November 2023 Goodreads TBR Shelf Clean-Up

Howdy, y’all! It’s time for my November 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 October 2023, I had 610 books. Today, I have 605. Impressive, there’s been a slight decrease. Will my November 2023 Goodreads TBR shelf clean-up help that number drop a bit lower?

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 should it go?
• Discuss here.

Books To Be Read: 605

Starting Number: 390, it looks like I’m going through the books I added in March 2021

Shelf Sorted: Date Added

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

Greetings from Tucson: A Collection of Letters Between Sisters by Cherie L. Genua

In June of 1945, tragedy struck and sisters Cookie, Frankie, Dottie, and Connie were torn from everything they knew—their parents, their home, and, most importantly, each other. Forced to live thousands of miles apart, they feared their bond would be broken. The four sisters began writing letters to share every detail of their young lives, celebrating milestones and mourning heartbreaks from afar. Through these letters, they strengthened their relationship when the odds were so stacked against them. That is, until one sister’s secret from the past changed everything. Would she break the fragile bond they worked so hard to nurture after their split so many years ago?

My Thoughts

First of all, I have to say I enjoy reading books written in letter form. They are so easy to pick up and feel like you’ve read a lot after finishing a couple of letters. And this one sounds like a fantastic read.

KEEP

Royally Rearranged by Emma St. Clair

There WILL be a royal wedding. The only question–who will be my groom?

An arranged marriage isn’t the worst fate for a princess like me. Especially because I’ve been in love with my intended groom since we were children.

But when my prince shows up with an American girlfriend instead of an engagement ring, all arrangements are off.

The clock is nearing midnight–I won’t turn into a pumpkin, but if I’m not wed by summer’s end, I’ll forfeit my kingdom.

Just your typical royal dilemma.

Out of sheer desperation, I make a deal with a devilish duke. Rafe de Silva is the prince’s rival and has a plan so ridiculous it just might work.

One moment, Rafe seems to relish making the prince jealous.

And the next… he’s making me question everything with his words, his touch, and his ability to melt my Ice Princess persona.

I’m not always given the luxury of choice, but now I have a huge one to make. I only hope I don’t lose my crown, my heart, or myself in the process…

My Thoughts

While this sounds like a fun read, I’m not 100% sure I want to read it. Does that make any sense?

DELETE

The White Girl by Tony Birch

Odette Brown has lived her entire life on the fringes of Deane, a small Australian country town. Dark secrets simmer beneath the surface of Deane–secrets that could explain why Odette’s daughter, Lila, left her one-year-old daughter, Sissy, and never came back, or why Sissy has white skin when her family is Aboriginal.

For thirteen years, Odette has quietly raised her granddaughter without drawing notice from welfare authorities who remove fair-skinned Aboriginal children from their families. But the arrival of a new policeman with cruel eyes and a rigid by-the-book attitude throws the Brown women’s lives off-kilter. It will take all of Odette’s courage and cunning to save Sissy from the authorities, and maybe even lead her to find her daughter.

Bolstered by love, smarts, and the strength of their ancestors, Odette and Sissy are an indomitable force, handling threats to their family and their own identities with grace and ingenuity, while never losing hope for themselves and their future.

My Thoughts

As I enjoy learning about life experiences that are different from mine, this is a no brainer for me. Seriously, it’s 1000% keep.

KEEP

Welcome to the School By the Sea by Jane Beaton

Maggie went to the window and opened it wide, inhaling the lovely salt air off the sea. Why had she never lived by the sea before? Why had she always looked out on housing estates and not the little white hulls of trawlers bobbing off in the distance?

It’s gloriously sunny in Cornwall as the school year starts at the little boarding school by the sea. Maggie, the newest teacher at Downey House, is determined to make her mark. She’s delighted by her new teaching job, but will it come at the expense of her relationship with her safe, dependable boyfriend Stan?

Simone is excited and nervous: she’s won a scholarship to the prestigious boarding school and wants to make her parents proud. Forced to share a room with the glossy, posh girls of Downey House, she needs to find a friend, fast.

Fliss is furious. She’s never wanted to go to boarding school and hates being sent away from her home. As Simone tries desperately to fit in, Fliss tries desperately to get out.

Over the course of one year, friendships will bloom and lives will be changed forever. Life at the Little School by the Sea is never dull…

My Thoughts

If this sounds like a Jenny Colgan book, you’re not wrong! It is one of her books, that was originally written using a pen name. I enjoy reading Colgan’s books, so I think I know what I’ll do with this book.

KEEP

The Indigo Girl by Natasha Boyd

The year is 1739. Eliza Lucas is sixteen years old when her father leaves her in charge of their family’s three plantations in rural South Carolina and then proceeds to bleed the estates dry in pursuit of his military ambitions. Tensions with the British, and with the Spanish in Florida, just a short way down the coast, are rising, and slaves are starting to become restless. Her mother wants nothing more than for their South Carolina endeavor to fail so they can go back to England. Soon her family is in danger of losing everything.

Upon hearing how much the French pay for indigo dye, Eliza believes it’s the key to their salvation. But everyone tells her it’s impossible, and no one will share the secret to making it. Thwarted at nearly every turn, even by her own family, Eliza finds that her only allies are an aging horticulturalist, an older and married gentleman lawyer, and a slave with whom she strikes a dangerous deal: teach her the intricate thousand-year-old secret process of making indigo dye and in return — against the laws of the day — she will teach the slaves to read.

So begins an incredible story of love, dangerous and hidden friendships, ambition, betrayal, and sacrifice.

My Thoughts

Historical fiction based on true events is something that I’ve enjoyed in the past. But they aren’t always enjoyable, because they are based on people and events I’m familiar with. This has neither, so I wonder if that will make it a great read.

KEEP

Wrap Up

And that is my November 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 of them.

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.