Reduce the TBR Sep 25
I am on a quest to Read and Reduce my TBR list! I will pick out a few books at a time to give my attention to and decide if my passion for the book burns bright or has fizzled out. I will share my decisions and hopefully inspire others to add or cull it from your lists. The last post I did had me at 552 books, and I've added a few books since then, but not many!
I'm starting with 558 books on my list.
I. Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi
What would you change if you could go back in time?
In a small back alley in Tokyo, there is a café which has been serving carefully brewed coffee for more than one hundred years. But this coffee shop offers its customers a unique experience: the chance to travel back in time.
In Before the Coffee Gets Cold, we meet four visitors, each of whom is hoping to make use of the café’s time-travelling offer, in order to: confront the man who left them, receive a letter from their husband whose memory has been taken by early onset Alzheimer's, to see their sister one last time, and to meet the daughter they never got the chance to know.
But the journey into the past does not come without risks: customers must sit in a particular seat, they cannot leave the café, and finally, they must return to the present before the coffee gets cold . . .
Toshikazu Kawaguchi’s beautiful, moving story explores the age-old question: what would you change if you could travel back in time? More importantly, who would you want to meet, maybe for one last time?
Dialogue & Destinies
This sounds right up my alley. I love books that try to answer questions like this. I will keep it.
II. Rampage at Waterloo by Brian Falkner
Fantasy, Young Adult, Historical Fiction - 368 pages - Published in 2015
Fifteen year old Willem lives in hiding in a small Belgian village on the edge of the great Sonian Forest. Willem and his mother have been living in secret for most of his life, since his father, a famous magician, fell out of favour with the French Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte.
It is a world not much different from our own, in which small 'saurs' are a part of everyday life. Some are farmed, some are pets, others, more dangerous are avoided. There are rumours of even greater 'saurs' roaming the uncharted islands of the Americas.
When a girl from the village is killed, it becomes obvious that there are hidden terrors in the forest and that they are connected with Napoleon's plans to conquer Europe.
But Willem has a secret that could interfere with the emperor's plans and Napoléon will stop at nothing to find him.
War is coming, and young Willem is no longer safe, for Gaillemarde is just a stone's throw from the fields of Waterloo -- fields which will soon run red with blood.
Dialogue & Destinies
I got a copy of this from a library book sale many years ago. I reach for something else every single time. This would have been the perfect book for when I was learning about this part of history. I will remove this book.
III. The Lion Women of Tehran by Marjan Kamali
In 1950s Tehran, seven-year-old Ellie lives in grand comfort until the untimely death of her father, forcing Ellie and her mother to move to a tiny home downtown. Lonely and bearing the brunt of her mother’s endless grievances, Ellie dreams for a friend to alleviate her isolation.
Luckily, on the first day of school, she meets Homa, a kind girl with a brave and irrepressible spirit. Together, the two girls play games, learn to cook in the stone kitchen of Homa’s warm home, wander through the colorful stalls of the Grand Bazaar, and share their ambitions of becoming “lion women.”
But their happiness is disrupted when Ellie and her mother are afforded the opportunity to return to their previous bourgeois life. Now a popular student at the best girls’ high school in Iran, Ellie’s memories of Homa begin to fade. Years later, however, her sudden reappearance in Ellie’s privileged world alters the course of both of their lives.
Together, the two young women come of age and pursue their own goals for meaningful futures. But as the political turmoil in Iran builds to a breaking point, one earth-shattering betrayal will have enormous consequences.
Dialogue & Destinies
A family member recommended this to me after I asked if she was reading anything recently. We talked about her book collection, and she told me that I have to read this one. It sounds interesting for a genre I don't read very often. I am keeping it.
IV. Agnes Aubert's Mystical Cat Shelter by Heather Fawcett
Fantasy, Romance, Historical Fiction - 368 pages - 2026
Agnes Aubert leads a meticulously organized life—and she likes it that way. As the proudly type-A manager of a much-needed cat rescue charity, she has devoted her life to finding forever homes for lost cats.
But after she is forced to move the cat shelter, Agnes learns that her new landlord is using her charity as a front—for an internationally renowned and thoroughly disreputable magic shop. Owned by the disorganized—not to mention self-absorbed, irritating, but also decidedly handsome—Havelock Renard, magician and failed Dark Lord, the shop draws magical clientele from around the world, partly due to the quality of Havelock’s illicit goods as well as their curiosity about his shadowy past and rumors of his incredible powers. Agnes's charity offers the perfect cover for illegal magics.
Agnes couldn’t care less about the shop—magical intrigue or not, there are cats to be rescued. But when an enemy from Havelock’s past surfaces, the magic shop—and more importantly, the cat shelter—are suddenly in jeopardy. To save the shelter, will Agnes have to set aside her social conscience and protect the man who once tried to bring about the apocalypse—and is now trying to steal her heart?
Dialogue & Destinies
This one showed up in my inbox, and the title got me. I needed to know more about this book. Now that I've read its description (as I'm writing this), I love it. I love the cats, magic, and romance aspects of it. I am keeping it.
V. Voice of the Ocean by Kelsey Impicciche
Fantasy, Romance - 400 pages - 2025
As the youngest daughter of the Siren queen, Celeste's life is tightly controlled. Desperate to prove her worth, she intends to join the Chorus - an elite group of siren warriors. With her final test on the horizon, Celeste must finally gain control over her temperamental Song. But when Celeste encounters a seemingly harmless ship, helmed by the intriguing Prince Raiden Sharp, her path veers towards forbidden waters.
Believing the handsome sailor to be innocent of any wrongdoing, Celeste defies Siren law to save Raiden's life - despite knowing he is the son of a king who has murdered many of her kindred. The penalty for Celeste's betrayal should be death, but the queen offers her an alternative: right her wrong by assassinating the prince. Determined to first discover the truth behind the prince's clandestine mission, Celeste agrees to become human.
The human world is nothing like she expected, nor is the prince the charming and noble man she assumed him to be. But as Celeste finds her place aboard the ship, friendships - and attraction - begin to grow. Will Celeste be able to save herself? Or will her choices unravel a kingdom, devastating sirens and humans alike?
Dialogue & Destinies
This sounds like a cute little mermaid retelling. I've been a fan of Kelsey for years now. I'm excited to see how the series goes, so I will be keeping it.
Results
This is a shorter post, but I still made some progress! I had 4 keeps and 1 remove. This puts me at 557 books. I would love to get this number to 500 by the end year. Between reading my TBR and removing books like this, I think I have a good chance! I have 4 books checked out from my TBR list that I'll finish this month. I'm practically already 553! Well, not yet, but close!
Happy reading!
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