So, a few weeks ago, I audited the unread books on my bookshelves for the Mount TBR Challenge. There were a lot. I sat in a daze and muttered, “I think I might have too many books”, a sentiment which brought joy to the person with whom I share living quarters. In the weeks since, I have found myself in bookshops saying insane things like, “I don’t know about getting a book today, I have so many at home”, or even actually being aware that I have three books by an author waiting to be read, so buying a fourth is perhaps not a smart move. I realised that I just like buying books, like the way other people buy themselves a chocolate bar. The pleasure of acquisition is entirely separate to the enjoyment of actually reading the thing. With this in mind, I decided that I had to finally tackle the howling nightmare that has been my Kindle over the past few years and so I’ve joined the Clean Out Your E-Reader Challenge.
My godmother bought me said device some three years ago – it was among the best and worst gifts that I have ever received. Suddenly, if I wanted a book, I could get it delivered instantly to where I was right at that moment. Coupled with the fact that Kindle books are cheaper than their physical equivalents, things got a little nuts for a while. Then, just as things quietened down, I joined Netgalley On approximate calculations, around 200 of the below list have been received from them – I have tended to email approved reads to my Kindle and then try not to worry about it. But when you’re in a bookshop and are not entirely sure whether it’s worth you buying a book even though it does look interesting since you’re fairly sure that you already have it somewhere, but somehow or other, your Kindle has gotten to be such a mess that it’s nearly impossible to find what you want anyway – something has to give. And so here I am. Owning up. I have a Netgalley addiction and it’s a bad one – I know I won’t get to read this whole list in 2017 and probably not in 2018 either but I have a five year plan to reduce the list to double rather than treble figures. Any suggestions on where I should start?
Kindle Reads:
Loving Eleanor, Susan Wittig Albert
Hospital Sketches, Louisa M Alcott
The White Cottage Mystery, Margery Allingham
Miss Delacourt Speaks Her Mind, Heidi Ashworth
Stone Mattress: Nine Wicked Tales, Margaret Atwood
Good Bones, Margaret Atwood
4 3 2 1, Paul Auster
The Scandal, Fredrik Backman
Empire of the Sun, J.G. Ballard
Dark Quartet: The Story of the Brontes, Lynne Reid Banks
The Life of Elves, Muriel Barbery
The Elegance of the Hedgehog, Muriel Barbery
The Cauliflower, Nicola Barker
The One Memory of Flora Banks, Emily Barr
Days Without End, Sebastian Barry
Love For Lydia, H.E. Bates
The Solitary Child, Nina Bawden
The Lady in the Van, Alan Bennett
Chasing Embers, James Bennett
Under The Harrow, Flynn Berry
Passage Across The Mersey, Robert Bhatia
Apostle, Tom Bissell
A Conspiracy of Blood and Smoke, Anne Blankman
The Private Lives of the Tudors, Tracy Borman
The Secret Chord, Geraldine Brooks
The Upstairs Room, Kate Murray-Browne
The New Mrs Clifton, Elizabeth Buchan
After the Crash, Michel Bussi
The Genius of Jane Austen, Paula Byrne
Dear Amy, Helen Callaghan
The Trouble With Goats and Sheep, Joanna Cannon
The Essential Paradise Lost, John Carey
The Stolen Child, Lisa Carey
The Strangler Vine, M.J. Carter
No Virgin, Anne Cassidy
Joan of Arc, Helen Castor
Moonglow, Michael Chabon
Lady of the English, Elizabeth Chadwick
The Winter Crown, Elizabeth Chadwick
Charlotte & Leopold – The Original People’s Princess, James Chambers
Wild Swans, Jung Chang
Black Rabbit Hall, Eve Chase
At The Edge of the Orchard, Tracy Chevalier
New Boy, Tracy Chevalier
Murder on the Orient Express, Agatha Christie
The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, Agatha Christie
A Book For Her, Bridget Christie
The Atomic Weight of Love, Elizabeth J Church
Larchfield, Polly Clark
How To Be Human, Paula Cocozza
The Invisible Library, Genevieve Cogman
The Masked City, Genevieve Cogman
A Dictionary of Mutual Understanding, Jackie Coppleton
The Lie of the Land, Amanda Craig
The Holiday, Richmal Crompton
Marriage of Hermione, Richmal Crompton
Martini Henry, Sara Crowe
Sirius, Jonathan Crown
We All Begin As Strangers, Harriet Cummings
Madness, Roald Dahl
Mrs Hudson and the Spirit’s Curse, Martin Davies
Consequences, E. M. Delafield
The Course of Love, Alain de Botton
A Fever of the Blood, Oscar De Muriel
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, Junot Diaz
The House at World’s End, Monica Dickens
The Baltimore Boys, Joel Dicker
The Tourist, Robert Dickinson
The Abundance, Annie Dillard
The Marsh King’s Daughter, Karen Dionne
The Lotterys Plus One, Emma Donoghue
The Pure Gold Baby, Margaret Drabble
The Dark Flood Rises, Margaret Drabble
The Alchemist’s Apprentice, Jeremy Dronfield
Sea, Sarah Driver
The Count of Monte Cristo, Alexandre Dumas
In The Name of the Family, Sarah Dunant
Blood and Beauty, Sarah Dunant
The Companion, Sarah Dunnakey
Exposure, Helen Dunmore
The Tao of Bill Murray, Gavin Edwards
The Book of the Unnamed Midwife, Meg Elison
Adam Bede, George Eliot
Whispers Through A Megaphone, Rachel Elliot
Take Courage, Samantha Ellis
The Songs, Charles Elton
Miss Treadway & The Field of Stars, Miranda Emmerson
The Roanoke Girls, Amy Engel
The Fourteenth Letter, Claire Evans
Your Father Sends His Love, Stuart Evers
The Empathy Problem, Gavin Extence
The Nebuly Coat, John Meade Falkner
The Whole Art of Detection, Lyndsay Faye
The Other Hoffmann Sister, Ben Fergusson
The Bookshop, Penelope Fitzgerald
Wanting, Richard Flanagan
Let Me Tell You About A Man I Knew, Susan Fletcher
Dark Places, Gillian Flynn
Charlotte, David Foenkinos
Here I Am, Jonathan Safran Foer
The Etymologicon, Mark Forsyth
The Last Days of Leda Grey, Essie Fox
The Corrections, Jonathan Franzen
Sweet Little Lies, Caz Frear
The Girl in the Glass Tower, Elizabeth Fremantle
The Hours Before Dawn, Celia Fremlin
The Skeletons of Scarborough House, Kitty French
History of Wolves, Emily Fridlund
Swimming Lessons, Claire Fuller
American Gods, Neil Gaiman
Stardust, Neil Gaiman
Good Omens, Neil Gaiman (and Terry Pratchett)
Notes From An Exhibition, Patrick Gale
A Perfectly Good Man, Patrick Gale
Caraval, Stephanie Garber
Timekeepers, Simon Garfield
Cranford, Elizabeth Gaskell
Difficult Women, Roxane Gay
Love Or Nearest Offer, Adele Geras
Valley of the Moon, Melanie Gideon
The Ferryman Institute, Colin Gigl
Herland, Charlotte Perkins Gilman
Auntie Poldi and the Sicilian Lions, Mario Giordano
The Museum of Things Left Behind, Seni Glaister
The Words In My Hand, Guinevere Glasfurd
Fidelity: A Novel, Susan Glaspell
Five For Sorrow, Ten For Joy, Rumer Godden
The Early Birds, Laurie Graham
Ross Poldark, Winston Graham
The Woman Next Door, Cass Green
Tales of the Greek Heroes, Roger Lancelyn Green
Fair Helen, Andrew Greig
The Secret Diary of Hendrik Groen, 83 ¼ Years Old, Henrik Groen
How To Stop Time, Matt Haig
Speak, Louisa Hall
Peculiar Ground, Lucy Hughes-Hallett
Rebel of the Sands, Alwyn Hamilton
Hangover Square, Patrick Hamilton
The Lie Tree, Frances Hardinge
Tess of the D’Urbevilles, Thomas Hardy
The Mayor of Casterbridge, Thomas Hardy
Rain, Melissa Harrison
The First Day, Phil Harrison
For The Winner, Emily Hauser
Before The Fall, Noah Hawley
Relativity, Antonia Hayes
Elizabeth is Missing, Emma Healey
The Valentine House, Emma Henderson
Mother Time, Louise Herman
The Dynamite Room, Jason Hewitt
Friday’s Child, Georgette Heyer
The Convenient Marriage, Georgette Heyer
The Marlboroughs, Christopher Hibbert
Carrying Albert Home, Homer Hickman
The House at Bishopgate, Katie Hickman
First of the Tudors, Joanna Hickson
The Woodvilles, Susan Higginbotham
Conversations with Spirits, E.O. Higgins
The Nix, Nathan Hill
The Travelling Bag and Other Ghostly Stories, Susan Hill
The Third Plantagenet, John Ashdown-Hill
The Keeper of Lost Things, Ruth Hogan
I Was Jack Mortimer, Alexander Lernet-Holenia
Jack, A. M. Homes
Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine, Gail Honeyman
The House of Silk, Anthony Horowitz
A Thousand Splendid Suns, Khaled Hosseini
The Long View, Elizabeth Jane Howard
The Loney, Andrew Michael Hurley
The Dog Who Dared to Dream, Sun-mi Hwang
Ravenspur, Conn Iggulden
To The Bright Edge of the World, Eowyn Ivey
But You Did Not Come Back, Marceline Loridan-Ivens
Dark Tales, Shirley Jackson
The Unseen, Ray Jacobsen
Sculptor’s Daughter, Tove Jansson
The Summer Book, Tove Jansson
The Moomins and the Great Flood, Tove Jansson
Naming The Stars, Jennifer Johnston
Hitman Anders and the Meaning of It All, Jonas Jonasson
Fear of Dying, Erica Jong
The Mangle Street Murders, M.R.C. Kasasian
Jane Austen: The Secret Radical, Helena Kelly
Dirt Road, James Kelman
The Good People, Hannah Kent
When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit, Judith Kerr
The Crew, Joseph Kessel
Nina is Not OK, Shappi Khorsandi
Himself, Jess Kidd
The Wake, Paul Kingsnorth
A Mother’s Reckoning, Sue Klebold
Eveningland, Michael Knight
Forest Dark, Nicole Krauss
The Nothing, Hanif Kureishi
Good Me Bad Me, Ali Land
Anna and the King of Siam, Margaret Landon
Swell, Jenny Landreth
Her, Harriet Lane
The Red Notebook, Antoine Laurain
French Rhapsody, Antoine Laurain
Poems In The Manner Of, David Lehman
You Will Not Have My Hate, Antoine Leiris
The Gentleman, Forrest Leo
Sarah, JT Leroy
The Heart is Deceitful Above All Things, JT Leroy
The Wolf Road, Beth Lewis
The Lubetkin Legacy, Marina Lewycka
The Immortals, S. E. Lister
Hideous Creatures, S. E. Lister
The Gracekeepers, Kirsty Logan
Jack Wolfe: Paranormal Investigator, Craig Lunnon
The Threat Level Remains Severe, Rowena Macdonald
In A Land of Paper Gods, Rebecca Mackenzie
The Seeker, S. G. MacLean
All The Beloved Ghosts, Alison MacLeod
Miss Boston and Miss Hargreaves, Rachel Malik
Confidence, Roland Manthorpe
The High Mountains of Portugal, Yann Martel
All Our Wrong Todays, Elan Mastai
Behold The Dreamers, Imbolo Mbue
The Lesser Bohemians, Eimear McBride
The Butcher Boy, Patrick McCabe
The High Places, Fiona McFarlane
The Butterfly Cabinet, Bernie McGill
The Watch House, Bernie McGill
The Handfasted Wife, Carol McGrath
Reservoir 13, Jon McGregor
The North Water, Ian McGuire
The Blood Miracles, Lisa McInerney
Season of Light, Katharine McMahon
The Beginning Woods, Malcolm McNeill
Plum, Hollie McNish
Gather The Daughters, Jennie Melamed
Margaret Rutherford: Dreadnought with Good Manners, Andy Merriman
The Burning Girl, Claire Messud
The Son, Philipp Meyer
Pure, Andrew Mller
Always Happy Hour, Mary Miller
Where Dead Men Meet, Mark Mills
The Bone Clocks, David Mitchell
Emily Starr Trilogy, Lucy Maud Montgomery
Jane of Lantern Hill, Lucy Maud Montgomery
The Sport of Kings, C E Morgan
Bretherton, W. F. Morris
The Fortunate Brother, Donna Morrissey
The Outcasts of Time, Ian Mortimer
The Forgotten Garden, Kate Morton
Homesick For Another World, Ottessa Moshfegh
Night Waking Sarah Moss
Sweetgirl, Travis Mulhauser
More Than This, Patrick Ness
Adventures in Modern Marriage, William Nicholson
The Mermaid’s Sister, Carrie Anne Noble
The Life and Death of Sophie Stark, Anna North
The End of the Day, Claire North
Four Princes, John Julius Norwich
Goodnight Beautiful Women, Anna Noyes
The King’s Concubine, Anne O’Brien
Devil’s Consort, Anne O’Brien
The Forbidden Queen, Anne O’Brien
The Shadow Queen, Anne O’Brien
My Husband’s Son, Deborah O’Connor
The Ballroom Cafe, Ann O’Loughlin
Minds Of Winter, Ed O’Loughlin
The Lonely Hearts Hotel, Heather O’Neill
Only Ever Yours, Louise O’Neill
The Woman Next Door, Yewande Omotoso
Baby Doll, Hollie Overton
What Is Not Yours Is Not Yours, Helen Oyenemi
A Tale for the Time Being, Ruth Ozeki
Spare Brides, Adele Parks
Commonwealth, Ann Patchett
My Life With Bob, Pamela Paul
The Ice, Laline Paull
The Essex Serpent, Sarah Perry
Saint Peter’s Fair, Ellis Peters
A Rare Benedictine, Ellis Peters
Brother Cadfael’s Penance, Ellis Peters
Fierce Kingdom, Gin Phillips
The Beautiful Bureaucrat, Hannah Phillips
Everywoman, Jess Phillips
Woman on the Edge of Time, Marge Piercy
Behind Her Eyes, Sarah Pinborough
The Futures, Anna Pitoniak
A Notable Woman, Jean Lucey Pratt
Barkskins, Annie Proulx
The Watchmaker of Filigree Street, Natasha Pulley
Plague Child, Peter Ransley
Magnificent Obsession, Helen Rappaport
Amy Snow, Tracy Rees
The Evenings, Gerard Reve
The Shadow Hour, Kate Riordan
The Walworth Beauty, Michele Roberts
To Be Continued, James Robertson
The Secrets She Keeps, Michael Robotham
The House at the End of the World, Julia Rochester
Get Well Soon, Marie-Sabine Roger
Jonathan Unleashed, Meg Rosoff
The Casual Vacancy, J.K. Rowling
Across Great Divides, Monique Roy
The Happiness Project, Gretchen Rubin
The Chilbury Ladies Choir, Jennifer Ryan
The Fractured Life of Jimmy Dice, Ronan Ryan
Inferior, Angela Saini
Indelible, Adelia Saunders
The Secrets of Wishtide, Kate Saunders
See What I Have Done, Sarah Schmidt
Books for Living, William Schwalbe
Les Parisiennes, Anna Sebba
Today Will Be Different, Maria Semple
The Flowering Thorn, Margery Sharp
For Renata, B Robert Sharry
Frankenstein, Mary Shelley
Daughter, Jane Shemilt
The Weather House, Nan Shepherd
The Stars Are Fire, Anita Shreve
A Town Like Alice, Nevil Shute
The Best of Adam Sharp, Graham Simsion
The Assumption of Rogues and Rascals, Elizabeth Smart
Autumn, Ali Smith
Public Library & Other Stories, Ali Smith
The Secrets of Station X, Michael Smith
44 Scotland Street, Alexander McCall Smith
The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency, Alexander McCall Smith
The Sunday Philosophy Club, Alexander McCall Smith
The Virginity of Famous Men, Christina Sneed
The Forgotten Tudor Women, Sylvia Barbara Soberton
Leaving Lucy Pear, Anna Solomon
The Invisible Life of Ivan Isaenko, Scott Stambach
Shelter, Marguerite Steen
Fish Have No Feet, Jón Kalman Stefánsson
Godblind, Anna Stephens
Kidnapped, Robert Louis Stevenson
Girl Waits With Gun, Amy Stewart
Man At The Helm, Nina Stibbe
Paradise Lodge, Nina Stibbe
The Vacationers, Emma Straub
Modern Lovers, Emma Straub
The Bell Family, Noel Streatfeild
Anything Is Possible, Elizabeth Strout
The Wicked Boy, Kate Summerscale
The Little Old Lady Who Broke All The Rules, Catharina Ingelman-Sundberg
Dawn Wind, Rosemary Sutcliff
Sword at Sunset, Rosemary Sutcliff
Elephant Moon, John Sweeney
The Nest, Cynthia D’Aprix Sweeney
Daughter of Smoke and Bone, Laini Taylor
The Lauras, Sara Taylor
Subtly Worded and Other Stories, Teffi
The Suicide Shop, John Teule
Mr Eternity, Aaron Thier
The Twelve Lives of Samuel Hawley, Hannah Tinti
House of Names, Colm Toibin
A Swarming of Bees, Theresa Tomlinson
The Gustav Sonata, Rose Tremain
The Ice Twins, S K Tremayne
The Fire Child, S K Tremayne
The Somnambulist and the Psychic Thief, Lisa Tuttle
A Thousand Paper Birds, Tor Udall
The Witchfinder’s Sister, Beth Underdown
The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making, Catherynne M. Valente
Spoils, Brian Van Reet
Midnight Blue, Simone van der Vlugt
Daredevils, Shawn Vestal
Cousins, Salley Vickers
Breakfast of Champions, Kurt Vonnegut
Cat’s Cradle, Kurt Vonnegut
Smoke, Dan Vyieta
The End of the World Running Club, Adrian J Walker
Thirst, Benjamin Warner
Foxlowe, Eleanor Wasserberg
Girls on Fire, Robin Wasserman
The Night Watch, Sarah Waters
Arthur: Prince of Roses, Alison Weir
Anne Boleyn: A King’s Obsession, Alison Weir
The Underground Railroad, Colson Whitehead
The Picture of Dorian Gray, Oscar Wilde
The Storms of War, Kate Williams
The Brontes, Brian Wilks
A Talent For Murder, Andrew Wilson
Mrs Hemingway, Naomi Wood
Magruder’s Curiousity Cabinet, H. P. Wood
The One in a Million Boy, Monica Wood
Eliza Rose, Lucy Worsley
Jane Austen At Home, Lucy Worsley
The Lost Time Accidents, John Wray
Alice in Brexitland, Lucien Young
Beware of Pity, Stefan Zweig
Oh My! Do you really want our opinion on which ones you should get rid of?
I really like your comment
“I realised that I just like buying books, like the way other people buy themselves a chocolate bar.”
What makes book buying so much more acceptable than buying chocolate is that they wont rot your teeth, make you fat and I’m sure many other things. They will broaden your mind, but the only way people will notice is in your conversation!
Get rid of? Get rid of? Who said anything about getting rid of?! This is the audit process – I just sat down and figured out what I had that I hadn’t read – I was asking for advice on which one of this list to read! Good Lord – what kind of site do you think this is? 🙂
That’s a relief! As they aren’t ‘real’ books the removing them from an e-reader doesn’t begin to compare to the trauma of disposing of books (there a number of boxes in my garage that support this!)
(Oh, and I hope you mean ‘advice’ – well I’m sure you do!)
Fixed it – can’t bear typos!
I don’t buy e-books but I do download free classics and i have quite a load of those piling up. Then I forget about them because they are not looming over me like the piles on my bedside shelf. I should really sit down and figure out which ones I actually want to read, though!