Monday, August 11, 2014

Top Ten Books I'm Not Sure I Want To Read

Top Ten Books I'm Not Sure I Want To Read*
*well maybe I want to read them, like someday, in the future, when I have more time and zero other books

1. This is Where I Leave You - Jonathan Tropper
Somehow I own this despite the fact that the premise sounds completely blah to me. Admittedly the trailer for the film looks good and since seeing it I've moved my mysterious hardback from it's place on my contemporary shelf to my actual TBR pile. However a trailer is what made me speed read Gone Girl and that was an experience I really don't want to relive. I know they won't be similar, but I think I still need more convincing than a possibly good upcoming movie.

2. Cinder - Marissa Meyer
I've seen a lot about the Lunar Chronicles and most of it has been positive. Only Cinder came out the year my obsession with fairytale retellings started to fade. I've never been into sci fi. Cyborgs don't interest me. Still I bought a paperback copy of Cinder last week and have been eying it suspiciously since. This year I've experimented with plenty of genres and themes that I never thought I'd enjoy. Out of everything on this list I think this is the one I'm most likely to read.

3. Emma - Jane Austen
At times this blog becomes a love letter to Pride and Prejudice. Unfortunately I haven't had the same luck with Jane Austen's other novels. Sense and Sensibility gives me a headache and Northanger Abbey felt heavy handed. However two thinks happened in the last week that made me reevaluate my desire to read Emma. 1. I finished my Harry Potter audiobooks and in the process discovered that I have Emma on tape and 2. I started Emma Approved. Now Emma Approved makes me actually want to read Emma. The first chapter of the audiobook leaves much to be desired. You see my problem?  

4. The Maze Runner - James Dashner
 This is another case of "Everyone is talking about it and there's a movie coming." I've only heard good things but I just can't force myself to read it.

5. The Vacationer - Emma Straub
I put The Vacationers on my Summer TBR (and my birthday list) and now I can barely remember why. It still sounds good but it's subject is very much one I'd like to read by the pool in nice, 85 degree weather. That's weather we haven't seen in Michigan this summer. Actually it hasn't felt like summer at all. Without that summery feeling I'm not sure I want to read The Vacationers.

6.White Teeth - Zadie Smith
I can't get into Zadie Smith. I wish I could. I've heard her refereed to as Queen Z, the best of her generation and countless other amazing things. I bought book after book of hers thinking that I'd finally be able to get past the first hundred pages and see what everyone else saw. Only now I own most of her bibliography and have read the first third of a handful of her books. White Teeth is one of the few that I own and haven't tried. I'm actually a little worried to. It's by far her best known and most praised work.

7.The Silkworm - Robert Galbraith
I read Cookoo's Calling and enjoyed it, I guess. It was good as far as crime/mystery novels go. I just don't know how invested I want to be in this world of Privet Investigators. The Silkworm does sound interesting though. In the end this comes down to genre. I'm so rarely in the mood for a good mystery and right now, especially since Silkworm is only out in hardback (and I'm morally opposed to buying the ebook for my kindle) I won't be getting to this one any time soon, if ever.

8. The rest of John Green's catalog (TFIOS, Paper Towns, Will Grayson Will Grayson)
 I didn't hate Looking for Alaska. I didn't love it either. I enjoyed it about as much as I need to to read more Green. The I tried an Abundance of Katherines and whatever enjoyment I got from his writing withered away. It's not that I hink The Fault in Our Stars or any of his other books don't have the potential to be enjoyable, I just don't currently see a reason to read more by an author who has left me disappointed twice already.

9. Mists of Avalon - Marion Zimmer Bradley
I appreciate epic fantasy from afar. While things like Lord of the Rings never interested me, Mists of Avalon seemed right up my ally. I love Authrian legend. Morgan le Fay is cool. I got way too into Merlin when it was on. Overall I should have read this five times over. Except it's long. That's a lame excuse, but for me anything over 800 pages becomes a commitment. This is one I'm just not ready to make.

10. Room - Emma Donoghue
I bought a copy of Room when I was in Toronto (it was in the Canadian lit section) and decide that this would be the year that I tackled Emma Donoghue's intense novel. It's sat on my TBR pile since April. I've moved it higher on the list but then bought more books to avoid reading it, which is stupid because my house is full of books I haven't read. It's the subject matter that worries me with Room. I'm sure when I pick it up it'll be a 'can't put it down' type of experience, but how upset will it make me? I guess I don't know when I'll be ready to subject myself to it.


7 comments:

Kate @ Fictional Thoughts said...

I loved Paper Towns. I wasn't a huge Looking for Alaska fan but Paper Towns was lovely. Full of lots of quirky characters and the plot was full of surprises but not too pretentious.

I have a copy of the Mists of Avalon but have yet to read it. I think it's currently at my parents house as it wasn't a book I took with me when I moved out ten years ago :P Oh well.

I haven't read Emma but I really liked Sense and Sensibility and Persuasion. I hope Emma lives up to your expectations after Emma Approved. Is it good? I've watched the Lizzie Bennet Diaries but never got around to watching Emma Approved.

Cinder surprised me. Cyborg, sci-fi futuristic retelling of Cinderella? That shouldn't work. But somehow it did for me. I loved how Marissa Meyer used elements from the original story whilst making it new and interesting. The next two books (Scarlet and Cress) were ones I loved as well. I don't normally like cyborgs or sci-fi either but this book just really worked for me.

Happy reading :)

Anonymous said...

Epic length things make me want to run. Most of the time I just feel like I am getting trapped in the pages and no matter how much I read I cannot get out. This is why I have also passed up Mists of Avalon a couple of times.
http://jazminjade.wordpress.com/2014/08/12/top-ten-tuesday-not-so-sure-books/

CG @ Paper Fury said...

I'm a huge John Green fan so I definitely recommend him there. ;) TFIOS is my favourite of his book and An Abundance of Katherines probably my least favourite.
OH. But I read The Maze Runner specifically because the movie was coming out soon. I know, a bit shallow of me. ;) But I loved it and it's so worth the read. It's more survivalish than most dystopians, which I really enjoyed. XD
Here's my TTT!

Anonymous said...

I would like to have not read Emma, but then how would I know I didnt like it? I would always have felt guilty for not having read a 'classic'.

That Thing She Reads said...

I read Room and really enjoyed it once I got into it.

I'm debating whether in read Cinder too, not a fan of sci-fi but the Cinderella elements has me curious.

TFIOS is the only John Green book I've read and I loved it, I'm scared to try the others though in case they break the bubble

Melissa (Avid Reader) said...

I found The Maze Runner and Cinder disappointing. I think Persuasion might be a better choice for you than Emma. I think Paper Towns and TFIOS are both better than Looking for Alaska. I also have The Mists of Avalon sitting on my shelf too.

Charnell @ Reviews from a Bookworm said...

Great picks! I read Cinder and I did really enjoy it, I do think the hype ruined it a little for me though. I haven't read The Maze Runner yet, I definitely want to do that before the movie comes out. I put the rest of John Green's books on my list as well, not sure I will enjoy any of them, haha! Here's my TTT.