November 2025 Goodreads TBR Shelf Clean-Up

Howdy, y’all! It’s time for my November 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 October 2025, I had 619 books. Today, I have 617. The number has dropped a bit, but that’s probably because I’ve been adding 2026 releases I want to read. Will my November 2025 Goodreads TBR shelf clean-up help bring that number down?

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: 617

Starting Number: 426. It appears that I’m reviewing the books I added in April 2024.

Shelf Sorted: Date Added

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

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

This book is compared to the Harry Potter and the Percy Jackson series. I can see the comparison and why fans of those series would like this book. It is also compared to Amari and the Night Brothers. I love all of these series. Why wouldn’t I like this one?

KEEP

This Will Be Fun by E.B. Asher

Ten years ago, they saved the realm. It ruined their lives.

Everyone in Mythria knows the story of how best friends Beatrice and Elowen, handsome ex-bandit Clare, and valiant leader Galwell the Great defended the land from darkness. It’s a tale beloved by all—except the former heroes. They haven’t spoken in a decade, devastated by what their quest cost them.

But when they receive an invitation to the queen of Mythria’s wedding, it’s a summons they can’t refuse . . . and a reunion for the ages, with Clare secretly not over his long-ago fling with Beatrice, Beatrice fighting the guilt she feels over how everything ended, Elowen unprepared for the return of her former flame (the cunning Vandra), and all of them lost without Galwell’s presence. And if reuniting with old friends and lovers wasn’t perilous enough, dark forces from their past have returned, plotting a domination that only Mythria’s one-time defenders can stop. Maybe.

Dusting off old weapons and old instincts, they face undead nemeses, crystal caves, enchanted swords, coffee shops, games of magical Truth or Dare, and, hardest of all, their past—rife with wounds never healed and romances never forgotten.

This time around, will their story end in happily ever after?

My Thoughts

I think I was drawn to this book because of the comparison to The Princess Bride. While I love The Princess Bride, I’m not sold on this one after reading the synopsis. The rating on Goodreads also makes me question if I should keep this one around.

DELETE

The Good, the Bad, and the Dumped by Jenny Colgan

We all look up our exes online…but should we? Posy Fairweather is over the moon when her boyfriend Matt proposes in what is probably the most romantic way possible—on top of a mountain, in a thunderstorm, like something from a Nicholas Sparks novel. But a few days later, he dumps her. Crushed and humiliated, Posy wonders why all her romances have always been such train wrecks.

Determined to gain some insight, Posy resolves to get online, track down her exes, and ask them. Which doors from Posy’s past should stay closed? Which might open? Can she learn from past mistakes? And what if she has let Mr. Right slip through her fingers along the way?

My Thoughts

I enjoy reading Jenny Colgan’s books. And this one is sitting on my bookshelf at this moment. Sure, it has a rating similar to the above book, but it’s by an author I enjoy reading.

KEEP

Christmas at the Cupcake Cafe by Jenny Colgan

Issy Randall, proud owner of The Cupcake Cafe, is in love and couldn’t be happier. Her new business is thriving, and she is surrounded by close friends, even if her cupcake colleagues Pearl and Caroline don’t seem quite as upbeat about the upcoming season of snow and merriment. But when her boyfriend, Austin, is scouted for a possible move to New York, Issy is forced to face up to the prospect of a long-distance romance. And when the Christmas rush at the cafe – with its increased demand for her delectable creations – begins to take its toll, Issy has to decide what she holds most dear.

This December, Issy will have to rely on all her reserves of courage, good nature, and cinnamon to make sure everyone has a merry Christmas, one way or another…

My Thoughts

It’s another Jenny Colgan book, and another one that is currently sitting on my bookshelf. Maybe I haven’t read this one because I haven’t read the first one in the series?

KEEP

The Girl from the Channel Islands by Jenny Lacoat

The year is 1940, and the world is torn apart by war. In June of that year, Hitler’s army captures the Channel Islands—the only part of Great Britain occupied by German forces. Abandoned by Mr. Churchill, forgotten by the Allies, and cut off from all help, the Islands’ situation is increasingly desperate.

Hedy Bercu is a young Jewish girl who fled Vienna for the island of Jersey two years earlier during the Anschluss, only to find herself trapped by the Nazis once more—this time with no escape. Her only hope is to make herself invaluable to the Germans by working as a translator, hiding in plain sight with the help of her friends and community—and a sympathetic German officer. But as the war intensifies, rations dwindle, and neighbors are increasingly suspicious of one another. Hedy’s life is in greater danger every day. It will take a definitive, daring act to save her from certain deportation to the concentration camps.

My Thoughts

Yes, I’ve said before that I’m burned out by high-stakes historical fiction. But I still enjoy reading about other experiences. Not everyone lived in London, France, and Germany during the war. Not everyone was on the front lines as a spy or soldier. Some people were just trying to survive.

KEEP

That is my November 2025 Goodreads TBR Shelf Clean-Up. It appears not to have affected my shelf, as I’m keeping four of the books. LOL!

This was fun. I may do it now and then to help keep my shelf realistic. In the past, I had added books without giving them much thought. 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.