EARLY SPRING CLEANING?? // UnTBRing Books
Anyone who has ever loved books and has had a Goodreads account, knows what it's like to feel guilty every time they open their account and see the number of books on their TBR that is a few hundred in number.
You might think that eventually it will decrease as you keep reading, but the problem is that even though you might be reading at incredible speed, you're probably adding more books to your TBR at equally as astonishing frequency. Therefore you can never win with your TBR.
Currently on my list, there is over 200 books that I added thinking that I wanted to read it at some point. What happened with some of these books is that they sank so low down on my TBR as I kept adding and adding, that they are now at the very bottom where I added them 3 years ago, and the chances of me ever picking them up again are at about 0.9% percent.
I love books! And I would love to read every single one I've ever wished to read, but there is simply not enough time for me to even hope to do so.
Therefore I've decided to be brave today and do something that will pain every book lover's heart, but something that is probably necessary if I want to still hold hope that one day, my TBR will be conquered.
So today, I am un-TBR-ing five books from my list,
1. "Carve The Mark" by Veronica Roth
This one pains my heart, but doesn't pain my heart at all, at the same time. The pain mainly comes at the disappointment with the author who had a great platform and a great opportunity, and produced something ugly from it.
I haven't read the book, and don't plan to after hearing from several reliable sources that this book not only portrayed chronic pain as a 'gift', which is just ugly and hurtful to those who suffer everyday from it, but also contained racist tropes and stereotypes (detailed post by Justina Ireland here). Needless to say, this flew off of my TBR as soon as I saw the same outrage coming from several sources.
I'm not one to bash authors. As disappointed as I am with Veronica Roth, I'll keep my remarks to myself and swiftly move on... Depending on how the author will respond and deal with this ugly situation, I may revisit Roth's work with hopefully a much better, and socially acceptable content.
2. "The Martian" by Andy Weir
I have attempted to read "The Martian" several times now, and every time it has proven to be a source of frustration and unsatisfaction. I know of so many people who loved this book and enjoyed it thoroughly, and the rating of this book on Goodreads is above 4.5/5 which astounds me in a way.
I wish I could be one of those people who loved it, but I have given this book several chances, and several times it wasn't worth it. I found the story to be stiff, way too factual and lacking of a writing style....At times it felt like I was reading a non-fiction scientific journal, and that just wasn't what I signed up for.
I simply couldn't even force myself to plow through it and see if it gets any better beyond the first 150 pages, and that is why I am removing this off my TBR, with all hope lost that one day I could actually read this and enjoy this as many others have.
3. "Room" by Emma Donoghue
"Room" made it onto my TBR list after I watched the movie, which destroyed me from inside out and left me a sobbing mess. Naturally as a book lover, I craved to explore the story deeper through the book. I had plans to read it eventually. Then I was recommended, and I read "Baby Doll" by Holly Overton, which turned out to be strikingly similar to "Room" the movie.
I ended up rating "Baby Doll" three stars, and I'm sure now as I sit and write this, that I would have enjoyed "Room" much better if I had read it, firsthand.
However, it seems now a waste of time to read this story when I feel like I've already read a similar version of it. I love the movie so much, and that I won't be losing out much by un-TBR-ing the book.
4. "Panic" by Lauren Oliver
This one is a similar case to "The Martian". I have given this book countless tries. I have revisited it over and over again, hoping that I would like it better that time around. And being honest, each time, it wouldn't take a month for me to completely forget what the story was about. It simply wasn't capturing enough, or remarkable enough to stick around in my head. Truth be told, the only thing telling me I never finished this book is my Goodreads 'Read' shelf...I could have finished this book for all I know. I don't remember more than two details about this story.
It has permanently left an impression on me as a dry, unremarkable and ordinary book, which is the reason why I am saying that I will most likely never truly read this book.
5. "Black Ice" by Becca Fitzpatrick
I don't think I ever really had a massive interest in reading "Black Ice", but over the course of time that this has stuck around on my TBR, I have lost all and any intent to read this book.
Not only that, but I've heard many negative things about this book. I heard about a dull, uneventful plot, and whiny characters. Sounds like the recipe for a book that I'll hate from start to finish.
Therefore, there wasn't much consideration, and no heartache at all when it came to clicking the 'Remove from TBR' button on Goodreads.
Wow...okay...not only is my list 5 books shorter, but I feel like some old weight has been lifted off of my chest. Most of these books have daunted me for years, yelling 'READ ME READ ME LOOK HOW LONG YOU'VE LEFT ME ABANDONED'. They've all been silenced now muahahahahaaha. Just kidding. Some of these did break my heart as I un-TBR-ed them, but ultimately, I firmly believe that some early spring cleaning was in order, and finally it has been done!
....Or did I make some terrible mistakes? Any of these books that you think I should 100% read, and you're currently gasping in shock that I killed them off like this? Will you be doing any early spring cleaning on your TBR? Let me know in the comments below!
All the love,
Samanta.
4 comments
great post Sam! I definitely agree with Carve the Mark. I was so excited to read it, and then I heard all of the racist and ableist things in the book and I was like oops not reading that. It really disappoints me because of how excited I was for it but I no longer want to read it.
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry to hear you got rid of Room! It's one of my favorite books. Though it does make sense to if you've already seen the movie and read a similar book.
This has definitely inspired me to declutter my Goodreads TBR!
Yes, there's a sort of sweet bitterness with CTM, it could have been something spectacular that I was excited to read ....and then this came out, and I was like nope.
Delete"Room" definitely intrigued me as a story, and the movie was spectacular, but as you said, I feel like I know the story quite well now, and have enjoyed it without even having rad the book. Happy to hear this struck some inspiration to clean up the TBR, honest to God feels good haha 😊
Thank you for the comment! All the love.x
Awk I don't think you're missing much with Black Ice and Panic honestly! I read them both and was severely unimpressed. And I was concerned about CTM but then Sabaa Tahir wrote a really interesting article about it and said she supports it, and since she's a WOC and a diversity advocate of course, I feel like I will still try CTM but also be careful of ways it could be hurtful to minorities. If that makes sense?🙈🙊
ReplyDeleteAnd omg my TBR is on goodreads is waaay into the thousands.😂 I should go have a cleanout too!!
I have heard many unimpressed opinions about Panic and Balck Ice... Eventually I just lost any and all interests in these books.
DeleteThe thing with CTM is very tricky. I don't blast anyone who reads it because ultimately, it is a book and it's a good thing that you're going to read it and form your own opinions from your own experience. Personally, I've just been put off by the lack of response by the author and publisher, and as of right now, don't want to be supporting that kind of relation in the bookish and industry. As I said, maybe one day if any airs are cleared, I will read it.
My goodreads Tbr is a monstrous thing that I don't want to talk about ever, ever ,ever hahha.
Thank you so much for your comment! All the love. X