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.