Lost in a Story began this idea for blog posts as a way to edit a growing to-be-read list. You take your Goodreads TBR list, sort by ascending date added, and look at the oldest 5-10 items on your list. If you haven’t read them by now, are you likely to? Why or why not?
I began using Goodreads in September of 2012. In my first two attempts at culling my Goodreads TBR I removed seven books. Lets hope this time I can increase that number.
I’ve reread the Goodreads blurbs for each of the following and based my decision on the Goodreads rating and whether the blurb still piqued my interest.
My third ten oldest titles on my Goodreads TBR
“The absence of mercy” by John Burley (Goodreads rating 3.58)
A doctor and father in small town Ohio weighs the need to catch a killer against his fears for his family’s safety in this debut psychological suspense novel. KEEP
“Fatal whispers” by Sandra Nikolai (Goodreads rating 4.22)
Despite this titles high GR rating, I’ve decided I can give it a miss. REMOVE
“Evidence of life” by Barbara Taylor Sissel (Goodreads rating 3.49)
Abby thinks she has it all—a perfect marriage, a perfect life—until a devastating storm rips through the region, and her family vanishes without a trace. REMOVE
“All the birds, singing” by Evie Wyld (Goodreads rating 3.62)
Despite the fact that I hate the cover, this novel about an outsider who lives on a craggy British island still hold strong appeal for me. KEEP
“The last refuge” by Craig Robertson (Goodreads rating 3.81)
Great cover. Novel about a man who tries to start a new life on the Faroe Islands – all the time wondering if he is a killer… KEEP
“The beast must die” by Nicholas Blake (Goodreads rating 3.84)
4th in a series. Story about a revenge killing. (I haven’t read the first three in this series – it must have been recommended to me – I can’t remember) REMOVE
“The piano room” by Harry Hindes (Goodreads rating (4.41)
YOU read the blurb! KEEP
“Duplicate keys” by Jane Smiley (Goodreads rating 3.24)
Literary thriller set in Manhattan. REMOVE
“The dark” by Claire Mulligan (Goodreads rating 3.10)
Historical mystery/ghost story set in 1893 New York. REMOVE
“The world before us” by Aislinn Hunter (Goodreads rating 3.11)
Three parallel stories are intertwined when thirty-four-year-old Jane Standen decides to research the disappearance of a woman, only known as N, in the 1870s. REMOVE
More success this time! When revisiting my third ten oldest titles on my Goodreads TBR I got rid of six of them. Hey, I’m getting better at this! As I write this post, I have 1,860 titles on my Goodreads TBR! (for those of you who are keeping track, I added a few since my last ‘culling’ post – hey… what’s a girl to do? Those pesky bookbloggers are always writing reviews about books that look SO good – It is all their fault!
If you strongly agree or disagree with my decisions please let me know in the comments. I’m easily persuaded…. LOL I need all the help I can get.
Fictionophile 
You prompted me to start looking at my TBR but at the moment it just means sorting out the duplicates I’ve added and going ‘but surely I’ve read that…’. On your latest update you are right to keep The Last Refuge – I think I started with a one word review that was ‘stonking’ – it’s a really excellent book.
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Guess I’ll be moving “The last refuge” up the queue. Thanks.
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Your blog posts are goal! Ilove this
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Congratulations, Lynne……this time you made a difference and, I feel, kept some good choices!!
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Thanks Gaye. Your opinion is valuable to me. What great titles have YOU read lately?
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Lynne, I have started a new series by a fabulous Icelandic author, Ragnar Jonasson. Just this year his books have become available in North America….the first is Snowblind and I know there is a copy available at our local Chapters. The second in the series, NightBlind, will be released this December. The other titles are Black Out and Rupture with White Out being released in the U.K this November. The series is called Dark Iceland…….doesn’t that sound like my taste in reading??
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Yes Gaye! This series was brought to my attention by some of the fabulous bloggers I follow. The first title “Snowblind” is already loaded on my Kindle. I anticipate that we will BOTH like this series.
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i think one book list is enough for me. adding it to another site would probably give me palpitations.
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Goodreads is a great resource for readers. Not only do you connect with other readers, but it serves as a memory aid for those titles you’ve already read. I use it to keep track of my reading, get recommendations from readers with similar reading tastes, read reviews and comments about books I’ve read or am planning to read.
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I’ve only read one of these – The World Before Us – you made the right choice 💤
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This is really a very familiar sounding problem :P. Mine is currently at 350, but that is only because I have not been that active on Goodreads lately (bit of a reading slump). When I was culling my list it helped me to just delete the books I could remember nothing about. I figured if I really wanted to read something, I would at least have remembered SOMETHING about the book.
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One of the most inspiring posts I’ve read in awhile. Not sure I have the fortitude to do the same, but I really should.
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I really should do something like this, haha. I have about 1300 books on my Goodreads TBR and I know there’s no way that I’ll read all of them!! Great job taking some books off! You have more strength than I do, haha.
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So glad you’re keeping All The Birds Singing! It’s such a unique read and a book I will definitely keep in my collection. 😁
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Good to know Beth. Thanks. 😙
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My TBR is definitely out of control, All is Lost. I like watching your posts about culling your list. It is time I look at mine again. I would love to get it near 1000, I have over 3000 on my list. I agree, I read someone’s review on their blog and add more. I think for every one I take off, I put three more on.
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So, you made me go and read the blurb for The Piano Room. Now I want to add it to my TBR list 🙂 Good results this time, keep it up, I’m enjoying very much seeing your hard work. 🙂
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Wow! Lynne, I thought I had a long TBR list!! Nothing compared to your 1,000++ All sound choices for removing and keeping – a couple I want to take a look at here. All the birds, singing and The piano room. I’m impressed you’ve been a Goodreads member since 2012- I’ve only heard about it in the last few years! Happy Reading. 😀😀
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MYY TBR IS SOOO OUT OF CONTROL TOOO!! And everytime I see it, I am like ‘Ooohhh, My taste in reading is soo eclectic!!’ even though I KNOW I am NEVER going to read all of that…
I want to tidy it up but it’s JUST SO TIME TAKING and FUSSY!! 😂😂😂
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An improvement indeed – sometimes when I look at titles I’ve added (although mine are more likely to be on my Amazon wishlist) I can’t for the life of me work out why I added them!! I blame the bloggers too 😉
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Hahaha A thousand and I got anxious because of 100 lol Fortunately I haven’t read any of these so I can’t tell you to add them again 😛
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