Cleaning Up My TBR: Down the TBR Hole #5

I joined Goodreads a few years ago, way before I started blogging, so my profile is kind of a mess.  I really want to clean it up so I can make better use of it.  I thought what a better way to do that than to join the Down the TBR Hole meme started by Lia @Lost In a Story! I am going to do it once a month instead of weekly, and hopefully make my Goodreads a pleasant place to be again.

Here is how it works:

• Go to your goodreads to-read shelf.
• Order on ascending date added.
• Take the first 5 (or 10 if you’re feeling adventurous) books
• Read the synopses of the books
• Decide: keep it or should it go?
  

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  The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest (Millennium #3) by Stieg Larsson

  The stunning third and final novel in Stieg Larsson’s internationally best-selling trilogy.

  Lisbeth Salander – the heart of Larsson’s two previous novels – lies in critical condition, a bullet wound to her head, in the intensive care unit of a Swedish city hospital. She’s fighting for her life in more ways than one: if and when she recovers, she’ll be taken back to Stockholm to stand trial for three murders. With the help of her friend, journalist Mikael Blomkvist, she will not only have to prove her innocence, but also identify and denounce those in authority who have allowed the vulnerable, like herself, to suffer abuse and violence. And, on her own, she will plot revenge – against the man who tried to kill her, and the corrupt government institutions that very nearly destroyed her life.

  Once upon a time, she was a victim. Now Salander is fighting back.

My Thoughts:   I’m not a huge thriller person in general, but I really enjoyed the first two books in this series, but for some reason I just don’t have any need to go on with the rest. VERDICT: TOSS

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Shopaholic Ties the Knot (Shopaholic #3) by Sophie Kinsella

Life has been good for Becky Bloomwood: She’s become the best personal shopper at Barneys, she and her successful entrepreneurial boyfriend, Luke, are living happily in Manhattan’s West Village, and her new next-door neighbor is a fashion designer! But with her best friend, Suze, engaged, how can Becky fail to notice that her own ring finger is bare? Not that she’s been thinking of marriage (or diamonds) or anything . . . Then Luke proposes! Bridal registries dance in Becky’s head. Problem is, two other people are planning her wedding: Becky’s overjoyed mother has been waiting forever to host a backyard wedding, with the bride resplendent in Mum’s frilly old gown. While Luke’s high-society mother is insisting on a glamorous, all-expenses-paid affair at the Plaza. Both weddings for the same day. And Becky can’t seem to turn down either one. Can everyone’s favorite shopaholic tie the knot before everything unravels?

My Thoughts: I was so enamored by this series when I was in middle school, but I am no longer invested in it, so I think it’s time to let this one go (as well as the rest of the series). Verdict: TOSS

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In Her Shoes by Jennifer Weiner

Rose Feller is thirty; a successful lawyer with high hopes of a relationship with Jim, Mr Not-Quite-Right, a senior partner in her firm. The last thing she needs is her messed-up, only occasionally employed sister Maggie moving in: drinking, smoking, stealing her money – and her shoes – and spoiling her chance of romance. If only Maggie would grow up and settle down with a nice guy and a steady job.
Maggie is drop dead gorgeous and irresistible to men. She’s going to make it big as a TV presenter, or a singer…or an actress. All she needs is a lucky break. What she doesn’t need is her uptight sister Rose interfering in her life. If only Rose would lighten-up, have some fun – and learn how to use a pair of tweezers. Rose and Maggie think they have nothing in common but a childhood tragedy, shared DNA and the same size feet, but they are about to find out that they’re more alike than they’d ever believe.

My Thoughts: I am a fan of Jennifer Weiner, and I added this one because of the movie, but it really doesn’t sound like something I am interested in reading anymore.  Verdict: TOSS

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Twenties Girl by Sophie Kinsella

Lara Lington has always had an overactive imagination, but suddenly that imagination seems to be in overdrive. Normal professional twenty-something young women don’t get visited by ghosts. Or do they?

When the spirit of Lara’s great-aunt Sadie-a feisty, demanding girl with firm ideas about fashion, love, and the right way to dance-mysteriously appears, she has one request: Lara must find a missing necklace that had been in Sadie’s possession for more than seventy-five years, because Sadie cannot rest without it.

Lara and Sadie make a hilarious sparring duo, and at first it seems as though they have nothing in common. But as the mission to find Sadie’s necklace leads to intrigue and a new romance for Lara, these very different “twenties” girls learn some surprising truths from and about each other. Written with all the irrepressible charm and humor that have made Sophie Kinsella’s books beloved by millions, Twenties Girl is also a deeply moving testament to the transcendent bonds of friendship and family.

My Thoughts:  While this one is more intriguing to me than finishing the Shopaholic series, I just have so many more books that really capture my attention, and this one doesn’t anymore.  Verdict: TOSS

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Baby Proof by Emily Giffin

First comes love. Then comes marriage. Then comes . . . a baby carriage? Isn’t that what all women want?

Not so for Claudia Parr. And just as she gives up on finding a man who feels the same way, she meets warm, wonderful Ben. Things seem too good to be true when they fall in love and agree to buck tradition with a satisfying, child-free marriage. Then the unexpected occurs: one of them has a change of heart. One of them wants children after all.

This is the witty, heartfelt story about what happens to the perfect couple when they suddenly want different things. It’s about feeling that your life is set and then realizing that nothing is as you thought it was—and that there is no possible compromise. It’s about deciding what is most important in life, and taking chances to get it. But most of all, it’s about the things we will do—and won’t do—for love.

My Thoughts: I really love Emily Giffin, even more so after listening to her Barnes and Noble podcast episode, and while this synopsis doesn’t quite grab me as much as some others, I have faith that it would be a book I’d enjoy.  Verdict: KEEP

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This time was really easy for me.  I was clearly in a Chick-Lit phase when I added most of these, and my reading taste and priorities have changed a bit since 2011…   What do you guys think?  Did I make any mistakes?  Let me know in the comments! ❤