Hi all! I hope you’ve all had a good week since I last did one of these, I had to go over to Edinburgh for an interview for my project on Friday, and that was really great, I got to talk to a student group who are doing really amazing work at bringing awareness to period poverty and it was so much fun getting to talk to people who are so passionate about the same things I am! I’m meeting my supervisor tomorrow, and I’m feeling really happy about the progress I’ve made, so I’m hoping that goes well.
Anyway, since it’s Tuesday, I have another Top Ten Tuesday for you all, courtesy of Jana over at That Artsy Reader Girl. This week we’re meant to be talking Upcoming Books We’re Unsure About, but I’m pretty happy with the upcoming releases I have on my TBR, so I had a slightly different take. Basically, since I’m graduating this year, I kind of need to do a big book unhaul, as I won’t be able to bring all of my books home with me, and whilst I do have a space to store them, it seems like a good opportunity to weed out parts of my collection that I’m not necessarily excited about anymore. So here we go, the Books I’m Considering Unhauling Before Graduation:
- The Hate U Give-Angie Thomas
Okay, okay, please, please don’t hate me! I know everyone loves this book, and I might give it a second chance, but when I last tried to pick it up in September of last year, I just couldn’t really get into it at all and since then I haven’t really felt the need to get back to it, so I’m not sure if I should just cut my losses and let it go.
2. Even The Darkest Stars-Heather Fawcett
I got this in my first ever FairyLoot box and I did think that the whole expedition aspect sounded fun, but since I got it, I just haven’t felt the excitement or need to pick it up and I honestly forgot I had it, so I’m not really sure if it’s worth keeping.
3. The Big Lie-Julie Mayhew
Again, I thought this one sounded great when I first got it, a contemporary Nazi England sounded like a different take on a story that has been done quite a lot of times, but I haven’t even really thought about it since I bought it, so I don’t know whether to give it a chance or not.
4. The Diabolic-S.J. Kincaid
I picked this one up at YALC last year, and it did sound interesting, but I’m not a massive Sci-Fi fan, so I haven’t really felt the urge to pick it up since, and I’m not sure whether it’s worth keeping or not.
5. Wonder Woman: Warbringer-Leigh Bardugo
Okay this one I am actually really torn on. I love Leigh Bardugo, and it’s signed, so in that respect I want to keep it because I’m loathe to give up a signed book by an author I actually really love. At the same time, I tried to get into it and found it really slow and I’ve heard that that doesn’t really change, so I’m not sure whether it’s worth keeping or not.
6. Show Stopper-Hayley Barker
On the one hand, I love circus books and this one does sound fun, but I’ve read some not so great reviews of this book that have kind of put me off, so I’ve kept putting it to the bottom of my TBR pile and now I’m wondering if it’s really worth the read or not.
7. Court of Fives-Kate Elliott
I bought this one a few years ago and at first I was really excited, I liked the idea of the gladitorial type competition but again, since buying it, I’ve kind of forgotten about it and now I’m not sure if I still really want to read it.
8. All The Crooked Saints-Maggie Stiefvater
I tried to pick this up last year and I couldn’t really get into it at all. I love Maggie Stiefvater’s work, but I’m just not sure if this particular book is for me. Still I don’t know if I should give it a second chance, as I wasn’t all that far into it when I put it down.
9. Front Lines-Michael Grant
On the one hand this book sounds amazing, female soldiers in WWII, yes please! But I’ve heard some not so great stuff about the author and his actions and that’s kind of been putting me off reading his books, even though they do sound great.
10. Northern Lights-Phillip Pullman
I picked up this book more because I felt it was something I had to read than something I really wanted to and I just honestly really haven’t felt the urge to pick it up since I bought although maybe since the TV series is coming up soon, I might read it this year, I don’t know.
11. Chasing The Stars-Malorie Blackman
Like Wonder Woman, I am kind of loathe to give this one up, because it is signed, and I do love Malorie Blackman’s work but at the same time, it’s a space/sci-fi book and those aren’t really my thing, so I haven’t really felt the urge to pick it up since I bought it and I don’t know if that’s a sign I should give it up or just leave it a while longer.
12. The Novice-Taran Marathu
I thought this sounded cool when I got it, you know demons and all that, but I’ve felt my interest waning over the years, so I’m not sure if I should just cut my losses and get rid of it, or if I should just wait and see if I decide to read it.
13. Messenger of Fear-Michael Grant
I have much the same issue with this one as with Front Lines, the concept sounds amazing, but since I’ve heard not so great stuff about the author, I’m not really sure if I want to support him anymore.
14. The Bone Queen-Alison Croggon
I picked this one up without realising it was a prequel that I would need the rest of the series to understand! Also to be honest, super high fantasy a la Tolkein is not really my kind of thing, so my interest in this is kind of waning really.
15. The Catalyst-Helena Coggan
To be honest, I don’t even remember why I picked this one up. I think I was intrigued because the author was so young, but having looked at it more, I’m not entirely sure if it’s my thing, the blurb is kind of vague and waffly, but I’ve picked up from reviews that it’s about angels and that’s not really my thing, so yeah, consider me unsure about this one now.
16. The Shadow Queen-C.J. Redwine
I’m in two minds about this one. I love fairytale retellings and I like the idea of a Snow White retelling, but I’ve had this one for like three years and still haven’t read it, so I don’t know if it’s worth allowing it to keep taking up space when it’s been so long and I haven’t read it.
17. Fire and Flood-Victoria Scott
I bought this one at YALC a few years ago, but since buying it I’ve kind of lost interest, and I haven’t really heard much about it, so I’m unsure as to whether I really want to read it or not, especially since it doesn’t sound like a particularly unique dystopia.
18. The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer-Michelle Hodkin
The concept of this book is interesting to me, but again, since picking it up, I haven’t really felt a massive pull to read it, added to which I’m not really sure what it’s about, so I can’t decide if I want to read it or not.
19. Wither-Lauren DeStefano
Again the concept for this one did sound interesting when I first picked it up, but I’ve just sort of lost interest over the years, and since it’s been one of the books I’ve had in storage for a while, I kind of forgot I had it! It still does sound cool, and I’m not entirely certain if I want to get rid of it, but I’m not certain if I’m going to read it either and it might be better if I get rid of it and get some more books that I’m more excited for.
So there we go, those are the books I’m considering unhauling-now I need your help! Which of these are actually worth it (and please don’t tell me all of them, I do have to get rid of some!)? Which could I afford to get rid of? Let me know in the comments!
I will be back next week with a new TTT, our annual Valentine’s Day themed one, but since I doubt my favourite couples list has changed much since the last time I did it, so instead I’m going to be sharing Movies To Watch If You’re Not That Into Valentine’s Day, since I’m a Valentine’s scrooge and the last thing I feel like doing is sharing the love! In the meantime, I should have my first #RockMyTBR update of the year up either tomorrow or Thursday, depending on how much time I have!
bookloversblog 
I feel a bit the same about THUG. I’ve had it for ages, but it’s really not my type of book, so there’s always something else I’d rather be reading…
I also picked up Show Stopper for the circus aspect (I really want to find more) but I’ve not got around to it yet.
My TTT this week.
Yeah exactly-I always seem to be able to find something I want to read more. Let me know if you like it and it’s worth reading when/if you do.
Will do! 💖
🙂
Will do! Ditto. 😊
🙂
I understand your plight with THUG. I haven’t read it, and I’m not sure if I want to read On the Come Up either. If you decide to read it, I’ll be waiting for your review 😉 My TTT
Thanks!
Great list! You’re not alone, I haven’t read The Hate U Give yet either – I do want to, but I need to be in the right mood for contemporary YA. I’ve also never been able to get into Northern Lights! Again, I really want to, but there’s something about Pullman’s writing that doesn’t quite pull me in.
Thanks! I hope you enjoy it, I’m not sure if I just wasn’t in the mood for it at the time or if it was the book itself, but I haven’t felt the pull to it since I put it back down and I don’t think that’s a good sign. I’m worried I kind of missed the boat on it to be honest, I never felt the pull to his writing when I was younger and now I’m worried it’s too late.
If you didn’t like The Hate U Give the first time, I wouldn’t blame you if you didn’t go back to it. I think it’s the sort of book people either love immediately or don’t really get into. It will be interesting to see if everyone else agrees with that!
This is my Top Ten Tuesday post.
I mean I only got a couple of chapters in so I feel like I might have unfairly judged it, but at the same time, I’m usually pretty good at knowing whether I’ll like something or not and I’m not feeling the pull to go back to it. I don’t know, I might try the film and see if I feel more into it after that.
I’m so sad you don’t like THUG! Although not altogether surprised, it’s not fantasy or history so not really your thing I suppose. I have not heard of most of these tbh 😂 I’m guessing a few are from our year of mad YALCing where we brought far too many awful books (mine went to the charity shop a lonnnng time ago). Surprised you didn’t enjoy All the Crooked Saints though! Although I don’t remember seeing loads of reviews saying it was amazing, I just remember the hype when it came out 🤔 great, and huge this week! My opinion would be to loose them all and focus on having suitcase space for the books I will be borrowing from you 😜 good luck with the project!
I do like some contemporaries but I have to be in a very particular mood for them and I just haven’t been recently! Fantasy and history are much easier sells for me, I find it easier to get wrapped up in the story. Yeah I saw those too, I just found it a little too weird-The Raven Cycle has great characters and some grounding in reality and All The Crooked Saints just doesn’t seem to have that. Ha ha you would think, but actually no, all the books I could get rid of from our year of mad YALCing are already gone, these are just books that I’ve collected over the years. You would say that! Thank you 🙂
I agree with Wonder Woman. It was well written but I wasn’t into the story that much. But I also love Leigh Bardugo.
Yeah exactly, I’m so torn!
I liked the Unbecoming of Mara Dyer and then really disliked book two and disliked book 3 even more. I would pass on that one! I haven’t read The Hate U Give yet and I feel like I need to be in the right mindset… don’t know when that will happen!
Ah fair enough, I definitely don’t want to embark on a series that goes downhill. Yeah, I’m not sure I’m in the right mindset to read it yet either.
Yeah, I totally feel you on that! Too many books out there!
Exactly!
I haven’t read The Hate U Give solely because I got annoyed at how hyped up it was. I will read her next book though just to check it out.
Yeah it’s just very hard to read it objectively now because everyone talks about what an important book it is and I know it’s a very important subject that needs to be talked about but I’d like to be able to review it without other people’s expectations getting in the way and I’m not sure that’s possible.
Very well said!
Thank you 🙂
Unhauling books is so hard but I find it rewarding afterwards (I’ve also found I need to never unhaul my favorites because I just get them again anyways LOL!) I haven’t read any from your list, so I can’t say either way what to keep but I’m also on the fence over THUG… I know it’s important but I haven’t gotten myself to read it yet 🙈
Yes, I do always feel a lot better afterwards, because it allows me more space for other books, but it’s a hard thing to think about because I love my book collection. That’s fair enough. Yeah, I love the message of THUG but the hype around it is so unreal, I’m scared I won’t like it and then people will get really mad at me!
The Mara Dyer books are at the very least completely addicting. Especially that first book. There’s something about the way the author writes that pulled me in even though I didn’t always love everything that was happening. I’ve never been a big sci-fi fan, but THE DIABOLIC does sound really good and I’ve only heard good things about it. I would say don’t bother with Wither. It is VERY 2012– in the way that so many books put out in that era are SO similar. Plus, I didn’t think the writing was all that good.
Oh well that is good to hear, I love books that pull you in, so maybe it is worth the effort after all. Yes, I’ve been hearing pretty good things about The Diabolic, so maybe I will keep that one and give it a try. Oh right, fair enough, good to know about Wither.
I have been really curious about Court of Five as well. I’ve heard really good things, but I’m not sure if it’s my kind of book. I hope if you pick it up, you end up enjoying it.
That’s totally fair. I hope so too 🙂
All the drama surrounding Crooked Saints made me put it off, and I even had an ARC from BEA.
I was okay to read it even after the drama, but I just couldn’t get into it at all.
I never unhauled any books my whole life. But I’m planning to travel around the world someday and I’m thinking I’ll give away all my books, most of them to my local library. But anyway, with all your reasons, unhauling might be a good idea for these books, 🙂
I don’t do it very much, but every so often I just need to clear the shelves to make room for more books!
That makes sense. WHile I kinda stopped buying physical books now, just one book every month, to save space and well, I’ll give them away someday anyway.
Fair enough!
i haven’t read anything in this list so i couldn’t really tell you which ones to pick, but almost all of them are on my TBR! I’m especially interested to read THUG, The Shadow Queen, and The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer. I hope you enjoyed them! 🙂
That’s fair enough! I hope you enjoy them too, if/when you read them 🙂
I’ve heard of Lauren DeStefano’s books, but never read one. I’ve even seen a more recent review for “Wither” that was decent. Hope if you read all of these, you find some you enjoy! 🙂
Thank you, I hope so too 🙂
The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer has interested me in the past as well, but I still haven’t picked it up. Court of Fives is another one though that I kinda like the sound of?
Yeah see this is my thing, I was really interested in it at first, but that’s kind of tailed of. I do still like the sound of Court of Fives, so I might not give up on that one just yet.
I really liked Show Stopper! 🙂
Well that’s good to hear 🙂
I feel like life is too short to spend time on books that you’re not that keen on. I read The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer last month and didn’t really like it much. It just felt so trope-y and the romantic relationship made me want to majorly roll my eyes. I love Leigh Bardugo but I’ll admit WW:WB wasn’t one of my faves. There were some good parts but a few things I wasn’t so keen on. I put off reading THUG for ages because I didn’t think it’d be something I was interested in. I ended up really enjoying it. It’s very well written and the characters are richly developed. However, if you weren’t enjoying it, maybe just give it a miss.
Before I started blogging, I would just push on through, but I have to admit I agree, I have so many books to read now that I can’t afford to waste time on books I’m not enjoying. Okay, that’s good to know, I think I’m leaning more towards no on that one now, I haven’t been hearing great things. Right, that’s good to know-it’s certainly very different from anything in the Grishaverse. The thing is THUG should be something that I love, so I’m not sure if I just wasn’t in the mood for it at the time.
I have Wonderwoman Warbringer and The Diabolic on my TBR too. I tried reading Wonderwoman a few months ago and just couldn’t get into it, and I don’t feel like picking it up again anytime soon. 🙈
I would never ask anyone to read something they don’t enjoy. I had been putting off reading The Hate U Give for months but then I did read it and loved it. 🙂 It’s a very important book in this day and age. I’m looking forward to seeing the movie sometime.
I’m glad to see I’m not the only one who feels that way. I’m loathe to give up on Wonder Woman because it’s signed and I do love Leigh Bardugo, I’m going to try Catwoman and see if I like that one better and if I do then I’ll try Wonder Woman again. I’m not entirely sure if I just wasn’t in the mood for THUG when I tried reading it the first time, so I think I might pick it up again, it’s just a question of when.
I liked the Shadow and Bone Trilogy as well as the Language of Thorns by Leigh Bardugo so I really want to enjoy Wonderwoman too. But I love Sarah J Maas’s books so I really really want to read Catwoman. And therein lies the problem. I like to read books in order. Even though these books aren’t related, they’re sort of a loose series, right? So I have to read Wonderwoman then Batman then Catwoman. I’m not going to bother with Superman but still..I don’t really feel like reading Batman or Wonderwoman all that much. 🙈
Ah I kind of get what you mean there! If it helps, the books are all unrelated, so I don’t think you need to read them as a strict series, but you might find you enjoy Wonder Woman or Batman more than you think.
Okay 🙂
🙂
I enjoyed THUG and Wonder Woman, but All the Crooked Saints was just meh for me.
Okay good to hear. Those three are ones that I’ve picked up and tried, so I definitely need to hear whether it’s worth getting to the end.
I’ve read Diabolic and it was good! I honestly enjoyed it very much (although the romance not so much).
My #TTT: https://mybkishescapades.blogspot.com/2019/02/upcoming-releases-everyone-should-add.html
Well that’s good to hear! I think honestly part of the reason I’m on the fence about it is that I haven’t heard much from other bloggers, so it’s good to hear from someone else who liked it.
I read and really enjoyed The Shadow Queen! I really liked C. J. Redwine’s writing and am more excited about her book The Blood Spell which comes out sometime this year! (It’s a Cinderella retelling!!!!)
I hope you enjoy which ever books you decide to keep!
Happy Reading!! ❤
That’s great to hear! I do love the sound of The Shadow Queen, I’m definitely leaning more towards keeping it than some of the other books on this list. Thank you 🙂
I’m sorry that you didn’t enjoy The Hate U Give – I thought it was really well-written and a great eye-opener into the #BlackLivesMatter movement for someone outside the US, i.e. me. Also, I absolutely LOVE The Northern Lights! It’s real nostalgic favourite of mine from my childhood. I agree with you about All the Crooked Saints, though. I’m currently listening to the audiobook, and while the narration is great, the plot is a bit meh.
I would like to give it another chance, I didn’t get very far into it, only about 2 chapters, but I just wasn’t really in the mood for it at the time. I’m just worried I kind of missed the boat on Northern Lights, and that I might not enjoy it so much as an adult. Yeah, The Raven Cycle gets a bit weird, but it does have an overarching plot, which didn’t seem to be the case with All The Crooked Saints.
I hope if you do give THUG another try that you enjoy it more the second time around! I think The Northern Lights can still be an enjoyable read as an adult – I definitely appreciated and understood some of the more intricate details a lot more when I re-read it last year.
I hope so too! Ah well that’s good to know, I do think it sounds interesting and I liked to know what the fuss is about but I don’t want to feel like I missed out because I didn’t read it as a child and now my reading experience is less enjoyable.
All you can do is give it a go and if you don’t enjoy it, well, you don’t enjoy it.
Yes exactly!
Great post and a great list of books the only book that I read on your list is The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin which I really love the whole trilogy as well, I can understand why some readers don’t love it but I really did love and enjoy the whole trilogy so much. Thank you so much for stopping by my TTT post.
Thanks! Well that’s good to hear, I’ve been hearing mixed things about the Mara Dyer trilogy-everyone seems to think that the first book is pretty great, but aren’t sure about the rest of them!
I really liked THUG, but if you weren’t feeling it, I think it’s okay to call it! I LOVE Fire & Flood (the first 15-20% is like… what even!? but then it gets SO GOOD). The Big Lie was pretty good- especially the first half. I didn’t fully “get” the end though. The Diabolic is FABULOUS, of all the ones on your list, I’d say go for that one! And Even the Darkest Stars… I kind of didn’t like it very much, so. Eep.
I really wanted to love it, but I just wasn’t feeling it at all. Well that’s good to hear. Oh really? Yeah people seem to have been pretty amped up about that one. Oh, oops-to be honest, I never would have gone for it if it hadn’t been in that FairyLoot box, so I imagine it’s a sign!