Tuesday, March 19, 2013

Did I Forget To Read You?

I put a similar list together for The Broke and The Bookish's Top Ten Tuesday a while ago.  So I'm going to only list books that weren't on my first list.  It sounds like it will be difficult, but it actually won't be.  In no particular order, the Top Ten books I HAD To Buy...But Are Still Sitting On My Shelf Unread:

1. Brown Girl In The Ring, by Nalo Hopkinson - When I first saw this book, I knew I had to read it, but it sits untouched on my shelf.
2. The Wolves Of Mercy Falls, by Maggie Steifvater - I saw the box set at a discounted price and I'd heard such great things about the author and the series, but it's still sealed in shrink wrap.
3. Carrie, by Stephen King - I saw the new paperbacks looking pretty on display and there was Carrie.  I've read a fair amount of King's work, but not his first novel.  Why is it still waiting for me to read it?
3. His Dark Materials, by Philip Pullman - I saw the paperback box set on sale (of course).  The price was right and I really want to read the books, but they just sit on my shelf.
4. Twenties Girl, by Sophie Kinsella - I love Kinsella's books, I've read a lot of them, so of course I picked this one up too... and then didn't read it.
5. The View From Castle Rock, by Alice Munro - I picked this up at a charity book sale after reading so many wonderful stories by Munro.
6. What the Dickens: The Story Of A Rogue Tooth Fairy, by Gregory Maguire - I enjoyed Confessions of an Ugly Step-Sister and Wicked, I couldn't resist adding to my Maguire books when I saw this one on sale.
7.  The Gargoyle, by Andrew Davidson - I heard brilliant things about The Gargoyle.  Readers I respect immensely recommend this book, so I picked it up... and put it on the shelf.
8. Girl In Translation, by Jean Kwok - It sounded so much like I book I would enjoy.  I picked it up at the same charity book sale that I bought The View From Castle Rock.
9. Her Fearful Symmetry, by Audrey Niffenegger - The Time Traveler's Wife was great and I wanted to read Niffenegger's follow up and I still want to read it.
10. Girls of Riyadh, by Rajaa Alsanea - I just had to have it.  I wanted to read it so much.  I'm going to read it.  Soon (ish).  Bah!

Has anyone realized I'm a sucker for books with reduced prices?  I'm saving money by buying it, right?  Not really.

What books did you have to have and then didn't read?  Which one of these should I make a priority?


16 comments:

  1. Anonymous19/3/13 11:34

    Anytime a book is on sale, it's hard to pass up! Especially when you've heard good things about it! I suffer from shiny new book syndrome. A sale is good, but seeing a brand new hardback copy of a book excites me to no end and it's easy for me to waste hundreds of dollars on them instead of just waiting for them to be on sale. Oh the woes of a book lover!

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    1. Not Shiny New Book Syndrome! Makes my Book Sale-itis seem not so bad :)

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  2. I finally read His Dark Materials last year and it's def something I would have enjoyed a lot as a child.

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    1. Hopefully I'll read it soon. It sounds like such a great series.

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  3. Her Fearful Symmetry is a little strange... very different from Time Traveler's Wife!

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    1. That's what I've heard. Maybe that's why I haven't read it yet.

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  4. If I made a list of books I HAD to purchase but are still on my bookshelf unread, I'd have a rambling list of dozens of titles!

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    1. This list is only a small fraction.

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  5. Carrie is a great Stephen King book. It isn't as scary as some of this other stuff though!

    My Top Ten!

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    1. I don't need it to be scary... What I need is to read it :P

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  6. Ha ha I'm looking at your list going YES! YES! ME TOO!!

    Ditto Brown Girl in the Ring and Her Fearful Symmetry (I loved The Time Traveler's Wife so I was so keen to read it and yet once I had a copy...!). I have read His Dark Materials, phew, and The Gargoyle.

    I picked up a copy of Girls of Riyadh at a secondhand bookshop and then when I added it to Goodreads I saw so many people - especially Middle Eastern people - pan it as being superficial and fake and rather ridiculous, and that put me off reading it.

    I'm embarrassed to say I've never read an Alice Munro book. I hang my head in shame.

    I have read Shiver and I bought the sequels as soon as they came out, but I still haven't read them! I've become really bad at finishing YA series/trilogies.

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    1. Haha, glad you like the list. Brown Girl in the Ring is not a long book, I should really just sneak it in somewhere.

      I've read that the author got A LOT of back lash from the government, so that's kind of trumping the people who call it ridiculous. Plus, it's still got over 3 stars, so there are definitely people who liked it.

      You need to read Munro. ASAP. Start with Live of Girls and Women or Hateship, Friendship, Courtship, Loveship, Marriage.

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  7. Ooh, His Dark Materials is one of my FAVE series of all time so I definitely recommend that one!! I also really need to read the Wolves of Mercy Falls badly. Thanks for taking the time to stop by my blog earlier!

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    1. I'm hoping to read both series this year. We'll see how well that works out.

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  8. I am so, so guilty of this, and have 3 or 4 banker's boxes full of books that I got cheap and still hope to read before I shuffle off. I've been doing reasonably well in getting through 10 or so each year (and also am slightly better at not picking up new books -- in fact I just passed on a discounted copy of The Tiger's Wife last week -- and borrowing them from the library when I am actually ready to read them). I've also decided that my time is valuable (and too short) and I am a lot more willing to bail on a book at the 25% or 50% mark than I used to be.

    Another way of looking at it is that at least you got the books cheap and/or used. There are probably a dozen books I bought with only a small discount (10-25%) and years later they are unread and I could have gotten them for $0.01 (plus shipping)! I have improved in this area at least...

    With all that said, I would probably start with The View from Castle Rock.

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    1. I'm looking forward to reading The View from Castle Rock, while also not expecting to read it anytime soon. Maybe before 2013 is over?

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