Cleaning Up My TBR With a Giveaway (US Only) - Down the TBR Hole #36

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.   Titanic 1912 by Ken Rossignol:

The original news stories of the hours, days and weeks following the sinking of the RMS Titanic!
Interviews with survivors, testimony of the crew at the U. S. Senate hearings held just 3 days the ship sank, revealed the ship had been on fire since it left port in Southampton.
How did the newspapers get the story very wrong from the beginning? They reported that the passengers had all been saved and the ship was under tow to Halifax when indeed the ship had sunk and two thirds of those on board lost their lives.
Who were the heroes of the Titanic?
What was the role of the wireless in the rescue?
How has today's media managed to get the story wrong?
This look back at the 1912 news stories by a 21st century reporter brings out how much of the original stories were correct, after the first big errors of the first reports.
 
My thoughts:
I'm always interested in all things about the Titanic, but don't know when I'll get to it.  But it also seems like pretty realistic info. 

Verdict:  Toss



2.  Wallflower in Bloom in Claire Cook:

From the critically acclaimed and bestselling author of Must Love Dogs—a winning and witty novel about a woman who emerges from the shadow of her overbearing family and finds herself “dancing with the stars.”

From the acclaimed bestselling author of Must Love Dogs comes a winning and witty new novel about a woman who emerges from the shadow of her overbearing family and finds herself “dancing with the stars.”

Deirdre Griffin has a great life; it’s just not her own. She’s the around-the-clock personal assistant to her charismatic, high-maintenance, New Age guru brother, Tag. As the family wallflower, her only worth seems to be as gatekeeper to Tag at his New England seaside compound.

Then Deirdre’s sometime boyfriend informs her that he is marrying another woman, who just happens to be having the baby he told Deirdre he never wanted. While drowning her sorrows in Tag’s expensive vodka, Deirdre decides to use his massive online following to get herself voted on as a last-minute Dancing with the Stars replacement. It’ll get her back in shape, mentally and physically. It might even get her a life of her own. Deirdre’s fifteen minutes of fame have begun.

Irresistible and offbeat, Wallflower in Bloom is an original and deeply satisfying story of having the courage to take a leap into the spotlight, no matter where you land.

My thoughts: 
Hmm, not sure, but I like the idea of getting voted onto Dancing with the Stars thing. 

Verdict: Keep for now



3.  Latter-Day of the Dead by Kevin Krohn:

Harrowing cries escaped the contorted faces of our flock. End of Days was a known truth but never a faced reality. Once the madness broke...we feared it would never subside.

 

My thoughts:  
Very creepy cover, but that description just doesn't give me very much to go on.  It has somewhat high ratings on Goodreads, but don't know that it has much for me to really go on to make me want to find it and pick it up.


Verdict: Toss



4.  Born Wicked by Jessica Spottwood:

Everybody knows Cate Cahill and her sisters are eccentric. Too pretty, too reclusive, and far too educated for their own good. But the truth is even worse: they’re witches. And if their secret is discovered by the priests of the Brotherhood, it would mean an asylum, a prison ship—or an early grave.

Before her mother died, Cate promised to protect her sisters. But with only six months left to choose between marriage and the Sisterhood, she might not be able to keep her word... especially after she finds her mother’s diary, uncovering a secret that could spell her family’s destruction. Desperate to find alternatives to their fate, Cate starts scouring banned books and questioning rebellious new friends, all while juggling tea parties, shocking marriage proposals, and a forbidden romance with the completely unsuitable Finn Belastra.

If what her mother wrote is true, the Cahill girls aren’t safe. Not from the Brotherhood, the Sisterhood—not even from each other.

My thoughts:
While it sounds good, don't know when I'd get to it.

Verdict: Toss

5.   Captivated by E.M. Jade:

“I stood close to the edge looking down at what I thought was my death. Then, I somehow ignored the water and only saw him. He looked like a dark angel on a cloud of mist holding his arms out to me. I closed my eyes and inhaled deeply. Then I jumped.” Mindy


Mindy's new best friend, Markus Medina, witnesses Dean kill two people behind a club. Mindy has a hard time believing him, especially when he mentions that the bodies disappear. Poof! Into thin air. Markus decides he has to follow Dean around in order to get evidence that he's been killing people, so he doesn't sound like a nut to the police.


Despite Marcus' crazy theories about the possibility of Dean not being human. And not to mention the fact that he's dangerous. Mindy can't help that she may be falling in love with him. Even after hiding their feelings for each other from the world. Dean and Mindy being together stirs up dangers that neither of them could ever imagine. When she finds out about what Dean really is and the world he tried to keep her away from...it's already too late.

My thoughts:
Nothing new about this one.

Verdict:  Toss



6.  Hush Money by Susan Bischoff:

They call their abilities Talents, and that’s what they call themselves as well. Talents are people born with supernatural powers, feared by the population at large. Possession of an “unregistered ability” has become illegal, and those who are discovered are forcibly removed to government-run research facilities. For Talents, keeping their secret is the most important thing in their lives. For some, that need for secrecy begins to define who they are.

That’s how it is for Joss, a high school girl who does everything in her power to go unnoticed. She's incredibly bright, but strives to maintain grades that are good yet not too good. She doesn't participate in school activities, keeps quiet in class, eats by herself. Despite her longtime crush on Dylan, she wouldn't even think about trying to talk to him. Joss doesn't make friends of any kind, because friends can draw attention, friends can make you slip up, friends can make things complicated.

When new girl, Kat, steps in to rescue Joss from an uncomfortable situation with Marco, the class jerk, she doesn’t realize what she’s getting into, and it blows up in her face. Joss finds herself torn between a desire to do the right thing, to find some way to help a girl who was kind to her; and her need to mind her own business and fade into. For the first time, Joss begins to question the way she operates, and starts to long for connections with other people--especially a connection with Dylan, who's finally starting to talk to her.

But what's up with Dylan's sudden interest? As Marco’s best friend, can he be trusted at all?

It's bad enough when a girl's got to worry about friends, boys, over-protective dads, and shoes that pinch, but when you throw in blackmail, government agents with guns, and really annoying little sisters...that's just about too much to handle, even for a girl with an ass-kicking superpower.

My thoughts:
Eh, another that doesn't sound that orginal. 


Verdict: Toss



7.  Write of the Living Dead by Araminta Star Matthews, Stan Swanson, and Rachel C. Lee:

Two redhead educators and a horror publisher walk into a bar . . . during a zombie apocalypse. Armed with only their wits and a fully-charged-laptop battery, they hammered out the world's darkest writing manual amidst the flurry and chaos of gnashing teeth and rotting cadavers. Each chapter of the handbook is devoted to a different genre of writing--everything from academic writing (complete with MLA and APA sample essays), business writing, and even poetry and fiction--all of it with a dark and undead twist. Developing or improving your writing skills has never been so enjoyable. WRITE OF THE LIVING DEAD is the spawn of two scholarly writers and a publisher conspiring to create a freshly dug look at writing for different genres and media. Spattered with popular horror culture and written with horror enthusiasts in mind, this book raises the struggling writing handbook from the dead. Addressing methods of voice, style, function, and formula, WRITE OF THE LIVING DEAD is the perfect tool for students, writers, poets, authors, business writers, and teachers with a dark side.

My thoughts:  
Since I'm not really writing this kind of story, don't know that I need to read something like this, or that I ever will.

Verdict: Toss


 8.  The Rock Star in Seat 3A by Jill Kargman:

Following her hilarious bestselling volume of humorous reflections on life, love, and whatever (Sometimes I Feel Like a Nut), Jill Kargman makes a triumphant return to the world of fiction with The Rock Star in Seat 3A. The author of The Ex-Mrs Hedgefund, Arm Candy, and Momzillas delights with this smart and sassy modern-day fairy tale romance…with a twist.

The story of a woman whose most cherished romantic fantasy comes true—at the possible expense of everything else in her life—when she finds herself seated right next to a rock ’n’ roll demigod on a business flight from New York to Los Angeles, The Rock Star in Seat 3A is fresh, funny, and outrageously entertaining women’s fiction that will strike a loud power chord with fans of Lauren Weisberger and Jennifer Weiner.

My thoughts:
This one sounds right up my alley, although it says it is women's fiction, so maybe not?  I don't know. 

Verdict:  Keep for now


9.  One Last Class by Karen Mueller Bryson:

The romantic comedy, One Last Class, is part of the Short On Time Books series: fast-paced and fun novels for readers in the go. Thirty-two year old, Zak Spencer, is a washed-up teen idol, who decides to rebuild his life by returning to college in Arizona. Trouble ensues when Zak falls in love with the young professor, Amy Campbell, who teaches the one class he needs to complete his degree.
 
My thoughts:
So this does sound like something I might want to read.  Although the name of the teacher is the name of someone I used to teach with, so that might be weird to read.

Verdict:  Keep for now


10.  Become by Ali Cross:

Sixteen-year old Desolation Black wants nothing more than to stay in Hell where it’s cold and lonely and totally predictable. Instead, she’s sent back to Earth where she must face the evil she despises and the good she always feared.


When Desi is forced to embrace her inner demon, she assumes her choice has been made—that she has no hope of being anything other than what her father, Lucifer, has created her to be. What she doesn’t count on, is finding a reason to change—from something she’s never had before—a friend.

My thoughts:
Again, doesn't sound that original.

Verdict: Toss



Final Thoughts:
Did a little better this week than last, only keeping three 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 7 off, I have 3,163 books listed now, and last week I ended with 3,159. Found a few new books listed on Edelweiss that are coming out next year, so that added on. 

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, and I'm also celebrating my 10th Blogoversary with another giveaway, so go help me celebrate and check it out HERE.