May 2023 Goodreads TBR Shelf Clean-Up

Howdy, y’all! It’s time for my May 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 April 2023, I had 616 books. Today, I have 626. That is a bit of a jump, but not too bad. Yay me! Will my May 2023 Goodreads TBR shelf clean-up help that number drop any?

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, and the image will take you to Amazon.

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: 626

Starting Number: 196; it looks like I’m going through the books I added in July 2021

Shelf Sorted: Date Added

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

Partners in Crime by Agatha Christie

In this hilarious burlesque of detective fiction (“New York Times”), Tommy and Tuppence Beresford adopt the methods and manners of every major literary detective from Hercule Poirot to Sherlock Holmes to piece together an increasingly complex series of delightfully different and deadly misdeeds.

My Thoughts

Honestly, this is a no brainer for me. Why? Because I enjoy reading Agatha Christie and I’m slowly working my way through her catalog.

KEEP

Except the Dying by Maureen Jennings

In the cold Toronto winter of 1895, the unclad body of a servant girl is found frozen in a deserted laneway. The young victim was pregnant when she died. Was her death an attempt to cover up a scandal in one of the city’s influential families? Detective William Murdoch quickly finds out that more than one person connected with the girl’s simple life has something to hide.

My Thoughts

This is the first book in the series that introduced the world to William Murdoch, and which ultimately lead to the hit television show Murdoch Mysteries. I have enjoyed watching the show over the years, though I have missed the past couple of seasons. I would love to see Murdoch and crew in their original form,

KEEP

The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett

When PI Sam Spade is hired by the beautiful and intriguing Miss Wonderly to tail a fellow named Floyd Thursby who ran off with her baby sister, Sam puts his partner, Miles Archer, on the case. But Miss Wonderly is not quite what she seems. And when both Thursby and Archer turn up dead, Spade knows he’s dealing with a troublesome dame.

As the case deepens, Sam receives a visit from the fragrant Joel Cairo. He has his own special interest in Thursby and his link to a missing bird statuette worth millions – the Maltese Falcon. Soon Spade finds himself both hunter and hunted as he tracks down this jewel encrusted treasure that people are willing to kill for.

My Thoughts

I know that I have seen the movie adaptation, but it was many years ago. When I learned it was based on a book, I decided to give it a read.

KEEP

The Rocky Road to Ruin by Meri Allen

Riley Rhodes, travel food blogger and librarian at the CIA, makes a bittersweet return to her childhood home of Penniman, Connecticut – land of dairy farms and covered bridges – for a funeral. Despite the circumstances, Riley’s trip home is sprinkled with reunions with old friends, visits to her father’s cozy bookshop on the town green, and joyful hours behind the counter at the beloved Udderly Delicious Ice Cream Shop. It feels like a time to help her friend Caroline rebuild after her mother’s death, and for Riley to do a bit of her own reflecting after a botched undercover mission in Italy. After all, it’s always good to be home.

But Caroline and her brother Mike have to decide what to do with the assets they’ve inherited – the ice cream shop as well as the farm they grew up on – and they’ve never seen eye to eye. Trouble begins to swirl as Riley is spooked by reports of a stranger camping behind the farm and by the odd behavior of the shop’s mascot, Caroline’s snooty Persian, Sprinkles. When Mike turns up dead in the barn the morning after the funeral, the peace and quiet of Penniman seems upended for good. Can Riley find the killer before another body gets scooped?

My Thoughts

It is the first book in a cozy mystery series, which is always a great place to start. The premise sounds fun too. The fact the main character is returning home from a job at the CIA and as a food blogger. But do I need to start another series?

DELETE

The Matzah Ball by Jean Meltzer

Oy! to the world

Rachel Rubenstein-Goldblatt is a nice Jewish girl with a shameful secret: she loves Christmas. For a decade she’s hidden her career as a Christmas romance novelist from her family. Her talent has made her a bestseller even as her chronic illness has always kept the kind of love she writes about out of reach.

But when her diversity-conscious publisher insists she write a Hanukkah romance, her well of inspiration suddenly runs dry. Hanukkah’s not magical. It’s not merry. It’s not Christmas. Desperate not to lose her contract, Rachel’s determined to find her muse at the Matzah Ball, a Jewish music celebration on the last night of Hanukkah, even if it means working with her summer camp archenemy—Jacob Greenberg.

Though Rachel and Jacob haven’t seen each other since they were kids, their grudge still glows brighter than a menorah. But as they spend more time together, Rachel finds herself drawn to Hanukkah—and Jacob—in a way she never expected. Maybe this holiday of lights will be the spark she needed to set her heart ablaze.

My Thoughts

How could I not give a holiday romance a try? Especially one that features a holiday other than Christmas?

KEEP

Wrap Up

And that is my May 2023 Goodreads TBR Shelf Clean-Up. It looks like I cleaned my shelf up a little! Out of the five books, I’m keeping four. As for the one I’m deleting, it’s not to say I wouldn’t give it a read if I ended up with a copy.

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.