June 2025 Goodreads TBR Shelf Clean-Up

Howdy, y’all! It’s time for my June 2025 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’ll always add books. In May 2025, I had 623 books. Today, I have 609. Whoops, guess I’ve added a few books to my TBR in the past month. Will my June 2025 Goodreads TBR shelf clean-up help drop that number?

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

Click the titles to go to Goodreads.

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 delete it?
• Discuss here.

Books To Be Read: 609

Starting Number: 144. It looks like I’m going through the books I added in August 2021.

Shelf Sorted: Date Added

Let’s get this June 2025 Goodreads TBR Shelf Clean-Up underway!

Fairest of All by Serena Valentino

For anyone who’s seen Walt Disney’s Snow White, you’ll know that the Wicked Queen is one evil woman! After all, it’s not everyone who wants to cut out their teenage step-daughter’s heart and have it delivered back in a locked keepsake box. (And even if this sort of thing is a common urge, we don’t know many people who have acted upon it.)

Now, for the first time, we’ll examine the life of the Wicked Queen and find out just what it is that makes her so nasty. Here’s a hint: the creepy-looking man in the magic mirror is not just some random spooky visage—and he just might have something to do with the Queen’s wicked ways!

My Thoughts

I love the idea of reading a villain origin story. But I’ve struggled to find a copy. Perhaps it’s the fact that the book came out 15 years ago. For now, I think I’ll keep looking for it.

KEEP

Camp by L.C. Rosen

Sixteen-year-old Randy Kapplehoff loves spending the summer at Camp Outland, a camp for queer teens. It’s where he met his best friends. It’s where he takes to the stage in the big musical. And it’s where he fell for Hudson Aaronson-Lim — who’s only into straight-acting guys and barely knows not-at-all-straight-acting Randy even exists.

This year, though, it’s going to be different. Randy has reinvented himself as “Del” — buff, masculine, and on the market. Even if it means giving up show tunes, nail polish, and his unicorn bedsheets, he’s determined to get Hudson to fall for him.

But as he and Hudson grow closer, Randy has to ask himself: How much is he willing to change for love? And is it really love anyway, if Hudson doesn’t know who he truly is?

My Thoughts

As this book is on my summer TBR, making this decision is easy.

KEEP

A Christmas in the Alps by Melody Carlson

After a time of heartache and loss, Simone Winthrop discovers a tantalizing letter from her French great-grandmother, which seems to suggest that she is heir to a family treasure. Ever practical, Simone assumes the claim is baseless, but her best friend encourages her to find out for sure. Despite her deep-rooted fear of flying, Simone boards a jet to travel to Paris at Christmastime to uncover the truth.

During the long flight, Simone meets the charming Kyle Larsson, who’s on his way to France to become an apprentice clockmaker. Though they abruptly part ways, an unexpected rendezvous in the French Alps at Simone’s family’s clock factory may lead to the discovery of the family treasure… and so much more.

My Thoughts

It’s a short read, more like a novella. I own a copy. And who doesn’t love reading a Christmas book that’s set in the mountains?

KEEP

All’s Fair in Love and Cupcakes by Betsy St. Amant

Kat Varland has had enough of chocolate, vanilla, and strawberry. At twenty-six years old, Kat is still living in the shadows of her family in Bayou Bend, Louisiana. Still working shifts at her Aunt Maggie’s bakery. Still wondering what to do with her passion for baking and her business degree. And still single.

But when Lucas Brannen, Kat’s best friend, signs her up for a reality TV bake-off on Cupcake Combat, everything Kat ever wanted is suddenly dangled in front of her: creative license as a baker, recognition as a visionary… and a job at a famous bakery in New York.

As the competition heats up, Lucas realizes he might have made a huge mistake. As much as he wants the best for Kat, the only thing he wants for himself, her, is suddenly in danger of slipping away.

The bright lights of reality cooking wars and the chance at a successful career dazzle Kat’s senses, and Lucas is faced with a difficult choice: help his friend achieve her dreams… or sabotage her chances to keep her in Louisiana.

My Thoughts

A book about baking? And includes reality TV? Oh, and a friends-to-lovers romance?

KEEP

The Recipe Box by Viola Shipman

Growing up in northern Michigan, Samantha “Sam” Mullins felt trapped on her family’s orchard and in their pie shop, so she left with dreams of making her own mark in the world. But life as an overworked, undervalued sous chef at a reality star’s New York bakery is not what Sam dreamed.

When the chef embarrasses Sam, she quits and returns home. Unemployed, single, and defeated, she spends a summer working on her family’s orchard, cooking and baking alongside the women in her life — including her mother, Deana, and grandmother, Willo. One beloved, flour-flecked, ink-smeared recipe at a time, Sam begins to learn about and understand the women in her life, her family’s history, and her passion for food through their treasured recipe box.

As Sam discovers what matters most, she opens her heart to a man she left behind, but who now might be the key to her happiness.

My Thoughts

Another book involving food? And this one has family? Why wouldn’t I want to give this book a try? Oh, and I own a copy. LOL!

KEEP

Wrap Up

That is my June 2025 Goodreads TBR Shelf Clean-Up. It appears to have had little effect on my shelf, as I’m keeping all five books. LOL!

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 something like this to manage your TBR?

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