Happy Monday! My bookish moment of the week is doing a major culling of my Goodreads “Want to Read” shelf. I don’t really use that shelf in any strategic way: I simply add a book to it whenever I hear a rave review or see someone whose taste I trust give a book a high rating. Goodreads also sends me a monthly newsletter detailing new releases from authors I’ve previously read, and I’ll add books to my TBR shelf from there, too. At the end of every year, though, I like to pare down this shelf because it can become a bit unwieldy and filled with books I may not be as interested in reading now. Before this weekend, my “Want to Read” shelf was clocking in at 470 books and I’ve pared it down to 350! I started by removing any book that has been on my shelf for longer than 4 years (well, I started with that and then found a bunch of books that I added in 2013 or 2014 that I realllllly want to read, so I let myself keep, at most, 10 books added before 2016.) Then I just started going through my list, bit by bit, removing books that had low ratings (anything under 3.7 is LOW for Goodreads) or that don’t really appeal to me anymore. It’s always good to give my TBR list a refresh like this! It helps to make sure only the books I really want to read are ready for me to pick from. 🙂 (One of these days, I’ll give y’all a run-down on how I set my upcoming reads list, but it’s a complicated system that probably would only make sense to me.)
This week, I finished two books and really liked both of them. That’s a win!
Do You Want to Start a Scandal by Tessa Dare (★★★★☆)
Short synopsis: When Charlotte and Piers are found in a compromising position, they are forced to announce their engagement. Only, Charlotte wants to marry for love, and marrying the cold, unemotional Piers is not in her plans.
I really enjoyed this historical romance! I found Charlotte to be such an interesting character. At the beginning of the book, Charlotte and Piers are in the library together and have to hide when another couple comes in and, ahem, enjoys some sexytimes. Then the couple leaves and people seem to think it was Charlotte and Piers making all the noise! Hence the engagement announcement. Charlotte goes on a mission to find out who the couple really is, and I loved her investigation. It was fun to follow along! Piers is also an interesting character—he was a character in a previous book whose fiancee fell in love with his brother after he was away from her for years working as a spy—and I loved watching all of his walls come down with Charlotte. Happy sighs all around! (Open-door romance.)
Atomic Love by Jennie Fields (★★★★☆)
One-sentence synopsis: Rosalind is approached by the FBI to help spy on her former lover, who they think has been selling secrets to the Soviets.
I really enjoyed this thriller! It was part-love story and part-spy novel. Mostly, I enjoyed reading about a time period that I haven’t read much about! This novel takes place in 1950 so it’s been half a decade since WWII ended and life as usual has resumed: The men who made it through the war are back home and trying to figure out their careers while also dealing with their own PTSD symptoms. Charlie was a POW in WWII and he is the FBI agent who approaches Rosalind to spy on her former lover, Thomas. Charlie still has nightmares about his time as a prisoner (and those flashback scenes are vivid and disturbing, so highly sensitive readers should take great care when reading those scenes) and hasn’t been with a woman since his former girlfriend dumped him after the war. I loved watching the love blossom between Charlie and Rosalind. It was so sweet! They were both dealing with major trust issues and it was beautiful to watch them tiptoe through this new love and what it could mean for their lives as a whole. All in all, a great story and one I would recommend. It’s not going to change your life, but it’s an easy one to sink into.
What I’m Reading This Week
- Sadie by Courtney Summers (audio) – I only have two hours left in this audiobook and while I don’t know if the actual story is very compelling, the full-cast narration definitely is. I love how it feels like I’m listening to a true-crime podcast! I’m interested enough in the mystery, though, and want to find out what happens.
- Beach Read by Emily Henry (print) – I’m about halfway through this fun romance and I’m thoroughly enjoying it. It’s gotten rave reviews so I worried it might not live up to my high standards, but so far so good!
- Anxious People by Fredrick Backman (print) – I just started this novel so I don’t have too much to say about it yet. But it’s already made me laugh out loud a few times and any book that can do that is a winner! (Let’s hope it stays that way.)
What are you reading?
Yay for paring down your list! I forget about my list on Goodreads (I keep a separate spreadsheet with my TBR)! I should do the same there or add the ones I really want to read to my spreadsheet.
Atomic Love sounds good! I want more from that time period too – less during the war, more after, ha.
I am curious to hear what you think of Anxious People since it got some mixed reviews!
I am reading Where the Lost Wander. I think that’s what it’s called. I am reading a lot less lately and am struggling!
Goodreads … sigh. We have a fraught relationship. Part of my challenge is that I’m lazy, and can’t quite figure out how to work the library hold system for e-books to my advantage. So I tend to just buy books on sale. And because I hated the Kindle (seriously, I think I’m the only person ever to hate the Kindle), I read e-books on my iPad. Which means (primarily) Apple Books. And – closing the loop here – Goodreads doesn’t link with Apple books the way it does Amazon and Kindle. So I tend to find books on Goodreads, purchase them in Apple Books, and in the process, NEVER remember to go back and update my Goodreads. Like, ever. It still has me reading White Fragility, which I think I finished in early July? Um. Whoops.
Sorry, that was way too long. I’m also eager to hear what you think of Anxious People – I’ve never read any of his books, and they tend to get pretty good reviews.
I do a piece of my good reads TBR occasionally, too. It can get out of control otherwise. Now when I add books I am really trying to tag where I got the recommendation. For a lot of books, I can’t figure out why I added it!
My reading has come to a screeching halt sadly… but we are getting so little sleep that reading just isn’t happening. When Phil is back at work I think I will read more. Right now we are opting to watch ‘homeland’ when we have downtime during the day. I am reading ‘the invisible life of Addie LaRue’ which I have heard great things about. I just read such little snippets that I am not getting hooked like I might have otherwise. At this point I am just hoping to finish it before it’s due! I never have trouble finishing a book in 3 whole weeks but life is very different right now!