This week’s topic is about the books you used to be interested in but have changed your mind about, for one reason or another. Perhaps your reading tastes or personal interests have changed. Maybe you read things in reviews that made you decide it wasn’t a book for you. Who knows why we change our minds on books like these?

Today I’m sharing some of the more popular books I once wanted to read, but have changed my mind about. Feel free to talk me out of my decisions and pitch these books to me if you think I need to read them! Most of these I lost interest in for no real reason other than I no longer liked the sound of the synopsis. If there was a deeper reason I’ll include it. lol.

1. In Honor by Jessi Kirby

2. This Song Will Save Your Life by Leila Sales

3. Insurgent by Veronica Roth
I heard where the series went (mainly a spoiler for how the final book ends), and it killed any interest I had in continuing.

4. Love Letters to the Dead by Ava Dellaira
Too heavy for me. It sounds really depressing and I read to be happy.

5. Mortal Danger by Ann Aguirre
I picked this up at ALA and had not heard anything about it. There was no series title, and the synopsis was vague. I’m not a fan of paranormal, and I’ve never liked afterlife storylines either. I didn’t realize until reviews started surfacing that these elements are a part of the story, and I kind of deflated. I never would have picked this up if I’d known. lol.

6. My Unscripted Life by Lauren Morrill
I loved Meant to Be, but then I did not like Being Sloane Jacobs and The Trouble with Destiny was horrible. I’ve kind of given up on the author, and it makes me really sad.

7. The Walled City by Ryan Graudin

8. The Body Electric by Beth Revis
I’ve gotten pretty picky with my sci-fi.

9. Seeker by Arwen Elys Dayton

10. Tonight the Streets Are Ours by Leila Sales
It just sounds like it’s full of too many deep issues…

Ok, there you hate it… Have I lost interest in a book you love? Tell me why I should read it! Am I better off without any of these? Throw your opinions at me!

This week I want to know which books have been hanging out on your TBR the longest, yet you still haven’t read them. My tastes tend to change over the years and I’ve removed many books from my TBR that I lost interest in. But there are some that have hung in there for 5-10 years and I just haven’t read them yet even though I still really want to. Those are the books I’m going to share with you today!

A Thousand Days In Venice by Marlena de Blasi (VENICE, guys!!)
The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton (Sounds amazing!)
The Thorn Birds by Colleen McCullogh (My mom loves this!!)

Remember Me? by Sophie Kinsella (Sophie!!)
Spirited Away by Cindy Miles (Trime travel romance. YES!)
Beauty by Robin McKinley (B&B retelling!!)

Book of a Thousand Days by Shannon Hale (Sounds great!)
Must’ve Done Something Good by Cheryl Cory (MC loves The Sound of Music like me!)
360 Degrees Longitude: One Family’s Journey Around the World by John Higham (Travel memoir!)

Juliet by Anne Fortier (Sounds wonderful!)

Which books do I need to read ASAP? Which would I be better off removing from my TBR forever? Have you been wanting to read any of these?

This week’s topic is “Top Ten Books I Can’t Believe I Read”. I made this topic broad on purpose so that you could interpret it however you’d like. Were these books out of your comfort zone? Were they guilty pleasures you’re embarrassed to admit you read? Were they a genre you hate or for an age group you don’t typically read? Were you forced to read it in school and were surprised you actually did it instead o pretending you did? Perhaps they were intimidating to you, had a million pages, were on a topic you tend to shy away from, etc. I’m kind of all over the place with my list. lol. I’m excited to see how you’ve spun this topic!

 

1. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
The premise of this book (kids killing each other) seemed SUPER upsetting to me and like something I would NEVER want to read. Ever. I figured it would be way too disturbing, but then I kept hearing about it and my curiosity got the better of me. I really loved it, but I still can’t believe I actually took the plunge.

2. Twilight by Stephenie Meyer
When I first heard about this book I was a sophomore in college, and the idea of sexy vampires was unheard of to me. In what universe would I ever fall in love with a vampire? Again, I kept hearing about it… And then a guy in my Color Theory class brought his wife’s copy in for an assignment where we had to get up in front of the class and analyze color choices of products. That was the first time I’d ever seen the cover of the book I’d been hearing about. My mom and I decided to read it together for fun, and I was hooked.

3. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s/Philosopher’s Stone by J.K. Rowling
So… I found this book in a Scholastic book fair (in 1997) at my school library when I was a little kid and I thought the cover looked cool. I’d never heard about this book, and none of the other books had been released yet so nobody was really talking about it. I bought it and brought it home and read 3 pages before I gave up. And honestly, I went years before I even heard of these books again. I even donated my copy! I vowed to never force myself to read them because I was so not into the first one, but then the movies started coming out and the book blogging world became major pushers of the series for me. I still wasn’t interested, though, because I won’t succumb to peer pressure. The only reason I read this book is because a professor in my library and information science grad program required it for an assignment in my Children’s Literature course. 17 years after I DNFd the book I finally read it, and really enjoyed it. Now I’m working my way through the series and it’s so much fun!

 

4. Heartless by Marissa Meyer
Ok, so I only read this book because Marissa Meyer wrote it. I really hate Alice In Wonderland, so I was not at all interested in this book except for the fact that I love Marissa. And really, I didn’t like it much anyway. lol. But the writing was lovely!

5. The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
Blah. Another required reading in grad school, this time for my YA Lit class. I hate cancer books, I hate crying, and I was not at all a John Green person… this book had absolutely nothing going for it in my mind, and I had no interest in it. And… it was super meh. At least I didn’t cry, though! lol. Still not a John Green person either…

6. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
I was terrified of this book. I wanted to read it because I had heard it was beautiful and unique and amazing, but I was so scared because of the subject matter. I have a hard time with holocaust books and crying and death. I met Markus at ALA one year and he personalized a beautiful hardback copy (free from the pub) of this for me. That was what made me decide to bite the bullet. He was soooo nice and I wanted to read his book. The final push, though, was when I was assigned to read this in grad school as well. It is beautiful and I loved it, but it was very hard to read.

 

 

7. Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins
This was my first YA contemporary romance! I was never a fan of contemporary novels, and stuck to dystopia or thriller or historical romance, so Anna was my gateway book. The cover is kinda cheesy and the title is a little gaggy, but this is now one of my favorite books of all time and it opened me up to a whole world of really great YA contemporary romances. I’m so glad I took the plunge!

8. Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo
Another gateway book! This was my very first fantasy novel. Ever. I bought it because I was going to a Fierce Reads author signing (my first author signing) and I wanted all the autographs. I knew nothing about it, but when Leigh talked about it at the signing I became intrigued and decided to read it. It’s another one of my favorite novels ever, and I have read so many amazing fantasies because of it.

9. On the Island by Tracey Garvis-Graves
This book. I have so much love for this book and the author. I read On the Island way back when, as a self-published novel a couple years before Penguin bought it, gave it a new cover, and published it. I got an email about a book tour and read the synopsis and thought there was no way the book was for me. I didn’t love the age gap between the couple, and I had had some bad experiences working with self-published authors so I was very uninterested. But the synopsis got under my skin and I kept thinking about it, so I decided to go ahead and sign up a few days later. I received my ebook and began reading one evening. I could. Not. Stop. I loved it so much. The writing was amazing and the story was so sweet and wonderful and exciting. This was the ultimate out of my comfort zone kind of book, and I am so proud of myself for being brave and saying yes! It’s now one of my top 5 favorite books of all time. I’ve pushed it on many, many people since I read it. And if you look in the acknowledgments of the sequel you’ll see my name. :)

 

 

10. Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney
This was a required read in my Children’s Literature class and I hated it even more than I thought I would. Blech. I can’t believe I can claim I’ve read this. Clearly my dumb grad school never let me make my own decisions! I’m literally fuming as I write this that I will have to lie to people if I want to tell them I’ve never read a Wimpy Kid book.

Which books can you not believe you read?

This week’s topic is about the books you loved or really liked, but can’t remember much about. This is a big problem for me, especially where series books are concerned. I love reading a really amazing series, but sometimes I get caught up in so many series at a time that I get really overwhelmed. I end up forgetting the important things from the first/second books and not having the time to re-read them (or the desire because I didn’t LOVE it enough to read it again), but still wanting to finish the series! It’s so frustrating. Luckily I have the Recaptains to help me remember the important stuff, but not always! I’m going to highlight those series books I read but don’t remember, which has sadly prevented me from finishing the series.

 

1. Poison Study (Study #1) by Maria V. Snyder
2. Pandemonium (Delirium #2) by Lauren Oliver
3. Grave Mercy (His Fair Assassin #1) by Robin LaFevers
4. Crown of Midnight (Throne of Glass #2) by Sarah J. Maas
5. Forbidden (Forbidden #1) by Kimberly Griffiths Little
6. The Winner’s Curse (The Winner’s Trilogy #1) by Marie Rutkoski
7. Rebel of the Sands (Rebel of the Sands #1) by Alwyn Hamilton
8. Daughter of Smoke and Bone (Daughter of Smoke and Bone #1) by Laini Taylor
9. Thorns (The Frost Chronicles #2) by Kate Avery Ellison
10. Captivate (Submerged Sun #1) by Vanessa Garden
11. The Conspiracy of Us (The Conspiracy of Us #1) by Maggie Hall
12. Of Sea and Stone (Secrets of Itlantis #1) by Kate Avery Ellison
13. Uncommon Criminals (Heist Society #2) by Ally Carter
14. Shatter Me (Shatter Me #1) by Tahereh Mafi
15. A Thousand Pieces of You (Firebird #1) by Claudia Gray

Obviously I need some help here! Which books are worth re-reading so I can finish the series? Which were meh? Which should I give up on completely?

Have you ever had this problem I’m dealing with? What do I do?

Welcome to the brand new home of Top Ten Tuesday!

We said a very bittersweet goodbye on The Broke and the Bookish last week. Make sure you stop by, because we all had some sappy things to say and left links for where you can find us.

I’m really excited, but also kind of terrified, to take on hosting such a beloved meme all by myself. I loved writing at The Broke and the Bookish, and am a little sad today because I’ll really miss working with those ladies! Life has taken us all in different directions, though, so the time finally came that we had to split up. I wish them all the happiest lives ever and hope we stay in touch. :)

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This week’s topic is centered around our bookish resolutions/goals for 2018. I really love making goals, and I always get to excited when I stick to them. Let’s hope I can with these!

1. Read more classics.
I read two classics in 2017 by Arthur Conan Doyle (A Study In Scarlet and The Sign of the Four) and felt so unbelievably accomplished. lol. I want to feel that way even more! I’m hoping to read Pride and Prejudice and maybe Gone With the Wind? I’m not sure yet. Do you have any recommendations?

2. Read more books this year than I did last year.
I fell into a book slump and ended up reading way less than usual. I’d like to read more than 45 books this year, which should not be too hard. How many books are you hoping to read this year?

3. Write my book review for a book before starting the next one.
I used to do this, so I don’t even know what happened. lol. Maybe I lost my mojo? I’ve got a big list of reviews I still need to write, and I am so overwhelmed. I also don’t remember all the little details of why I loved or didn’t love some of these books. Making myself write a review before I can move on to another book will really improve my blogging, I think. Do you do this?

4. Embrace the concept of DNF.
I need to get even better at DNFing (did not finish) a book. I think this is why I fell into my slump last year. I didn’t DNF because I wanted to reach my goal or because I wanted to say I’d read something. Looking back over the books I read last year, I didn’t like many of them.

5. Read the books I’ve bought.
I buy and am gifted a lot of books, but I always push them to the side to read the books I’m sent for review. But I don’t OWE anyone anything. I need to feel like it’s ok to read the non-review books that I’ve bought because obviously those ones meant enough to me to pay for.

6. Weed my bookshelves again.
I’ve done this a few times over the last two years, and it’s liberating. I don’t have all the space in the world, and I’m feeling my tastes changing. I need to be ok with donating books I no longer think I’m going to read. I’m weighed down by so many books I’m not sure I’m interested in! Reading the books I’ve bought will help me with this.

7. Ignore the hype.
If I want to read a book, I should read it even if it’s not hyped up or if I know people who hated it. If I don’t want to read a book or want to DNF a book, I should not talk myself out of those decisions because everyone loves that book! Down with peer pressure!

8. Figure out my taste in books again.
As I mentioned above, I’m feeling my interests and my likes/dislikes changing as far as books go. Maybe it’s because I turned 30 last year and am really settling into adulthood, but I feel like I’m moving away from certain kinds of books. I’m no longer wanting to read books about people half my age. I find myself looking for more mature characters with careers and serious relationships, more world building, more details, more intensity, etc. I’m less interested in the books I used to really want to read, which is not to say that I don’t like those kinds of books anymore… I’m just getting pickier about them. I need to embrace this shift and figure out what kind of books I love now.

9. Read more during the day.
I pretty much only have time to read late at night now. This isn’t good for me, plus it’s harder to retain what you read when you’re so bleary-eyed while reading. I’m staying up so late and then I’m tired the next day. I also can’t read my scary books. lol. I need to carve out some me time at some point in the day where I can relax and enjoy some reading time.

10. Browse the backlist.
It’s not all about new or recent releases. I want to read the books nobody is talking about anymore and be different from everyone else. Ever noticed how you see the same handful of books being reviewed on each blog? I want to be different and breathe new life into the books that were released 5-10 years ago.

What are you hoping to accomplish in your bookish life this year?