TOP TEN TUESDAY | BOOKS I HAVE HEARD SO MUCH ABOUT I FEEL LIKE I’VE READ THEM

The past year of reading has been really, really frustrating for me. Part of being a reader is the ever-growing TBR full of amazing books that you either feel like you should have read but haven’t or really want to read but haven’t gotten to yet. There’s no way around it, there are just far too many books in existence for any person to ever read, and that’s before we take into account the hundreds of books hitting shelves every year that we try to keep up with. I hate that I’ll never read all the books, but since there is absolutely nothing I can do about it unless I find a way to become immortal, I don’t dwell on it.

But the past year this issue has really grown into something I can’t avoid or handle. I’m used to a certain reading pace – 1-2 books a week on average. It’s a decent pace that I was able to maintain while working and blogging. But then I had a kid, and everything in my reading life fell apart. I knew I’d have less time to read – at least for a while – but what I wasn’t prepared for is the mental tiredness I’d have to deal with. Now, this has definitely been much more pronounced in my case because I had fairly severe PPD (post-partum depression) that left me with zero energy for months. But even now that I’ve mostly recovered, I just find that I am having a really hard time focusing. So even when I have time to read, I either just don’t because I’d rather watch TV, or I pick up one book after another, read anywhere up to half of it, but then never finish it.

I’m planning to do a post later this week about the books I’ve started and not finished – because that’s been the majority of my reading so far this month as I’ve yet to finish a single book in April – but for now I have a slightly different topic in mind. This post is all about the books I have been super excited to read for a long time, that I’ve possibly read a bit of, and that I’ve heard everyone and their dog talk about to such a degree that I feel like I not only know what happens in the book, but I know whether there are issues with the plot structure, character development, or writing. I have opinions on whether they should have been nominated for awards and weren’t, or didn’t deserve the nomination they got. I have ideas of what conflicting viewpoints on the books have to say. I know if the book was great for the first 2/3 and then dropped off. I know if there’s one thing in it that just didn’t work or wasn’t necessary. I know everything I can about them without having actually read them myself, and man that’s frustrating! So here are the books at the top of my “I have heard so much about this book I’ve practically read it” list at the moment!

            

These four were all nominated for this year’s Women’s Prize for Fiction, but they had already been on my radar for long enough that I knew a fair amount about them. I had read a bit of Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine (which I’m trying to read again at the moment), I’d been anticipating Joanna Cannon’s sophomore effort after reading and really enjoying The Trouble with Goats and Sheep, and Jesmyn Ward is someone I’m ashamed not to have read anything by yet as her other books have been on my TBR forever. The Mermaid and Mrs. Hancock was making the rounds amongst British booktubers I watch and though it’s not my usual kind of book the number of times I’d heard it talked about had moved it up onto my list.

            

I’ve read about a third of I Am, I Am, I Am – the only reason I put it down was because I was working on the Canada Reads shortlist and had to prioritize those books. I’ve really enjoyed what I read though, and expect to enjoy it as much as the hundreds of other people talking about it online! Pages for You is another booktube darling, and its premise interested me. I normally wouldn’t have gone for it – this type of book (about first love angst and relationships gone wrong) is so often too soft and squishy for my taste. But I have been convinced and hope to get to it soon, along with its sequel, Pages for Her. Now, the next one I am surprised to have heard so much about. Usually celebrity authors are a let down, but Tom Hanks’ Uncommon Type seems to have gone over much better than expected. It’s not billed as being great literature, but an enjoyable and charming read. Red Clocks I’ve waffled on a lot, because I expect it to bear strong similarities to The Power, last year’s Bailey’s Women’s Prize for Fiction winner that I had a lot of problems with. But I’ve heard nothing but praise for this one, and I kind of hope it will succeed where The Power failed.

       

My Brother’s Husband is one I’m really excited to get to, because I just know I’m going to love it. Everyone who has read it has loved it, and it seems to deal with its subject matter well. Little Fires Everywhere I’ve actually tried to read – twice – with no success. I think it would probably end up being an enjoyable read for me once I got invested, but that investment process wasn’t an easy one for me! Bonfire, like Uncommon Type, is a celebrity authored book that actually seemed to be well-received. Possibly even more so than Tom Hanks’ book. I’ve heard it’s well written and has a gripping plot. I’ve read a chunk of it but haven’t yet finished it through no fault of the book, and I’m expecting to enjoy it when I do finally go back to it.

What about all of you? Are there any books you’ve heard so much about that you feel as if you’ve read them? Have you read any of these? Share in the comments!

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly link-up feature created by The Broke and the Bookish and hosted by Jana at That Artsy Reader Girl. Every week TTT has a different topic, and everyone who links up has to create a link of ten items that fit that topic. To see past and upcoming topics, go here.