I Tried Downsizing My TBR

It's a struggle. But a fun one.

You ever look at the list of books you want to read—your “to be read” shelf—and think, “I’ll never get to them all?” Congrats! You’re a reader.

I was slowly getting my list under control and then I joined Substack and the recommendations came pouring in. But I have developed my tried-and-true method for deciding if a book is worth continuing: I read the first sixty pages and then judge if it’s to be finished or chucked. Normally when I do this there is a theme, like fantasy or a certain author. But things being currently out of control, I ordered a selection of unrelated books from my library and set to.

Let’s see if any of these suckers make the cut.

The Sunne in Splendour by Sharon Kay Penman

I know very little about the War of the Roses and this book would fill in that gap nicely because it follows Richard III and his family. But it does it from the perspective of showing Richard in a more forgiving light, since he has famously been maligned by history, especially at the hand of Shakespeare. I like it when history gets shown in a different light.

It’s hard to judge the characters because I’m still on shaky ground when it comes to identifying them. There were seemingly five names available back then and when you slap on their titles and complicated family trees, it’s a lot to juggle. And it does start when Richard is a kid, so I can’t say what kind of guy/character he’ll be.

The writing seems to fit the time period, in that people don’t talk like they’re living in the current decade. That’s something I’m always on the lookout for in historical fiction; I might not know exactly how they sounded in older times, but I know what people today sound like, so it’s easy to spot if it’s too modern.

Something odd I noticed about the writing is that words, generally conjunctions, are omitted. It doesn’t prevent me from understanding what’s written, but it does make the reading slightly choppy. Example: On the other side of the bridge, Rob Apsall tried to cross to Edmund, was roughly shoved back. The “but” is not strictly necessary. However, that kind of omission does turn up a lot and it reminds me of when you need to hit a certain word count, so you get real desperate with your editing. I found myself frequently re-reading sentences that could be perfectly easy to understand and that’s a little annoying.

For the history alone I would consider finishing this book, despite floundering under a deluge of Edwards, Richards, and Henrys. I’m not going to continue it now though; it’ll just stay on my TBR.

Salt and Broom by Sharon Lynn Fisher

Take me. I’m done.

This is what I get for foolishly thinking a book inspired by Jane Eyre can’t be all bad.

Jane Eyre is one of my favorite classics. The writing is great and it’s one of those exceptionally rare times where I saw myself in a character, which adds an extra layer of memorability and specialness. It really works for me.

This book is an insult and a disgrace. If someone is going to attempt to reimagine a classic and have it still set in the same time period, the least I would hope for is an author who puts in the effort to not make it sound like it was written in the 2020’s. There’s some half-hearted dialogue in the side characters that could fall under the banner of old-fashioned, but this book is in first person and Jane’s inner voice is so obviously not of that time, it was almost physically painful to read.

A problem with this Jane is that she’s so needlessly combative. The carriage driver tries to convince her to ride the last couple miles to Rochester’s house and she says, “The driver did not know me. If he had, he would not have continued his protests.” Maybe that would kinda work in a teenager, but this Jane has been aged up and she’s now thirty. That behavior in a woman her age and in that age is flat-out unacceptable. Does she know what manners and polite refusal are? No? Everyone is allowed to have bad days, but if you’re pigheaded and impolite every day, it’s a hard pass for me. Her contemptible attitude is especially obvious because it appears when she talks to men. So she’s one of those female characters.

The sixty pages did include meeting Rochester and I don’t like him. I’m not well-versed in the romantasy genre, but it seems like he’s some version of the brooding, emotionally-damaged cardboard box and I have no interest in that type. He’s nowhere near the real book’s version and certainly not Toby Stephens’ portrayal either.

The prose is boring and simplistic. I don’t want to cast baseless aspersions on the author, but it appears as if she wanted the vibes of this established story, and then omitted anything that might honor its classic status. It’s been deconstructed and updated for those with short attention spans and no appreciation for different mindsets.

Do yourself a favor. Either read the real book, or watch the 2006 miniseries.

Or just watch paint dry. That would be more productive.

The Lords of Discipline by Pat Conroy

I’ve never read anything by Conroy, though I’ve been aware of him for a while. So imagine my delight when I realized this guy was a legit writer.

I’m tempted to call it there and say “Review coming,” but I’ll share a taste of what unfolded in my mind as I read it.

So this is about a guy who’s in his final year at a military academy in South Carolina in the 60’s. He’s not a soldier type and doesn’t like the Institute, but he’s been put into a high position and is given the responsibility of looking out for a new recruit who happens to be the first black guy the Institute is accepting. Trouble is expected, and from the Institute’s own shadowy group called The Ten.

This is far and away not a plot I would ever normally pick to read. I don’t even remember exactly why it made it onto my TBR in the first place. But once I finished my sample I thought, “I should read the next chapter.”

I don’t read a lot of new new fiction, but this one was published in 1980 and it shows. Not in any surface level way, but in the naturalness and seemingly effortlessness of an author who isn’t chasing a trend and is allowed to just write. It’s hard to explain, but it’s like his writing style sits between old classics and new fiction. It has the readability of new stuff, but the rawer soul of older books. That might not make sense now, but hopefully my full review will better capture what I mean. And I’m not saying that new authors can’t do that, but having read The Picture of Dorian Gray, Brandon Sanderson—or most of the books I’ve read that were published in the last twenty years—and this book in close proximity, it seems to me that a lot of soul has been lost. Or just edited out.

What you can’t see is me excitedly gripping the book, eager to dive back in. Seriously, this plot and me, we should not mix under normal circumstances, so the fact that I’m hyped about it says a lot about the prose. And I’m gonna make a prediction for my review: I will dislike almost everything about this plot, especially the girl he just met, but I will enjoy it anyway.

Faceless Killers by Henning Mankell

This is book one in the Kurt Wallander series, it’s translated from Swedish, and it’s a murder mystery. I love a good murder mystery. I grew up watching Poirot and I’ve seen more murder shows than I can name.

And that’s the “issue” I have with this book.

Unless a mystery book is written in a particular style—like hardboiled or old-fashioned British—I’d rather watch a mystery show. In a show I can see the suspects and I’m better with faces than names, so if there’s a lot of suspects, it’ll be easier for me to keep track of people I can see, and not those I have to imagine. Since I also tend toward period shows, I would rather see the costumes and sets than read the description.

So with this book, since it doesn’t have a style that sticks out to me, I’m more interested in trying out the tv show than finishing the book.

However, there’s nothing that bothers me about the writing and I don’t think I’d’ve picked up on it being a translation. But there’s nothing to draw me in with the writing either. It’s probably a good book to read on a flight or listen to on a road trip; it passes the time in an agreeable way.

And the thing I love about doing this trial with books from different authors is that I can pick the best one and hold all the others to that standard. In isolation, this book would be better, but compared to The Lords of Discipline—which, as of writing this, I’m half-way through—it falls short.

But at least I have another murder show to try.

The Rook by Daniel O’Malley

This book has been on my TBR for about a decade. It’s sat at the top of my Goodreads “want to read” page for so long, in fact, I started not really seeing it—it had become one with the scenery. But ages ago I read the Kindle sample and it intrigued me, so there it stayed.

Was it worth keeping on the list?

It is about this woman who loses her memory, but she knew she would lose her memory and wrote a bunch of letters for her new self to read. This woman works for some secret paranormal agency in England and she herself has powers. Unfortunately, someone wants her dead and now she has to resume a life she doesn’t remember and uncover the buried spooky secrets.

Again, I am intrigued. But—hold onto your hot beverage—I think it would make a better miniseries. Those letters are full of information, which I doubt is all super important, and it kinda bogs down the beginning. But imagining it as a voiceover…yep, it would work. I wanted to know this information since both the woman and I are in the dark, and yet every time we get more information, I just wanted to see this new info play out in her environment. I want to know the backstory, but I wish it could be delivered in a tighter way, and as a voiceover.

One unexpected thing is that from what I read, I like the woman. (I’m not sharing her first name because it’s Welsh and I will not inflict that spelling on you. Or me.) Hearing her judge her old self and watching her juggle this alien job and these strange co-workers is really fun and she seems like a cool person to follow around. But in a miniseries.

If Edgar Wright, circa Hot Fuzz, adapted this book, it would be amazing.

I just thought of that idea and now I want that version of this book so bad. Someone make it happen!

Because of the Lockwoods by Dorothy Whipple

I was imaging this would be a cozy English story, just people living their lives. And it is. But there is an edge to the coziness.

This widowed mom and her three kids find themselves at the mercy of the Lockwoods, a rich and influential family in the north of England. The mom struggles to keep her family going on their meager finances and she goes to Mr. Lockwood for advice, but the latter quickly tires of the impositions, though he keeps helping her as a way to bolster his image. Her two older kids are given jobs that make them miserable but, desperate for money, they stay. The youngest daughter determines to not fall down that same path and instead pursue what she wants.

Another author/book that feels similar to this one is D. E. Stevenson and her Vittoria Cottage and Barbara Buncle trilogies. There’s the idyllic villages, afternoon teas, quaint gossip and small town troubles. In the Barbara Buncle trilogy, the darker moments—it takes place during WWII—feel far off and are barely touched upon, but here, the poverty and inferiority of this family are at the forefront. Their troubles are the driving point of the plot instead of happening to some other family that the protagonist endeavors to help. A more famous comparison would be L. M. Montgomery meets Charles Dickens, and that is a strangely okay mix.

I read my chunk in one sitting and it was very easy to slip into this time and clearly see the characters. It tells the thoughts and emotions of these characters in a way that still feels like I’m being shown the events. I know “showing” still gets all the praise, but getting told where everyone stands in less than sixty pages is not a bad thing, I think. Especially since it has that British charm of older books that I just love.

This is a short book and I’m gonna finish it.

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Alright, I had hoped to eliminate more than three books, but it’s still some progress.

How overflowing is your TBR? If you try this method of elimination, let me know how it goes!

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