The truest irony of the book blogger life is that I often spend so much time talking about reading that I don’t…have time…to read.
Hence my TBR is screaming bloodily at me at all times and I’m just sort of tiptoeing around it because it’s about to overbalance and flatten me. Just the good ol’ regular bookworm workplace risks, ya know? It’s fine. I’m sure it’s FINE.
I do feel guilty though. I probably shouldn’t? Reading (and blogging and reviewing!!!) is all my choice and a good deal of it is just for fun. (A very tidy sliver of my blogging purpose, however, is also to subtly flop all over your lives until you get sick of me and buy my books just to shut me up. #Marketing) So if it’s for fun, then I shouldn’t feel guilty for being behind, right?!
Meanwhile, My brain: …gUILT TRIP INCOMING ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Regardless.😑I do have a lot of books I want to read and I’m somehow going to motivate myself to get to it by telling you what they are.
Here we are with the “I Should have Read That Book” tag!
created by Book Nest! And I was tagged by Jo! (Thank yoooou) 😘
➢ A book that a certain friend is always telling you to read
My struggle with this question is that I never…remember…anything. Look you could tell me every day for a YEAR to read a book and then take a break for a few weeks. I will forget.🤗If you need confirmation about this, pls ask @shewritesaboutbooks. She will happily confirm and complain about me.
So like I’m only vaguely aware of people recommending me books specifically. But I do feel like the whole blogosphere has been wildly recommending Night Circus forEVER. And I just found a $1 copy at an op-shop!! Clearly it is meant to be. And I shall read it [checks watch] between 2 weeks to 2 years.
➢ A book that’s been on your TBR forever and yet you still haven’t picked it up
Ugh SO MANY it’s terrifying. I actually was just rearranging my bookshelves this week and came to the wonderful conclusion that if I put my TBR on my desk — I will 100% forget about it. (Cue the Oct 2018 ARC yelling at me.) 😬
I’ll nominate The Glass Spare and Bridge of Clay for (ahha haha sob) being neglected ARCs. But I’ve also had Wolf by Wolf (2015) on my TBR forever. Also The Song of Achilles (2011). And eh why not self-burn me — More Happy Than Not too. I LOVE Adam Silvera books and I have noooo reason to not have read this yet. 😭Except for me, being, dysfunctionaaaaaaal.
➢ A book in a series you’ve started, but haven’t gotten round to finishing yet
Ok this is the Iron Fey series 👀Mind you I only actually started it last year, despite it being like 10 years old. But I’m mad at me because I really enjoyed the first two, devoured them in a week, and I own the next 4 but have I read them???? NO. Why? I DON’T KNOW, DON’T ASK ME THESE THINGS.
➢ A classic you’ve always liked the sound of, but never actually read
Sometimes people say “classic novel” and I develop 18th century pneumonia and cough up a lung and go die at sea to get away from it all.
Ok FINE. I have read many classics in my time, mostly the children’s ones like Treasure Island, Alice in Wonderland, Peter Pan, Five Little Peppers, etc…. But if you made me read another classic I might try a Bronte book?! I don’t even know what they’re called without googling lmao. Or wasn’t there a writer who locked herself in her attic and never came out? A poet? 🤔 Big mood. I should read from her.
➢ A popular book that it seems everyone but you has read
Right now it feels that way about We Hunt The Flame, Sorcery of Thorns, Godsgrave, and The Poppy War. And okay fine, again I have no real excuse. But look. Just look. I have to fit a great many things into my day. One is napping while my dog snuggles in my arms and the second is meticulously putting together a plan that will get me to be a bestseller so I can finally buy a castle. (This is why my Hufflepuff and Slytherin sides are constantly at war ok.)
I also haven’t read all of the million SJM books but I do not plan to. 😂
➢ A book that inspired a film/TV adaptation that you really love, but you just haven’t read it yet
I never read the LOTR books. OKAY WAIT! I tried! I read The Fellowship and thought I might die. But I also really love those Lizzie Bennet Diaries youtube series! Does that count?! It’s an adaption. They’re HYSTERICAL and I love them and…I’ve never read Pride and Prejudice. Not even the zombie version, which is frankly disappointing of me. (I’ve read like 4 P&P retellings of it though??? Pls read the original, C.G., you chaotic terror.)
➢ A book you see all over Instagram but haven’t picked up yet
I just want and scrolled my instagram for inspiration for this haha.
So Shadow Of The Fox for sure is one! I think the sequel recently released?? So everyone is like “LOOK AT THIS GOOD AND PRETTY BOOK” and I’m buried too deep under my TBR to even get a peek. I do own it though. I take lots of pictures of it. 10/10 for likelihood to love. 0/10 for my life organisational skills.
more 2019 New Releases I Need to (Desperately) Read
| what do you think?|
tell me a book you should’ve read by now?! 👀 are you chronically behind on your tbr? and do yell at me if i’ve mentioned a book here that i should hurry up and prioritise!!! i’ll try!
Thanks so much for taking part, also The Poppy War is amazing, I’d definitely recommend it!
I think that… YOU SHOULD READ THE POPPY WAR OR I’LL NEVER STOP SCREAMING ABOUT IT DIRECTLY TO YOUR EARS. It’s more chaotic than Jade City and it’s just straight up legendary. Someone described it as “Harry Potter on an acid trip” and that’s like the perfect way ro describe TPW because it’s a brutal mess. I know you’ll probably read it in between 2020 or 3450 but I’m not worried because you’re obviously immortal 😌
I still have a lot of ARCs to read and tons of overdue ARCs (not proud of this oof) but all I want is to read backlist books. Why did I request so many books in the first place? I created this grave and now I have no choice but to lay down in it.
I’ve been tagged in this tag about a hundred years ago and you reminded me that I should write it someday. Great post as always!
yES I am WILDLY screaming @ you to read the night circus! i feel like the hype COULD ruin it for u but also i love it and it’s so atmospheric and GOOD EEEK. and king of fools!!! even tho it was kinda messy, THE ENDING IS honestly just…out of this world and i need book 3 nOW. and yes i need to read sorcery of thorns…the publisher somehow sent me TWO COPIES so this is probably a sign from the universe i should read it soon! AND AHHHH I GOT AN E-ARC OF BRIDGE OF CLAY…but i just haven’t gotten time to read it!
I couldn’t get through Lord of the Rings either ahahahhahahahhahahahaaa…..
Hi Cait,
this Book Tag was so fun to read! I think I should try it too and feel really guilty for all the books that i haven’t read yet.
And yes, I am cronically behind on my Tbr, but I usually don’t get mad about it. Only once a month.
I think that you should read “The Night Circus”, yes I’m one of those bloggers that are constantly reccomending it. But it’s really good, I promise. It’s magical and whimsical and oniric, it’s so good.
YES! Amen! I am the same way! I LOVE p&p and LOTR, they are my favorite movies but I STILL haven’t read the book (which is just wicked of me I know) and I really need to or I will feel like a bad reader for the rest of my days (which then again is all self imposed lol).
go read The Glass Spare! I just finished it and enjoyed the book so much!
As far as Brontë goes, read Jane Eyre!!! (I’m just a sap for eighteenth century romance novels don’t mind me). But also Jane is an amazing protagonist and everyone should cherish her.
I should probably do this tag. I have a billion books that I should have read already. I attempted to read the LoTR books when I was a young teenager, but I never made it through them. I got bored.
There are LOTS of books that friends have nearly shouted at me, “READ THIS!” that I either promptly forget which title it was, or read the first chapter and just can’t get into it. Sorry! I’m pretty bad about it myself!
Classics are a huge hit or miss for me! I really liked what I read of Sherlock Holmes and some of Dickens, but I CANNOT STAND Jane Austen or any of the Brontes! One of my favorites is The Scarlet Pimpernel, partly because it’s short, and not written in a “typical” style for the time period – meaning it doesn’t read like a textbook and therefore can actually be enjoyable! ha! I pretty much swore off “classics” a few years back.
The Glass Spare was so good! Highly recommend!
Oh boy, the amount of books I should have read by now is… well, that pile of books could kill me, it’s just that big haha but I guess that’s every bookworm’s problem right here haha.
I haven’t read The Poppy War and, even if I feel a little left out, I also feel like this is wildly outside of my comfort zone and I should just stay away from it, but FOMO is so real at times haha. AND AHH. Out of this list I really hope you’ll read Small Town Hearts, because all the swoon and CAKES! and The Fever King because I loved that one so much as well! 😀
Lol, seven-year-old me just trucked through Lord of the Rings (it was like the first novel I ever finished I think), and now I try to read it and just…Uh, how do I read this again?
But don’t feel too bad about not reading all the books! I mean, I haven’t read any of these things either…Whoops. I really want to read Sorcery of Thorns, though!
If it makes you feel better I’ve only read one of these books (Again, but Better, and it sucked). And most of them are on my tbr so I, too am internally panicking about most of these same books. Also you may be late to the Iron Fey series, but I haven’t even started it yet (I swear I will, sometime in the next 3638353 years)
Ha ha oh god where do I begin? For this year, definitely King of Scars, I got it on release day in January and yeah, still haven’t read it yet. I’m planning on remedying that this summer though. The ones people are talking about at the moment that I probably should have read are We Hunt The Flame, which I’m just about to start, and Sorcery of Thorns. I also definitely should have read Dead Queen’s Club because I’ve been dying for a Tudor retelling for ages and then of course when one comes along I leave it languishing on my shelf. I also 100% should have read Vengeful by now and I’m kicking myself for not, it’s definitely going to be my next read. Other really popular books in the blogosphere that I should have read, An Ember In The Ashes, the last Daughter of Smoke and Bone book and Cassandra Clare’s books, but like you with Sarah J Maas’ books, I’m not sure I’m really interested? So yeah, it’s safe to say that I am chronically behind on my TBR. You should definitely hurry up and read King of Fools because it’s brilliant!
It makes me so excited to see The Poppy War on this list! Obviously after seeing you read and love Jade War I think you will like this one too!
I haven’t read The Poppy War either! I borrowed it from the library but then ran out of time and had to return it >__> clearly I am a BAD PERSON. It sounds cool though!!
On the plus side I recently read The Cruel Prince which has been top of my “should have read” list because all my favorite bloggers (including you!) have been screaming about it. It was fun and I’m stoked for book 2 😀
That’s Emily Dickinson, the poet who locked herself away and refused to see people (wish I had the balls to do that too 😂) If you want to try a Bronte, and if you like romances, I’d recommend Jane Eyre. It’s the one book I can go back to, again and again. I have The Bear and The Nightingale on my shelf, pleading to be read, although I think it’s best if I wait till winter again to read that one.
I should have read Descendant of the Crane by now but a bitchy hoe who just can’t commit 🤷🏽♀️
Please, pleaaaaaase read The Poppy War! It’s my absolute favourite. I even had a Q&A discussion for it on my blog (https://camilleareads.wordpress.com/2019/05/01/the-poppy-war-by-r-f-kuang-discussing-the-book-with-dani/). I am not over that book plus The Dragon Republic is coming out soon!! The author described as similar to Avatar: The Last Airbender but everyone is high. 😂
Here’s my I Should Have Read That Tag, if you’d like to read it. https://camilleareads.wordpress.com/2019/05/08/i-should-have-read-that-book-tag-asian-pacific-heritage-month-edition/
I read King of Fools this week, and honestly, I think you’re going to LOVE IT! Enne + Levi are so much better at conniving and getting darker and trickier plots, and OH IT’S JUST SO GOOD!
Also, how have you not read The Poppy War yet??? honestly very surprised 😂
I relate to this tag so much. There are literally so many books I need to read that I just haven’t because I’ve been busy READING OTHER BOOKS HALP.
I still haven’t read the Throne of Glass series or The Dark Artifices trilogy…I should probably get on that (but probably won’t seeing as I’ve been saying since the womb).
I’m with you on not reading the Sarah J. Maas books. I got through, like, book 4-ish of the Throne of Glass series before I noped on out of there because I was getting SUPER uncomfortable with the content and themes. (Plus, SJM kind of ruined a lot of the characters, IMO? And I wasn’t super crazy about the series to begin with.)
The Night Circus is cool, though. And I forgive you for not having read LOTR (I will admit: it’s long and sometimes slow, and Tolkien really likes his descriptions), but you should read Pride and Prejudice sometime. It’s actually a surprisingly quick read; you can get through it in, like, an afternoon. (Also, the Lizzie Bennet Diaries are AMAZING and I need to rewatch them sometime.)
That’s ok, i’ve never fully read LOTR either, and at this point I’m too scared to try again.
The Lizzie Bennet Diaries are the best!!! I discovered them when I was sick, and binge-watched all the way to the end in two days.
NIGHT CIRCUS!! I need to do my own blog post of this, I’ll tag you when I do. My TBR is insane…
I recently started clearing out my TBR list on Goodreads since it was nearing 800. It’s still 400 books long (and that doesn’t include all the books I already purchased…because I started removing those ones off Goodreads…or have on my mental checklist 😭)
Sorcery of Thorns, Night Circus, Shadow of the Fox are all up there on my TBR. I really want to read them since I keep hearing all these great things about them, but I have SO MANY books to read!!
The questions on this tag broke into my house and stole all my chocolate.
Brontë novels. The big ones are Jane Eyre (Charlotte Brontë) and Wuthering Heights (Emily Brontë). Wuthering Heights is gothic, which I usually love, but I did not love it. Jane Eyre’s pretty good once you get passed her being at school. I’ve read Agnes Grey (Anne Brontë) and I would not recommend it. Personal opinion alert: the best Brontë piece is Emily’s poem Spellbound. Personally, I’d recommend Austen over Brontë. (18 year old me cannot believe I’m saying that.) Persuasion and Pride and Prejudice were both pretty good. OOH! The best classic I’ve ever read is Middlemarch…but it’s, like, 900 pages. AND THAT IS THE END OF MY TOTALLY UNSOLICITED OPINION. 😂😂😂
My TBR is threatening to kill both me and my wardrobe shelf. I should really have read The Mysteries of Udolpho by now – I’ve had it since the Christmas before last…
I feel like I also need to read all of these. I’m so behind on my TBR! I hope you read all of these and really love them, Cait! Thanks so much for sharing!
Okay, the fact that you have an October 2018 arc makes me feel better about MY overdue-by-like-seven-months arcs that I’ve had for a while… and have not read… Haha.
Anyways, OMG your comment about not reading SJM is hilarious to me and I don’t know why. But same, some part of me *kind* of wants to finish her series just to find out what happens at the end of the series I used to be so invested in but… also I will probably just Not Ever read them. Oh well.
Also, I definitely recommend Wilder Girls + King of Fools!! I thought Wilder Girls was so fast-paced, and I read it in like, a day or two!!! It’s so short and CREEPY. King of Fools has so much more character development, and everything just changes from book 1 to book 2 and it’s awesome and scary at the same time. I definitely do not think it lagged from Second Book Syndrome!!
First off, the Lizzie Bennett Diaries are AMAZING! I loved that series! Also, from what I’ve heard, I feel like you’d really enjoy The Poppy War, although I haven’t read it myself. But I *have* read Sorcery of Thorns and ADORED it!
But I also am deeply ashamed at the time some of my books have been on my shelf. I mean, I have unread 2017 ARCs for goodness sake! At this point I just want to read every single book on my shelf and buy more books on an as needed basis, just so I don’t have to face the judgement of books that have been sitting on my shelves for years!
I should have read… Idk, all the books? Like pretty much ALL of the ones you mentioned hahah. (Actually I did read the Glass Spare and umm didnt love it oops?) I also REALLY want to read Poppy War because I have heard all the great things. I really could not even do this tag because it’s seriously hundreds of books that I need to read and Idk where to even start! Books are hard, Cait!
The first sentence of this post – I feel called out. How often do I sit down to pre-plan blog posts a month in advance or scroll through Twitter/Goodreads adding to my TBR thinking that I could just actually be… reading? Way too much. Or blog hopping like right now (trying to convince myself that I am doing this to improve my blog…)
If it makes you feel better, I have only read one of the books on this entire post and more than half are on my own TBR. You’re not alone.
Go read “storm crow” now! Believe me it doesn’t disappoint!
I’m sure I’ll love it!😍
The Fever King Cait. Read The Fever King. You will love those two cinnamon roles~
I will! I will! I’m going to adore it I know 😍
*peeks at your GR challenge* Woman. You have no reason to feel guilty AT ALL. I’ve only read 37 books this year, and I’m trying not to feel guilty about it. It does kind of say something that you feel behind too though, because i think no matter how many books we read, we’ll always have piles and piles of more books to get through, and when we start thinking of it in terms like that, it becomes more about “finishing” our TBR and turning it all into a kind of large-scale, life-long chore. But it really shouldn’t be, especially since I seem to acquire books at the same rate (if not higher) than I read them, and I have a feeling you and most other writers and authors are the same. This is getting long, and I’ll get off my soap box now (in which I’ve been preaching more to myself than anyone, honestly) 😛 But please don’t feel guilty! You are an Actual Queen and I always think of you when I wish I could read more 😛
Aw no I totally agree, Hannah!! 😂 It should just be about enjoying books and NOT turning it into a job/chore. I mean, I do treat reading a bit like part of my job as research and craft learning for writing. But at the end of the day??? It only matters to me how much I read and I shouldn’t stress so much. The only real problem is when I have so many books I WANT to read and I can’t get to them all.😂
*gives you cake bc you are so kind*
I only just read Shadow and Bone (like, book 1 only), and am currently reading Siege and Storm. And I’m trying to fit in other older books that I somehow missed like The Curseworkers by Holly Black. So, I guess you’re fine!
😂😂 there’s soooo much to read HOW DO WE KEEP UP
The more I read, the more behind on my TBR I get AHHHHHHHHHHHHH
I’ve read so much this year omg?? and I’m still so so behind on my TBR?? like what is this black magic. The big ones are the SUPER hyped ones like The Cruel Prince and Strange the Dreamer. I keep reading the new releases and never get to the old ones help
I finished (*cough*binge-read*cough*) the three books of the ACOTAR series last year, but I haven’t gotten to A Court of Frost and Starlight yet. So yep, definitely that one