Cleaning Up My TBR With a Giveaway (US Only) - Down the TBR Hole #33

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.   Pompeii by Robert Harris:

All along the Mediterranean coast, the Roman empire's richest citizens are relaxing in their luxurious villas, enjoying the last days of summer. The world's largest navy lies peacefully at anchor in Misenum. The tourists are spending their money in the seaside resorts of Baiae, Herculaneum, and Pompeii.

But the carefree lifestyle and gorgeous weather belie an impending cataclysm, and only one man is worried. The young engineer Marcus Attilius Primus has just taken charge of the Aqua Augusta, the enormous aqueduct that brings fresh water to a quarter of a million people in nine towns around the Bay of Naples. His predecessor has disappeared. Springs are failing for the first time in generations. And now there is a crisis on the Augusta's sixty-mile main line—somewhere to the north of Pompeii, on the slopes of Mount Vesuvius.

Attilius—decent, practical, and incorruptible—promises Pliny, the famous scholar who commands the navy, that he can repair the aqueduct before the reservoir runs dry. His plan is to travel to Pompeii and put together an expedition, then head out to the place where he believes the fault lies. But Pompeii proves to be a corrupt and violent town, and Attilius soon discovers that there are powerful forces at work—both natural and man-made—threatening to destroy him.

With his trademark elegance and intelligence, Robert Harris, bestselling author of Archangel and Fatherland, re-creates a world on the brink of disaster.
 
My thoughts:
There was a time I was dying to read this.  Now, probably won't get to it.

Verdict:  Toss



2.  The Xeno Solution by Nelson Erlick:

Someday soon: 

The use of animal organs in human patients has revolutionized medicine in the 21st century, freeing thousand of patients from dialysis, and sparing them the slow death of waiting for a human organ that may never come. Thanks to the discoveries of Paradigm Transplant Solutions, reliable organs are available to almost anyone who needs one.

Some fear that animal transplants could cause a deadly virus to cross over into the human population, triggering an epidemic of catastrophic proportions. However, PTS uses only cloned animals that have been genetically-engineered to be virus-free, so this danger has been eliminated.

Or has it?

My thoughts:  
Again, something I used to devour, but  not so much anymore.

Verdict:Toss



3.  The Center by David Shobin:

In the most advanced hospital in the world, medical computers ensure perfect care. But machines have no scruples. No compassion. No mercy. And now they have a mind of their own.

Surgeon Chad Dunston helped create The Center, a revolutionary medical facility where computers, not humans, treat patients. Its cure rate is unequaled, its medical successes unrivaled...until a child named Christine Lassiter mysteriously dies. The girl's older sister Maxine can't get Christine's records, her body, or even her death certificate.

Maxine wants Chad Dunston to find out what happened. But the more questions Chad asks, the more dead-end answers he receives. He has only one option left: check into The Center as a patient...and enter a machine-made nightmare, where the only way out may be death.

Author of the best-selling medical thriller The Unborn, Dr. David Shobin has returned with a chilling cautionary tale about the direction of today's high-tech medicine...medical care without the caring, greed raging out of control, and deadly terror as the new specialty.

 

My thoughts:  
Again, another type of book I read all the time, but not these days.

Verdict: Toss



4.  Intrinsical by Lani Woodland:

Sixteen-year-old Yara Silva has always known that ghosts walk alongside the living. Her grandma, like the other females in her family, is a Waker, someone who can see and communicate with ghosts. Yara grew up watching her grandmother taunted and scorned for this unusual ability and doesn't want that to be her future. She has been dreading the day when she too would see ghosts, and is relieved that the usually dominant Waker gene seems to have skipped her, letting her live a normal teenage life. However, all that changes for Yara on her first day at her elite boarding school when she discovers the gene was only lying dormant. She witnesses a dark mist attack Brent, a handsome fellow student, and rushes to his rescue. Her act of heroism draws the mist's attention, and the dark spirit begins stalking her. Yara finds herself entrenched in a sixty-year-old curse that haunts the school, threatening not only her life, but the lives of her closest friends as well. Yara soon realizes that the past she was trying to put behind her isn't going to go quietly.

My thoughts:
Sounds like a lot of other books.  Nothing new here.

Verdict: Toss

5.   Amber Eyes by Jolyn Palliata:

Note: This title is no longer in print.

~ Eyes are the window to the soul, in a time when souls are ancient. ~

After an accident, one she shouldn’t have walked away from, Lexi’s life finally begins. She meets Dez, a new student with the most beautiful eyes she’s ever seen. And since gazing into them, Lexi has had vivid waking dreams that pull her back through time, and into the warm embrace of a mysterious stranger—a stranger who becomes all too familiar. When offering an explanation for her detailed visions, Dez changes her world forever with two simple words: Soul mates.

For the first time in her life, Lexi feels safe and complete. But lingering in the shadows is the embodiment of evil, coveting the light within her. He’s a threat to Lexi’s very existence, and to a love that has transcended time.
  
My thoughts:
Well, as Goodread's description says, this is  no longer in print, and I don't know if it sounds that great either.

Verdict:  Toss



6.  Down the Drain by Daniel Pyle:

Bruce has lost everyone he ever cared about—even his cat.

Now he thinks he's finally alone in the house, but something is about to come clawing its way out of the plumbing to prove him wrong.


My thoughts:
Could be creepy, but doesn't have the highest rating on Goodreads, so I probably won't ever get around to it.


Verdict: Toss




7.  The Anne Boleyn Collection:  The Real Truth about the Tudors by Claire Ridgway:

Should Anne Boleyn be pardoned and reburied as Queen? Anne Boleyn and "The Other Boleyn Girl." Did Anne Boleyn dig her own grave? The Six Wives' stereotypes - are they right? Did Anne Boleyn commit incest with her brother? "The Anne Boleyn Collection" brings together the most popular articles from top Tudor website The Anne Boleyn Files. Articles which have provoked discussion and debate. Articles that people have found fascinating. Written in Claire's easy-going style, but with an emphasis on good history and sound research, these articles are perfect reading for Tudor history lovers everywhere. Discover the REAL truth about the Tudors

My thoughts:  
These are some interesting sounding articles.  But I don't know that I'm as invested in this history anymore, as I've mentioned with other books like this.

Verdict: Toss


 8.  Zombie CSU by Jonathan Maberry:

When there's no more room in hell, the dead will walk the earth….

And law enforcement is ready to take them down!

Since Night of the Living Dead, zombies have been a frightening fixture on the pop culture landscape, lumbering after hapless humans, slurping up brains and veins and whatever warm, fleshy matter they can clench in their rotting limbs. But what if they were real? What would happen if tomorrow, corpses across the nation began springing up out of their graves and terrorizing the living?

Employing hard science and solid police work—not to mention jaw-dropping (literally!) humor—Zombie CSU is the only guide you need to make it through alive—not undead:

• Investigate zombie crime scenes, collecting and analyzing evidence of a zombie attacks, and create a “murder book.”
• Examine the psychology of the zombie and develop a perp profile.
• Observe medical science pros as they probe felled zombies for forensic clues.
• Devise a zombie apocalypse survival scorecard and more!

Complete with lists of must-see zombie flicks from around the globe and tons of tips for kicking undead butt, Zombie CSU features hundreds of interviews with real zombie experts, forensics experts, detectives, filmmakers, and more.

Special guest stars: Max Brooks, Tony Todd, Brian Keene, Patricia Tallman, David Wellington, James Gunn, Robert Kirkman, Dr. Wade Davis, Robert Sacchetto, Zombie Squad, Ramsey Campbell, Kim Paffenroth, Amy Grech, Jamie Russell, Michael “CJ” Kelly, Bruce “Andy” Bohne, and dozens more!

My thoughts:
I do love Jonathan Maberry, but my days of anthologies are probably not so many.


Verdict: Toss


9.  Something Strange and Deadly by Susan Dennard:

There's something strange and deadly loose in Philadelphia. . . .

Eleanor Fitt has a lot to worry about.

Her brother has gone missing, her family has fallen on hard times, and her mother is determined to marry her off to any rich young man who walks by. But this is nothing compared to what she's just read in the newspaper:

The Dead are rising in Philadelphia.

And then, in a frightening attack, a zombie delivers a letter to Eleanor . . . from her brother.

Whoever is controlling the Dead army has taken her brother as well. If Eleanor is going to find him, she'll have to venture into the lab of the notorious Spirit-Hunters, who protect the city from supernatural forces. But as Eleanor spends more time with the Spirit-Hunters, including the maddeningly stubborn yet handsome Daniel, the situation becomes dire. And now, not only is her reputation on the line, but her very life may hang in the balance.

My thoughts:
I think I do still want to read this. But I feel it is one that is kind of popular, so I don't need to keep it on my list, because it is in my library where I work.

Verdict:  Toss


10.  Chosen Ones by Tiffany Truitt:

Life is bleak but uncomplicated for sixteen-year-old Tess, living in a not-too-distant future where the government, faced with humanity's extinction, created the Chosen Ones, artificial beings who are extraordinarily beautiful, unbelievably strong, and unabashedly deadly.When Tess begins work at Templeton, a Chosen Ones training facility, she meets James, and the attraction is immediate in its intensity, overwhelming in its danger. But there is more to Templeton than Tess ever knew. Can she stand against her oppressors, even if it means giving up the only happiness in her life?

My thoughts:
Might be good, but again, don't know when I'll get to it.

Verdict: Toss



Final Thoughts:
I'm tossing them all this week!  Wow!  

Once again you can see that I may have dropped some, but you can also see how many I've added during the week as well because I'm also pointing out how many books are on my Want to Read list on Goodreads each week.  This week, after taking these 10 off, I have 3,153 books listed now, and last week I ended with 3,162. As my unpacking continues, I'm finding books to get rid of, not to mention a few that I'm reading now were on my Want to Read list, and so they've come off as well since I've read them or am reading them currently.  I also moved a few from the list to my TBR owned list on Goodreads because I own them.

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 in and share a link in the comments, since it will also get you an extra entry into my giveaway at the bottom of this post.      
 

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.  You get to pick any two books 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.  As I mentioned above, unpacking is finding a lot of books to get rid of, so you have even more to pick from this week!  Here are your choices:   

2018 ARCs:

2017 ARCs:

I'm continuing to add in my early 2019 ARCs now.  You can pick one of your two choices from the picture below, the other book you pick needs to come from the pictures above.  I added in my July books this week!

And here are the older ones I've cleaned out as I unpack:

2010-2013 ARCs:

2014 ARCs:

2015-2016 ARCs:

Once again I'm going to let you pick two, along with me throwing in a surprise third book!  Just enter the Rafflecopter below.   Disclaimer:  Unfortunately, while I've only had it happen once, I'm going to have to make a statement like other giveaways I've seen on blogs that I am not responsible for lost mail.

a Rafflecopter giveaway