Time for another round up of books from my TBR to go through! Each week I’ll be going over a selection from my physical unread books and deciding what to keep and what to purge. There will be a third option–undecided–which I might ask for your input on why you think I should keep or purge that title from my list. You can also check out my full TBR pile here.

The Silver Wolf by Alice Borchardt

Regeane is a fatherless royal relation who happens to be a werewolf. Her guardian, Gundabald, and his venal son Hugo plan to recoup their fortunes by marrying Regeane to a wealthy bridegroom, even though she might inadvertently make him into a bedtime snack. Gundabald forces her into apparent compliance by threatening to reveal her secret to the Church, which would burn her at the stake. As the bridegroom, Maeniel, journeys to Rome to claim her, Regeane discovers allies in her quest to defeat Gundabald’s machinations, including some very strong, funny, and levelheaded women. Unfortunately for Regeane, she also has more powerful enemies than Gundabald.

I got the first two books in this series when I got that giant book haul from my friend’s comic shop a year and a half ago. This series is appealing to me still. And somehow I only just now realized this author was one of Anne Rice’s sisters. Huh. Still, do I need to be starting a new series? UNDECIDED

The Harlequin by Laurell K. Hamilton

Anita Blake is about to face the challenge of her life. Into her world-a world already overflowing with power-have come creatures so feared that powerful, centuries-old vampires refuse to mention their names. It is forbidden to speak of The Harlequin unless you’ve been contacted. And to be contacted by The Harlequin is to be under sentence of death.

Long-time rivals for Anita’s affections, Jean-Claude, Master Vampire of the City, and Richard, alpha-werewolf, will need to become allies. Shapeshifters Nathaniel and Micah will have to step up their support. And then there’s Edward. In this situation, Anita knows that she needs to call the one man who has always been there for her…

Well, here I am at my Anita Blake books. This is a series that I used to LOVE before it all became erotica with no real plots. I don’t even mind the erotica just….have a plot with it! That being said, the completionist in me really wants to catch up with this series and I do have several of the sequels on hand unread. Going to hold on to these for now. KEEP

The Stepsister Scheme by Jim C. Hines

You know how all those old fairy tales take you through lots of scary adventures till you finally reach that inevitable line: “And they lived happily ever after…” Guess what? It’s not true. Life in never-never land isn’t all sweetness and light. Cinderella – whose real name is Danielle Whiteshore (nee Danielle de Glas) – does marry Prince Armand. And (if you can ignore the pigeon incident) their wedding is a dream-come-true.

But not long after the “happily ever after,” Danielle is attacked by her stepsister Charlotte, who suddenly has all sorts of magic to call upon. And though Talia – otherwise known as Sleeping Beauty – comes to the rescue (she’s a martial arts master, and all those fairy blessings make her almost unbeatable), Charlotte gets away.

That’s when Danielle discovers a number of disturbing facts: Armand has been kidnapped and taken to the realm of the Fairies; Danielle is pregnant with his child; and the Queen has her very own Secret Service that consists of Talia and Snow (White, of course). Snow is an expert at mirror magic and heavy-duty flirting.

Can three princesses track down Armand and extract both the prince and themselves from the clutches of some of fantasyland’s most nefarious villains?

This is one I picked up because it looked fun and cute and I’d been wanting to read something by Jim Hines after following him on twitter for what felt like forever. But I’m not sure that I’m all that interested in this one after all. So, I’ll let this one go. PURGE

The Well at World’s End by William Morris

 

 

The Well at the World’s End was among the very first of its kind–it is an epic romance of duplicity, machination, passion, and wizardry, and is, in short, a vast odyssey into the weird. It is a beautifully rich fantasy, a vibrant fairy tale without fairies. It is the most entrancing of William Morris’s late romances–part futuristic fantasy novel, part old-fashioned fairy tale. Morris writes his magic love story with a sense of color and pattern, and the sheer imaginative fervor of one of the most brilliant decorative artists that has ever lived.

 

This is a classic of the genre, a pre-Tolkien fantasy that I happened across one day at a used book place. On the one hand, I’d love to check it out for the history of the genre. On the other hand, I would probably be really bored by it. UNDECIDED

The Hollow Hills by Mary Stewart

 

 

Keeping watch over the young Arthur Pendragon, the prince and prophet Merlin Ambrosius is haunted by dreams of the magical sword Caliburn, which has been hidden for centuries. When Uther Pendragon is killed in battle, the time of destiny is at hand, and Arthur must claim the fabled sword to become the true High King of Britain.

 

 

I think I read the first one of this series a bazillion years ago, but I don’t remember so if I want to read it, then I’ll have to get the first one again. I do know I read The Prince and The Pilgrim which is a later related book and quite liked it. I’d love to get to these eventually. I don’t have book one though! Still, I think I’ll hold on to this and its sequels for now. KEEP

Well, that’s it for this week. My running total so far:

Keep	Purge	Undecided
50	12	10

A couple of undecideds and a purge. What should I do with the undecideds? Keep or toss? Let me know your thoughts! Leave a note in the comments, I’d love to chat!