Is anyone surprised that I did not stick to my intentions from my last unhaul of clearing out my unhaul stack in a reasonable manner? Ok, good. I’m back with another massive book unhaul, and this time I have 34 books to go through!

I’ll just be running through these very briefly, though definitely click on the titles to check them out on Goodreads if you want to know more about the book. I’ll also link my reviews where relevant. I didn’t hate or dislike a lot of these books, I’m just trying to do better about clearing out books that I don’t absolutely love and maintaining a curated book collection. Also my shelf space is quickly becoming a hot commodity, so it’s really necessary to cull some!

I’m either giving these books to friends or donating them to the Housing Works Bookstore Cafe, which provides services to homeless, low-income, and marginalized people. The plan is to schlep them all up there this weekend!

Beyond Scandal and Desire by Lorraine Heath: I enjoyed this book, but I actually don’t prefer to keep the rare physical arc that I get my hands on because I prefer to keep finished copies, so I’m passing it along. I’ll probably keep reading the series because I enjoy Heath’s writing, but I’m not obsessed enough that I feel the need to go out and buy a finished copy.

We Gon’ Be Alright by Jeff Chang: I was so sure I would love this, but I felt like a lot of it went over my head or something. It was an interesting read and I’m glad I picked it up, but I don’t feel the need to keep it.

You’re the Earl that I Want by Kelly Bowen: This was a fun read, but I can’t say I loved it enough that I feel the need to keep a physical copy on my shelves.

Blue-Eyed Devil by Lisa Kleypas: I actually liked this book a lot, and while I’m glad I read it, I’m not sure I really see myself picking it up again. And I don’t feel the need to read the rest of Kleypas’ contemporaries, so I don’t really need it for my collection.

The Earl Takes All by Lorraine Heath: This is another book that I enjoyed reading, but I can’t get 100 percent behind it given how many problems I had with the premise. So I decided I didn’t need to keep it on my shelves.

Fantasy Lover by Sherrilyn Kenyon: This was a fun read for my book club, but it’s definitely not something I loved enough that I can’t bear to part with it. I desperately wish I had been able to make the meeting where they discussed this book, because I bet it was a lot of fun.

Swept Away by a Kiss by Katharine Ashe: I’ve heard good things about Katharine Ashe, and I thought I’d really enjoy her books, but this was just ok. Honestly, I forgot most of what it was about within a week or two. So I have no desire to keep it in my collection.

On the Way to the Wedding by Julia Quinn: This is a little embarrassing, but when I was going through all of the books at my parents’ house, I grabbed this because I remembered that it was missing from my bookshelves in New York, only when I got back to New York, I remembered that I had ordered a replacement for it because I didn’t think I had it…so I now have two. I don’t need two.

Worth Any Price by Lisa Kleypas: This is another book that I embarrassingly have two copies of. Only this one I genuinely don’t remember acquiring two copies…this is why tracking my purchases is so important! For what it’s worth, this isn’t my favorite Kleypas novel, though I did enjoy it by the end.

Stardust by Neil Gaiman: This was a fun read, but I was hardly blown away by it and wasn’t really attached enough that I wanted to keep it on my shelves. My shelf space is becoming pretty valuable!

Sense and Sensibility and Persuasion by Jane Austen: So the editions I’m unhauling are actually old Barnes & Noble hardcover editions. They were probably the first editions I bought of Jane Austen’s books, but the reality is that I have much better editions of her books these days, and these ones don’t really add much to my collection. I also don’t seem to have a sentimental attachment to them, so they’re in the unhaul pile. I got rid of the other four when I was home for Christmas.

Escape to You by Jennifer Ryan: I got this as an arc at an Avon trivia night, and I was never that into it since I’m not much of a contemporary reader. Plus the plot didn’t sound interesting, and when I researched it a bit and started reading the first chapter, I just decided it wasn’t for me and put it in the unhaul pile.

Once a Rebel by Mary Jo Putney: This is a physical arc that I stood in line for at BookCon. I was really excited that it was an American-based historical, but then I started reading it, and the prologue was a bit too ridiculous for me. So I checked out other reviews online to see if it was worth continuing with, and it didn’t seem to be. So I unhauled it without reading it.

Why Earls Fall in Love by Manda Collins: This book has been on my shelves for ages, and I made it maybe 50 pages in before I determined that it was probably just going to be a mediocre read and that I didn’t have time for that.

Simply Irresistible by Rachel Gibson: Avon was kind enough to send me a finished copy of Simply Irresistible to go with the digital arc I received of Running in Heels, since Running in Heels follows the daughter of the couple from Simply Irresistible. But I was so unimpressed with Running in Heels that I decided I wasn’t interested in reading Simply Irresistible.

The Sea King by CL Wilson: I wound up really disliking this book, but that’s actually not why I’m getting rid of this. I preordered it, and Amazon sent me a copy where about 50 pages were cut too short, so they told me to keep it and sent me a replacement. I’m keeping the replacement for now for the sake of the series, and we’ll see if Wilson can redeem the series in the next book. But I definitely don’t need the misprinted copy.

Daughter of Smoke and Bone trilogy by Laini Taylor: I’ve talked before about the fact that I enjoyed the first book in this series, but really struggled with the second one. I finally admitted to myself that I’m not at all eager to pick up the third book, not least because it’s massive, and just unhauled the entire trilogy. Someone else can enjoy these pretty UK editions!

Sisters in Law by Linda Hirshman: I loved Notorious RBG and was really excited to learn more about her, so I picked up this book about RBG and Sandra Day O’Connor. But it felt incredibly slanted towards RBG and really didn’t discuss the justices’ relationship much. Until there’s a better book out there about their relationship, I would recommend sticking to books about each individual justice.

In the Heart of the Sea by Nathaniel Philbrick: I picked this up at a used book sale because it sounded interesting, but it found itself on the chopping block a few months later when I determined that while I’ll probably like this book well enough, there are a bunch of books I’m more excited to read right now, and I’d rather focus on them.

The Woman Who Rides Like a Man by Tamora Pierce: This is embarrassing, but I could have sworn this was the last Tortall book I was missing when I bought a copy at a book signing. As it turns out, I was missing Lionness Rampant and already had this book…I would have returned it, but it wasn’t that expensive of a book and wasn’t worth returning by the time I paid for the subway and spent an hour going to the bookstore and back.

Thomas Jefferson and the Tripoli Pirates by Brian Kilmeade: This is another book I got at BookCon and thought I’d be interested in since I really enjoy history. But it also got cut when I culled my TBR shelves. I’d rather read a biography of Jefferson first.

Longbourn by Jo Baker: This book had so much promise! It was supposed to be Jane Austen meets Downton Abbey, a parallel Pride and Prejudice without being the dreaded subpar retelling. But it was pretty dull, and I decided not to finish it. So I’m definitely not keeping it.

The Selected Poetry of Rainer Maria Rilke: I bought this without intending to keep it, to be honest. I wanted to read it to finish the Book Riot 2017 Read Harder Challenge, and I knew it’d be easier to read it in the physical form than the digital one. I can’t say I really enjoyed it, and I’m definitely not keeping this book.

Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte: I had such grand plans for finally reading this book this year, but I’m just not interested in forcing myself to get through it. Maybe one day. But for now I’m donating this copy because I know I can always get a free digital one, plus I already have a pretty Barnes & Noble leatherbound one that I got in a set with some other classics. Definitely don’t need two copies!

DC Trip by Sara Benincasa and Other People’s Houses by Abbi Waxman: I got these two books as part of a raffle giveaway at the Word Galentine’s Day event with a bunch of romance authors. It was a really fun event and I was really excited to win a giveaway, but I was kind of surprised they weren’t giving away romance novels. I’ve never heard of either of these books, and while they might be decent, I just have too many other books I want to read right now. I’m hoping I can get my physical TBR down sooner rather than later so that the next time books I’ve never heard of land in my lap, I’m more willing to take a chance on them.

Beloved by Toni Morrison: It kills me a little that I DNFed this book, but I just wasn’t enjoying it and didn’t feel like forcing myself to read it. I kind of want to hang on to this in hopes that one day I’ll circle back and give it another try, but I think I’m better off passing it along to someone else to read in the meantime and getting a library copy if and when I decide to give it another shot.

Buddenbrooks by Thomas Mann: This was another book I had grand plans to read this year after letting it languish on my shelves for so long, but again, I just didn’t enjoy it that much and didn’t feel like forcing myself to read it. So I decided to DNF and unhaul it. Like Beloved and Wuthering Heights, it’ll be easy enough for me to track down another copy if and when I decide to try it again.

An American Marriage by Tayari Jones: In case you missed it, I didn’t like this book. I have no interest in keeping it.

The Woman in the Window by AJ Finn: I couldn’t even finish this one. I love the idea of having a collection of Book of the Month books on my shelves, but zero interest in maintaining that now that I’ve unsubscribed.

Roomies by Christina Lauren: This was a cute, fun read that made me laugh out loud a lot while reading it, but ultimately I had a few qualms that just kept me from totally loving it, so I don’t feel the need to keep this copy.

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Alright, that’s it for this batch. You’d think my shelves would look empty after getting rid of so many books, but I still have a TON left. I’ve been cutting back on my book buying after going a little crazy in January and February, so hopefully this unhaul buys me some time before I start running out of shelf space again and have to rethink what I’m keeping and why.

Have you been unhauling any books lately? Or do you prefer to keep all of the books you read? Let me know in the comments!