#5OnMyTBR | The 5 Oldest Books on my Goodreads TBR

#5OnMyTBR is a bookish meme hosted by E. @ Local Bee Hunter’s Nook and you can learn more about it here or in the post announcing it. It occurs every Monday when we post about 5 books on our TBR.

This week the topic is unconventional-format books, but I don’t have any of those on my TBR, so I decided to do the oldest five books on my Goodreads TBR. I have to be honest; I have only been using Goodreads for two years, which means the books I’m listing have been on my TBR for only that long. Now, I embarrassingly have books that have spent much longer on my TBR in my Kindle app and my Apple Books app that did not make it to my Goodreads TBR, and even a few on my bookshelves. I checked, and I have 82 books on my Kindle that I have yet to read, though that does include my ten Kindle Unlimited books and a handful of books that my daughter downloaded when she was younger. I also have 93 books on my Apple Book app. When added to the over 100 books on my Goodreads TBR, I think that makes my list go beyond crazy. I could spend a whole year or two just blogging about all of those oldies but goodies.

#1 A Game of Thrones: A Song of Ice and Fire by George R.R. Martin

On my Goodreads TBR since June 2018, this is the first book I added. My husband read the series and enthusiastically recommended it but I still have not gotten to it. I did, however, binge watch the series from beginning to end once the final season was complete.

Book Description: Long ago, in a time forgotten, a preternatural event threw the seasons out of balance. In a land where summers can last decades and winters a lifetime, trouble is brewing. The cold is returning, and in the frozen wastes to the north of Winterfell, sinister and supernatural forces are massing beyond the kingdom’s protective Wall. At the center of the conflict lie the Starks of Winterfell, a family as harsh and unyielding as the land they were born to. Sweeping from a land of brutal cold to a distant summertime kingdom of epicurean plenty, here is a tale of lords and ladies, soldiers and sorcerers, assassins and bastards, who come together in a time of grim omens.

#2 Shelter in Place by Nora Roberts

Wow, shelter in place has taken on a whole new meaning from the intent of this title. I enjoy Nora Roberts books and this one was published in 2018 only a month before I started my list. I don’t know that I normally would pick this up except that Nora Roberts wrote it and I have never been disappointed by one of her books. It sounds pretty intense.

Book Description:

It was a typical evening at a mall outside Portland, Maine. Three teenage friends waited for the movie to start. A boy flirted with the girl selling sunglasses. Mothers and children shopped together, and the manager at the video-game store tended to customers. Then the shooters arrived.

The chaos and carnage lasted only eight minutes before the killers were taken down. But for those who lived through it, the effects would last forever. In the years that followed, one would dedicate himself to a law enforcement career. Another would close herself off, trying to bury the memory of huddling in a ladies’ room, hopelessly clutching her cell phone–until she finally found a way to pour her emotions into her art.

But one person wasn’t satisfied with the shockingly high death toll at the DownEast Mall. And as the survivors slowly heal, find shelter, and rebuild, they will discover that another conspirator is lying in wait–and this time, there might be nowhere safe to hide.

#3 Hero at Large by Janet Evanovich

I’m not surprised that my next entry is a Janet Evanovich book that I haven’t previously read. She is one of my automatic buy authors, so I’m sure I did a search to see if she had published any books that I missed.

Book Description:

He cooks a pot holder in the spaghetti sauce and needs lessons on making Jell-O. Still, single mom and ice skating coach Chris Nelson is committed to keeping her sexy, scruffy, new “house husband” around. After all, she did break his arm…and his toe…and she can’t just turn him out into the cold…

It seemed like luck when this gorgeous stranger first stopped to help Chris with her car, but suddenly her peaceful life turns topsy-turvy as tender, long-suffering Ken Callahan enlists the sympathies of her 7-year-old daughter and her meddlesome Aunt Edna. And even Chris can’t deny the excitement his magnetic blue-black eyes spark deep within her…But who is he?

#4 Magnus Chase: The Ship of the Dead by Rick Riordan

I’m not surprised to find a Rick Riordan book at the beginning of the list but what I am surprised by is that is number 3 in the series. I know I haven’t read 1 or 2 so why did I put #3? That will remain a mystery I think.

Book Description:

Magnus Chase, a once-homeless teen, is a resident of the Hotel Valhalla and one of Odin’s chosen warriors. As the son of Frey, the god of summer, fertility, and health, Magnus isn’t naturally inclined to fighting. But he has strong and steadfast friends, including Hearthstone the elf, Blitzen the dwarf, and Samirah the Valkyrie, and together they have achieved brave deeds, such as defeating Fenris Wolf and battling giants for Thor’s hammer, Mjolnir. Now Magnus faces his most dangerous trial yet. His cousin, Annabeth, recruits her boyfriend, Percy Jackson, to give Magnus some pointers, but will his training be enough?

Loki is free from his chains. He’s readying Naglfar, the Ship of the Dead, complete with a host of giants and zombies, to sail against the Asgardian gods and begin the final battle of Ragnarok. It’s up to Magnus and his friends to stop him, but to do so they will have to sail across the oceans of Midgard, Jotunheim, and Niflheim in a desperate race to reach Naglfar before it’s ready to sail. Along the way, they will face angry sea gods, hostile giants, and an evil fire-breathing dragon. But Magnus’s biggest challenge will be facing his own inner demons. Does he have what it takes to outwit the wily trickster god?

#5 Someone Knows by Lisa Scottoline

I jumped ahead a year to this book – so July 2019. I had put it on a post about anticipated books but I never did get to read it. That’s a shame because it sounds really good.

Book Description:

Twenty years earlier, a horrific incident shattered the lives of five teenagers, including Allie. Drinking and partying in the woods, they played a dangerous prank that went tragically wrong, turning deadly. The teenagers kept what happened a secret, believing that getting caught would be the worst thing that could happen. But time has taught Allie otherwise. Not getting caught was far worse.

Allie has been haunted for two decades by what she and the others did, and by the fact that she never told a soul. The dark secret has eaten away at her, distancing her from everyone she loves, including her husband. Because she wasn’t punished by the law, Allie has punished herself, and it’s a life sentence.

Now, Allie stands on the precipice of losing everything. She’s ready for a reckoning, determined to learn how the prank went so horribly wrong. She digs to unearth the truth, but reaches a shocking conclusion that she never saw coming–and neither will the reader.

What are some of the books that have been on your TBR the longest?