If you’re looking to find out more about why I am doing these posts, check out the original Tackling My TBR.
Each week I am going to choose a selection of older books from my TBR pile and read the first chapter(ish) and see if it grabs me. I will then allocate the book into one of the following four categories:
- Read – I’ll read it immediately or within the next couple of weeks
- Shelve – I’ll come back to it within the next six months (To be avoided!)
- Finish – I’ll finish the partially read book
- Rehome/DNF – I’ll decide not to read the book or not to finish it, and the copy will be given away.
Ideally, all the books must either be Read/Finish/DNF – I will only shelve it if I have a justifiable reason to do so. As you can tell, I’ll only be doing a small number of books at a time to keep this managable. These could be physical books or ebooks, and may be review copies or my own purchases.
[Note: I sometimes receive unsolicited review copies, so I have books on my TBR that I would not have necessarily requested, please bear that in mind when reading my posts]
Here we go, round one…!
Title: Dead Popular
Author: Sue Wallman
Format: Paperback, review copy
Assessment: I have dallied around this book a lot since I received it from the lovely people at Scholastic. I’ve picked it up a couple of times but the opening just doesn’t grab me and pull me in and I felt like I was putting in a lot of effort to stay engaged with the story. Sadly, not one for me.
Verdict: Rehome
Title: Chinglish
Author: Sue Cheung
Format: Paperback, review copy
Assessment: Chinglish is a diary format middle-grade/teen book which I believe is partially memoir. I usually love a diary format book, but I found the style of the writing jarring. The protagonist is like a hyped-up kid who doesn’t know when or how to stop talking.
I think middle-grade and teen readers would love this book but I feel like I am at the age where I need something more soothing!
Verdict: Rehome
Title: Our Child of the Stars
Author: Stephen Cox
Format: Hardback, review copy
Assessment: Confession time. I had made some assumptions about this book and I’ve knowingly avoided it since receiving it. I primarily held on to it due to the cover. I know, shame on me. However, I have now read the first chapter and it was great! I love the warm, loving narrative and now I can’t wait to read it.
Lesson learned.
Verdict: Shelve
That leaves me with two rehome, and one shelve. What do you think of my verdicts? Are there any you loved or loathed? Let me know in the comments below!
Wishing you a bookish week,
Roachie's Reviews 