May 2024 Goodreads TBR Shelf Clean-Up

Howdy, y’all! It’s time for my May 2024 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 2024, I had 613 books. Today, I have 625. Will my May 2024 Goodreads TBR shelf clean-up help that number drop?

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 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 delete it?
• Discuss here.

Books To Be Read: 625

Starting Number: 587, it looks like I’m going through the books I added in April of 2024

Shelf Sorted: Date Added

Let’s get this May 2024 Goodreads TBR Shelf Clean-Up underway!

The Kiss Countdown by Etta Easton

Risk-averse event planner Amerie Price is jobless, newly single, and about to lose her apartment. With no choice but to gamble on her shaky start-up, the last thing she needed was to run into her smug ex and his new, less complicated girlfriend at Amerie’s favorite coffee shop. Panicked, she pretends to be dating the annoyingly sexy man she met by spilling Americano all over his abs. He plays along—for a price.

Half the single men in Houston claim to be astronauts, but Vincent Rogers turns out to be the real deal. What started as a one-off lie morphs into a plan: for the three months leading up to his mission, Amerie will play Vincent’s doting partner in front of his loving but overly invested family. In exchange, she gets a rent-free room in his house and can put every penny toward her struggling business.

What Amerie doesn’t plan for is Vincent’s gravitational pull. While her mind tells her a future with this astronaut is too unpredictable, her heart says he’s exactly what she needs. As their time together counts down, Amerie must decide if she’ll settle for the safe life—or shoot for the stars.

My Thoughts

This sounds like such a fun read! I’m unsure what it is, but I’ve been drawn to the fake dating trope lately.

KEEP

It’s No Me, It’s You by Alex Light

Jackie Myers is a fraud. Or she might be a genius—the jury’s still out.

The thing is, she secretly runs pleasebreakmyheart, a gone-viral account aimed at breaking hearts and ending relationships…. And she just used it to break up her insufferable eternal nemesis’s picture-perfect relationship.

Wilson is the buttoned-up, type-A assistant manager of her nightmares—but it turns out he’s also, apparently, a really great boyfriend.

So, with her conscience (and paycheck) on the line, Jackie decides there’s only one thing to do: She’s going to help Wilson win his ex-girlfriend back. Which should be easy, considering Jackie hates him…right?

My Thoughts

Sadly, Goodreads doesn’t have a synopsis for this book. The one above is from the publisher’s website. The cover is adorable enough to get me to add it to my TBR, and the description is enough to keep it there.

KEEP

Sally’s Lament by Mari Mancusi

What if Sally discovered Christmas Town?

Sally has mostly loved her creepy hometown of Halloween Town. But lately, she can’t help but want something more. In a place full of the frightening, you’d think living in the shadows wouldn’t feel so . . . isolating. She knows she could do so much more if she wasn’t always stuck in the lab of her creator, Dr. Finkelstein. Soon, Sally is surprised to learn that the Pumpkin King, Jack, is longing for a change of his own. Determined to find a solution for them both, Sally follows a vision that could be the key to changing their fates.

But the more time Sally spends in the strange, jolly land of Christmas Town, the more suspicious she grows of the seemingly idyllic winter wonderland. What is lurking behind those dancing sugar plums? And what exactly does it mean to be put on the Naughty List? Will Sally be able to save the best of both towns—before it’s too late?

My Thoughts

I have only read one of the Twisted Tales, A Whole New World, but I have a few others on my TBR. While The Nightmare Before Christmas isn’t one of my go-to movies, something about this twist makes me curious.

KEEP

Vanya and the Wild Hunt by Sangu Mandanna

Eleven-year-old Vanya Vallen has always felt like she doesn’t fit in. She’s British-Indian in a mostly white town in England, her parents won’t talk about their pasts, and she has ADHD.

Oh, and she talks to books. More importantly, the books talk back.

When her family is attacked by a monster she believed only existed in fairytales, Vanya discovers that her parents have secrets, and that there are a lot more monsters out there. Overnight, she’s whisked off to the enchanted library and school of Auramere, where she joins the ranks of archwitches and archivists.

Life at Auramere is unexpected, exciting, and wonderful. But even here, there’s no escaping monsters. The mysterious, powerful Wild Hunt is on the prowl, and Vanya will need all her creativity and courage to unmask its leader and stop them before they destroy the only place she’s ever truly belonged.

My Thoughts

While I have only read one book by Sangu Mandanna, I honestly loved it and want to read more of her work. Also, this book is being compared to Amari and the Night Brothers and everything Rick Riordan has touched. How can I not give this book a try?

KEEP

Can’t Help Falling in Love by Sophie Sullivan

Lexi Danby is looking for some no-strings, fall fun. Once a college track star, she was forced to drop out when her father passed away. Now, she’s trying to make ends meet while putting herself through school and caring for her grieving mother. When her comically bad waitressing lands her directly in the path of a handsome, charming stranger named Will, Lexi may just have found the distraction she’s been looking for. Their first date looks promising until a misunderstanding at a party thrusts Lexi and Will into a fake engagement they can’t talk themselves out of. And Will turns out to be a member of Seattle royalty.

Will Grand is heir to a major company and Seattle’s most eligible bachelor. But he’s been placed in charge of an important merger with a company that values family above all else and needs to show them that he’s settled down. While a fake engagement is advantageous from a business standpoint, it’s not so great for a budding relationship with a woman who’s wary of commitment. With a woman who Will is beginning to care about much more than he could have anticipated.

As Lexi gets a taste of Will’s glamorous world and the pair keeps up the pretense of their fake engagement for the press, they decide to see where a more casual relationship takes them out of the spotlight. And amid apple picking in comfy flannels, outdoor breweries in the crisp air, and fun Halloween preparations, Lexi starts to realize the scariest part of the season might just be taking a chance on love.

My Thoughts

Another book that features fake dating. And it’s set in my favorite season, fall. How can I say no?

KEEP

Wrap Up

And that is my May 2024 Goodreads TBR Shelf Clean-Up. It doesn’t look like I cleaned my shelf much! Out of the five books, I’m keeping five of them. I still have time to decide on the ones I’m not 100% certain about. Why? Because none of these books have even been published yet! The earliest release is September 2024, and the latest is March 2025.

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?

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