. Taking encouragement from re-reading and enjoying 1984 and Of Mice and Men (books I studied in school and hated at the time), I decided I want to read more classics. Variety is the spice of life, so they say. Based on the subject matter, I also think there is a lot to learn and think about.
Verdict: Keep
A Magnificent Obsession: Victoria, Albert, and the Death That Changed the British Monarchy – Helen Rappaport
Goodreads – A Magnificient Obsession
As she did in her critically acclaimed The Last Days of the Romanovs, Helen Rappaport brings a compelling documentary feel to the story of this royal marriage and of the queen’s obsessive love for her husband – a story that began as fairy tale and ended in tragedy.
After the untimely death of Prince Albert, the queen and her nation were plunged into a state of grief so profound that this one event would dramatically alter the shape of the British monarchy. For Britain had not just lost a prince: during his twenty year marriage to Queen Victoria, Prince Albert had increasingly performed the function of King in all but name. The outpouring of grief after Albert’s death was so extreme, that its like would not be seen again until the death of Princess Diana 136 years later.
Drawing on many letters, diaries and memoirs from the Royal Archives and other neglected sources, as well as the newspapers of the day, Rappaport offers a new perspective on this compelling historical psychodrama–the crucial final months of the prince’s life and the first long, dark ten years of the Queen’s retreat from public view. She draws a portrait of a queen obsessed with her living husband and – after his death – with his enduring place in history. Magnificent Obsession will also throw new light on the true nature of the prince’s chronic physical condition, overturning for good the 150-year old myth that he died of typhoid fever.
Victorian history creeps up again! A Magnificent Obsession delves into far more depth about the British monarchy and their roles in history. I don’t typically read much in the way of biographies, but I think this could make for an interesting read. I also don’t know that much intimate detail of this period, so I think I could learn plenty of new things!
Verdict: Keep
So, I’ve taken three books off the list! I am surprised! I half expected that as I went on, more books would remain on the list. Why? Well, I added these books far more recently than those when I first began reviewing my TBR. The oldest books on my list were added four years ago; I expected my reading tastes from only a year ago now to be more similar.
Have you read any of the books on my list? Do you agree with my choices? Let me know in the comments!
