Oh man. What a difficult post – to complete this we have to each look in the mirror, and confront our own failings. Not only that, but we must confront our very mortality. As upsetting as the thought may be, we will each die with books left unread, and I can guarantee that at least some of those will be authors we really *should* have read, and ones that it seems every single other person has, in fact, already sampled. So this one made me face that fact, and dig into the depths of this reality. You’re welcome.
There are so, so many more that could have been included on this list. I’m very behind on many different authors, a lot of whom I know I’m going to like. I have absolutely no excuse. I just haven’t gotten around to it. Simple and tragic as that! Some of these I’ve either tried and didn’t get on with, or I’ve tried another book by the author (I read a good chunk of Washington Black, My Year of Rest and Relaxation, Nightcrawling and Outline. I liked all of them, but got distracted. The only exception to this is the Liane Moriarty one where a writer goes on some kind of health retreat. It was just a bit slow and I had trouble connecting to it). Most I did enjoy and keep meaning to get back to, but so far, I just haven’t. I must get around to them.
What about you guys? Which book on your list this week are you most distressed to have included? Are any of mine on your list? Are any of your favourite authors or books on my list – feel free to make a case as to why I should prioritize your favourite if they’re on here!
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.
Whoa you got super existential with this one, huh? I’ve read one of Celeste Ng’s, Little Fires Everywhere and honestly I wasn’t a big fan though I did enjoyed the TV series adapted from it! I’ve not read any of Kristin Hannah’s books but The Nightingale is on my TBR.
My TTT: https://jjbookblog.wordpress.com/2023/11/14/top-ten-tuesday-446/
Haha, yeah, I was in a mood! I tried Little Fires Everywhere and it just didn’t make me feel like I had to keep going. I did like the show, so I feel like I should try again, but it never seems to make it to the top of the TBR! I’ve heard great things about The Nightingale and really have no excuse for not having read it yet!
Interesting perspective of how none of us will ever EVER finish out TBRs since 1) authors keep publishing and 2) readers want to read but are too overcome with how many flavors of books rush in – like a Bertie Bott’s Flavored Jelly Bean. I’ve started and have yet to finish The Nightingale. I’ve never been able to find time to complete it, but this list definitely compels me to face my reader sins. Good luck with your TBR, and I look forward to reading more posts! 🙂
Yes, you are absolutely right! I love the Bertie Bott’s Jelly Bean analogy. It’s exactly like that!!
I’ve read at least one book by four of these authors. I’ve read a number of Hannah books and liked them all, although some are better than others, of course. Same with Moriarty. I hope you enjoy all these authors when you get to them!
Happy TTT!
Susan
http://www.blogginboutbooks.com
I want to at least try Hannah – I feel like her books are fairly universally praised, so I do want to try for myself! I think I started with the wrong Moriarty, so I do want to give one of her other books a shot before giving up on her! Thank you!
“we will each die with books left unread,”
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Hahahahaha! Yes, my feelings in a nutshell!
I love Ozeki, Makkai, Ng, Saunders, Whitehead, Greer and Robinson. I like Hannah, Moyes, and Groff. The rest I haven’t read.
Authors I’ve never read
Excellent! There are some consistent hits and misses showing up in the comments, so I have a better sense of which books I think I need to try. I think Moyes I will probably skip, Hannah I might just try The Nightingale, and I’ll probably give the others another try but I suspect I need to at least try different books this time around! Thanks for your opinions!
Most of these you are fine to skip! Lol I’ve read many of these –Jojo I loved until the Kentucky book plagiarism thing (and she got the movie deal, not the better book she plagiarised) I really enjoyed Underground Railroad and Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead though I couldn’t get into Crook Manifesto at all. For the life of me I’ll never understand how Andrew Sean Greer won a Pulitzer for Less–an “ok” little novel. I’ve listened to a few Liane’s when I needed an audio. Suburban book club fodder. Ozenki–way overrated. Robinson–dull. Lincoln in the Bardo–I listened to it and the performance of the book was good. The book wasn’t lol. Nightingale was compelling. David Sedaris is funny or he isn’t. Elf in Santaland was by far his best ever. Read what you like!
I did not know about the plagiarism thing – now I feel even less inclined to try the books! I really want to read some of Colson Whitehead’s books- I have both Underground Railroad and Nickel Boys on my shelves, so I’ll probably try one of them, so your recommendation is good to hear! I started Less and yeah, it was fine, but didn’t really wow me and I gave up. “Suburban book club fodder” – ha! I love your concise reviews – very helpful and amusing! Thanks for narrowing my list down for me! 😉
I like Moyes and Hannah’s books.
Yes those are two of the ones I hear about most often I think! Have yet to try either, but I swear…okay I hope I will one day!