Author: Fives @ Down The Rabbit Hole

An avid reader whose current interest lies in mysteries and thrillers. Line 'em up! Also personally love fantasies and any stories to do with magic, and a sucker for the occasional (good) romance.
discussion

Let’s Talk Bookish – Unhauling Books

Fives @ Down The Rabbit Hole

Aria @ Book Nook Bits will be the new host for Let’s Talk Bookish! If you aren’t following her yet, good check out her blog and give her a follow!

August 19: Unhauling books (Amber @ Escape Life in the Pages)

Prompts: How do you feel about unhauling books? Do you get rid of books often? Or do you hold on to every book you buy? How do you decide which books to get rid of? Are there any books you would never get rid of?

Welcome to another week of LTB here at DTRH, everyone! Today’s topic is a classic, I think most of us book lovers have this problem eventually. So many books we want to buy, but limited on budget and more importantly, space on your shelf! I would love to hear the story of how you all decide which books to get rid of…and how you choose to get rid of them.

I think unhauling is just eventually necessary. Avoid it as long as you can, but I think eventually even the most curated lists will need a bit of a trim. But no one really likes doing it, do they? If you are, let me know below. But I think most of us don’t love to Marie Kondo our shelves, and is probably only done once in a blue moon.

I personally do not get rid of books often. When the book list gets too big, it could be time to do some trades or pass it onto a family member who hasn’t read it. Anything to forestall the unhauling, right? Once every…few years…that bleeds into probably 5-10 years to be honest. I would almost rather not buy books so that I don’t have to throw out old ones!

I generally want to hold onto every book I buy. That’s the whole point of buying them in the first place right? Of course there are those books that I buy that I don’t end up enjoying as much as I thought I would. But even then, unhauling it would definitely be lower on the list of priorities. Better to buy books you do want than to get rid of books you don’t? I guess.

It’s always hard to decide which books to get rid of. I guess for me, at the end of the day, if I didn’t connect with a book or don’t feel too strongly about it, that is reason enough to get rid of it. Otherwise I’d just keep every single book on my shelf which would be rather counterproductive. Something that I haven’t read in a long time (and don’t plan to read again) are also usually candidates on the chopping block.

Conversely, old classics, and series that I’ve collected will always be the hardest to get rid of. And honestly I don’t see myself getting rid of them ever, anyway. There are/were book that were near and dear to my heart, and probably forever will be, and therefore have a permanent space on my shelf! For me, that would be series like Harry Potter, The Chronicles of Narnia, and The Deltora Quest series, for example.

What do you all keep that you just can’t part with? Let me know in the comments below!

4 star

Review: The Murder Rule by Dervla McTiernan

Fives @ Down The Rabbit Hole

For fans of the compulsive psychological suspense of Ruth Ware and Tana French, a mother daughter story—one running from a horrible truth, and the other fighting to reveal it—that twists and turns in shocking ways, from the internationally bestselling author of The Scholar and The Ruin.

First Rule: Make them like you.

Second Rule: Make them need you.

Third Rule: Make them pay.

They think I’m a young, idealistic law student, that I’m passionate about reforming a corrupt and brutal system.

They think I’m working hard to impress them.

They think I’m here to save an innocent man on death row.

They’re wrong. I’m going to bury him.

Another one I picked off the shelf, but it certainly had an interesting premise. As a legal(ish) thriller, it was fairly well executed, and it wasn’t too jargon heavy, and anything that needed explaining was explained well. Compared to my last review of Verity, there were actually a lot of similar plot elements that I found interesting.

The Murder Rule follows our protagonist, Hannah, who worms her way into the Project Innocence project at the University of Virginia Law. She has high stakes in this project, as they are taking care of a famous murder case. Except she isn’t there to help free him like everyone else is. Will she be found out as she works against her own team? Full of twists and surprises, this is a story of girl who will do anything for her goals, with her own ideals of the justice system.

Continue reading “Review: The Murder Rule by Dervla McTiernan” →
discussion

Let’s Talk Bookish – Reviewing Books?

Fives @ Down The Rabbit Hole

Aria @ Book Nook Bits will be the new host for Let’s Talk Bookish! If you aren’t following her yet, good check out her blog and give her a follow!

August 12: Reviewing Books? (Rachel @ A Bookworm in Paradise)

Prompts: What makes you want to review or not review a book? Do you review every book you read? Are some books harder to review than others? Do you review books you disliked? If you’ve ever written a ranty review, have you regretted doing so afterwards? Do you delete reviews that are “outdated” or don’t follow what you think of the book now?

Welcome to another week of LTB here at DTRH! Today’s topic is all about reviewing books and I know we definitely all have our own habits when it comes to this topic. Can’t wait to see what everyone else has to say, but for now here are my own thoughts!

Exciting covers, synopses, or just general hype around a book will make me want to review it. Nobody wants to review a book they don’t even want to read, so that’s definitely the thing that grabs my attention the most when deciding what to review. The more excited about a book I am, or the more I feel an opinion strongly about it, the easier it is I find to write the review.

Books that are boring or hard to finish often give me the hardest time. I want to give even these books a fair review, and try to say who might enjoy it, even if it’s not me. However, these take more energy to write than something I really enjoyed (or hated), as you might expect. Answering the next prompt, yes I have reviewed books I’ve hated. But, like I said, I do try and find an audience that it might appeal to, and offer it as a possibility. I don’t like condemning books just because I didn’t like them, because who knows, it may be someone’s cup of tea, so I always try to keep that as a caveat.

I feel a lot of my reviews are a bit ranty! Especially the ones for which I have a lot to say. I don’t usually regret it though, they are my thoughts after all. Even if my thoughts were to change afterwards, the thoughts I had at the time are still valid I think! For that reason I don’t go back and delete reviews, but I think it’s okay if people do that. The blog is your self expression, and you can choose to express and curate your image however you like!

Does any of y’all find that you try and soften your negative reviews by saying “someone” might like it? Or is that just me? Let me know in the comments below!