Continuing on in our book tag spirit of these past few weeks, I have another one that I wanted to do. It was originally from jamishelves, who titled it “Books I Want to Read But Don’t Want to Read.” The idea for all of these books are ones that you wish you had under your “Read” tab on Goodreads but for specific reasons don’t actually want to put forth the effort of reading the book. Hence why I’m calling it “forgotten TBR;” they’re the ones that just keep getting shoved farther and farther down on the list, lost to that unceasing abyss.
1: A book that you feel you need to read because everyone talks about it
I’ve heard a lot of good things about Ninth House, and from Booktubers I trust. And I’m not new to Leigh Bardugo’s work, but everything I’ve read has been in the Grishaverse, and with Ninth House both touted as a more adult novel and a more urban fantasy setting to boot, I’m just not sure I’d enjoy it. At the very least, I have books on my TBR list that I’m more eager to get to that Ninth House just doesn’t feel like it should be a priority.
2: A book that‘s really long
Another fantasy novel that I’ve recently heard a lot about, The Priory of the Orange Tree is massive. It is thick. Yet, despite its incredibly high rating on Goodreads, I just haven’t wanted to pick it up any time soon. Probably because it gives me flashbacks to pushing through Infinite Jest for a class (another behemoth book). But, I don’t know, I may get to it eventually.
3: A book you’ve owned / had on your TBR for too long
Goodreads says this has been on my TBR shelf for three years. When, maybe a year back, I went through my “Want to Read” list, I kicked off quite a few books I knew I’d never get too, but for some reason, kept this one. I’m honestly not even a huge fan of the cover.
4: A book that is ‘required’ reading
(eg, school text, really popular classic – something you feel obligated to read!)
Sometimes I feel like I really missed out on some of the classics in my high school and even in college. And even though it’s over a century old, Pride and Prejudice is still talked about frequently. I like the idea of being able to say Oh, yeah, I read Pride and Prejudice and it was good! But I can’t also deny it’ll probably feel a lot like homework, and I’d rather not do that, so…
5: A book that intimidates you
I have tried to read Hitchhiker’s before. It’s said to be a brilliant piece of writing, and if the others have a high rating on Goodreads, this has them all beat, even with more ratings. Yet, like Priory, Hitchhiker’s is no small book. And, I don’t know, when people say a book like this is brilliant, they usually mean it in a this book is heckin’ clever, and I’m afraid I’ll either find it boring or hard to follow.
6: A book that you think might be slow
I remember once being in the library, trying to decide if I wanted to read this book or not. It’s almost a “modern classic” if that’s a thing, something that everyone who loves fantasy should read. But I read the synopsis and I think I tried getting into the first couple pages and I just wasn’t hooked.
7: A book you need to be in the right mood for
So I’ll be honest, I’m not entirely sure I would enjoy this book. The BookTuber Irish Reader did a vlog while reading this and it was such a rollercoaster of a ride. So I know kind of what happens in the book (spoilers don’t really bother me), and I know it’s got a slow ending. But I thought the Hunger Games books were good, and even if spawned a lot of dystopian YA tropes, it’ll still hold a special place in my heart. So I guess if ever I’m feeling in the mood to revisit The Hunger Games series, I’ll read this one.
8: A book you’re unsure if you will like
When Red Queen came out, it was super hyped. I think that, for a lot of people, the hype was even earned. But it just never stuck out to me. Whether it’s because of the romance that’s inevitably mentioned in the synopsis or the political intrigue in YA (which can be hit or miss on a good day), it’s just been one of those books where I never wound up reading it.
Now it’s your turn! I’m curious to know if you’ve read any of the books on this list and if you think I should or should not read them, and what answers you have for these prompts as well. If you do the tag on your own blog, please feel free to share!
Katie Bachelder 