Tackling the TBR #18

Are you ready to hear about ten more books I once said I wanted to read? I’m very excited about some of the books that are up today! Let’s get to it!

It has become apparent that my TBR (to be read) list has gotten nearly out of hand. Therefore, I have decided to do a post featuring ten books from it approximately every other week. As I go through the list, I will evaluate each book and decide whether or not it still belongs. All synopses come from Goodreads, unless there is no synopsis in Goodreads, in which case it either comes from Amazon or my personal understanding. Who knows, perhaps as my list (hopefully) shrinks, you will find a few books to add to your own!

The last time I did this type of post was February 8. At the end of that post, my TBR list contained 765 books. Today it has 769. I have gone through 200 books.

#201.  Up to This Pointe by Jennifer Longo

Synopsis: Harper is a dancer. She and her best friend, Kate, have one goal: becoming professional ballerinas. And Harper won’t let anything—or anyone—get in the way of The Plan, not even the boy she and Kate are both drawn to.

Harper is a Scott. She’s related to Robert Falcon Scott, the explorer who died racing to the South Pole. So when Harper’s life takes an unexpected turn, she finagles (read: lies) her way to the icy dark of McMurdo Station . . . in Antarctica. Extreme, but somehow fitting—apparently she has always been in the dark, dancing on ice this whole time. And no one warned her. Not her family, not her best friend, not even the boy who has somehow found a way into her heart.

Comments: If this weren’t set partially in Antarctica, I would take it off my list. However, it is, so it can stay.

Decision: Keep

#202.  The Sun is Also a Star by Nicola Yoon

Synopsis: Natasha: I’m a girl who believes in science and facts. Not fate. Not destiny. Or dreams that will never come true. I’m definitely not the kind of girl who meets a cute boy on a crowded New York City street and falls in love with him. Not when my family is twelve hours away from being deported to Jamaica. Falling in love with him won’t be my story.

Daniel: I’ve always been the good son, the good student, living up to my parents’ high expectations. Never the poet. Or the dreamer. But when I see her, I forget about all that. Something about Natasha makes me think that fate has something much more extraordinary in store—for both of us.

The Universe: Every moment in our lives has brought us to this single moment. A million futures lie before us. Which one will come true?

Comments: This book cover is gorgeous! I think I added it when the movie came out and I kept seeing it check out from the library. I’m not sure that it’s really for me, though.

Decision: Remove

#203.  The Atomic City Girls by Janet Beard

Synopsis: In November 1944, eighteen-year-old June Walker boards an unmarked bus, destined for a city that doesn’t officially exist. Oak Ridge, Tennessee has sprung up in a matter of months—a town of trailers and segregated houses, 24-hour cafeterias, and constant security checks. There, June joins hundreds of other young girls operating massive machines whose purpose is never explained. They know they are helping to win the war, but must ask no questions and reveal nothing to outsiders.

The girls spend their evenings socializing and flirting with soldiers, scientists, and workmen at dances and movies, bowling alleys and canteens. June longs to know more about their top-secret assignment and begins an affair with Sam Cantor, the young Jewish physicist from New York who oversees the lab where she works and understands the end goal only too well, while her beautiful roommate Cici is on her own mission: to find a wealthy husband and escape her sharecropper roots. Across town, African-American construction worker Joe Brewer knows nothing of the government’s plans, only that his new job pays enough to make it worth leaving his family behind, at least for now. But a breach in security will intertwine his fate with June’s search for answers.

When the bombing of Hiroshima brings the truth about Oak Ridge into devastating focus, June must confront her ideals about loyalty, patriotism, and war itself.

Comments: Based on the synopsis, this book could go a lot of different directions, and I might either love or hate it. I think it’s still worth a chance.

Decision: Keep

#204.  Summer Constellations by Alisha Sevigny

Synopsis: Julia Ducharme is ready for a fresh start. Her little brother has finally recovered from a serious illness, and now she just wants to enjoy peak season at the campground her family owns. Maybe this will be the year her annual summer fling with Dan Schaeffer becomes something more?

But her summer dreams are quickly shattered. First, Dan arrives for vacation with a new girlfriend in tow, and then Julia discovers this may be her last summer in the only home she’s ever known. Crushing medical bills have brought her single mom to the brink of bankruptcy, and a wealthy developer is sniffing around the campground. He sees what Julia sees: lush woods, a pristine lake, miles of trails for adventure. Unlike Julia, he thinks this is the perfect spot for a casino resort.

Heartbroken and afraid, Julia looks to the stars for some perspective. Taking her telescope down to the dock one night, she has a chance encounter with a guitar-playing boy who offers some helpful advice. Too bad this handsome stranger is the developer’s son, Nick Constantine.

Summer Constellations is a story of lost summers, hidden treasure and love written in the stars. It is also a thoughtful reflection on what it means to love — and leave — one’s childhood home.

Comments: This book sounds heartbreaking and beautiful, like the YA version of a Hallmark movie except there may not be a happy ending.

Decision: Keep

#205.  A Prairie Girl’s Faith: The Spiritual Legacy of Laura Ingalls Wilder by Stephen W. Hines

Synopsis: A Prairie Girl’s Faithprovides the first extended, in depth discussion of the Christian faith of one of America’s most beloved pioneer women–Laura Ingalls Wilder. Although the faith of the Ingalls’ family pervades books in the Little House series, the more specific details of Laura’s faith have never been fully explored. It took extraordinary pluck for anyone to survive the harshness of frontier life–from the heartbreak of sudden crop losses to murderous storms to unrelenting loneliness. This book reveals how in surviving, the brave Laura drew not just on her character, but found encouragement, strength, and hope in her relationship with God.

Comments: There is no doubt I want to read this book!

Decision: Keep

#206.  The Lost Castle by Kristy Cambron

Synopsis: As Ellie Carver sits by her grandmother’s bedside, she hears stories of a castle . . . of lost love and a hidden chapel that played host to a secret fight in the World War II French resistance. But her grandmother is quickly slipping into the locked-down world of Alzheimer’s, and Ellie must act fast if she wants to uncover the truth of her family’s history.

Sparked by the discovery of a long forgotten family heirloom, Ellie embarks on a journey to French wine country to uncover the mystery surrounding The Sleeping Beauty–the castle so named for Charles Perrault’s beloved fairy tale–and unearth its secrets before they’re finally silenced by time.

Set in three different time periods–the French Revolution, World War II, and present day–The Lost Castle is a story of loves won and lost, of battles waged, and an enchanted castle that inspired the epic fairy tales time left behind.

Comments: Another that I am completely sure I want to read…eventually! This author has been endorsed by one of my favorite authors, Sarah Sundin, so I know her historical fiction should be good!

Decision: Keep

#207.  Miriam’s Secret (Land of Promise #1) by Jerry S. Eicher

Synopsis: Miriam Yoder has a secret. Her compassionate care for Amos Bland during his last days resulted in her receiving a large inheritance. When Ivan Mast indicates his intentions at romance, Miriam suspects he’s discovered her hidden wealth and has plans that aren’t inspired by his love for her.

Seeking a fresh start where no one knows her, Miriam accepts a teaching position in faraway Oklahoma where she meets Wayne Yutzy, a local greenhouse employee. His interest in her seems genuine and when he proposes, Miriam accepts. Happiness surely awaits the newly engaged couple….or does it?

Comments: There isn’t a lot of Amish fiction set in Oklahoma, and this series is pretty popular in conservative circles here. I probably would have enjoyed it a few years ago, but it just doesn’t sound exciting or engaging now.

Decision: Remove

#208.  The Buzzards Are Circling, but God’s Not Finished with Me Yet by Stan Toler

Synopsis: Who couldn’t use a little encouragement from time to time? In this delightful collection of stories and life lessons, you’ll discover how you can experience hope, joy, and peace even in life’s most trying times. In chapters such as “When the Fountain of Youth Has Rusted” and “I Know I’m Lost, but the Scenery Is Spectacular,” you’ll find the encouragement you need to shoo away any buzzards and face life’s difficulties with the security of knowing that God is in control. By mixing humor with poignant truths and practical methods for finding hope when life gets tough, Stan Toler will have you boldly laughing in the face of difficult circumstances.

Comments: I received a copy of this book from my Grandma a few years ago when she was downsizing. Maybe someday I’ll get to it, but it clearly is not written for someone at the stage of life I’m currently in.

Decision: Remove

#209.  Caroline: Little House, Revisited by Sarah Miller

Synopsis: In this novel authorized by the Little House Heritage Trust, Sarah Miller vividly recreates the beauty, hardship, and joys of the frontier in a dazzling work of historical fiction, a captivating story that illuminates one courageous, resilient, and loving pioneer woman as never before—Caroline Ingalls, “Ma” in Laura Ingalls Wilder’s beloved Little House books.

The pioneer life is a hard one, especially for a pregnant woman with no friends or kin to turn to for comfort or help. The burden of work must be shouldered alone, sickness tended without the aid of doctors, and babies birthed without the accustomed hands of mothers or sisters. But Caroline’s new world is also full of tender joys. In adapting to this strange new place and transforming a rough log house built by Charles’ hands into a home, Caroline must draw on untapped wells of strength she does not know she possesses.

 

Comments: It’s hard to beleive that this book has been on my TBR list for almost three years now, since I’ve been excited about it ever since I first heard about it. 

Decision: Keep

#210.  Kilmeny of the Orchard by L. M. Montgomery

Synopsis: A young schoolmaster. A beautiful violin virtuoso. An abandoned orchard is where romance blossoms between this couple in turn-of-the century Canada. But will the secrets of her past threaten the love and the promising future they have before it even starts?

Comments: I have a loose goal to read every book by L.M. Montgomery and Louisa May Alcott eventually, so of course this one is on my list!

Decision: Keep

Ending number of books on TBR list: 766

Not very many cut this time through, but there are so many books that I am greatly looking forward to reading here! 

Would you have decided differently than I did? Do you want to read any of the books talked about today?

Until the next chapter,

Jana