TBR Lows & Highs #48

The WINNER of last week’s “lows” vote was… *drumroll*

IN A DARK, DARK WOOD by Ruth Ware!

As promised, I’ll now add this book to my “top-TBR” shelf on Goodreads to remind me to read it within the next 18 months.

Rules:

• Link back to the original post at Howling Libraries
• Sort your Goodreads TBR shelf by date added, ascending
• Find 5 titles to purge from your TBR (the “lows”) OR find 5 titles that are at the BOTTOM of your TBR—books you want to read someday, just not right now!
• Post those 5 books in the list, with a brief explanation
• Next, sort your Goodreads TBR shelf by date added, descending
• List the last 5 (or more!) books you added to your TBR, with a synopsis or your brief summary of why you added it (the “highs”)

(books that are LOW on my TBR (BUT NOT BEING REMOVED)—vote in the comments for which one I should move UP on my list and I’ll read it within 18 months!)

• The Call — Peadar O Guilin [YA horror]
  • I heard this was pretty creepy!
• The Perfect Child — Lucinda Berry [adult thriller]
  • Another one I heard was creepy, though friends have given it fairly mixed reviews.
• Amina’s Voice — Hena Khan [MG contemporary]
  • I know I’ll love this, it’s just so rare that I reach for MG contemporary!
• Little Peach — Peggy Kern [YA contemporary]
  • This sounds reeeaaaally dark, but I keep forgetting it’s on my TBR.
• The Black God’s Drums — P. Djeli Clark [adult steampunk]
  • This one comes really highly recommended, I just have hit-and-miss experiences with the genre.

• Saint — Chantal Fernando [adult romance]
  • I’ve never gotten into the whole motorcycle club romance deal, but this sounds interesting and I hear the author is pretty widely loved.
• The Ghost Collector — Allison Mills [MG paranormal]
  • In this family, all of the women catch ghosts in their hair, and then they help the ghosts move on. When Shelly’s mom passes away suddenly, Shelly starts hoarding ghosts instead of helping them, but she can’t figure out why her mom’s ghost hasn’t shown up.
    ✨ indigenous (Cree) rep! ✨
• Loveboat, Taipei — Abigail Hing Wen [YA contemporary]
  • This sounds like SO much fun! A bunch of teens sneaking off to Loveboat, where they can have rebellious fun — I know this is going to be a disaster in the best way haha. I also dig that it’s a series starter since we don’t see YA contemp series often, and how gorgeous is that cover?!
    ✨ own-voice Asian rep! ✨
• A Dead and Stormy Night — Steffanie Holmes [adult paranormal romance]
  • I’m a sucker for books with bookstores or libraries as settings, and in this one, new bookseller Mina finds that the shop has a curse that brings characters to life (“in lust-worthy bodies”, the synopsis adds). There’s also a murder mystery, ooh… and Sionna liked it, which is really recommendation enough on its own!

• Tikka Chance on Me — Suleikha Snyder [adult romance]
  • 1) it’s a diverse romance; 2) it’s only a dollar in the kindle store; 3) it’s only 72 pages long, and 4) Talia Hibbert loved it. Yep, that’s all I needed to know!
    ✨ own-voice Indian rep! ✨
• Taaqtumi: An Anthology of Arctic Horror Stories — anthology [adult horror]
  • An entire anthology of horror short stories written by indigenous authors, set in the icy tundra. This sounds AWESOME.
    ✨ own-voice indigenous (Inuit/Inuk) rep ✨
• Violet — Scott Thomas [adult horror]
  • I really liked Thomas’ debut, Kill Creek, so I’m very excited for this one. Creepy imaginary friends seems to be becoming a liiiittle bit of a horror theme right now and I’m super here for it. This doesn’t come out until October and I’ve yet to decide if I want to request an ARC or just pre-order it as a birthday gift for myself.
• The Deep — Rivers Solomon, Daveed Diggs, William Hutson, Jonathan Snipes [adult fantasy/sci-fi/Afro-futurism]
  • Yetu is her sea-dwelling community’s “historian”, the one person tasked with the terrible burden of carrying the memories of their ancestors: pregnant African slave women who were thrown overboard ages ago. I’ve heard such amazing things about Rivers Solomon’s writing, plus the book was inspired by a song from the group clipping., who are… so awesome. (Their song ‘Body and Blood’ has been one of my favorites for years)
    ✨ own-voice black rep! ✨

Descriptions for all items below this point can be found in the latest Stacking the Shelves post!

• The Graveyard Apartment — Mariko Koike [adult horror; library loan]
• Digital Hand Lettering and Modern Calligraphy — Shelly Kim [adult nonfic/how-to; eARC]
• Mamma Mia! 1. Just the Girls — Lewis Trondheim [adult contemporary GN; eARC]
• Rose, Vol. 1: Double Life — Denis Lapiere [adult paranormal/mystery GN; eARC]
• The Weaving Explorer — Deborah Jarchow [adult nonfic/how-to; eARC]

• Born Under a Good Sign — Kristy Robinett [adult nonfic/spirituality; eARC]
• The Mindful Place of Calm — A. Paul Miller [adult nonfic/spirituality; eARC]
• Llewellyn’s Little Book of Empathy — Cyndi Dale [adult nonfic/spirituality; eARC]
• Unicorn Magic — Tess Whitehurst [adult nonfic/spirituality; eARC]
• Every Other Weekend — Abigail Johnson [YA contemporary; eARC]

• Let’s Be Weird Together — Brooke Barker [adult nonfic/humor; eARC]
•  The Unlikely Escape of Uriah Heep — H.G. Parry [adult fantasy; finished print review copy]
• Great Goddesses — Nikita Gill [adult poetry; eARC]
• An Unconditional Freedom — Alyssa Cole [adult historical romance; ARC]

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Which book from my “lows” do you think I should add to my “top-TBR” shelf?

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