Down the TBR-hole #25

Posted on September 27, 2026 by Yrsha

It is time for another round of Down the TBR-hole, where I go through the books in my To Be Read shelf on Goodreads and try to decide if I still want to read them (should they stay) or not (should they go?).

Wish Out of Water – Holley Trent
I’m drawn to the aspect of mermaids and marriage of convenience. The reviews that I saw of it don’t praise it very high. I think I want to give it a shot, but maybe an excerpt as a starter to see how I vibe with the writing?
Verdict: Stays

A Secret Princess – Margaret Stohl, Melissa de la Cruz
This seems to be a mashup of A Little Princess and The Secret Garden; two stories that I really like.
Verdict: Stays

Cinder & Glass – Melissa de la Cruz
This is a retelling of Cinderellla, and also a book that I gifted to a sibling in hopes of lending it when they’re done reading it.
Verdict: Stays

Trade Winds – Christina Courtenay
I don’t remember adding this to my TBR but I really like the sound of this book! I seem to have another book by this author on my audiobook service shelf but this one doesn’t seem to be available. I’m adding this to my to-borrow shelf.
Verdict: Stays

A Thousand Heartbeats – Kiera Cass
I like Cass’s writing and have been meaning to read it for a long time. Added to my audiobook service shelf.
Verdict: Stays

Grave Witch – Kalayna Price
This sounds like a fun book!
Verdict: Stays

Toil & Trouble – short story collection by different authors
Added it to my audiobook shelf.
Verdict: Stays

A Tyranny of Petticoats – another short story collection by different authors
This also sounds like fun!
Verdict: Stays

Fantasysagor – Maria Lindgren
I own this short story collection. I have read some stories from it already and am going to finish it!
Verdict: Stays

Witch or Treats – short story collection by different authors
This is also a short story collection. I’m a bit more hesitant for this one. I assume I added it after being in the mood for short stories and because Danielle Garrett has a short story in this one. I’m going to do some more research of the other authors to see if it’s worth keeping.
Verdict: Stays (for now)

This Wicked Fate – Kalynn Bayron
It’s number two in the series This Poison Heart, I own this book.
Verdict: Stays

Death by Bubble Tea – Jennifer J. Chow
I think I added this one after Booksandlala read it in one of her vlogs. I do like cozy mysteries but there’s so many of them so I’ll probably not go out of my way to get ahold of this one. I was going to remove it but something’s stopping me, I guess it’ll stay for a little while longer.
Verdict: Stays (for now)

How did it go this time?
Books in the TBR shelf at start: 240
Number of staying books: 12
Number of leaving books: –
Total amount of leaving books: 64
Number of reserved books at the library: –
Number of books put in to-borrow-shelf: 1
Number of books added to audiobook-account: 2
Current amount of books in my TBR shelf: 256

In the end, all books stayed this time. Even though we didn’t remove any, the number of books on my TBR shelf has decreased a little since I’ve actually been reading book off it and not added any more since last time. Since this is a digital list and not something that really takes up space, it’s just a fun thing to go through them all. These posts help me get more excited to pick books from these lists and look more closely at books I’ve been previously been interested in reading. And it’s satisfying to see the TBR number change by ticking off the books by reading them.

Do you see anything here that I should prioritise?

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Read your color #3 – the new test

Posted on September 25, 2026 by Yrsha

After we finished our latest book circle book at work we discussed in which colour the book would fit in from Read Your Color. When we were going to double check which colour it would belong to we noticed that the site is re-done and the questions are a bit different (and it’s not as easy to find an overview over the colours anymore). Probably due to the creator’s coming book on the subject.

I was curious and re-did the test and I got a new result: passionate orange (last time, I got red)

I think I identify more with this result than the previous result red.

Of these listed book on the last image, I haven’t read The Way of Kings, Dune and I haven’t yet finished The Priory on the Orange Tree. Otherwise I’ve read all of them. Not all favourites but also pretty good books.

I must admit that when the creator has shared reading suggestions, the orange books have sounded more intriguing than the red ones, the red ones seeming to be all thrillers and not typically what I lean towards.

Current tally* of read books:

ColourRead booksAverage rating
Red12
Blue13
Yellow63,66
Orange12,5
Green0–
Purple0–

The yellow is still in the lead, both in number of books read and in average rating. I still need to read a few more books to get some more data on this; are the suggestions good and which colour is more aligned with my taste?

*The books in this tally is currently only the ones he’s suggested on his website as suggestions, not the ones listed in the test result as “books you’ll love” or “probably have read and loved”.

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Weekly update #97 – new book circle books

Posted on September 23, 2026 by Yrsha

Happy Wednesday!

We have chosen new books in my two book circles! At work, we’re currently reading Pride and Prejudice of Jane Austen. We have very interesting discussions and I’m very tempted to buy an annotated version (one of the others are reading it) and it seems to be very interesting!

At my old university book circle, we’ve chosen the book A Long Petal of the Sea (Långt bortom havet / Largo pétalo de mar) by Isabel Allende. I’m listening to this one at the moment, we’re going to discuss it on Friday. I like Allende’s writing and find the book quite interesting.

I also fell down a list hole again.

I just realised that I can access a lot of magazines across the world through my library and then I was thinking of something Booksandlala said in one of her videos, planning to read books from a magazine ten years apart.

I’ve so far looked into the 2026 issues of Cosmopolitan (UK) and Elle (UK) to see which books are mentioned. I’ve limited it to the fiction books because it’s typically what I’m interested in reading. I picked out the books in the pictures, mentioned in interviews and if there was an adaptation talked about, I added it if it was mentioned based on novel or named the author of the book. So, for example if they just talked about Bridgerton but not mentioned that it was based on books or wrote Julia Quinn, I didn’t add it to the list.

For Cosmopolitan, I had access to two issues; 12 books were mentioned, I had previously read four and had of one them on my interested-to-read-radar since before. My average rating of the read books is 3,5 out of 5 stars.

For Elle (UK), I had access to three issues; 27 books were mentioned, I had previously read two and had two on my radar. My average rating of the read books is 3.

Do I want to tick them all off? No, but it’s a fun way to browse for books! there are a couple of books that I want to look more closely at to see if I want to read them. And of course there is a little challenge waiting in the back of my head where I want to find the magazine that is most in line with my reading taste. I’m not interested in fashion or beauty tips that are the main topics of these magazines but I thought we would get a different set of mentioned books here than from literary critics in other magazines.

The books were mostly different, both magazines mentioned Yesteryear, a book by Caro Claire Burke that I recently read.

I was pleasantly surprised that they had so many books mentioned because when I tried to do the same in a Swedish women’s magazine that I found at the library, I think they mentioned one or two books in two issues. Quite disappointing. I don’t know if Cosmopolitan and Elle do Swedish issues as well, and if the contents is different or just translated, it would be interesting to compare the books if they are different. For this I think I’ll have to travel to the biggest library in down to get a chance to figure it out.

What are you currently reading? And where do you find new books to read?

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4 x romance mini reviews

Posted on September 22, 2026 by Yrsha

The Right Move by Liz Tomforde is the second book in the Windy City series but it can be read independently from the other books since it has different characters. I did with this book as I did with the first one, stopped reading it for a couple of month at the third act breakup, before coming back. Not sure why, perhaps because it also were quite long and I knew what was coming? I don’t remember much of it now since it was a while since I read it but I enjoyed it and have reserved the next one from the library as well.

Married to the Alien by Ursa Dax is the first book in the series Cowboy Colony Mail-Order Brides. This book is a part of the cowboy romance quest that I entered on Pagebound and when it showed up on my audiobook service, I gave it a try. It is a bit silly and I don’t think we’re supposed to take it too seriously. It was a fun read but it didn’t stick so long in my mind. Cowboy romances read for this challenge this far: 2

Love, Life and the List is a young adult love story. I love Kasie West’s writing and stories. This warmed my heart got the highest rating, 5 out of 5 stars.

I’ve been seeing The Deal by Elle Kennedy mentioned a lot, and lastly I saw someone mention a TV adaptation. When it was time to pick my next read, I chose the Swedish translation (Spelet). I liked the banter and that the main character did her own thing as well (music). The main characters were a bit stereotypical, a little minus for that. The background stories for the main characters were a bit heavier than I expected. I think I’ll read the next one in the series as well, I just need to read something more in between first. After seeing the trailer for the TV series, I’m not sure I want to watch it – maybe I’ll stick to the book.

Have you read any love stories lately?

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Down the TBR-hole #24

Posted on September 20, 2026 by Yrsha

It is time for another round of Down the TBR-hole, where I go through the books in my To Be Read shelf on Goodreads and try to decide if I still want to read them (should they stay) or not (should they go?).

It’s funny because I usually take screenshots of my Goodread’s shelf a bunch at a time so that they align nicely and I get my 12 books at a time. This time around when I was going to take these images, they were off by three books so in preparation of this post, I had to read three things to get the image right. It also came with the bonus that the number of books on the shelf decreased a little since the last post, win-win I’d say!

How to Catch a Queen – Alyssa Cole
A couple (5!) years ago, I read A Princess in Theory by Alyssa Cole, I really liked it. And I’ve been meaning to read more from her ever since.
Verdict: Stays

A Proper Charade – Esther Hatch
This does sound like a fun read. I’ll keep it.
Verdict: Stays

Vattenfolkets land – Eric Lejonhufvud
This was recommended to me by a friend, I have every intention of reading it! Added it to my to-borrow shelf.
Verdict: Stays

The Princess Trials – Cordelia K. Castel
This book sounds a bit like a The Selection meets The Hunger Games. I’m intrigues but it’s not available anywhere, except as an expensive audiobook. I need to think about if I think it’s worth it.
Verdict: Stays

A Duke by Default – Alyssa Cole
This is the next book in the series Reluctant Royals, where the first is the previously mentioned A Princess in Theory. I want to read this as well!
Verdict: Stays

The Gilded Ones – Namina Forna
I own this book, it was gifted to me from a sibling.
Verdict: Stays

Accidentally Engaged – Farah Heron
A fake engangement and sour dough baking, sounds like something for me! It looks like it’s a bit hard to get ahold of though…
Verdict: Stays

Aofie’s Quest – Angela J Ford
I might have added this book mostly because of the bow on the cover. I’m a little torn. Is she just living with centaurs at the beginning of the book or is she one as well? This is also a book that seems very hard to get ahold of. Wait, it looks like it might have changed name to Princess of Blood and Blade and I could actually get ahold of this one. I guess I’ll figure this one out.
Verdict: Stays

Pride and Premeditation – Tirzah Price
I have a soft spot for retellings of Pride and Prejudice, I want to give this one a shot but it feels like it could be quite far from the original? I added it to my audiobook service shelf.
Verdict: Stays

Warrior of the Wild – Tricia Levenseller
This sounds fun! Saved to my audiobook service shelf.
Verdict: Stays

Isn’t it Bromantic? – Lyssa Kay Adams
Do I have to read these in order? I think this one sounds fun, if I don’t have to read them in order I’m insterested!
Verdict: Stays

The First Human Rider – Ramy Vance, Michael Anderle
I think I’ve read something by Anderle before and I wasn’t super impressed. If this had been on my audiobook service, I think I would have given it a shot because we’re talking about dragons. But it isn’t so I’m going to remove it. There’re so many other books by Anderle there so I can try something else and see if I like the writing better.
Verdict: Goes

How did it go this time?
Books in the TBR shelf at start: 240
Number of staying books: 11
Number of leaving books: 1
Total amount of leaving books: 64
Number of reserved books at the library: –
Number of books put in to-borrow-shelf: 1
Number of books added to audiobook-account: 2
Current amount of books in my TBR shelf: 258

I was thinking that we’ve arrived at a place where all of the remaining books are going to be keepers but we’re apparently not there just yet!

Of these books, I’m most eager to read the Alyssa Cole ones at the moment. Maybe I’ll have to do something about that.

Are there any of these you recommend I pick up?

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Ellie, Engineer: The Next Level

Posted on September 19, 2026 by Yrsha

When I was going to write my next Down the TBR-hole post, I needed to clear of three things from my TBR to get the “correct” screenshot. It all made sense in my head, don’t worry about it. I found that a couple of them were a bit shorter reads, this one was one of the things. This is book number two in a series about a girl who likes to invent and build things.

Ellie Engineer: The Next Level – Jackson Pearce
Original publication year: 2018
Series: Ellie, Engineer #2
First book in the series: Ellie, Engineer

Elevator pitch: After a test run of an invention goes wrong, Ellie needs to help an elderly neighbour out as a punishment (and learning experience?).

I really like these books about Ellie. She is very creative and imaginative and likes to build stuff. In this book we touch on the subjects of for example using other’s things without asking, assuming things about gender and age, and thinking from someone else’s perspective.

Pearce writes in a clever way where the serious and funny meet. It is easy to think from both Ellie’s and Ellie’s parents’ perspective. This is a series that I think works well to read together with a child and have good discussions around.

I rated this book 4 out of 5 starts – I really liked it!

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Rök och speglar

Posted on September 17, 2026 by Yrsha

När jag var yngre slukade jag serien Petrinideckarna av Mårten Sandén så när jag såg att han skulle släppa en vuxendeckare blev jag väldigt nyfiken!

Rök och speglar – Mårten Sandén
Originalpubliceringsår: 2025
Nästa bok i serien: Minuteman

Hisspitch: Författarna Moa och Leo är på fel plats vid fel tidpunkt och måste lista ut vem som satt dit dom för att inte bli ditsatta för mord.

Detta är Mårtens första vuxen-bok. Jag känner igen hans skrivsätt, det påminner mig om det jag har läst förut men med lite mer “vuxna” grejer och mörkare historia adderat. Jag kände inte riktigt att jag klickade med med den här vuxna sidan i början.

Speciellt andra halvan av boken får mig att tänka på Petrinideckarna. Det är något med dynamiken mellan Leo, Moa och Katja som får mig att tänka på dynamiken mellan Peter, Petra och Lucy. Kanske projicerar jag men de känns lite som en förlängning av Petrinideckarna (med andra bakgrundshistorier) och det gör att jag på ett nostalgiskt sätt tycker om dom lite mer. I andra halvan får boken också lite mer fart, vilket jag uppskattar.

Jag ville tycka om den lite mer än jag gjorde men jag vill läsa mer så jag kommer plocka upp nästa bok.

Jag gav boken 3 av 5 stjärnor – jag tyckte om den!

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The Compund

Posted on September 15, 2026 by Yrsha

I set my eyes on The Compund after my book circle friend S added it to her TBR on pagebound. It was the Goodreads choice award winner last year in the category Readers’ Favorite Science Fiction. It is promoted as Love Island meets The Hunger Games and I knew nothing more going in.

The Compound – Aisling Rawle
Original publication year: 2025

Elevator pitch: A girl compete in a reality show where they do tasks in exchange for things.

I think it was good to know as little as I did going in. Not knowing in which direction the story was going to go was quite intriguing. The contenders of the show is prohibited from talking to each other about their personal life and therefore we don’t get to know a lot about the world outside the compound except for glimpses here and there. Not knowing their history suited me fine, because I usually find that a little boring.

I haven’t seen Love Island but based on the comments on Pagebound, there are many similarities and you can see where the inspiration came from. Does it make me a little curious of the show? Yes, but I don’t think it’ll be nearly as exciting as this one so I think I’ll pass.

I liked that we actually got a competition. I’ve read far too many books where we are promised a competition but it’s really just a front for a love story and the competition just slips away after a few chapters and we hardly get any competing done. I liked that this really was a competition.

This is a very materialistic world and I think we are ment to think about how far a person is willing to go in exchange for nice things. How is it in the real world? In which way are we heading? The author was successful in making the reader think. The first part of the story was addicting, very easy to continue to see where we were headed.

I liked the first half the best, the second half became a little boring. It lowered my rating a bit, I had my hopes up for something bigger or weirder to happen. I had also hoped that the science fiction tag it had on Goodreads would have been more prominent.

I gave this book 3 out of 5 stars – I liked it and will recommend it.

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Down the TBR-hole #23

Posted on September 13, 2026 by Yrsha

It is time for another round of Down the TBR-hole, where I go through the books in my To Be Read shelf on Goodreads and try to decide if I still want to read them (should they stay) or not (should they go?).

The Tea Master and the Detective – Aliette de Bodard
I don’t remember why this happened to land on my TBR but I like a good detective story and it’s available on my audiobook service as an ebook so I’ll give it a try!
Verdict: Stays

Brun flicka drömmer (Brown Girl Deaming) – Jacqueline Woodson
This book was recommended to me by my book circle friend J. I was also convinced that I had added it to my audiobook service shelf but it seems like they’ve since removed the ebook and only have the audio left. I think this is a book I want to read with my eyes so I’m adding it to my to-borrow shelf.
Verdict: Stays

Flame in the Mist – Renée Ahdieh
I don’t remember adding this to my TBR either but I’m intrigued by the plot. I’m adding it to my to-borrow shelf.
Verdict: Stays

Rent a Boyfriend – Gloria Chao
A cute fake dating story? Yes please!
Verdict: Stays

Moder Jord, Fader Himmel (Mother Earth, Father Sky) – Sue Harrison
Another story I’m not completely sure how I came to add to my TBR. One of my Goodread’s friends has read it so perhaps I added it to me shelf after she marked it as read? It is available at my audiobook service so I guess I’ll give it a chance.
Verdict: Stays

The Magic Misfits – Neil Patrick Harris
This is a middle grade book and quite a quick read (I think). The library has it so I’ll add it to my to-borrow shelf.
Verdict: Stays

Serpent & Dove – Shelby Mahurin
I believe I gifted this to mum and have since borrowed it, it’s laying at home waiting for me to read it.
Verdict: Stays

Fable – Adrienne Young
Is this about … pirates?! It’s a keeper, adding it to my audiobook service account.
Verdict: Stays

Green Rider – Kristen Britain
I like the sound of this book but I’m not sure how I’m going to read it. Do I like the sound of it enough to buy it? It’s not available to me otherwise. Maybe not but I think I’ll keep it here for a while and ponder over it.
Verdict: Stays

Regency Buck – Georgette Heyer
I did read the first book in the Alastair-Audley Tetralogy and I really enjoyed it. I don’t think I need to read these in order so I might be able to jump to this one next.
Verdict: Stays

Crazy rich i Asien (Crazy Rich Asians) – Kevin Kwan
I just read this book, so I guess it’ll be one of those neither go or stay books. I liked it and will probably read the next book in the series as well.
Verdict: –

Love Your Life – Sophie Kinsella
I’m always interested in reading a Sophie Kinsella, it’s a keeper. Adding it to my audiobook service shelf.
Verdict: Stays

How did it go this time?
Books in the TBR shelf at start: 240
Number of staying books: 11
Number of leaving books: –
Total amount of leaving books: 63
Number of reserved books at the library: –
Number of books put in to-borrow-shelf: 3
Number of books added to audiobook-account: 4
Current amount of books in my TBR shelf: 262

It looks like this was more of an “where can I get ahold of this book” session more than anything. No books were leaving this time. The book already read isn’t really doing much difference to the current number on my TBR shelf, it has increased a few books on the shelf since the last post (last post number: 256), I guess I can’t just stop finding new interesting books to read! And I guess I need to keep making these more regularly (as I keep saying, haha).

Have you read any of these books? Any of them I should prioritise?

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Konferensen

Posted on September 11, 2026 by Yrsha

Vår senaste bokcirkelbok med universitetsgänget blev Konferensen. Jag tror att detta är vår första skräckbok, om inte Billy Summers räknas in där med.

Konferensen – Mats Strandberg
Originalpubliceringsår: 2021

Hisspitch: Ett gäng människor samlas för att diskutera det ny köpcentret som ska byggas och inviga byggstarten. De har inte varit där länge när folk börjar försvinna.

Det känns som att jag inte har supermycket att säga efter att ha avslutat denna.

Jag klickar inte riktigt med skrivsättet av boken. Jag har inte läst så mycket skräck förut så jag vet inte riktigt vad jag har att vänta av en bok i den genren men jag känner mig lite otillfredsställd när den är slut, lite som var det allt?

Boken var lite långsam. I prologen får vi en inblick i vad som kommer komma och sen är det väldigt mycket uppbyggnad och introduktioner och bakgrundshistorier, allt tyckte jag var lite tråkigt.

Beskrivningarna framåt slutet var ganska äckliga, kanske det jag faktiskt hade förväntat mig från innan, och det är tur att jag inte är bra på att se saker framför mig för då hade det kanske varit olidligt att läsa boken?

Skräck har aldrig tilltalat mig och jag kan inte säga att jag blev såld på genren efter den här boken. Jag var medveten när jag började läsa boken att det inte var min typ av bok men man kan ju alltid hoppas på att bli överraskad! Det var helt enkelt inte en bra match för mig.

Jag gav boken 1,5 stjärnor av 5 möjliga – den var ok.

Vad tyckte bokcrikeln i helhet? Medelbetyg: 2,88. De andra uppskattade karaktärsuppbyggnaden och bakgrundshistorierna och jag drog ner snittet rejält. Vi hade bra diskussioner av denna bok!

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