That’s right.  Check out this post from Dark Cargo.  We’re going to have a little TBR partay.  A TBR picnic – and you’re all invited.  I’ve just been on a scavenger hunt around the place to pull out a few titles.  Now choosing titles from a bunch of books that have already been relegated isn’t easy.  You want to read the books that you want to read!  So, be forewarned.  Below is a list of lame excuses (of mine) why books lose their awesome sauce – and these are precisely the books I’m going to look at:

1. You buy a book and you’re gagging to read it but slowly it descends to the bottom of the list.  It’s not the ‘big I am’ any more.  And, frankly you’re not really keen to read it.  I don’t know why that is but it’s the truth.
2. You’ve read two books in a trilogy and you have number three – you went out and bought it hot off the shelf as soon as it was released but then for some reason it’s languished on your shelf ever since.  I have a number of these and it’s almost like I don’t want to read them now – is that some sort of secret desire not to actually conclude the series?
3. You’ve bought a book that you wanted to read before the film was released but now you’ve seen the film so it seems pointless!
4. The ‘must read’ book that somebody has given you to read.  They’re desperate for you to read it.  They want your feedback.  But you teeter on the fence of indecision because this book isn’t the type of book you normally read.
5. Look at that cover – what was I thinking?  Yes, I know it’s very fickle but sometimes it happens and the cover becomes a deterrent
6. Finally, the e-book.  Too easy to just download from Kindle – literally  ‘one click’ and next thing you know you’ve run up a massive list of books – that you can’t see!  They don’t clutter up your house.  There are no dangerous stacks waiting to tumble to the floor and kill your favourite pet.  But, they’re there anyway.  They stalk you (insert creepy music from Jaws here).  They play on your insecurities (I really shouldn’t buy any more books)(And yet, nobody can see these books so you have plausible deniability).  Nonetheless,they make you feel guilty.  You let your Kindle run out of charge deliberately so you don’t have to pick it up and see that ever expanding list of titles.  Then, finally.  You switch it on.  You scroll through your list to the book you’ve decided upon – and you can see that little row of dots underneath that shows how long the book actually is – and you actually groan inwardly and put it back down AGAIN.  The thing is – books are deceptive.  Sometimes you pick up a huge book but the text is slightly larger, the spacing is generous, the pages aren’t packed to the gills, there are lots of chapters with blank filler upper pages between.  Not on kindle – the size of the text is the size of the book – there is no self delusion here!  Nowhere to hide.

So, for the above reasons it’s difficult to make yourself pick up the books you’ve already discarded.  Okay, brace yourself woman, you can do this.

Right.  I’ve chosen ten books.  It’s not going to be a huge dint but it’s a start!  And, for the avoidance of doubt I don’t ‘not’ want to read these books.  I bought them all (well, okay, not all!)  They just got demoted for some reason:

1. Wicked by Gregory Maguire
2. Bitterblue by Kristin Cashore
3. Timeless by Gail Carriger
4. Moon Over Soho by Ben Aaronovitch
5. Looking for Alaska by John Green
6. Uglies by Scott Westerfield
7. Oryx and Crake by margaret Atwood
8. The Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh
9. Darkness Falls by Jessica Sorensen
10. Fairy Tale by Graham Joyce
11. The Pain Merchant by Janice Hardy (Yes, I can count, thank you, but realised I hadn’t put any book from No.4 above).

So – scene sett (check), invitees invited (check), tipple of choice chosen (red wine)(check), date in diary (check).  Badge of honour displayed (check).

TBR Topple

Watch this space.