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Hi All, I've been using a 'Maybe' bookshelf on GoodReads for years now, and generally mark books 'Maybe' when I'm yet to decide whether or not I want to read them. This includes unsolicited books I receive for review and titles I think I'd like, but I'm not sure about.

Could you please take a look at my 'Maybe' bookshelf (linked here: /review/list...) and tell me if you loved any of the books listed and think I would enjoy them too. Or let me know if you hated any of those on my list and tell me not to bother with them.

In essence, help me reduce the number of books in my 'Maybe' shelf by moving some to my TBR list or deleting them all together.

Would love to hear your thoughts and advice and think this could be fun. I think I saw Suzanne do this many years ago and I loved looking at her list and telling her 'not to bother' with certain titles I didn't enjoy. Of course I know every reader is different, but this will be the necessary prompt I need to weed this list down.

Over to you guys!

oh dear, i'm better at suggesting new books you might like to read!

Jazzy wrote: "oh dear, i'm better at suggesting new books you might like to read!"

No problems Jazzy, but some of these are new books and new releases, and there’s only 70 so if you change the view from list to covers and see anything you’d recommend, please let me know :-)

I haven't read this, but my suggestion to read is:

The Miniaturist

And to take off the list:

How to Write a Novel: 47 Rules for Writing a Stupendously Awesome Novel That You Will Love Forever

You don't need that. Just read good novels.

My Cousin Rachel is an excellent book. Anything by Daphne du Maurier is worth reading 😉

I've seen a couple of titles on your list that I want to read!

But I think you can definitely skip The Rainbow Serpent - it was on special a while ago on iTunes, and I downloaded a sample. Holy Moley, can you say overwritten! The prose was so torturous, I struggled to read the first few pages.

But then, many people seem to like it, so who knows...

Hi Tracey
I add all books to my want to read books, but for new books/ authors that haven’t been recommended to me by someone I review every now and then and make use of the goodreads ratings.

I find that I tend to rate many books lower than the average good reads ratings, so I look again at any books that have an average in the low 3’s or below. This can be handy for new books, as more people read and rate them, I think the average becomes more true.

Of course there are some books I read regardless of the ratings, just because I want to. But I find this a handy way of whittling out books that caught my interest at the time from the blurb, but I don’t know much more about them.

Life is too short to read bad books. Unless you are caught somewhere without a good book. In that case, reading the back of the cereal packet or anything else around is a serious option!

(On the PC version of good reads, you can sort your shelves by average rating, it helps)

Had a quick squiz at your shelf. Definitely keep the Emma Viksic in!

Icewineanne wrote: "My Cousin Rachel is an excellent book. Anything by Daphne du Maurier is worth reading 😉"

Hadn't noticed that one, but have to agree!

and also keep The Concubine's Child as it is by Australian Author Carol Jones and looks quite good.

I have read 2,024 QI Facts To Stop You In Your Tracks and it's one of those books you can dip in and out of, you can take it off the list and have a look at it if you have it now and then. The same with the book of photos.

I found The Miniaturist tended towards the melancholy yet I slogged on and then wished I hadn't. Well-written.

Daphne du Maurier's books are good in my opinion.

Sorry, I haven't read any of them so I'm no help. Love Kerri's comment about the cereal packet! I read a couple of awful books that I had taken with me to France because it was too hard to buy another one in English!

I really enjoyed Sometimes I Lie. And a few of my friends and I had good discussions as we read it.

I also saw that you have a next year release by Jane Harper. One of my favorite reads this year is her The Dry.

Definitely keep the cat lady embroidery, because I want to see what you do with it!

If you read Our Souls at Night, try to misplace it when you get to about 80%. You will not like what happens at the end. But it is otherwise a good reading experience.

A Maybe shelf is a good idea. My tbr shelf is humungous, even after a regular weeding it's more than I could read in my lifetime!

I don't know a lot of the books on your shelf but I love My Cousin Rachel.
Daisy in Chains was a good thriller by one of my favourite authors.
And Fire Came Down was a good Aussie thriller and sequel.
The Miniaturist was worth reading although I didn't like it as much as some.

On my tbr that I'm still keen to read: Stormbird, The Bear and the Nightingale, The Broken Girls, Sometimes I Lie, Our Souls at Night and The Chalk Man

and I'm off to check out Cat Lady Embroidery: 380 Ways to Stitch a Cat (I see Andrea is taken with that one too)! It would make a good companion to a book I have called Knit Your Own Cat: Easy-to-Follow Patterns for 16 Frisky Felines

I would definitely keep Jar of Hearts. I’ve read some rave reviews for it and The Girl On The Page because it’s written by John Purcell and I’d be interested to see his writing style.

I enjoyed The Trap by Melanie Raabe 4 stars
Widows by Lynda La Plante 4 stars
Daisy in Chains by Sharon J. Bolton 5 stars
And Fire Came Down by Emma Viskic 5 stars

They are the ones I've read so I really can't comment on the others with knowledge :)

Don't get rid of The Concubine's Child by Carol Jones - I'll be reading it within the next week or so and can let you know...
The Lost Man by Jane Harper hasn't been released yet, but DON'T get rid of that!! lol

There are a few others that I'd get rid of but it's your list not mine :)

Jazzy wrote: "I haven't read this, but my suggestion to read is:
The Miniaturist
And to take off the list: [book:How to Write a Novel: 47 Rules for Writing a Stupendously Awesome Novel That ..."

Thanks Jazzy!

Icewineanne wrote: "My Cousin Rachel is an excellent book. Anything by Daphne du Maurier is worth reading 😉"
Thanks Icewineanne, I think you've convinced me. I have Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier on my TBR but think I'll add this one too now.

Susan wrote: "I've seen a couple of titles on your list that I want to read! But I think you can definitely skip The Rainbow Serpent - it was on special a while ago on iTunes, and I downloaded a sample. Holy Mo..."

Thanks Susan, but do you mean The Essex Serpent? Great to hear you want to read some of the titles in my Maybe shelf. So many books, so little time, right?

Kerri_M wrote: "Hi Tracey
I add all books to my want to read books, but for new books/ authors that haven’t been recommended to me by someone I review every now and then and make use of the goodreads ratings.."
Thanks KerriM, I loved hearing about your process of adding new books and using the ratings system. I'm very strict about adding books to my TBR, so when they're added, they're very unlikely to be removed. Perhaps that's why I created the 'Maybe' shelf, so I could come back and decide later. Flagging books of interest so I wouldn't forget about them, but not yet committing to adding them to my TBR. Sometimes I sort my Maybe shelf by the star ratings and look at anything below a 3 star rating and see if I can get rid of it. But this is the highest it's ever been at 70 books.

The reason I haven’t converted And Fire Came Down by Emma Viskic to my TBR is because this is a review copy and I haven’t read the first one. Can you read this one as a standalone?

Yes Tracey that will be fine :)

Jazzy wrote: "And also keep The Concubine's Child as it is by Australian Author Carol Jones and looks quite good. I have read 2,024 QI Facts To Stop You In Your Tracks and it's one of those books you can dip in and out of, you can take it off the list and have a look at it if you have it now and then. The same with the book of photos. "

Thanks Jazzy and I agree, I've read two of the QI Facts series of books now and have thoroughly enjoyed both of them. This one is in my Maybe shelf because I've requested a review copy but haven't heard back or received it yet. If it comes, it'll definitely move straight to my TBR.

Anna Faversham wrote: "I found The Miniaturist tended towards the melancholy yet I slogged on and then wished I hadn't. Well-written. Daphne du Maurier's books are good in my opinion."

Thanks Anna, you've helped to persuade me to move My Cousin Rachel to my TBR. Did you watch the TV show The Miniaturist? I really enjoyed the show, but not sure if the book will be any different. Any advice?

Rita wrote: "Sorry, I haven't read any of them so I'm no help. Love Kerri's comment about the cereal packet! I read a couple of awful books that I had taken with me to France because it was too hard to buy anot..."
Thanks Rita, I love choosing books to take away on holiday. That must have been terrible to be stuck with dud reads in such an amazing place.

Heather wrote: "I really enjoyed Sometimes I Lie. And a few of my friends and I had good discussions as we read it. I also saw that you have a next year release by Jane Harper. One..."

Thanks Heather, I loved both of Jane Harper's books and gave them 5 stars each. I have her new one on my TBR as I requested a review copy from Pan Macmillan last month, so fingers crossed I get it.

Andrea wrote: "Definitely keep the cat lady embroidery, because I want to see what you do with it! If you read Our Souls at Night, try to misplace it when you get to about 80%. You will not like ..."

Your comment made me laugh Andrea! I probably won't actually embroider any cats, but love reading cross stitch and embroidery books, so requested this one from Murdoch Books back in March. I haven't received it yet so it doesn't look good.

Oooh, not sure how to take the comment about Our Souls At Night. If one of them dies, I can handle it, but I don't enjoy a sappy happy ending (which you know) so you have me intrigued now. I think this was made into a movie with Robert Redford, has anyone seen it? How does it compare to the book?

Carolyn wrote: "A Maybe shelf is a good idea. My tbr shelf is humungous, even after a regular weeding it's more than I could read in my lifetime! I don't know a lot of the books on your shelf but I love My Cousin Rachel. Daisy in Chains was a good thriller by one of my favourite authors. And Fire Came Down was a good Aussie thriller and sequel. The Miniaturist was worth reading although I didn't like it as much as some.
On my tbr that I'm still keen to read: Stormbird, The Bear and the Nightingale, The Broken Girls, Sometimes I Lie, Our Souls at Night and The Chalk Man.
And I'm off to check out Cat Lady Embroidery: 380 Ways to Stitch a Cat. It would make a good companion to a book I have called Knit Your Own Cat: Easy-to-Follow Patterns for 16 Frisky Felines ..."

Oh my gosh Carolyn, I just had a look you have 1,707 books on your TBR. WOW!! Your comment helped me to convert My Cousin RachelMy Cousin Rachel to my TBR, so thanks for that. Did you see my question above about And Fire Came Down? Can it be read as a standalone or do you need to read the first one?
And you've convinced me to read Daisy in Chains, so thank you!

Veronica ⭐️ wrote: "I would definitely keep Jar of Hearts. I’ve read some rave reviews for it and The Girl On The Page because it’s written by John Purcell and I’d be interested to see ..."
Thanks Veronica, I think I'm receiving a final copy of The Girl On The Page for review in September, so fingers crossed. And I have an unsolicited copy of Jar of Hearts so might have to give it a go. Thanks!

Brenda wrote: "I enjoyed The Trap by Melanie Raabe, Widows by Lynda La Plante, Daisy in Chains by Sharon J. Bolton, And Fire Came Down by Emma Viskic. They are the ones I've read so I really can't comment on the others with knowledge :)

Don't get rid of The Concubine's Child by Carol Jones - I'll be reading it within the next week or so and can let you know...
The Lost Man by Jane Harper hasn't been released yet, but DON'T get rid of that!! lol ..."

Thanks for your input Brenda. I've now converted Daisy in Chains to my TBR, so thanks for helping persuade me on that one. Looking forward to hearing how you like The Concubine's Child and hoping to get a review copy of The Lost Man by Jane Harper so won't be removing that. I have an unsolicited copy of Widows so might have to give it a go. I've seen interviews with Lynda La Plante and have always liked her.

Jazzy wrote: "And to take off the list:
[book:How to Write a Novel: 47 Rules for Writing a Stupendously Awesome Novel That ..."

Thanks Jazzy, I've just pulled the trigger and deleted it from my Maybe bookshelf. Thanks!

I haven't read any of your 'maybes' or have them on my TBR list so we must have very different tastes in what we read.
We do have Library Lion by Michelle Knudsen at work and it is popular. As it's a picture book it shouldn't take up too much of your reading time.
Oh and I love the idea of the cat embroidery one.

Other people have mentioned three of the four I've read, I think you'd enjoy the Emma Viskic more if you read #1, but it's not absolutely necessary,
As for Thirteen, I wouldn't bother unless you've read the first three: can be read stand alone, but .....

Hi Tracey - Yes, I did mean "The Essex Serpent" (no idea why I wrote "Rainbow"?)

Tracey Allen wrote: "Carolyn wrote: "A Maybe shelf is a good idea. My tbr shelf is humungous, even after a regular weeding it's more than I could read in my lifetime! I don't know a lot of the books on your shelf but I..."

I answered that one for you Tracey :)

I've only read 7 on your list, our tastes are 75% similar so for what it's worth: I gave 4 stars to Hex, Sometimes I Lie this one seems to be a love it or hate it kind of book and Thirteen: The serial killer isn’t on trial. He’s on the jury Iended up reading all in the series of this one.
I liked these 2 but think they are overrated
The Chalk Man and The Broken Girls
I love the idea of this, feel free to comment on my shelf anyone who is reading this /review/list... also my maybe shelf which if I'm honest is just a 2nd tbr /review/list...

Actually I was doing a study on mythological beings like spring-heeled jacks, and ended up reading some clips from The Essex Serpent and thought it looked exceptionally canny.

But I have only read a few clips, not the whole book.

Tracey Allen wrote: "Anna Faversham wrote: "I found The Miniaturist tended towards the melancholy yet I slogged on and then wished I hadn't. Well-written. Daphne du Maurier's books are good in my opinion."

Thanks Anna..."

I read the book a long time ago and I also watched the TV show. Others seem to have liked the book and if you liked the TV show then maybe you should take that as a TBR hint. Or, leave it in the slimmed down 'Maybes' - you have at least seen it on TV and perhaps you could devote the time to other books and return to the Maybes later? Difficult!

Tracey Allen wrote: "Carolyn wrote: "A Maybe shelf is a good idea. My tbr shelf is humungous, even after a regular weeding it's more than I could read in my lifetime! I don't know a lot of the books on your shelf but I..."

Yes I'm a tbr tragic - 1707 plus over 600 owned tbr! Guess I need to do some serious weeding and consider a 'maybe' shelf myself!

I agree with Brenda that And Fire Came Down could be read as a stand alone but I personally preferred the first book Resurrection Bay so would recommend reading that

Rita wrote: "Sorry, I haven't read any of them so I'm no help. Love Kerri's comment about the cereal packet! I read a couple of awful books that I had taken with me to France because it was too hard to buy anot..."

Rita that is why God invented wifi, ipads/tablets and e-books :)

Tracey Allen wrote: "Kerri_M wrote: "Hi Tracey
I add all books to my want to read books, but for new books/ authors that haven’t been recommended to me by someone I review every now and then and make use of the goodrea..."

I would read the first book first, but then I am a bit obsessive that way! But there is quite a bit of story follow through into the second book, it will make more sense if you read the other first.

You made me go through my wish list today Tracey (same as your "maybe" shelf) I had 72 on there and got rid of 28 :)

Diana wrote: "I haven't read any of your 'maybes' or have them on my TBR list so we must have very different tastes in what we read. We do have Library Lion by Michelle Knudsen at work and it is popular. As it's a picture book it shouldn't take up too much of your reading time. Oh and I love the idea of the cat embroidery one. ..."

Thanks Diana, did you see Andrea liked the cat embroidery one too? Lol! The Library Lion book is in there because I'd like to buy it for my nephew but he's a little young for it yet. I also don't put children's books in my TBR very often because if I don't review it and there are too many, it unfairly inflates my Reading Challenge, making it look as though I've read a tonne when I really haven't.

Marianne wrote: "Other people have mentioned three of the four I've read, I think you'd enjoy the Emma Viskic more if you read #1, but it's not absolutely necessary. As for Thirteen, I wouldn't bother unless you've read the first three: can be read stand alone, but ...."

Oh, thank you Marianne, I don't think I realised Thirteen was part of a series when I added it to my Maybe shelf. Just had another read of the blurb (and your review) and decided I don't want to read the first three, so have removed it. Thank you!

Susan wrote: "Hi Tracey - Yes, I did mean "The Essex Serpent" (no idea why I wrote "Rainbow"?)"

Hahah, it happens to the best of us. Yes, I've heard mixed reviews about The Essex Serpent, readers seem to either love it or hate it. I'm on the fence for now. Might borrow it from the library (or a friend) when the hype blows over.

Brenda wrote: "I answered that one for you Tracey :)
& You made me go through my wish list today Tracey (same as your "maybe" shelf) I had 72 on there and got rid of 28 :) ..."

Thanks Brenda and wow, that's impressive. Clearing 28 books from your wishlist is terrific progress. But I also noticed that you have two pages of bookshelves. I couldn't stand the scrolling to tick the bookshelf boxes, how do you manage it?

Kerri wrote: "I've only read 7 on your list, our tastes are 75% similar so for what it's worth: I gave 4 stars to Hex, Sometimes I Lie this one seems to be a love it or hate it kind of book and Thirteen. I ended up reading all in the series of this one.
I liked these 2 but think they are overrated: The Chalk Man and The Broken Girls
I love the idea of this, feel free to comment on my shelf anyone who is reading this Sleeping Beautiess.com/review/list... also my maybe shelf which if I'm honest is just a 2nd tbr /review/list... ..."

Thanks for all your feedback Kerri. I've removed Thirteen from my Maybe list. I had a look at your two lists and from those I'd say don’t bother with Sleeping Beauties by Stephen King. I’m a huge fan of Stephen King but this one was just a bit average. (Like Cell)

Jazzy wrote: "Actually I was doing a study on mythological beings like spring-heeled jacks, and ended up reading some clips from The Essex Serpent and thought it looked exceptionally canny. ..."

Thanks Jazzy, this one seems to divide readers, doesn't it?

Anna Faversham wrote: "I read the book a long time ago and I also watched the TV show. Others seem to have liked the book and if you liked the TV show then maybe you should take that as a TBR hint. Or, leave it in the slimmed down 'Maybes' - you have at least seen it on TV and perhaps you could devote the time to other books and return to the Maybes later? Difficult! ..."

Excellent advice Anna, I'm going to do just that! I've seen the show, and that's enough of a 'taste' for me. I'm going to remove it.

Carolyn wrote: "Tracey Allen wrote: "Carolyn wrote: "A Maybe shelf is a good idea. My tbr shelf is humungous, even after a regular weeding it's more than I could read in my lifetime! ..."

Thanks Carolyn, and good luck with any weeding you have to do. This process has been very helpful for me, so let us know if you want any 'help' with yours :-)

Thanks to everyone who has contributed their feedback so far. I started with 70 books on my Maybe shelf and am now down to 64. I have moved 3 to my TBR and deleted 3 and I’m really happy with the progress.

I’ll always be open to feedback though, this is an ongoing process as we all know. So anyone seeing this who’d like to chip in their opinion, please do. The more the merrier.

I should also add that my Maybe shelf and my DNF shelf are both exclusive bookshelves. This means I can move a book from Maybe, to To Read, to Currently Reading to DNF if I want to. This is how I can flag a book as Maybe and keep it separate from my TBR.

How many others use exclusive shelves? I’ve seen a few for wish lists. It’s so handy, isn’t it?