Hi and welcome to this week’s Let’s Talk Bookish post! And today we’re either – possibly – going to have some fun or get confronted really hard. Why? Because this week it’s time to play TBR roulette! I have to admit that I did a TBR cleaning and declutter not too long ago, but we’ll see how this works out. I will be using my Goodreads TBR as this is the most accurate. Click on the book cover to find the book information as there are several books in series involved that aren’t book 1.

Let’s Talk Bookish is a weekly meme that was originally created and hosted by Rukky @ Eternity Books starting in August 2019, and was then cohosted by Dani @ Literary Lion from May 2020 to March 2022. Since April 2022, this meme is hosted by , Aria @ Book Nook Bits and since February 2025, Dini @ DiniPandaReads is the co-host. Let’s Talk Bookish is a meme where participants discuss certain topics, share their opinions, and share their love by visiting each other’s posts.

Prompts: What makes you keep a book on your TBR? Find a random number generator and put in the number of books on your TBR. Roll 5 times and note down the book each number corresponds to on your list and tell us: what made you add the book to your shelf (Was it a cover add? Does it have your favourite tropes? How long has it been on your TBR? If it has been on your TBR for a long time, do you still want to read it or have you lost interest)?

What makes me put a book on my TBR?

To be honest, I’m quite sensitive to hypes, even though I know they aren’t for me in most cases. I read reviews and whenever a book gets talked about a lot on the various social media platforms (I also count Goodreads here as TikTok is trash to me and I’m not on there), I have the tendency to look it up. If the blurb sounds interesting and up my alley, it will be added to my TBR. If and when I will read it, that’s a totally different question. I’m not a cover buyer at all. Next books in series are automatically added once I enjoyed the first one. This is why my TBR is somewhat getting out of hand.

• Current number of books on my TBR: 292

261. Espíritu (Cemetery Boys #2) by Aiden Thomas

Admittedly, I thought I would have knocked this off my TBR already, but apparently not. Back in 2020 (yeah, I had to look this up) I read Cemetery Boys and enjoyed it way more than I’d expected. You must know that I was straying away from young adult already and my expectations weren’t too high anymore. I rated this book 4 stars in the end. So, when I saw that there was a sequel coming in 2025, I added it to my TBR and pre-ordered it straight away. Came the date of expected publication, no book! When I looked it up, it was not a 2025 release. Apparently, it’s scheduled for September 1, 2026 instead of September 1, 2025. Bummer. So, this will be on my TBR for another year. I will definitely be reading it in fall 2026 as it fits the season perfectly.

34. The Runaway Family by Diney Costeloe

I love historical fiction and there are plenty of books set during WWII. A few years ago, my mom and I were reading lots of books by Diney Costeloe. However, I haven’t picked up one in a few years, nor has my mom. I think you shouldn’t pick up too many books by one specific author back-to-back, to avoid a reading slump. However, I think I really should read this one rather sooner than later. I didn’t look at the blurb for this challenge, but I’m sure I’ll enjoy it as historical fiction often has depth.

146. Eens in je leven by Marijke Vos

In the Netherlands, we have a specific book genre called feelgood. This is quite an umbrella term for anything that’s joyous, romantic and not fitting under literary fiction. Authors are for example Laurie Gilmore, Jenny Colgan and Sophie Kinsella. One of the most popular Dutch authors in this genre is Marijke Vos. A while ago, I was in my feelgood era, before I found myself bored out already as many books are rather superficial and I need deeper layers in my stories. Eens in je leven is a book I put on my TBR during that era, but I’m not too sure whether it still holds my interest. I even have to check what it is about and whether I own an ebook copy. I have to think about this one some more before deciding if I would just knock it off my TBR.

118. The Last Rose of Shanghai by Weina Dai Randel

Okay, this book has made it to multiple listicles on this blog but is still on my TBR. It has been for years, and I suppose it piqued my interest when I saw someone on either a social media platform (probably Twitter when it wasn’t the sh*thole it is now), or a book blog mention this one. It’s historical fiction set during WWII, but unlike many other books I’ve read about this time period, it’s set in China. And that’s something totally different and therefore interesting. I have to pick up this book soon, hopefully this year.

108. The Champion (Contender #3) by Taran Matharu

This is a simple addition, I enjoyed book 1 of this series but still have books 2 and 3 to read. Will do as I own a copy for both.

Have you read any of these books? What makes you put a book on your TBR? And what makes you remove a book from this same TBR?