Tangent: But Wait, There’s More!
This TBR List Declutter post brings us to 750 titles, which means this is the last post of the series.
But wait!
If you’re despondent knowing that this long-running series is over, we here at Imperfect Happiness have some great news for you!
After the series began, the list kept growing! By January 1st, 2018, there were 782 titles on the TBR List!
And that means that for a limited time, you get two bonus issues of TBR List Declutter, at no additional cost to you!
That’s right! Two more tangents, two more visual interests, and thirty-two more titles!
So, hold onto those party streamers and sparklers for a little longer, and stay tuned for TBR List Declutter, Bonus Post 1!
Visual Interest:
Wondering what this is all about? Check out the introductory post.
Books:
Titles 731-750:
731
The Red Badge of Courage
Crane, Stephen
Date Added: 06/21/17
Verdict: Keep.
Project List: Cavalcade of Classics
732
Confessions
Augustine of Hippo
Date Added: 06/21/17
Verdict: Keep. I read City of God and found it to be more interesting than I expected. Now I’m interested in reading about Augustine’s conversion story in his own words.
Project List: Cavalcade of Classics
733
Thoreau as Spiritual Guide: A Companion to Walden for Personal Reflection and Group Discussion
Andrews, Barry M.
Date Added: 06/21/17
Verdict: Keep. I’ve stopped reading Walden many times. In the interest of actually finishing it this time, I figured I’d try reading it alongside a book about it.
Project List: Cavalcade of Classics
734
Walden; or, Life in the Woods
Thoreau, Henry David
Date Added: 06/21/17
Verdict: Keep. See companion text above.
Project List: Cavalcade of Classics
735
Shylock Is My Name
Jacobson, Howard
Date Added: 06/20/17
Verdict: Keep. After enjoying other Hogarth Shakespeare retellings, Atwood’s Hagseed and Tyler’s Vinegar Girl, I hope to read all of them.
Project List: none.
736
The Gap of Time
Winterson, Jeanette
Date Added: 06/20/17
Verdict: Keep. Another Hogarth Shakespeare.
Project List: none.
737
New Boy
Chevalier, Tracy
Date Added: 06/20/17
Verdict: Keep. Hogarth Shakespeare.
Project List: none.
738
The Strange Case of the Alchemist’s Daughter (The Extraordinary Adventures of the Athena Club, #1)
Goss, Theodora
Date Added: 06/20/17
Verdict: Keep. This one could be a bust, but a friend likes it and the author looks vaguely like the wife of my daughter’s band director, so I’ll give it a go.
Project List: none.
739
Stand Firm: Resisting the Self-Improvement Craze
Brinkmann, Svend
Date Added: 06/18/17
Verdict: Keep. I heard an interview with the author of a Stoic-philosophy-ish book, but when I remembered about it recently, I couldn’t remember the title or the author. I kept checking out books from the library and none of them seemed like what I thought I’d remembered. Then here it is on my TBR all along. Sometimes my systems work if I just remember to use them. This is also a good one for right now because I’ve lately decided that I’d rather figure things out on my own than read self-help books.
Project List: none.
740
Memory’s Last Breath: Field Notes on My Dementia
Saunders, Gerda
Date Added: 06/18/17
Verdict: Keep. I heard a fascinating interview with the author on NPR. The interview caught my ear because Saunders was a professor at the University of Utah. Once I started listening, I was struck by Saunders way of speaking with such calm absence of artifice about something that’s gradually pulling her away from herself. I love the idea of a book about dementia written by the person who’s experiencing it. I hope the voice in the memoir is as frank as the one on the radio.
Project List: none.
741
According to Queeney
Bainbridge, Beryl
Date Added: 06/16/17
Verdict: Keep. I think this is the Bainbridge I added in place of a Bainbridge title I had on the TBR earlier.
Project List: none.
742
Blind Spot
Cole, Teju
Date Added: 06/16/17
Verdict: Keep. I don’t remember how I came to add this one to the list, but it’s a format I don’t read often, and I’m still interested in it.
Project List: none.
743
The Last Great Walk: The True Story of a 1909 Walk from New York to San Francisco, and Why it Matters Today
Curtis, Wayne
Date Added: 06/15/17
Verdict: Keep. I first learned about this on Katy Bowman’s @nutritiousmovement Instagram, and I later learned that the author is the first cousin of a friend of mine. Small world. I am constantly trying to travel more on my feet than I do in my car, and this promises to be a great read on this topic.
Project List: none.
744
The First Collection of Criticism by a Living Female Rock Critic
Hopper, Jessica
Date Added: 06/06/17
Verdict: Keep. Music criticism isn’t generally my thing (although I did write a bit of it back in college. A very little bit that I wrote very poorly, but the A&E section of our college paper wasn’t very choosy), but I heard an interview with the author (To the Best of Our Knowledge, “Wonder Women,” June 2017), and I was intrigued.
Project List: none.
745
South of Forgiveness: A True Story of Rape and Responsibility
Elva, Thordis
Date Added: 05/31/17
Verdict: Keep. Another To the Best of Our Knowledge acquisition, I’m approaching this one with caution.
Project List: none.
746
Wild Magic (Immortals, #1)
Pierce, Tamora
Date Added: 05/23/17
Verdict: Keep. This title came to my attention thanks to the Book Riot post “Book Recommendations Based on Your Favorite Harry Potter Character.” I’m not sure Hedwig is my favorite character, but the title looks interesting.
Project List: none.
747
The Invisible Library (The Invisible Library, #1)
Cogman, Genevieve
Date Added: 05/23/17
Verdict: Keep. Same source as the book above.
Project List: none.
748
Your Fertility Signals: Using Them to Achieve or Avoid Pregnancy Naturally
Winstein, Merryl
Date Added: 05/15/17
Verdict: Go. This one’s on the TBR to remind me to get it for my daughter. A friend describes this as an easier-to-digest Taking Charge of Your Fertility, which was a game-changer for me in how I looked at my body’s cycles and changes. I’d love for my daughter to have that kind of awareness and trust in her body earlier than age thirty. At any rate, I have it on my Amazon long list, so I think I’ll remember it without leaving it on my GR TBR.
Project List: n/a
749
Holy Sh*t: A Brief History of Swearing
Mohr, Melissa
Date Added: 05/09/17
Verdict: Keep. The note I have on Goodreads to remind me of where I heard about the title: “Kraft Mac & Cheese commercial with author.” I don’t actually know what I mean by that, but it’s got to be good.
Project List: none.
750
Stone Animals
Link, Kelly
Date Added: 05/08/17
Verdict: Go. I have really, really enjoyed the short stories I’ve read by Link, and I don’t think I’m going to forget about this title if I take it off of my TBR.
Project List: n/a
Two more titles off the list for a total of 279 of 750. That’s 37.2% of the original list gone.
I’d kind of hoped to have it closer to 50% or more, and I probably could have gotten there if I’d started pruning as closely at the beginning as I began to towards the end, but at least I’ve got it cleaned up a little.
Now just two bonus posts to bring us to 2018!
Any thoughts about which I kept and which I tossed?
Imperfect Happiness 