Clearing the Shelves: Last Chance Books

It sounds as if I’m on a bit of an unhauling books kick at the moment but when I’m going through my TBR and tidying my shelves, I can’t help looking at all the books and deciding which ones I don’t fancy reading anymore. There are a lot of books to read and not enough time!

Rather than unhauling a lot of books at once and adding to the ever-growing pile in the spare room (my village charity shop isn’t really accepting lots of donations right now), I’ve decided to treat some a little differently as in, putting a time limit on them. If I haven’t read or attempted to read any of these selected books in a year, they’re going! I want the space, I want my shelves to be full of all the books I love and am always excited to read.

I have seven books (both standalones and part of a series) so let’s dive in.

Wicked Like A WIldfire by Lana Popović

I acquired this book through one of my very first Fairyloot book boxes and it does sound like something I would read. Sisters Iris and Malina have the ability or “gleam” to manipulate beauty. Iris sees flowers as fractals and turns them into glasswork and Malina interprets mood into music. The thing is, their mother wants to keep their abilities a secret and they are absolutely forbidden from falling in love. After their mother is attacked, they have to unearth why their lives have been kept such a secret and what curse haunts their family line.

This was released in 2017. I picked up the sequel, Fierce Like a Firestorm at YALC 2018 thinking that would motivate me to read it and I never did. It is certainly a book that needs this time limit, otherwise I just don’t see myself ever reading both books.

Beyond A Darkened Shore by Jessica Leake

The only standalone on this list, Beyond A Darkened Shore is a book that certainly appeals to me. It’s one book, one story, that’s it. There aren’t any sequels of varying lengths to put me off. So why is it still unread? Truthfully, I don’t know. I also have a rather hit and miss relationship with books featured in Fairyloot boxes and I’m never that excited to read them. However, when I missed this particular box, I made a point of buying the book from the Fairyloot stall at YALC so it wasn’t as if I didn’t want to read this.

My mythology moods come and go so maybe when it comes back around again, I’ll try making a point of reading this. I’m a little low on mythology books too, so who knows…

The Black Magicians Trilogy by Trudi Canavan

I’m including the image for The Novice here, the second book in the trilogy because I have read the first book, The Magicians Guild. In fact I think I’ve read it twice and never continued on with the series. I did like the first book but it never hit the mark and took the story to the next level like I wanted it to. It’s all on me because I’d hyped it up in my head and it fell a little short. The problem now is that I have the rest of this trilogy on my shelves, including the prequel (a rather chunky tome compared to the others) and I don’t feel compelled enough to read them. And with the way my reading has been lately (a statement I’ve said once or twice the last couple of months), they’re not exactly what I’m looking for. Besides, taking them off my shelves would leave plenty of shelf space for other books I actually do want to read.

The Last Namsara by Kristin Ciccarelli

I do prefer reading books when the hype has died down but I’ll admit that now I don’t really see any hype for this book and series anymore, I’m losing the motivation to pick it up. That being said, it still does sound interesting and something I could get behind when the mood strikes. Thankfully I only have The Last Namsara on my shelves rather than the entire trilogy so there is just one book to knock off the owned-TBR, and it won’t be such a big deal if I end up unhauling it in a year.

Three Dark Crowns by Kendare Blake

My thoughts about Three Dark Crowns are very similar to my thoughts and feelings about The Last Namsara – it appeals but there’s no motivation to read it now there is little to no hype around it anymore. The second thing is that from reviews I’ve read, it is quite slow paced, based more on characters rather than action or plot and whilst I do typically enjoy those books, I’m not sure it is something I’m looking for right now.

It could be enjoyable but if I do unhaul it in a year, I won’t really mind. I only have the first two books and if I’m in the mood for it, I’m lucky enough to have easy access to libraries, a kindle and audiobooks.

Ink and Bone by Rachel Caine

With Ink and Bone, I think the bandwagon is far enough in the past for me to not be excited about it anymore. I’ve also tried reading it a couple of times to DNF it because I was not in the mood. I’ve only kept it and the rest of the series (all but the final book) as two of my closest IRL bookworm friends have constantly been telling me to read it and I’ve never quite got round to it. It’s been years and there is one year left before I decide whether or not this series goes to a better home.

The Invisible Library by Genevieve Cogman

No matter how appealing this series is to me, no matter how many times I need the same friends to tell me to read this, I don’t pick it up. Actually, that is a lie. I did recently pick this up to read but after 30 or so pages, I wasn’t in the mood and started reading something else instead. The main thing that puts me off is that it is a long series for me (7 books) and I’m not always the greatest at sticking to series that long! I like to know where the ending is and because I don’t know where that is for The Invisible Library, I’m hesitant to pick it up, even if it is exactly the series for me.

Do you set time limits on certain books?

Thanks for reading and have a brazzle dazzle day!
xx