Tuesday, July 7, 2015

Top Ten Tuesday - Hyped Books I've Never Read

Top Ten Tuesday is a meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. Here at We Live and Breathe Books, two of us choose five books each week. This weeks topic is...


Hyped books I've never read!

Kiersten's Picks

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
J.K. Rowling
Harry Potter, #1
Goodreads | Amazon | Book Depository

I'm starting this list with the most shocking book I've never read. People are always really surprised that I haven't read the Harry Potter series considering that I am such a bookish person. However, I wasn't really a reader until a few years ago. It's not that I don't want to read the Harry Potter series ever, just not now. I have so many great, new books to read when I already know the basic plot of Harry Potter. (Yes, I know the movies are nothing in comparison to the books, but that isn't really enough justification for me to read them right now.) Someday I will read these books, probably when I have children and they're reading them.

Shadow and Bone
Leigh Bardugo
The Grisha, #1

The worst thing about having not read this series is that I actually own all the books. I've been telling myself I'm going to read it soon; I have yet to do so. I really am planning to read this soon though, especially since I have an ARC of Six of Crows, which I've heard is incredible. Hopefully I'll get to read this series before Six of Crows, but I might end up reading it as a result. Either way, I want to read this series soon!

Eleanor & Park
Rainbow Rowell
Goodreads | Amazon | Book Depository

In the beginning of my blogging days, I got Eleanor & Park and was anxious to start reading it - until the next day when Noor posted a review for it on the blog. While this technically doesn't prevent one from reading a book, I decided it would be a better use of my time to read a book that wasn't just reviewed on the blog instead. So now I'm here, and I still haven't read this book, and I really do want to.

Shatter Me
Tahereh Mafi
Shatter Me, #1
Goodreads | Amazon | Book Depository

I've been meaning to read this series for a long time, but I still haven't quite gotten there. With the news of a television show in the works, I definitely want to read this series before that happens. I have the first two books already, so I really need to get on that!

The Catcher in the Rye
J.D. Salinger

This is one of the many classics that I have not read. I'd like to take this time to blame the English curriculum in my township since I really didn't read many classics in high school. I actually think this book might even be banned from schools in my township? Either way, the lack of classics in school was definitely a disappointment. I know I can read them on my own but reading for class would force me to do so. Also, this book is not available as an ebook (my favorite type of book), which adds to why I haven't read it.

Noor's Picks

Legend
Marie Lu 
Legend, #1
Goodreads | Amazon | Book Depository

I'm mentally hitting myself over the head for not having read this series yet because I literally own the books, they are sitting on my bookshelves (okay currently they are sitting packed away in boxes in my garage but that's what moving does to you) and I still have not read them. I feel like the issue is that the initial hype has quieted and the hype for other books keeps coming up so I keep thinking "oh hold on, let me read this other book I just bought before getting to the thirty books I bought seven months ago yes perfect." I really need a system. I'm getting ridiculous.

Beautiful Creatures
Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl
Caster Chronicles, #1
Goodreads | Amazon | Book Depository

I own the companion novels to this series (Dangerous Creatures) and not this these, and both of those are signed and everything, and I haven't read a single one and it just makes me feel like a bad person, like a genuinely terrible human being, like do I really deserve all these books? Especially since I've met the authors now and they are the most genuine and kind and adorable souls and I just want to read their books! I mean that's not the only reason I want to read the books, but it definitely contributes. I know prior to the first book event I went to with Kiersten -- the Dangerous Creatures one in New York I believe -- I was interested but the books weren't too high priority. However, Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl were just so lively and the way they talked about their work made me want to encounter them again but with knowledge of the universe they created. Sadly, although I did meet Margaret Stohl again at BEA, I didn't get to read this book (or Dangerous Creatures, but I'll get there. I have a year off, so I know I have plenty of time.

We Were Liars
e. lockhart
Goodreads | Amazon | Book Depository

Ugh, this book. I was SOOOO excited to read this book last year because I was hearing so much about how it was amazing but it was shrouded in this huge air of mystery because no one actually said what it was about -- on purpose. Like there was this whole idea to go into the book blind and I really liked that. Anyway, similar but slightly different to Kiersten's Eleanor and Park situation because I was not aware Kiersten had intentions to read the book (sorry anyway Kiersten don't hate me), I mentioned to Marlon that I was really excited to read We Were Liars because I had just bought it, and for some reason to him that meant "read it the next day before I could and post a review rather than inform anyone he was reading it so we could do a double or maybe triple review." This was a year ago so I'm over it, especially since I was familiar with the situation since he already did it with The Night Circus, which by the way, I would highly recommend as another hyped book I never read (see what I did there adding in 6) but I also share Kiersten's sentiments that although I wouldn't let the fact someone else reviewed a book recently stop me from reading one, I had so many others to read (y'all should see how much trouble I had packing) I figured I'd just go back to it later, and then later never ended up coming. Hopefully I'll be able to read it soon.

Matched
Ally Condie
Goodreads | Amazon | Book Depository

I really wanted to read this so badly and I so wish I did. The story looks so promising, and I love exploring worlds like this, seeing the way they function, who's in charge, how people are living. I wanted to explore the world of Matched and get a glimpse into this world Ally Condie created. I heard a lot of mixed reviews about this book but it was definitely a hyped book so I was interested to see where my opinion fell on the spectrum. I don't really have a reason as to why I never got around to reading it. Maybe the mixed reviews kept it at a medium enough priority for me that other books took precedence? I'm not sure but I wish I had read it because I know I say I'd like to read it sometime but I know I have so much to read it won't be soon.

Throne of Glass
Sarah J. Maas
Throne of Glass, #1
Goodreads | Amazon | Book Depository

I was actually a little apprehensive about this book at first which is why I didn't read it the first time I came across it. On the one hand, I knew lots of people in the YA community loved it. Kiersten reviewed the second two books, giving them both 5 stars, and I've seen nothing but positive commentary about Sarah J. Maas who I'm sure is a wonderful writer. I just read the blurb and wasn't sure if the plot was something I was interested in reading a series about or was something I could commit to. However, after seeing that the series is this popular and that so many people with such different tastes love it, I'd love to read it and I genuinely do think I would enjoy it, so I hope I can read this when I have time as well.

What hyped books have you never read?
Let us know in the comments!

4 comments:

  1. Throne of Glass seems like a popular pick for today's lists. I have it on mine, too. I haven't read those books, except for We Were Liars and Eleanor & Park, and I enjoyed both. :)

    Julie @ Books and Insomnia

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  2. I personally think that Matched can be skipped, but read Harry Potter Kiersten!

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  3. I read most of those books, but I will say, I was late to the party for most of them and my teacher made me read Catcher in the Rye

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  4. Matched is one of my all time favorite trilogies! It was so good. I also need to check out Throne of Glass.
    Krystianna @ Downright Dystopian

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