Happy Easter weekend everyone! I hope you are all having a nice relaxing and book filled long weekend.
Down the TBR Hole was the brain child of Lost In A Story. The idea is to reduce the length of your Goodreads TBR.
How it works:
- Go to your Goodreads want to read shelf.
- Order on ascending date added
- Take the first 5 or 10 books.
- Read the synopses of the books.
- Decide: keep it or should it go
The list is now at 484, lets see if we can shrink it a little bit more.
1. Wizard’s First Rule by Terry Goodkind
In the aftermath of the brutal murder of his father, a mysterious woman, Kahlan Amnell, appears in Richard Cypher’s forest sanctuary seeking help . . . and more.
His world, his very beliefs, are shattered when ancient debts come due with thundering violence. In a dark age it takes courage to live, and more than mere courage to challenge those who hold dominion, Richard and Kahlan must take up that challenge or become the next victims. Beyond awaits a bewitching land where even the best of their hearts could betray them. Yet, Richard fears nothing so much as what secrets his sword might reveal about his own soul. Falling in love would destroy them—for reasons Richard can’t imagine and Kahlan dare not say.
In their darkest hour, hunted relentlessly, tormented by treachery and loss, Kahlan calls upon Richard to reach beyond his sword—to invoke within himself something more noble. Neither knows that the rules of battle have just changed . . . or that their time has run out.
This is the beginning. One book. One Rule. Witness the birth of a legend.
This book has been on my list since 2014 and to be honest I really do not think I will read it. Terry Goodkind books tend to put me off to be honest because they seem to always be on the long side.
GO
2. Sylvia’s Lovers by Elizabeth Gaskell
A very powerfully moving novel of a young woman caught between the attractions of two very different men, Sylvia’s Lovers is set in the 1790s in an English seaside town. England is at war with France, and press-gangs wreak havoc by seizing young men for service. One of their victims is a whaling harpooner named Charley Kinraid, whose charm and vivacity have captured the heart of Sylvia Robson. But Sylvia’s devoted cousin, Philip Hepburn, hopes to marry her himself and, in order to win her, deliberately withholds crucial information—with devastating consequences.
The introduction discusses the novel’s historical and geographical authenticity, as well as its innovative treatment of gender and human relationships
I think over time I have put all of Gaskell’s books on my TBR. I do plan on reading them all so I will keep this one on the list, I also really like the blurb.
KEEP
3. The Mill on the Floss by George Eliot
Brought up at Dorlcote Mill, Maggie Tulliver worships her brother Tom and is desperate to win the approval of her parents, but her passionate, wayward nature and her fierce intelligence bring her into constant conflict with her family. As she reaches adulthood, the clash between their expectations and her desires is painfully played out as she finds herself torn between her relationships with three very different men: her proud and stubborn brother, a close friend who is also the son of her family’s worst enemy, and a charismatic but dangerous suitor. With its poignant portrayal of sibling relationships, The Mill on the Floss is considered George Eliot’s most autobiographical novel; it is also one of her most powerful and moving.
This has been sat on my bookshelf for ages! I really should read it, for now it will stay on the list.
KEEP
4. The Portrait of a Lady by Henry James
When Isabel Archer, a beautiful, spirited American, is brought to Europe by her wealthy Aunt Touchett, it is expected that she will soon marry. But Isabel, resolved to determine her own fate, does not hesitate to turn down two eligible suitors. She then finds herself irresistibly drawn to Gilbert Osmond, who, beneath his veneer of charm and cultivation, is cruelty itself. A story of intense poignancy, Isabel’s tale of love and betrayal still resonates with modern audiences.
I’m not a fan of Henry James to be honest and have struggled in the past to get into his books. Therefore this book will be coming off the list.
GO
5. The Mayor of Casterbridge by Thomas Hardy
In a fit of drunken anger, Michael Henchard sells his wife and baby daughter for five guineas at a country fair. Over the course of the following years, he manages to establish himself as a respected and prosperous pillar of the community of Casterbridge, but behind his success there always lurk the shameful secret of his past and a personality prone to self-destructive pride and temper. Subtitled ‘A Story of a Man of Character’, Hardy’s powerful and sympathetic study of the heroic but deeply flawed Henchard is also an intensely dramatic work, tragically played out against the vivid backdrop of a close-knit Dorsetshire town.
I have read a lot of Hardy’s books and I think he is brilliant so this definitely stays on the list.
KEEP
Well a few more have left the list and it is now down to 482. Slowly but surely the list is getting smaller.
Lady Book Dragon.
