March 2023 Goodreads TBR Shelf Clean-Up

Howdy, y’all! It’s time for my March 2023 Goodreads TBR Shelf Clean-Up. I wonder if this will help me reduce the number of books on my TBR. Who am I kidding? I’m a reader; of course, I will forever add books. In February 2023, I had 621 books. Today, I have 618. That is a bit of a decrease, so not too bad. Yay me! Will my March 2023 Goodreads TBR shelf clean-up help that number drop more?

I saw this Goodreads TBR Clean-Up post at Megan’s Book Stacks and knew I had to try it, and Megan found it over at MegaBunnyReads.

Click the titles to go to the Goodreads page for the book.

How It Works:

• Go to your Goodreads want-to-read shelf.
• Use a random number generator to pick a number between 1 and however many books are on the list.
• Go to that book and look at the four after it for a total of 5.
• Read the synopses of the books.
• Decide: keep it, or should it go?
• Discuss here.

Books To Be Read: 618

Starting Number: 479; it looks like I’m going through the books I added in April 2022

Shelf Sorted: Date Added

Let’s get this March 2023 Goodreads TBR Shelf Clean-Up underway!

Frozen Detective by Amanda Flower

Intrigue, a fake relationship, and humor come together in a Knives Out-style cozy mystery from bestselling author Amanda Flower and Hallmark Publishing.

A wealthy doctor invites many associates to spend a week at a big, luxurious ski villa. Darby Piper, a seasoned private eye, and Tate Porter, her new partner at the detective agency, are among the guests, going undercover as a romantic couple. They were hired by the doctor’s much-younger wife to investigate anonymous threats against her husband’s life. But before long, Darby and Tate are investigating a murder instead.

As they dig up buried grudges, Darby’s jealous ex-boyfriend on the police force thinks they’re wasting their time. Will Darby and Tate figure out who the killer is…or will it become another cold case?

My Thoughts

I have been reading and enjoying a different cozy mystery series by Amanda Flower. So maybe I will enjoy this one. The biggest issue is that this is the second book in the series, and the first one was released in 2020, while this one was released in 2022. How difficult would the first one be to find? Or can I skip it and still enjoy the series?

DELETE

The Dressmakers of Prospect Heights by Kitty Zeldis

Brooklyn, 1924. As New York City enters the jazz age, the lives of three very different women are about to converge in unexpected ways. Recently arrived from New Orleans, Beatrice is working to establish a chic new dress shop with help from Alice, the orphaned teenage ward she brought north with her. Down the block, newlywed Catherine is restless in her elegant brownstone, longing for a baby she cannot conceive.

When Bea befriends Catherine and the two start to become close, Alice feels abandoned and envious and runs away to Manhattan. Her departure sets into motion a series of events that will force each woman to confront the painful secrets of her past in order to move into the happier future she seeks.

Moving from the bustling streets of early twentieth-century New York City to late nineteenth-century Russia and the lively quarters of New Orleans in the 1910s, The Dressmakers of Prospect Heights is a story of the families we are born into and the families we choose and of the unbreakable bonds between women.

My Thoughts

This historical fiction sounds so interesting. I love that it’s not set during World War II, as many are. But it also examines women’s roles and relationships.

KEEP

Other People’s Houses by Abbi Waxman

At any given moment in other people’s houses, you can find…repressed hopes and dreams…moments of unexpected joy…someone making love on the floor to a man who is most definitely not her husband…

*record scratch*

As the longtime local carpool mom, Frances Bloom is sometimes an unwilling witness to her neighbors’ private lives. She knows her cousin is hiding her desire for another baby from her spouse, Bill Horton’s wife is mysteriously missing, and now this…

After the shock of seeing Anne Porter in all her extramarital glory, Frances vows to stay in her own lane. But that’s a notion easier said than done when Anne’s husband throws her out a couple of days later. The repercussions of the affair reverberate through the four carpool families–and Frances finds herself navigating a moral minefield that could make or break a marriage.

My Thoughts

I believe this is one of the earlier books in the universe of Nina Hill, though I don’t believe she’s in the book, but some of the same characters are. The other big thing about this book is that I just added it to my Spring 2023 TBR.

KEEP

The Moving Finger by Agatha Christie

The placid village of Lymstock seems the perfect place for Jerry Burton to recuperate from his accident under the care of his sister, Joanna. But soon, a series of vicious poison-pen letters destroys the village’s quiet charm, eventually causing one recipient to commit suicide. The vicar, the doctor, the servants—all are on the verge of accusing one another when help arrives from an unexpected quarter. The vicar’s houseguest happens to be none other than Jane Marple.

My Thoughts

It’s Agatha Christie; how can I remove it from my TBR?

KEEP

Seven Days in June by Tia Williams

Eva Mercy is a single mom and bestselling erotica writer who is feeling pressed from all sides. Shane Hall is a reclusive, enigmatic, award-winning novelist who, to everyone’s surprise, shows up in New York.

When Shane and Eva meet unexpectedly at a literary event, sparks fly, raising not only their buried traumas but the eyebrows of the Black literati. What no one knows is that fifteen years earlier, teenage Eva and Shane spent one crazy, torrid week madly in love. While they may be pretending not to know each other, they can’t deny their chemistry—or the fact that they’ve been secretly writing to each other in their books through the years.

Over the next seven days, amidst a steamy Brooklyn summer, Eva and Shane reconnect—but Eva’s wary of the man who broke her heart and wants him out of the city so her life can return to normal. Before Shane disappears, though, she needs a few questions answered.

My Thoughts

I have to admit; I did try to read this book earlier. Sadly, it just didn’t capture me. Should I give it another try, or should I just let it go?

DELETE

Wrap Up

And that is my March 2023 Goodreads TBR Shelf Clean-Up. It looks like I cleaned my shelf up a little! Out of the five books, I’m keeping three.

This was fun. I may do it now and then to help keep my shelf realistic. In the past, I just added books without really thinking about it. Will I stop doing that? Of course not! What kind of animal do you think I am?

What do you think? Have you tried doing something like this to see if you can get your TBR under control?

Looking for some more ideas to read? Check out my monthly reading wrap-ups.