Top Ten Tuesday: Books I Was So Excited To Get... and Haven't Picked Up Yet

"Top Ten Tuesday" is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl! 

SO, I've already done a little bit of addressing recently - in my Camp NaNo celebration post, in case you missed it! - that I haven't read a whole lot of books lately. Yes, it's a bummer, and yes, it's messing with my mental health a little bit. 

The worst part of the whole thing, by far, is just how little it has to do with actual access to books I'm fully looking forward to reading. At last count, it was nearing the 400 mark, between the nearly-100 novels I have queued up, ready to go whenever on my Kindle, and the bookshelves looming imposingly in the corner of my room, next to my window, which boast over 250 variously genre-d titles themselves. 

I know it's time for a bit of a reading nook clearing and unhaul, kind of like I managed to do last year. (Unfortunately, a very busy March-April-May has left me with virtually no time for Spring editing of my closet or bedroom, so that's got to happen some time before Memorial Day... or else I'll go venturing into Summer REALLY behind!)

But Rome wasn't built in a day, and nor was nearly 400 books accumulated over one really bad reading season. These books have been stacking taller and taller since I graduated college and moved back into my childhood home in 2016, and not moving much of anywhere else has allowed the hoard to continue unchecked. 

The truth of the matter is, I'm a huge mood reader... it's impossible for me to pick up a book if it doesn't fit the vibe of how I'm feeling. And while there are plenty of books on my shelves to suit pretty much every mood, it's hard to make books I've held onto for years, stand up to the likes of new releases freshly picked from the library. 

Still, I won't give out hope. Someday, however long it takes, I know I'm actually going to make it through some of these reads! 

Here are some of the books I'm still holding on to... because no matter how excited I was when I first picked them up, I just haven't been able to muster the same enthusiasm for opening the front cover! 

1. Across the Green Grass Fields, Seanan McGuire

Okay, let me explain: Seanan McGuire is one of my favorite authors of all-time, point blank, period. My love for the Wayward Children series has been passed around to multiple friends, it's one of my most reliable Fantasy genre recommendations, and I absolutely treasure each of the hardcover copies I own, all lined up neatly on my shelves.

The problem is, the reticence I feel towards cracking this one open has absolutely nothing to do with not wanting to read it, but instead, wanting to read it TOO MUCH. Like I said, I'm a mood reader! I'm absolutely unwilling to "waste" a really amazing read at a time when I'm just not vibing with it; hence, I hold onto the books in this series for months at a time, until I can find a good opportunity - like a vacation - to really slow down and savor it. 

I'm also hanging on to copies of Middlegame and Over the Woodward Wall for this exact same reason. I just care too much to waste a great read! 

2. The Talented Mr. Ripley, Patricia Highsmith

This book seemed to be the talk of the town last summer, particularly on Bookstagram and Tumblr. I don't know if it was actually the book itself people were so entranced with, but serial rewatchings of the stylish and sun-soaked 90s film adaptation with Gwenyth and Jude and Matt Damon, plus news of a Dakota Fanning-helmed upcoming TV adaptation as well. Regardless, I picked it up at the end of July with the intention of reading it on vacation in August... and it just didn't end up working out like that! 

Do I absolutely hope that I can drum up the kind of attention span it takes to read this with a chilled glass of rose and my sunnies on this coming summer? Absolutely. At the same time, the deck furniture is in severe disrepair... maybe I'll have to settle for lounging on the couch instead. 

3. Trail of Lightning, Rebecca Roanhorse 

I've been hearing nothing but praise heaped on Roanhorse for years now, and I was so excited to finally purchase Trail of Lightning and Black Sun for myself at various points of last summer. I'd even gotten as far as packing ToL on vacation in August, and had figured that it was my best chance at not only knocking out one of my most-anticipated reads, but one final slot on my Seattle Arts and Lectures "Summer Book Bingo" card. 

Unfortunately, 'twas not to be. I forgot two crucial elements of success: 1, how totally melancholy I get in the final weeks of August, and 2, that I've somehow found myself incredibly sensitive to violence in my advanced age (28). Both of these combined to be a total non-starter, as I was barely able to make it through the first few, brutal chapters. 

Do I intend to pick this one up again? Yes! And Black Sun, too! But it's going to take some time to get there... if I can actually manage to get my reading engine revving again soon, this isn't exactly going to be one of the ones I finally pick up first. 

4. Kitchen Confidential, Anthony Bourdain

I don't know... I bought this book at some point in the two weeks after the legendary culinary storyteller's death in 2018, swept up in the fervor of interest in his canon of work that always manages to succeed the loss of an industry giant. I was a fan of his TV shows beforehand, but hadn't ever felt like I needed to grab his writing before, and relished the opportunity to get to know him better, in his own words. But there's just something about trying to pick up an author's work so quickly after their highly-publicized end... like no matter how great it is, you know how the REAL story ends, in such a tragic way. 

I know I'll read this at some point. I'm still very much looking forward to it. 

5. Circe, Madeleine Miller 

The somewhat comforting thing is, I know I'm not alone in saying that Song of Achilles tore my chest open, flipped me inside out, and rested me belly-down in a bed of coals by the time I was done with it. I truly don't remember the last time a book has made me cry so hard before, and this is coming from someone who went through a serious Greco-Roman period in middle and high school, and was VERY MUCH AWARE of how the story of Achilles was supposed to end already. 

I think this is exactly why I am both so excited and slightly terrified to eventually read Circe. I know this one is going to hurt, in the best way possible. I just need to find the right time to make an attempt. 

6. The Mists of Avalon, Marion Zimmer Bradley

This was actually a total impulse purchase made last summer, in the throes of my annual bloggoversary celebrating, and one that pretty immediately vindicated itself based on the fact that I found an exact replica of my Value Village $5 purchase for nearly four times the price at Barnes and Noble within two hours of picking it up. 

Despite the fact that I still haven't read it yet, it's actually resulted in the purchase of THREE other books about Arthurian legend since then, which I've just generally sort of been accumulating. Could Summer 2022's hottest trends actually be round tables, broad swords, and fighting for the throne?  

7. The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle, Stuart Turton

I heard the hype. Bought the book. Bought a copy for my best friend. Best friend read the book, and loved it. Heard about how much my other friends loved it. So far, attempts to sit down and actually read this book: THREE. 

I don't know what the deal is. Honestly, the first few chapters I've managed to make it through have just been such a slog. It's not like it's fun from jump; I have been told by numerous people that you just need to stick through the first fifty or sixty pages before it starts getting to be more of a good time. So, I get that I just need to keep at it. It's just bordering on the impossible to muster up the enthusiasm to actually do so. 

8. The romance novels I actually own in mass market paperbacks... and in one case, HARDCOVER

Here's the thing: am I ashamed I read romance novels? No! Did this absolutely use to be the case? Yes! But now I'm way less willing to put up with the BS of others, and way more willing to wear my Out of Print "Fabio Reads" tee out in public, around people I know. I'm very upfront about what I've been reading, and sometimes, that is absolutely just a slew of romance novels. 

But you know what feelings have stayed the same? That they're just so much more convenient to read on Kindle! 

I know there's something about mass market paperbacks that pisses everyone off - the fact that they're cumbersome and bizarrely shaped, the fact that their spines are so damn thick you have no choice but to crack them if you actually want them to stay open for any period of time, that they spit bookmarks back at you when you flip them open - but honestly, I've got a hardcover romance novel that I haven't managed to pick up yet, either: Bet Me by Jennifer Crusie. It was a Goodwill purchase in recent years that just so happened to be the bulkiest novel I now own, and it barely fits on my bookshelves, let alone in my hands. 

At what point do I just put my hands in the air, donate all of them, and decide to get a free library copy on my eBook instead? 

9. Oh My Gods: A Modern Retelling of Greek and Roman Myths, Phillip Freeman

Like I mentioned earlier, I had a serious Greco-Roman period as a middle and high schooler, in ways that manifested themselves in poring over D'Aulaire's illustrated Book of Greek Myths and Edith Hamilton's Mythology in truly embarrassing ways, and that dovetailed neatly with the publication of the Percy Jackson series, which my friends all swapped around the lunch table. 

This collection of modern retellings was penned by none other than Phillip Freeman, preeminent author-slash-Classics scholar, who has also written collections on Celtic mythology, as well as the lives of Sappho, Julius Ceasar, and Alexander the Great. I think it's the outrageously appealing cover and bonafide pedigree of its origin that has held me off of reading this for so long... I know I'm going to enjoy it, it's just about finding the time to dedicate myself to a fairly chunky read. 

10. The Lies of Locke Lamora, Scott Lynch 

You guys, not to continue to illustrate the point of how much I despise mass market paperbacks, but I made the mistake of buying this seriously hefty read in a MMP format back in like 2011, and have never been able to muster up the ability to read it in such a dauntingly difficult state. 

I'm truly considering just donating this copy, and buying a new, more reliable sized one instead. I'm already 70 pages in to it, and I'm liking the plot, characters, the whole thing. It's just sticking with such a cumbersome brick of book in my hands that's the problem! 

What's in YOUR Top Ten? Let me know, in the comments below!