Down the TBR Hole ★ 15

Down the TBR Hole is a bookish meme created by Lia @ Lost in a Story.
Down the TBR Hole 411
Down The TBR Hole is a meme that revolves around cleansing your TBR of all those books you’re never going to read and sort through it all to know what’s actually on there. Most of you probably know this feeling, your Goodreads TBR pile keeps growing and growing and it seems like there is no light at the end of the tunnel. You keep adding, but you add more than you actually read. And then when you’re scrolling through your list, you realize that you have no idea what half the books are about and why you added them. Well that’s going to change!
It works like this:
• 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?

We're back again with the segment known as Down the TBR Hole! Fasten your seatbelts, keep your hands and feet inside the vehicle at all times, Once Upon a Time, I Read a Book and its owner is not responsible for any additions to your TBR list and is indemnified in any book-buying that occurs as a result.




Dating by the Book by Mary Ann Marlow
Is love just something you find in books?
Six months ago, writer and bookstore owner Maddie Hanson was left at the altar. Since then, she’s had zero interest in romance—despite the fact that she runs a book club full of sexy eligible bachelors. But when her latest novel is panned by an anonymous blogger who goes by the name Silver Fox—and who accuses her of knowing nothing about passion—she decides to prove her nemesis wrong by seeking a romance hero in real life . . .
There’s the smoldering rock musician, the bookish college professor, and her competitive childhood friend who may want to steal her bookstore more than her heart. Even Silver Fox is getting in on the action, sending Maddie alarmingly—and intoxicatingly—flirtatious emails. And that’s not all. Her ex wants her back.
Now Maddie is about to discover that like any good story, life has twists and turns, and love can happen when you least expect it—with the person you least expect . . .
Tidbit
I see-saw with this one, y'all. The synopsis reads like a reverse harem but it doesn't say it is, and I'm afraid I'll go into it yes-ing all of these guys and be devastated when it's ho-hum hetero monogamy (no offense) but it sounds entertaining and I can't say no so I'm keeping this one on my TBR!

Time Sight by Lynne Jonell
Castles, battles, the ancient Scottish Highlands, and a boy who is determined to bring everyone safely home combine in this absorbing middle grade time-travel adventure.
Will's mother is in danger overseas, and his father must find her, so Will and his little brother are packed off to relatives in Scotland. Will feels useless. He can't save his mother. He can't help his father. And when he tries to amuse his brother on the plane ride, he can't even locate the images in Jamie's book--the hidden pictures that everyone else can see. Once at the family's ancestral castle, though, Will tries again. And as he delicately adjusts his focus, suddenly his eyes tune in to a different visual frequency--the past.
Looking back five hundred years is interesting . . . at first. But when Jamie impulsively leaps through the opening in time, Will and his cousin Nan must follow, into a past so dangerous that Will isn't sure how he will get everyone safely home.
Tidbit
I'll be honest, I added this because I love Scotland. I'm removing it because I freaking hate time travel. It's that easy.

Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson
The first ten lies they tell you in high school.
"Speak up for yourself—we want to know what you have to say."
From the first moment of her freshman year at Merryweather High, Melinda knows this is a big fat lie, part of the nonsense of high school. She is friendless, outcast, because she busted an end-of-summer party by calling the cops, so now nobody will talk to her, let alone listen to her. As time passes, she becomes increasingly isolated and practically stops talking altogether. Only her art class offers any solace, and it is through her work on an art project that she is finally able to face what really happened at that terrible party: she was raped by an upperclassman, a guy who still attends Merryweather and is still a threat to her. Her healing process has just begun when she has another violent encounter with him. But this time Melinda fights back, refuses to be silent, and thereby achieves a measure of vindication.
In Laurie Halse Anderson's powerful novel, an utterly believable heroine with a bitterly ironic voice delivers a blow to the hypocritical world of high school. She speaks for many a disenfranchised teenager while demonstrating the importance of speaking up for oneself.
Speak was a 1999 National Book Award Finalist for Young People's Literature.
Tidbit
Is it weird to be afraid of a book? I'm afraid of a few of them. Including Speak. I loved the movie adaptation (I didn't know it was an adaptation or I'd have read the book first) and it was really helpful for me dealing with my own assault. Trees, right? But I'm terrified of the book. I want to read this, but I read books to escape my problems, this book doesn't have a rape take place in the story, the rape and what comes after is the story. I've spent most of my thirty years of life mastering the art of avoidance in one way or another, this is the complete opposite of avoidance. I don't even think this whole bit makes sense, but whatever, I'm keeping this on my TBR list, and on my shelf, it'll have it's day one day.

Empress of a Thousand Skies by Rhoda Belleza
Empress
Rhee, also known as Crown Princess Rhiannon Ta'an, is the sole surviving heir to a powerful dynasty. She'll stop at nothing to avenge her family and claim her throne.
Fugitive
Aly has risen above his war refugee origins to find fame as the dashing star of a DroneVision show. But when he's falsely accused of killing Rhee, he's forced to prove his innocence to save his reputation - and his life.
Madman
With planets on the brink of war, Rhee and Aly must confront a ruthless evil that threatens the fate of the entire galaxy.
Tidbit
I don't know, the cover called to me, the synopsis kept me, now I'm in it for the long haul. I'm keeping this one on my TBR list!

Small Great Things by Jodi Picoult

Ruth Jefferson is a labor and delivery nurse at a Connecticut hospital with more than twenty years' experience. During her shift, Ruth begins a routine checkup on a newborn, only to be told a few minutes later that she's been reassigned to another patient. The parents are white supremacists and don't want Ruth, who is African American, to touch their child. The hospital complies with their request, but the next day, the baby goes into cardiac distress while Ruth is alone in the nursery. Does she obey orders or does she intervene?
Ruth hesitates before performing CPR and, as a result, is charged with a serious crime. Kennedy McQuarrie, a white public defender, takes her case but gives unexpected advice: Kennedy insists that mentioning race in the courtroom is not a winning strategy. Conflicted by Kennedy's counsel, Ruth tries to keep life as normal as possible for her family--especially her teenage son--as the case becomes a media sensation. As the trial moves forward, Ruth and Kennedy must gain each other's trust, and come to see that what they've been taught their whole lives about others--and themselves--might be wrong.
With incredible empathy, intelligence, and candor, Jodi Picoult tackles race, privilege, prejudice, justice, and compassion--and doesn't offer easy answers. Small Great Things is a remarkable achievement from a writer at the top of her game.
Tidbit
Now see, I know this book is going to piss me off because just the synopsis is pissing me off. (I can say that, it's my blog,). Why did it get on my TBR in the first place? Reading is supposed to be calming and good for avoiding the crash-and-burn for me. I'm removing this one from my TBR.



Total Books Kept 3
Total Books Removed 2



I'm spending time revamping the site and putting together a proper schedule so I have a better handle on things here. With the book-buying ban in place, I get to finally dive on into that TBR and start knocking some of the residents off and moving them over the Read List! In between tours that is. Why do I keep signing up for these? I hate time constraints. They make me twitchy.
I've started knitting another Mitred Squares Blanket. When I've finally got some real progress to show for it, I'll take some photos and do a little post about it. Because, my blog. I donated the last one to a senior living facility, But I think I might keep this one for a couch blanket. Keep me cosy while I read!
Anyways. Have I added to your TBR list? Have I made any mistakes in removing books? Let me know in the comments! Until next time, readers, have a happily ever after!

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