Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature hosted at That Artsy Reader Girl. Each week you compile a list of ten books which coincide with that week’s theme. You can find everything you need to know about joining in here!
This week’s theme is ‘Books On My TBR I’m Avoiding Reading and Why (maybe you’re scared of it, worried it won’t live up to the hype, etc.) (submitted by Caitlin @ Caitlin Althea)’, so today I’m talking about the books I’m putting off reading for whatever reason. Please convince me to start crossing them off my TBR.
Sorcerer to the Crown by Zen Cho: I was supposed to buddy read this years ago with the lovely Mikayla @ Mikayla’s Bookshelf but I failed spectacularly. I’d recently started a job that I would go on to have for two years and would be the most stressful job I’ve had so far in my life. Now I associate this book with how I felt back then, but I still really want to read it!
How the White Trash Zombie Got Her Groove Back by Diana Rowland: I read the first three books in this series years ago and always meant to continue, but it’s got to the point now where I’ll have to re-read the first three before I pick up this fourth book and I just haven’t got around to it yet.
Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi: This book was SO HYPED and it made me super nervous to pick it up. Now the hype’s worn off and I’ve seen enough reviews to know I probably won’t love this book, so I’ve been putting it off ever since.
The Burning Chambers by Kate Mosse: This book sounds right up my street, but I ended up DNFing Mosse’s Labyrinth and I stopped watching the TV adaptation because I got bored, so I’m a little nervous I won’t like this one either.
A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness: I’ve heard this novel described as Twilight for adults enough times to be a little wary of it. I imagine I’ll enjoy it once I get into it, but it’s a fairly chunky book and I’m hesitant to read over 500 pages just for the book to be okay.
The Final Empire by Brandon Sanderson: Another chunky novel (it’s probably not surprising in the least that most of the books on this list are on the larger side) and one I’ve been meaning to read for a long time, but I know my friend Natalie @ A Sea Change wasn’t a huge lover of it and I trust her instincts when it comes to high fantasy. I do want to try this novel, but I’d be lying if I said it was at the top of my TBR.
Macbeth by Jo Nesbø: I want to try this novel not only because I’ve yet to read any Nesbø, but because Macbeth is my favourite Shakespeare play so I’m always intrigued by retellings. This novel’s part of the Hogarth Shakespeare series, however, and I haven’t loved the other books I’ve tried in this series so I haven’t picked this one up yet.
The Silence of the Girls by Pat Barker: I need to give this book a try soon! I saw Pat Barker at the Hay Festival and she was brilliant. The only reason I’ve been putting this novel off is because I know it deals with sexual assault and I find it really difficult to read about.
The Grace of Kings by Ken Liu: This is another fantasy novel I really want to cross off my TBR, especially considering I want to read more own voices Asian SFF, the only thing that’s put me off are the reviews I’ve seen lamenting the lack of women with agency in the novel. The two main characters are men and I have no problem with that, but I do get frustrated when male authors can’t find roles for women in SFF beyond wife and mother.
The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas: I never had to read any French classics in school or university, but this novel is one I’ve wanted to conquer since I was about 15 that I’m incredibly intimidated by. My edition’s around 1,500 pages long!
I ended up DNFing Sorceror to the Crown and was disappointed with Children of Blood and Bone because I really didn’t like the romance in it. Hopefully you like them!
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Sorry to hear you didn’t enjoy them!
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I read Children of Blood and Bone during the hype was disappointed. I can see why people loved it, but I thought it could have been better.
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The Silence of the Girls is brilliant, but yes, the sexual assault is a constant. I have a hard time reading about it, too, but I’m glad I did read the book.
Ever since the drama with CoBaB and Nora Roberts, I’m more weary of continuing the series.
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That’s good to know! It’s definitely one I want to get to, but I need to be in the right mood for it.
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If the book A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness is anything like the TV show based on it then may a higher power help you! The mine hero comes off as creepy and controlling. Then again, when I read Twilight I was on Team Jacob so maybe don’t take what I say at face value? Heh 😀
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Haha oh no, sorry to hear you weren’t a fan of that one!
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I’ve read the first two White Trash Zombie books – I need to get back to it!
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It’s such a fun series!
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I know so many people who adore Brandon Sanderson and consider his books among their favorites. But the sheer size of them is daunting. That’s a big time commitment to make for something that may end up being just okay.
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They’re very chunky fantasy novels, and it’d be a shame to read something that long only for it to be just okay!
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Ha love your title for this one! 🙂
I think A Discovery of Witches has a cool premise, I kinda want to try those, and I’ve never read Sanderson. Weird, huh?
Same here with Count of Monte cristo.
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Thanks! 😀
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Nothing wrong with deciding you don’t want to read a book any more 🙂 I may be biased – I tackled Children of Blood and Bone and The Final Empire after putting them off (and off. and off, in the case of the Mistborn book) and… I didn’t love them (I DNFed the Sanderson). And I can understand that Sorcerer to the Crown may be tricky given the associations for you (which is a shame, as I found that one a delight).
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Very true! I do still want to check them out so I can have my own opinions on them, but at this rate I think I need to force myself to pick one of them up. 😉
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The Count of Monte Cristo is one of my favourite classics. Yes, it’s long, but I don’t think it’s a particularly difficult book to read and the plot is so exciting the pages go by quite quickly. I hope you enjoy it if and when you get round to reading it!
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That’s really good to know, I need to cross it off my TBR!
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I have a copy of “Count of Monte Cristo,” too and it’s A BIG BOOK! Needless to say, while I should never say never, I doubt I’ll read it. But I do love the film, so… who knows! Thanks so much for visiting Finding Wonderland, Jess; hope you enjoy all of these if you do read them. 🙂
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I’d really like to watch the film, but I keep waiting to read the book! I hope you enjoy it if you pick it up. 🙂
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Children of Blood and Bone was just okay for me. I could tell it was written well, but I just didn’t have enough cultural familiarity to enjoy it as much as I could have. I want to read The Count of Monte Cristo too, someday. I think the next classic I read will be Les Miserables though.
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Sorry yo hear you didn’t enjoy COBAB as much as you hoped!
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Mistborn is huge, but it absolutely flew by for me! I couldn’t stop reading it after putting it off for years. I’ve been meaning to read Discovery of Witches as well, but I’m not sure I’ll enjoy the romance so it’s still sat on my shelf.
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That’s good to know! I really should give Mistborn a go soon.
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I’m intimidated by hype as well, and a long page count can be overwhelming too! Here is our Top Ten Tuesday.
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I’m glad to know I’m not the only one! 🙂
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M such a fan of discovery of witches so I hope you read it soon. As for Pat Barker’s The Silence of the Girls, it’s quite a visceral book and doesn’t hold back on the violence. So if that is a trigger for you then maybe don’t read it. I think it’s wonderfully written but definitely something that you need to be in the right mindset for. Fab TTT :))))
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Glad you enjoyed that one! Yeah, The Silence of the Girls is definitely one I want to read, but I know I need to go into it when I’m in the right mood for it.
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I read Macbeth in college and really loved it. Since you enjoyed watching the play, I think you’d adore reading it!
My TTT.
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Yeah, I love the play – hopefully this will be a good retelling of it! 🙂
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My TTT
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Count of Monte Cristo made my list as well. I haven’t read Children of Blood and Bone yet. But have heard great things.
My TTT
https://thereadingrebel.wordpress.com/2019/09/10/top-ten-tuesday-books-on-my-tbr-im-avoiding-reading-and-why/
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I hope you enjoy them both when you get to them!
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I loved Children of Blood and Bone but I almost regret starting it because now I have to do a reread for the second one lol The downfalls of starting series that aren’t finished lol
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There is quite a gap between the release of the first and second books!
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I know nothing about any of these, but I wanted to say that your title made me crack up! That’s how I’m going to imagine it w/ mine from now on.
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Thank you! 😉
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