Cleaning Up My TBR With a Giveaway (US Only) - Down the TBR Hole #14

This meme was started by Lost in a Story.  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?

Because I have so many to do, I'm going to try to do this weekly, and do 10 at a time.

1.  Awaken by Katie Kacvinsky:

Maddie lives in a world where everything is done on the computer. Whether it’s to go to school or on a date, people don’t venture out of their home. There’s really no need. For the most part, Maddie’s okay with the solitary, digital life—until she meets Justin. Justin likes being with people. He enjoys the physical closeness of face-to-face interactions. People aren’t meant to be alone, he tells her.

Suddenly, Maddie feels something awakening inside her—a feeling that maybe there is a different, better way to live. But with society and her parents telling her otherwise, Maddie is going to have to learn to stand up for herself if she wants to change the path her life is taking.

In this not-so-brave new world, two young people struggle to carve out their own space.

My thoughts:  
I still feel like this one sounds good and I'd like to read it some day.

Verdict:  Keep


 2.  The Revenant by Sonia Gensler:

When Willie arrives in Indian Territory, she knows only one thing: no one can find out who she really is. To escape a home she doesn't belong in anymore, she assumes the name of a former classmate and accepts a teaching job at the Cherokee Female Seminary.

Nothing prepares her for what she finds there. Her pupils are the daughters of the Cherokee elite—educated and more wealthy than she, and the school is cloaked in mystery. A student drowned in the river last year, and the girls whisper that she was killed by a jealous lover. Willie's room is the very room the dead girl slept in. The students say her spirit haunts it.

Willie doesn't believe in ghosts, but when strange things start happening at the school, she isn't sure anymore. She's also not sure what to make of a boy from the nearby boys' school who has taken an interest in her—his past is cloaked in secrets. Soon, even she has to admit that the revenant may be trying to tell her something. . . . 

My thoughts:  
I've read two other books by this author and they both got 4 star reviews. This one sounds good as well.

Verdict:  Keep  


3.  Never Sit Down in a Hoopskirt and Other Things I Learned in Southern Belle Hell by Crickett Rumley:

Expelled from thirteen boarding schools in the past five years, seventeen-year-old Jane Fontaine Ventouras is returning to her Southern roots, and the small town of Bienville, Alabama, where ladies always wear pearls, nothing says hospitality like sweet tea
and pimento cheese sandwiches, and competing in the annual Magnolia Maid Pageant is every girl’s dream.

But Jane is what you might call an anti-belle—more fishnets and tattoos than sugar and spice. The last thing on her mind is joining the Magnolia Maid brigade and parading around town in
a dress so big she can’t even fit through doors. So when she finds herself up to her ears in ruffles and etiquette lessons, she’s got one mission: Escape.

What’s a hipster to do? Will Jane survive Bienville boot camp intact or will they—gasp!—make a Southern belle out of her yet?

My thoughts:
Well, in a way it sounds good, but on the other hand, I'm kind of eh about it now.

Verdict:  Toss  


4.  The Circle Cast:  The Lost Years of Morgan Le Fay by Alex Epstein:

How did an exiled girl become the most powerful witch in legend?

Britain, 480 AD. Saxon barbarians are invading, pushing the civilized British out of their own island. Morgan is the daughter of the governor of Cornwall. But when her father is murdered and her mother taken as the King's new wife, she has to flee to Ireland to avoid being murdered herself. 

But Ireland is no refuge. She's captured in a slave raid and sold to a village witch. As Morgan comes of age, she discovers her own immense magical powers. She falls in love with a young Irish chieftain, and makes him powerful. 

But will her drive for revenge destroy her one chance for love and happiness?

My thoughts:
As much as I enjoy a good story like this one that is kind of a retelling or filling in the blanks of other classic tales, I think that that I'm just not too excited about this one.

Verdict: Toss


5.  Save as Draft by Cavanaugh Lee:

SAVE AS DRAFT @Readers A love triangle evolving over e-mails, texts, and Facebook messages that makes you wonder if the things we leave unsaid—or rather unsent—could change the story of our lives.
6:59 PM Feb. 14th via twitterfeed

Sent: Monday, February 14, 2011

From: Izabell

To: Reader

Subject: Save as Draft

Are we Facebook friends yet? I’m the wactress (waitress/actress) turned lawyer who lives her life online. (Don’t we all these days?)

Anyway, I’ve got this problem. . . . There’s this guy. His name’s Peter. He’s my best friend and co-worker, and we just started dating, which is potentially a huge mistake. But, that’s not all. There’s this other guy, Marty. I met him on eHarm, and he ran with the bulls in Spain. I can’t get him off my mind. What a mess. I’d love your advice if you can take a second out of your crazy, high-tech life. Shoot me an e-mail. Or text me. Or BB messenger me.

And friend me if you haven’t already! You can find me on Facebook under Save as Draft.

Izabell  

My thoughts:
I love this type of book!  It's been a while since I've read one though.  But this isn't one I feel is a big name book, so I'm afraid if I take if off my TBR, I'll never remember it.

Verdict:  Keep


6.  The  Talisman by Stephen King and Peter Straub:

On a brisk autumn day, a twelve-year-old boy stands on the shores of the gray Atlantic, near a silent amusement park and a fading ocean resort called the Alhambra. The past has driven Jack Sawyer here: his father is gone, his mother is dying, and the world no longer makes sense. But for Jack everything is about to change. For he has been chosen to make a journey back across America--and into another realm.

One of the most influential and heralded works of fantasy ever written, The Talisman is an extraordinary novel of loyalty, awakening, terror, and mystery. Jack Sawyer, on a desperate quest to save his mother's life, must search for a prize across an epic landscape of innocents and monsters, of incredible dangers and even more incredible truths. The prize is essential, but the journey means even more. Let the quest begin. . . .   

My thoughts:
Well, I read book 2, Black House, and enjoyed it for the most part.  However, I feel this is a well-known enough book that I don't need to keep it on a list to make sure I remember it.

Verdict:  Toss


7.  The Seeker (The Host #2) by Stephenie Meyer:
When an unseen enemy threatens mankind by taking over their bodies and erasing their memories, Melanie Stryder will risk everything to protect the people she cares most about — Jared, Ian, her brother Jamie and her Uncle Jeb, proving that love can conquer all in a dangerous new world.

My thoughts:
As much as I loved the Twilight series, The Host was not a book I enjoyed that much.  I did like the movie, didn't seem to last as long or something.  However this is another book that if it does ever actually get published, the author is a big enough name that I know there will be all kinds of buzz over it.  So I can go ahead and take it off any lists.

Verdict:  Toss


8.  The Last Little Blue Envelope (Little Blue Envelopes #2) by Maureen Johnson:

Ginny Blackstone thought that the biggest adventure of her life was behind her. She spent last summer traveling around Europe, following the tasks her aunt Peg laid out in a series of letters before she died. When someone stole Ginny's backpack—and the last little blue envelope inside—she resigned herself to never knowing how it was supposed to end.

Months later, a mysterious boy contacts Ginny from London, saying he's found her bag. Finally, Ginny can finish what she started. But instead of ending her journey, the last letter starts a new adventure—one filled with old friends, new loves, and once-in-a-lifetime experiences. Ginny finds she must hold on to her wits . . . and her heart. This time, there are no instructions.    

My thoughts:
So, I really liked the first book in this series, and of course I love books by this author. However, I feel like this is one that if I ever get in the mood to read, I won't need to have it saved on this list to remember.

Verdict:  Toss


9.  Chime by Franny Billingsley:

Before Briony's stepmother died, she made sure Briony blamed herself for all the family's hardships. Now Briony has worn her guilt for so long it's become a second skin. She often escapes to the swamp, where she tells stories to the Old Ones, the spirits who haunt the marshes. But only witches can see the Old Ones, and in her village, witches are sentenced to death. Briony lives in fear her secret will be found out, even as she believes she deserves the worst kind of punishment.

Then Eldric comes along with his golden lion eyes and mane of tawny hair. He's as natural as the sun, and treats her as if she's extraordinary. And everything starts to change. As many secrets as Briony has been holding, there are secrets even she doesn't know.  

My thoughts:
This one was probably popular at the time I added it, or making the rounds on the blogs maybe, but now I'm just not sure it sounds like anything I'm excited about.

Verdict:  Toss


10.  The Thirteenth Chime by Emma Michaels:

HATRED NEVER DIES...

Destiny has finally found the life that she has always wanted. She is about to finish college, has a fiance that loves her, and a great summer on the West Coast planned with her friend, Stephanie. But her world is turned upside down when an antique clock mysteriously chimes thirteen times and someone attacks them, sending Stephanie and her mother to the hospital.

Alone, and without any help from the police, Destiny has no choice but to turn to the one man she had left behind a year ago - her ex-boyfriend, David. Together, they must solve the riddle of the thirteenth chime before the clock strikes thirteen again. Yet as they face their own past and hearts, a trap over half a century old is waiting for them to become its prey.

For revenge, fifty years is never too long...   

My thoughts:  
So, weird that I had added two books right in a row that had the word "chime" in the title.  Not sure that I'll really be into this one either.  It kind of looks like a YA book with the cover, but it is more a new adult maybe?  Not sure if I'll end up reading this.

Verdict: Toss


Final Thoughts:
Only chose to keep 3 this week, so that's a good thing!  Have you read any of these?  Would you suggest I keep any I'm tossing?  And if you're inspired to do this on your blog, please feel free to join into the Link-up below.  It will also get you an extra entry into my giveaway at the bottom of this post.  

  

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Giveaway:
Once again this is a US only giveaway, unless you are International and see a book here you really want and would be willing to pay for the difference in the shipping through Paypal or some other way.  Just as with the past weeks, you get to pick any book from the pictures below, as long as they don't get traded away, or picked by last week's winner, and I will pick a surprise book from the piles to add to your choice.  Here are your choices:

 
Above are all of my 2018 ARCs.

Here are my 2017 ARCs.

Three ARCs from 2015-2016.

Your 2014 ARC choices.

One ARC from 2013.

Just enter the Rafflecopter below to win!


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