October 2022 Goodreads TBR Shelf Clean-Up

Howdy, y’all! It’s time for my October 2022 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 September 2022, I had 608 books. Today, I have 617. That isn’t too much of an increase in a short time.

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.
• Ask Siri, or 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 it and 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: 617

Starting Number: 186; it looks like I’m going through the books I added in Spring 2021

Shelf Sorted: Date Added

Let’s get this October 2022 Goodreads TBR Shelf Clean-Up underway!

Last Chance Books by Kelsey Rodkey

Don’t you just love the smell of old books in the morning?

Madeline Moore does. Books & Moore, the musty bookstore her family has owned for generations, is where she feels most herself. Nothing is going to stop her from coming back after college to take over the store from her beloved aunt.

Nothing, that is—until a chain bookstore called Prologue opens across the street and threatens to shut them down.

Madeline sets out to demolish the competition, but Jasper, the guy who works over at Prologue, seems intent on ruining her life. Not only is he taking her customers, he has the unbelievable audacity to be extremely cute.

But that doesn’t matter. Jasper is the enemy, and he will be destroyed. After all—all’s fair in love and (book) wars.

My Thoughts

A book about a bookstore? And it’s a romance? Is it just me, or does it give You’ve Got Mail vibes? For me, this is a no-brainer!

KEEP

Meet Cute Diary by Emery Lee

Noah Ramirez thinks he’s an expert on romance. He has to be for his popular blog, the Meet Cute Diary, a collection of trans happily ever afters. There’s just one problem—all the stories are fake. What started as the fantasies of a trans boy afraid to step out of the closet has grown into a beacon of hope for trans readers across the globe.

When a troll exposes the blog as fiction, Noah’s world unravels. The only way to save the Diary is to convince everyone that the stories are true, but he doesn’t have any proof. Then Drew walks into Noah’s life, and the pieces fall into place: Drew is willing to fake-date Noah to save the Diary. But when Noah’s feelings grow beyond their staged romance, he realizes that dating in real life isn’t quite the same as finding love on the page.

My Thoughts

The premise sounds like a fun fake-dating read. But after re-reading the synopsis, I’m unsure if it’s something I want to read. Maybe keep it on my TBR for now?

KEEP

White Fang by Jack London

Born in the wilds of the freezing cold Yukon, White Fang – half-dog, half-wolf – is the only animal in the litter to survive. He soon learns the harsh laws of nature, yet buried deep inside him are the distant memories of affection and love. Will this fiercely independent creature of the wild learn to trust man again?

My Thoughts

Honestly, this book is on my TBR because both of my girls have wanted to read it at one point. Sadly, neither has read it, and our copy is now on my bookshelf. It’s a classic that seems approachable and easy to read, and I am also interested in reading it.

KEEP

The Secret Lives of Church Ladies by Deesha Philyaw

The Secret Lives of Church Ladies explores the raw and tender places where black women and girls dare to follow their desires and pursue a momentary reprieve from being good. The nine stories in this collection feature four generations of characters grappling with who they want to be in the world, caught as they are between the church’s double standards and their own needs and passions. With their secret longings, new love, and forbidden affairs, these church ladies are as seductive as they want to be, as vulnerable as they need to be, as unfaithful and unrepentant as they care to be, and as free as they deserve to be.

My Thoughts

I was introduced to this book by Noelle Gallagher on YouTube. She loves reading short stories and spoke highly of this one. Honestly, the only reason this is still on my TBR is that I haven’t been able to find a copy.

KEEP

Satisfaction Guaranteed by Karelia Stetz-Waters

When it comes to her career, Cade Elgin has it all figured out. Only “professional talk” has become her default mode; relationships are nonexistent, and don’t even mention the word “orgasm.” All work and no play makes Cade a dull human. But when she inherits a sex toy store, Cade is caught between business and a store filled with every imaginable kind of pleasure—including her infuriatingly irresponsible and deliciously sexy new co-owner.

Selena Mathis learned the hard way that she can have too much of a good thing. Which is precisely why she’s taken an oath of celibacy and is focusing on how to make Satisfaction Guaranteed a success. She won’t mess this up. Not this time. But once again, Selena’s emotions are getting in the way and tempting her with a serious attraction to buttoned-up Cade.

But the shop isn’t exactly vibe-ing, and Cade and Selena are on the verge of losing both their income and the possibility of love. Can they find a way to work together before Satisfaction Guaranteed runs out of batteries?

My Thoughts

Is it wrong that I want to read this book because of its setting? I mean, how many books are set in a sex toy shop? But is it enough for me to want to keep it?

DELETE

Wrap Up

And that is my October 2022 Goodreads TBR Shelf Clean-Up. It doesn’t look like I cleaned my shelf up too much! Out of the five books, I’m keeping four. What did anyone expect? I love reading; how can I easily cut a book off my TBR?

But this was fun. I may do it now and then to help keep my shelf realistic. Earlier this year, 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.