Cleaning Up My TBR With a Giveaway (US Only) - Down the TBR Hole #35

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.   Plain Jane by Sonia Ashby:

How many times can a girl hear, I think you're cute, but let's just be friends? Guys either think Jane Harris is Plain Jane or cute, and she never knows if by cute they mean cute like your little sister is cute or something else. Once people take the time to get to know her, they find out there are many layers to her. Jane is sarcastic, spunky, and a little bit on the obsessive side. She also makes you wonder how one person's hard wiring can be so messed up when it comes to relationships.
 
My thoughts:
Cute cover, cute idea, but not that unique.

Verdict:  Toss



2.  Beauty by Lisa Daily:

What's it like to be the most beautiful girl in the world?

Molly desperately wants to be beautiful. And that's what she tells Dharma, the mysterious portrait artist who sketches her face at the town fair just minutes after she's humiliated in front of Hudson, the guy of her dreams. When Molly wakes up the following morning, she's the most beautiful girl in Miracle, Ohio. Babies coo in her arms, her house fills with flowers from dozens of drooling boys, and she's chosen to be a model for the hottest store in town. Best of all, Hudson finally falls for her.

But Molly soon discovers that beauty--and her wish--comes with a price. She's faced with an impossible choice: Will reclaiming her true identity mean letting go of Hudson for good?

My thoughts: 
Sounds a little different.  But don't know when I'd get to it.

Verdict:  Toss



3.  Zombies at the Door, Planning for the Inevitable by Charlie Pulsipher:

We all know it can happen, will happen. Be prepared and have a laugh at the same time. This basic manual will make sure you are ready to face the zombie hordes and walk you through where to meet, find weapons and food, and set up camp. It may even give you hope as you huddle in the bathroom stall at the mall. Seriously though, don't go to the mall! Learn the glow stick technique to distract zombies or how a paper bag might save your life or at least keep you from seeing the bitey end that's coming. Are dentist offices safe? Can the game of baseball stop the zombies from attacking? Is petroleum jelly something you should have in your zombie kit? Find out now.

 

My thoughts:  
Okay, call me crazy, but this sounds kind of fun.

Verdict:  Keep



4.  Alice in Zombieland by Gena Showalter:

She won't rest until she's sent every walking corpse back to its grave. Forever.

If anyone had told Alice Bell that her entire life would change course between one heartbeat and the next, she would have laughed. From blissful to tragic, innocent to ruined? Please. But that's all it took. One heartbeat. A blink, a breath, a second, and everything she knew and loved was gone.

Her father was right. The monsters are real.

To avenge her family, Ali must learn to fight the undead. To survive, she must learn to trust the baddest of the bad boys, Cole Holland. But Cole has secrets of his own, and if Ali isn't careful, those secrets might just prove to be more dangerous than the zombies.

My thoughts:
This is an author I really like.  And while this is a pretty popular series that I probably don't need to keep it on my list, I want to make sure I remember it.

Verdict:  Keep

5.   Hare Moon by Carrie Ryan:

Tabitha can’t shake the feeling that something exists beyond the fences of her village. And when she sneaks out, past the gates and down the path into the Forest of Hands and Teeth, she meets a boy who teaches her heart things she never knew. But love in a world surrounded by so much death doesn’t come without its sacrifices, and Tabitha gradually realizes just how much she’ll have to give up to live among the Unconsecrated.

My thoughts:
I love this series, and while I thought I'd read all the short stories, I'm not seeing this one as being read and can't decide if it sounds familiar or not, so I'll keep it so I don't forget.

Verdict: Keep



6.  Blood is Red by Scott Sigler:

A collection of eight horror stories created by New York Times best-selling novelist Scott Sigler, author of Infected, Contagious and Ancestor.

This eBook-only title features seven tales from Scott's six years of free audiobook podcasts, including the Parsec Award-winning "Red Man," plus the brand-new novella "Hunter Hunterson & Sons."

Scott still gives away his audio stories -- for free -- every week at scottsigler.com

My thoughts:
I know that I want to read all books by this author, so don't feel I need to keep this on my TBR. 


Verdict: Toss



7.  Nocturnal by Scott Sigler:

NOCTURNAL is an epic story of mayhem set in the heart of San Francisco, where a group of people live in the city's unknown, underground ruins. They come out at night to prey on the "won't-bees," the dregs of society that won't be missed.

They've existed for hundreds of years, but are about to run headlong into Homicide detectives Bryan Clauser and Pookie Chang. It's a fight for existence as the police fight to stop a string of brutal, ritualistic occult murders.

NOCTURNAL is simultaneously a horror/thriller, a high-action comic book of a novel, and a throwback to classic 80s buddy-cop movies. If you're a child of the 80s, you'll love this one.

My thoughts:  
Same reasoning as on the book above since this is the same author.

Verdict: Toss


 8.  Bones are White by Scott Sigler:

A collection of nine horror stories created by New York Times best-selling novelist Scott Sigler, author of NOCTURNAL, INFECTED, CONTAGIOUS and ANCESTOR.

This eBook- and audiobook-only collection brings you more of Scott's thought-provoking short stories from his five years of weekly storytelling, as well as a brand-new HUNTER HUNTERSON & SONS story and a brand-new KISSYMAN tale.

Scott still gives away his audio stories -- for free -- every week at scottsigler.com

Stories in BONES ARE WHITE:

• Passenger
• Bag Man
• Chuckles Mulrooney, Attorney for the Damned
• Hero
• Eusocial Networking
• You're A Damn Fool, Charlie Brown
• Kissyman & The Last Song
• Hunter Hunterson & Sons: Home
• Hunter Hunterson & Sons: The $15 Burger (manuscript)

My thoughts:
Same as the two above.

Verdict: Toss


9.  The Wolf's Moon by Patrick Jones:

In “The Wolf’s Moon”, author Patrick Jones creates a spellbinding tale of an ancient animal that haunts the foothill towns of Missouri’s Ozark Mountains. An unknown group of scientists has genetically engineered a Dire Wolf into the present day. Allegedly extinct, the ferocious beast preys upon the innocent people of Maple Hills.

To hunt and kill the beast, the town folk will have to rely on the tracking feats of Mark Lansdowne. He is a reluctant hero, still mourning the loss of his wife to illness. Relying on his rescue dogs and indefatigable hunting skills, Mark will set out on foot in search of the mysterious beast. Yet the hunter’s personal history and romantic entanglements will come back to haunt him during his search for the vicious animal.

Accompanying him on the hunt is his pal Warren Skruggs, who knew Mark when he was known as Michael Linden, a chapter of his history that he prefer be kept to the past. Adding to the intrigue are two beautiful, intelligent women who aid the hunter in his quest. Their looks and smarts would make the Bond Girls envious but Mark is still a grieving widower, unsure of how to move forward.

With its mixture of high-stakes hunting and personal and romantic intrigue, “The Wolf’s Moon” is a page-turner that will keep the reader captivated with its unexpected story twists. The thriller suspense novel is a real story grounded in the life and folkways of the Ozark Mountains not just another unbelievable werewolf story grafted onto the romance of the South.
 
My thoughts:
Hmm.  I feel like I want to read something by this author at some point. And it does take place in my home state of Missouri, so maybe it's worth keeping.

Verdict:  Keep


10.  Leopard Moon by Jeanette Battista:

How do you disappear when you come from a family of predators?

A wereleopard, Kess is forced to flee her home and family in Miami once her brother's obsession with her turns violent. She runs from city to city, trying to stay one step ahead of the investigators her family has dispatched to bring her home. Kess ends up in the mountains of North Carolina and attracts the attention of Cormac, a young man with a secret of his own. As she attempts to live as normal a life as her were-nature allows, her brother Sek continues to hunt for her. He believes she is the key to revitalizing their weakened clan and is driven to extreme measures to ensure their continued existence. As Kess' relationship with Cormac deepens, Sek closes in, threatening Cormac's life and Kess' freedom.

When the moon rises, the hunt is on….

My thoughts:
Not really my kind of read anymore.

Verdict: Toss



Final Thoughts:
So, didn't do as well as last week when I tossed all of them, I'm keeping 4 this week. 

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 6 off, I have 3,159 books listed now, and last week I ended with 3,153. I think I found a lot of good books this week through the Waiting on Wednesday posts from everyone else.

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.  

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



Oh yeah, I'm celebrating my 10th blogoversary today too, go HERE to help me celebrate and enter another giveaway!