Tuesday, August 12, 2014

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

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created at The Broke and the Bookish. This feature was created because we are particularly fond of lists here at The Broke and the Bookish. We'd love to share our lists with other bookish folks and would LOVE to see your top ten lists!

This is a really interesting topic this week. I generally try to stay away from books that leave me confused as to if I should read them or not. So, let's see what I come up with.


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

The Princess Bride
by William Goldman
Oh, I've heard so many mixed things about this book. 'It's so funny.' 'It's got a depressing narrator.' 'So romantic.' 'It wasn't good.' I just don't know. I even bought it on a whim at a bookstore and now it's been sitting on my shelf, unread, for over three months.

Shadow and Bone
by Leigh Barugo
The book interests me. It's fantasy - of course it interests me. And I have heard so many good things about it. And every time I hear that someone is reading it I wonder if it might be for me. But... I hate first person perspective (especially in fantasy books) and I read the first little bit (free preview at amazon) and couldn't tell if the main character is a guy or a girl. (I know it's a girl, but I couldn't tell just by reading it.) So, I just don't know.

Heir of Fire
by Sarah J. Maas
I have a love/hate relationship with this series: I loved the first book, hated the second and am officially terrified of the third. Is it more like the first one? More like the second one? Everyone (except me, but I don't count) liked the second book more than the first one. I know I'll be waiting for the reviews to start flowing in once the book is actually released (September) - but as of right now, I don't know what to think.

The Name of the Wind
by Patrick Rothfuss
I know, how have I not read this super-duper popular fantasy book? And I call myself a fantasy reader. Well, the fact is, I have heard some things - beyond all the love - about this book that truly worries me. I've never really considered myself a feminist...but I have read books that seem very 'anti-woman' and I wind up hating them. Maybe it's over sensitivity, but I have heard some rather poor things in this regard about this book.

Stardust
by Neil Gaiman
I have been debating with myself ever since I discovered that the movie (which I adore) was based on a book whether or not I should read it. I really don't know. I've heard some people say the movie was better - and others say the books was much better. Sadly, I usually like the movie more than the book anyway, so I don't know if I should read this.

The Magicians' Guild
by Trudi Canavan
How can a book sound both so interesting and so boring at the very same time? I love the song of this book - but too many fantasy books similar to this have left me feeling disappointed. I know it's not fair to judge one book by others, but I cannot help but do it.

Heist Society
by Ally Carter
It's contemporary. Not only that, but it's YA contemp. I've never had good luck with the latter and have always had back luck with the former. It sounds good - but I'm not sure about this book at all. To read it, I know I'll have to be in the right mindset, and I'm seldom in the mood to read contemporary.

Mr. Impossible
by Loretta Chase
I've actually got two other romance novels on my TBR Goodreads list that I haven't read for the exact same reason - but I decided to list the one that's been on the list for over a year. You see, when I do get in the mood to read romance novels (which, admittedly happens nearly never) I prefer the less smutty/sexy ones. Really, I would rather read a clean, almost chaste book than one where the main characters tumble into bed at every opportunity. I'm afraid I just won't like these three romance novels because of the smut. That being said though, they're all still on my list because they sound so good.

The Lost Hero
by Rick Riordan
I read the first Percy Jackson book and...honestly...I found it to be just okay. I've read other middle grade books that I really liked, so it wasn't that. I do think this sounds better than the Percy Jackson books, but I'm just not sure that I like this author's style of writing so... Yeah, very mixed feelings if I should give this book a shot or not.

Fire
Kristin Cashore
This is called a 'companion' book to the first in the series as it really doesn't continue the story. However, I didn't really like the first book and this one... I have heard such bad, awful things about it - things that I believe I would have some problems with - that I'm not sure I want to read it. Add that to the fact that I know who a good portion of this story is supposed to be about and...well, I'm just not sure if this book would anger me (kind of like Graceling did at times) or not.




There we go. I did have to scrounge a little to come up with ten. While I am still minorly confused about most of these, the majority of them have settled down quite nicely into the 'read' or 'don't read' categories. I'd say the biggest issue I'm currently having would be with Heir of Fire. I would, however, love to hear your thoughts about any of these books (should I read it? should I avoid it like the plague?). Leave me a link to your list and I'll visit.

Comments (12)

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The Princess Bride was fun, I really liked it. The Name of the Wind is pretty good and I don't really see why some people would think it's anti-women (the only thing I can think of is that the most prominent female character is a prostitute, but she's not the only woman in the book).
I am one of the people who liked the Stardust book better than the movie. The book and the movie are pretty different, and the novel is much bleaker than the film.
If you didn't like the first Percy Jackson series, then I don't recommend "The Lost Hero".
I haven't liked Graceling, either, and I definitely won't read Fire.
Thanks for stopping by my TTT
My recent post Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten Books I'm Not Sure I Want To Read
1 reply · active 558 weeks ago
I'll probably eventually get to The Princess Bride. I'm not sure about The Name of the Wind. I've heard so many different things about it that it just leaves me confused. (You lead me to think that it's more interpretation than actual events that are 'anti-woman'.) Not your intention, I'm sure, but you've added another reason I might not read Stardust to the list. I don't really like bleak stories and part of the reason I liked the movie was because of how it was actually a happy movie. Thanks for letting me know anyway.
Honestly, I'm thinking that the reason I had problems with Percy Jackson was because of the first person POV. Those just don't work out for me very often. For me, Fire is a book that I think about occasionally, but the big selling point (it seems) is the reason I'm uncertain of it more than anything else.
I love The Princess Bride movie so much that I often forget it is a book too! I really don't think i will read it just because I already like the movie.
My recent post Top Ten Tuesday ~ Books I'm Not Sure I Want To Read
1 reply · active 558 weeks ago
I've not seen the movie yet. I've been trying to convince myself to read the book before I watch the movie because, when I do it the other way around I usually like the movie MORE than the book. I'm trying to avoid that this time around.
Hmmm...I have been interested in the Throne of Glass series and haven't yet picked it up. It is always disappointing when the series deteriorates.
My recent post Top 10 Books I'm not sure I want to read for Various Reasons
1 reply · active 558 weeks ago
Well, a lot of people would (and do) disagree with me and say that the second in the Throne of Glass series was actually better. Really, I think what it depends on is if you want more fighting or more romance as the second book had a lot more of the one I wanted less of. (Romance.)
I didn't read any books you listed there except for Fire and I kinda hated that book. Except for a good writing, I can't find it any other qualities. I do plan on reading The Princess Bride even though I didn't like the movie very much. :P
My recent post Review of Queen of Someday (Stolen Empire #1) by Sherry D. Ficklin
1 reply · active 558 weeks ago
What really confuses me about Fire is that, hearing what everyone says about it, if you liked Graceling, you don't like Fire and if you disliked Graceling, you like Fire. I just don't know because I neither hated nor loved Graceling. I've not seen The Princess Bride movie yet and I am hoping to read the book before I do. For once. And maybe then I'll finally be able to say that I like the book more than the movie.
Shadow and Bone is a really, really good book and I understand that a female POV which you can't guess is a female would be annoying, I'd suggest you really give this series a chance. I recently finished it in June and loved it.

Heir of Fire! I SO cannot wait to read it. Why did you hate Crown of Midnight? I loved it and The Assassin's Blade so much. Gaaaaah.

I read Heist Society last year and it's an okay read. Nothing mind blowing.

I plan to read Graceling soon but have no idea about Fire...
1 reply · active 558 weeks ago
I might give Shadow and Bone a shot - everyone seems to love it but sometimes that worries me more. I'm not expecting great things out of Heist Society, but I love the Leverage (TV series) esque sound of it so an entertaining read would be great. Graceling really didn't impress me though it was, mostly, well written. I didn't have strong feelings toward it one way or the other.

As for Crown of Midnight. (After thinking how to say this without getting hot-under-the-collar (something I do all the time when this book comes up) and making this reply a full page): I will admit that HATE is a rather strong word to use. This is just a case of epic letdown. After the amazing first book, all the stupidity and bad decisions really galled me in this book.

I don't like secrets. Sometimes they are needed, but in this book I felt way too many of them were just there to advance the plot. Characters should change, but half of them didn't progress, they regressed. I would say that I specifically found Celaena to be selfish and self-absorbed. While this is a valid starting point for development, I also thought that she was more 'heroic' and just generally a better person (i.e. more decent) in the first book.

I don't like the romance - especially not how that was one of the major plotpoints for the entire book. (Sad, because the guy she was with was actually my favorite in the first book but I couldn't help but feel his character was almost destroyed.) I felt that the big 'reveals' were not playing fair with the readers. I wasn't happy reading this book. I found it to be mostly depressing. I guess you could say that at least it made me feel SOMETHING, but I am very empathetic so that wasn't such great shakes. Besides, I don't read books to feel sadness or depression which was pretty much the only emotions I got from it.

Whew. Okay. Sorry. I did get more passionate than I intended - and also wrote a lot more. I did write a full review (explaining my problems a bit better than up there, I think) if you'd like to read it. You can find it here.
I love the movie from The princess bride, but a lot of people say the book isn't as good as the movie (which is funny, because most of the times it's the other way around) Shadow and bone is amazing, I can't wait for Heir of fire and I posted my review for Fire today. It's SO GOOD.

Mel@thedailyprophecy
1 reply · active 558 weeks ago
Usually I like the movie more than the book - which is part of the reason I want to read The Princess Bride before seeing the movie. As soon as I get the chance, I'll stop by and see what you thought of Fire. I really do look forward to getting more opinions on it because I'm not really sure about it.

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