Top Ten Tuesday is hosted at The Broke and the Bookish.
This week's topic is Top Ten Hyped Books I've Never Read. After a few less-than-pleasant experiences with over-hyped books, I've become a little hesitant when it comes to reading books with lots of hype. That's not to say that I'll never read any of these; I'm just a little wary of them:
Top Ten Hyped Books I've Never Read:
by Stephanie Perkins
This book (and its companions) seem to make it onto lots of people's "favourites" lists... but I've yet to try it. I'm not a huge fan of contemporary, so that may be why.
by Cassandra Clare
I haven't read any of the millions (?) of books by Clare, so I can't speak to their quality. I've avoided this author for other reasons. Her books seem to be quite popular in some circles, though.
by Sarah J. Maas
I do like fairytale retellings, and this one has been getting a lot of buzz. However, I didn't like Throne of Glass, and I've read some things in reviews of this book that I find a little concerning. I might read it one day (especially if I really feel like reading yet another "Beauty and the Beast" retelling), but I'm in no rush to do so.
by Dan Brown
I tried to read this one years ago, but I just couldn't. That scene where they were trying to escape from the Louvre in the first part of the book? Yeah... that's as far as I got. Because they were escaping... and escaping... and escaping... and OMGjustdoitalready! Ahem... sorry. In other words, I was very bored.
by Veronica Roth
When the third book in the series came out, there were spoilers everywhere about the ending... so I already know how the trilogy ends and I haven't even begun! It's just as well; this one doesn't really interest me, anyway.
by Elizabeth Gilbert
Remember when everyone was reading this book? I thought it sounded dreadfully boring (I still do). I guess I'm not enlightened enough to enjoy a memoir on finding yourself through food and meditation...
by Rainbow Rowell
Out of all of the books on this list, this is probably the one I'm most likely to read. I haven't read any of Rowell's full-length books, but I did read one of her short stories, and it was one of my favourites of the collection.
by J. R. R. Tolkien
Okay... I've read The Hobbit. It's a fun story. But this? This is just too long. I've never been able to get more than a few pages into this first book of the trilogy without completely zoning out. I even found the movie to be pretty dull. I'm just... not a fan. And if I never get around to reading this trilogy (or seeing the entire movie series), that's perfectly fine with me!
by E. L. James
Nope, nope, nope. This book is a perfect example of how hype does not equal quality. Or decency.
by George R. R. Martin
I still haven't decided if I want to read the books or just binge-watch the TV series at some point when it's all finished. I'm unfamiliar with Martin's creation, in any case. But I am a little wary; I'm afraid my complaints about this series will be similar to those about Tolkien's.
Which hyped books have you not had a chance to read yet?
HOW COULD I FORGET FIFTY SHADES? I will never, ever read this book. Especially after accidentally seeing an excerpt of Grey where his...you know what? I won't say.
ReplyDeleteYES PLEASE READ FANGIRL. I loved that book.
LoTR also made it on my list but I should probably try to read it.
Currently reading Anna and the French Kiss and I'm not bothered by it. It's a cute read and I like the characters.
I might try Anna and the French Kiss one day. I'm not usually drawn to contemporary, but I do like cute romances.
DeleteI read Eat, Pray, Love a few years ago and it didn't live up to the hype for me. ;-(
ReplyDeleteHere's a link to my TTT post this week: http://captivatedreader.blogspot.com/2015/07/top-ten-tuesday-top-ten-hyped-books-ive.html
Good to know. I think I'll skip it. :)
DeleteDivergent and Anna and the French Kiss are brilliant books! I've watched Eat Pray Love but I haven't yet read the book. Currently reading Fangirl and it's quite good.
ReplyDeleteSerena / www.ramblingsofanotherunistudent.blogspot.com
I haven't even seen the movie of Eat, Pray, Love! I am so behind on my movie watching...
DeleteI think The Mortal Instruments are a pretty good series, & they have characters that just make you laugh out loud or smile.l! xD But honestly I think Cassie's other series The Infernal Devices (the prequel) is relatively better than it. But its just my opinion, its up to you whenever you want to read that first or not! ;)
ReplyDeleteIt may be a pretty good series, but I'm hesitant about the author herself. I know these books are popular, so there must be something in them that appeals to readers!
DeleteYeah I get what you are saying, there are just some hyped up books that you just don't get into or are hesitant to read because like sometimes they just don't live up to the expectation you have built up from others who have read it. & by the way I have nominated you for two awards! The beautiful blogger award and the book fangirling award!! :D
DeleteAgh, I couldn't handle LOTR at all. I read the first book, fell asleep, and then tried (STUPIDLY) to read the second. But I realised I was only reading Two Towers to SAY that I'd read it and that's a sucky reason for reading, so I abandoned ship. heeh. I've loved Game of Thrones so far!! I think the characters are MUCH more engaging than Tolkien's buuuut, yeah, it's still slow and is set in such a big world. I think you have to be a fantasy lover to want to try it. >_< I love a lot of the books on this list, but to be honest, I can't imagine reading Divergent if I'd known the spoilers. I HATE knowing spoilers ahead of time. :(
ReplyDeleteI hate knowing spoilers, too. And if the spoilers for the Divergent series had been otherwise, I might've given the series a try. But I just felt like it would be a pointless endeavour. (Plus, I'm getting kind of tired of the standard dystopians. They all seem to be so similar!)
DeleteYears ago, I was really into fantasy. I was reading Lloyd Alexander books, gobbling up books like The Hobbit (and I might've also read The Silmarillion, but I can't quite remember), and basically just sticking to the fantasy section in the library. I might've really been into something like A Song of Ice and Fire back then. I don't know. I've kind of moved away from high fantasy now.
I haven't read any Cassandra Clare either, but she's been hanging around in my TBR for a while. I'm not utterly drawn to her, but then again, I've no experience, so I might be missing wonders. I'll never know until I try...
ReplyDeleteHowever, something like Fifty Shades is entirely out of my area. Nope nope nope. Actually, I have read excerpts of that in satirical reviews, so I KNOW it's not my thing. It's also horrendously awful writing.
I just read ACOTAR, and really liked it. I was expecting YA, though, and the sexy bits are more NA leaning... but I enjoyed it enough overall that I'm definitely going to read the next one.
I haven't read a lot of NA. I'm not really averse to it, but there doesn't seem to be much out there other than contemporary (which I'm not usually drawn to). I've heard A Court of Thorns and Roses has some more "adult" leanings, but that doesn't necessarily turn me off. Some of the things I've read about the characters kind of do, though...
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