TBR Declutter! – Down the TBR Hole #37

Ahh, who doesn’t love a good declutter? Apparently me, because I haven’t done this post in ages… but I’m back now!

Credit, as always, goes to the wonderful Lia @ Lost in a Story for this decluttering idea! I’m far, far into my TBR now… find out how many books I’ve removed, so far, below!

The aim is to declutter your tbr shelf. To do this:

• Go to your goodreads to-read shelf.
• Order on ascending date added.
• Take the first 5 (or 10 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?

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The Turn of the Screw by Henry James

Synopsis: A young governess is sent to a great country house to care for two orphaned children. To begin with Flora and Miles seem to be model pupils but gradually the governess starts to suspect that something is very wrong with them. As she sets out to uncover the corrupt secrets of the house she becomes more and more convinced that something evil is watching her.

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I’m still so amazed that I’ve never had any spoilers for this novel. I actually already own this book in the 225th WHSmith Yellowback Edition as shown above – it’s super, super neon in real life.

keep

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Riding the Bullet by Stephen King

Synopsis: From international bestseller Stephen King the first ebook ever published—a novella about a young man who hitches a ride with a driver from the other side.

Riding the Bullet is “a ghost story in the grand manner” from the bestselling author of Bag of Bones, The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon, and The Green Mile—a short story about a young man who hitches a ride with a driver from the other side.

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It’s 66 pages long… I may as well download it now and read it!

keep

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Sweetheart, Sweetheart by Bernard Taylor

Synopsis: David Warwick, an Englishman living in New York, has a sudden premonition that his twin brother, Colin, is in danger. He returns to England and learns the shocking truth: both Colin and his young bride Helen have died ghastly deaths – deaths that no one in the village wants to talk about.

Now David has inherited his brother’s home, Gerrard’s Hill Cottage, a lovely house with a lush garden that seems to promise peace and comfort to all who dwell there. But as David tries to unearth the facts of what really happened to his brother and his wife, he has no idea of the horror and evil that surround him or the terrible fate that may be in store…

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I definitely want to read this horror down to it’s positive reviews! The good reviews are really good so I feel like I can’t miss out on that…

keep

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Hex by Thomas Olde Heuvelt

Synopsis: Whoever is born here, is doomed to stay ’til death. Whoever settles, never leaves.

Welcome to Black Spring, the seemingly picturesque Hudson Valley town haunted by the Black Rock Witch, a 17th century woman whose eyes and mouth are sewn shut. Muzzled, she walks the streets and enters your homes at will. She stands next to your bed for nights on end. Everybody knows that her eyes may never be opened.

The elders of Black Spring have virtually quarantined the town by using high-tech surveillance to prevent their curse from spreading. Frustrated with being kept in lockdown, the town’s teenagers decide to break their strict regulations and go viral with the haunting, but in so doing send the town spiraling into the dark, medieval practices of the past.

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Another book I actually already have on my shelves. I should really get around to picking this one up!

keep

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The Trial by Franz Kafka

Synopsis: Written in 1914 but not published until 1925, a year after Kafka’s death, The Trial is the terrifying tale of Josef K., a respectable bank officer who is suddenly and inexplicably arrested and must defend himself against a charge about which he can get no information. Whether read as an existential tale, a parable, or a prophecy of the excesses of modern bureaucracy wedded to the madness of totalitarianism, The Trial has resonated with chilling truth for generations of readers.

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I really, really want to read this book! I should have already gotten around to it but I keep forgetting about it. My mum recommended it to me and then I read about it in another book and it’s really made me want to read it!

keep

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I Remember You by Yrsa Sigurdardottir

Synopsis: In this terrifying tale, three friends set to work renovating a rundown house in a remote, totally isolated location. But they soon realize they are not as alone as they thought. Something wants them to leave. Meanwhile, in a nearby town, a young doctor investigating the suicide of an elderly woman discovers that she was obsessed with his vanished son. When the two stories collide, the shocking truth becomes horribly clear.

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Agh, what do I do with this one? The good reviews are good but the bad reviews are bad. Do I really want to risk it when I have so many other horrors on my list? Egh, I’ll remove it for now.

remove

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Comes the Blind Fury by John Saul

Synopsis: A child cries out . . . in torment–in terror. From out of the past, from outof the mists, a terrible vengeance is born.

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Ooo, what a mysterious synopsis! It’s gonna have to be a keeper, as long as I can find it to buy! (a quick look on Amazon confirms that yes, I can)

keep

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The Winter People by Jennifer McMahon

Synopsis: West Hall, Vermont, has always been a town of strange disappearances and old legends. The most mysterious is that of Sara Harrison Shea, who, in 1908, was found dead in the field behind her house just months after the tragic death of her daughter.

Now, in present day, nineteen-year-old Ruthie lives in Sara’s farmhouse with her mother, Alice, and her younger sister. Alice has always insisted that they live off the grid, a decision that has weighty consequences when Ruthie wakes up one morning to find that Alice has vanished. In her search for clues, she is startled to find a copy of Sara Harrison Shea’s diary hidden beneath the floorboards of her mother’s bedroom. As Ruthie gets sucked into the historical mystery, she discovers that she’s not the only person looking for someone that they’ve lost. But she may be the only one who can stop history from repeating itself.

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Ugh this is a tricky one because I’ve seen very convincing reviews as to why I should read this, and I’ve seen convincing reviews as to why I shouldn’t. I think I’d like to give this one a try though…

keep

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A Season with the Witch by J. W. Ocker

Synopsis: Salem, Massachusetts, may be the strangest city on the planet. A single event in its 400 years of history―the Salem Witch Trials of 1692―transformed it into the Capital of Creepy in America. But Salem is a seasonal town―and its season happens to be Halloween. Every October, this small city of 40,000 swells to more than a quarter million as witches, goblins, ghouls, and ghosts (and their admirers) descend on Essex Street. For the fall of 2015, occult enthusiast and Edgar Award-winning writer J.W. Ocker moved his family of four to downtown Salem to experience firsthand a season with the witch, visiting all of its historical sites and macabre attractions. In between, he interviews its leaders and citizens, its entrepreneurs and visitors, its street performers and Wiccans, its psychics and critics, creating a picture of this unique place and the people who revel in, or merely weather, its witchiness.

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Ugh yes, anything to do with “real life witches” is definitely up my alley! Keeping!!

keep

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The Mist by Stephen King

Synopsis: It was only ever meant to be a game played by six best friends in their first year at Oxford University; a game of consequences, silly forfeits, and childish dares. But then the game changed: The stakes grew higher and the dares more personal and more humiliating, finally evolving into a vicious struggle with unpredictable and tragic results. Now, fourteen years later, the remaining players must meet again for the final round. Who knows better than your best friends what would break you?

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Ugh, I love this simplistic cover on this one and the synopsis sounds pretty good… but, the reviews are not good, averaging at 3.27 stars… I like to keep most of my books a 3.5 average or above.

remove

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Didn’t do so well with removing books this time! Only 2 down, but better than nothing!

Books analysed // 373
Books removed // 151

How many of these books do you know and want to read? Do you disagree with any of my verdicts? Let me know!