I’ve seen this meme around, not really knowing what it was. When I finally realized what it was…I knew I should be doing it.

Down the TBR Hole is a meme started and hosted by Lost in a Story. It 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.

Which I could really use.

---

Here’s the rules spiel:

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:

• Go to your goodreads to-read shelf.
• 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?

I’ll be doing 5 at a time. I probably won’t be doing this weekly, but I’ll try to do a post a month at least. I’ll also post the verdict at the bottom as a “Keep” or “Toss”. I hope y’all enjoy this one!!

---

The Book: Hollow World by Michael J. Sullivan
Why it was added: I added Hollow World after I originally read Michael J. Sullivan’s Riyria Revelations–an extremely stereotypical high fantasy written by an allocishet man. I really loved his writing, but this is supposedly his first book. I didn’t really look into what it was about before I added it.
My current feelings: I think when I read the summary, that was the first time I ever read the summary for this book. I have a solid copy of this, but knew literally nothing about it. Not surprisingly, I don’t find the summary that interesting. I’ll keep the copy, but it’s getting removed from my list for now.

Verdict: I’m tossing it from the list.

 

The Book: The Sacred Lies of Minnow Bly by Stephanie Oakes
Why it was added: I think I saw a few book bloggers talking about this book. I didn’t know much about it other than that they liked it. Now that I’m reading the summary, it sounds similar to The Butterfly Garden by Dot Hutchison.
My current feelings: I feel like so many books have this same premise, so I’ve kind of got bored of these kinds of books.

Verdict: I’m tossing it.

 

The Book: Every Day by David Levithan
Why it was added: Again, a lot of people have spoken about this book and how amazing it is. I’ve even heard things recently about it. The summary is interesting, but it’s not the most eye-catching in my opinion.
My current feelings: Legit, I don’t know what to do for this one. It still sounds interesting to me, and I own a copy, but I feel like my chance to read and adore this book with everyone else is far past its expiration date.

Verdict: I’ll keep my copy, but I’ll toss it from my TBR.

 

The Book: The Red Knights by Miles Cameron
Why it was added: I have honestly no idea.
My current feelings: The summary sounds interesting, but not interesting enough for me to keep it on my list full of “interesting” sounding books.

Verdict: Again, I’m going to toss it.

The Book: The Sword of Shannara by Terry Brooks
Why it was added: I think I originally added it when the show was debuting, and it sounded good so I added the first book in order to read it and watch the show.
My current feelings: I feel like this is one of those “classic” fantasy books that I’ll never get around to reading, but still want to read. It sounds good, and maybe, hopefully, I’ll eventually get around to it.

Verdict: I’m keeping it.

---

Five more down, official tally of Toss vs. Keep is now…

Keep: 11
Toss: 14

I think this is the first one where I tossed substantially more then I kept. At least that means I’m finally using this meme how it should be used!

---

Enjoy my content? 
Leave a tip through ko-fi or give me a follow on WordPress or Twitter!