Books I’m Pretty Sure Everyone on the Planet Has Read Except for Me

 

On Tuesdays I usually participate in the popular Top Ten Tuesday meme, which is hosted by The Broke and the Bookish.  However, they are officially on hiatus until August, so I decided to take the opportunity to go back through their archives to see if any of the topics they had covered prior to my joining were of interest.  I saw this topic and found it incredibly relatable because I almost always feel like I’m the last person on the planet to read some popular books.

Basically I’m thinking of this as a wall of shame because I really have no excuse for why I haven’t read these books yet.  I see people talking about them everywhere, have read countless reviews that make them sound fantastic, and yet there they all still sit.

Scrolling back through my old blog posts and anticipated reading lists, I see so many of these titles on them.  If I wanted to read them so badly,  why months — in some cases even years — later, are they still sitting on my TBR unread?  I’m looking at you, Caraval and Heartless.  Heck, I was so excited about Heartless coming out that I even did a giveaway for it to that my fellow readers could win a copy.  And yet I still haven’t touched it.  What is wrong with me? LOL!

I’ve loved every other book I’ve read by Rainbow Rowell so what’s the hold up on Carry On?  Fear that it won’t be anywhere near as good as Fangirl or Eleanor and Park?  I honestly don’t know.

And clearly I have some kind of anti-butterfly issue that’s keeping me from touching Replica and The Diabolic.

I see my fellow bloggers and even non-bloggers talking about the books all the time and they sound so amazing.  I swear I’m going to get to them some day, but when that day will be…your guess is as good as mine.  I’m going to blame some of this on a weird quirk of mine — if I own a book, I don’t feel the same pressure to read it as I do if it’s a borrowed book or an ARC that has a specific deadline.  It sounds crazy to say but if I had borrowed these same books from the library or from a friend, I probably would have read them months ago.

I think the only two books on this list that I kind of have legit reasons for being a holdout when it come to reading them are the J.K.  Rowling book and the Neil Gaiman.  The Casual Vacancy is all about the hype?  Can it live up to it?  I’d almost rather not find out.  And Gaiman,  I’m just so hit or miss with his books.  I didn’t care for American Gods at all but I adored The Ocean at the End of the Lane.  People keep telling me The Graveyard Book is incredible, so I know I’m going to give it a try eventually but always manage to find a reason to shove it off the top of my TBR.

Thankfully I am doing a TBR clean-out challenge this summer that should take care of a few of these titles, but I still have a long way to go and I have a feeling, based on my history, that as fast as I knock a few titles off this list, I’ll be adding just as many more. It’s madness, lol!

Question: Are you in the same boat as me?  Are we the last two people on the planet not to have read some of these?  What books do you feel like you’re the only one who hasn’t read them?

 

Books I’m Pretty Sure Everyone on the Planet Has Read Except for Me

 

1. CARRY ON by Rainbow Rowell

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2. WE WERE LIARS by E. Lockhart

 

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3.  CARAVAL by Stephanie Garber

 

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4. HEARTLESS by Marissa Meyer

 

 

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5. REPLICA by Lauren Oliver

 

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6. THE DIABOLIC by S. J. Kincaid

 

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7. DARK MATTER by Blake Crouch

 

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8. THE CASUAL VACANCY by J.K. Rowling

 

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9. THE GRAVEYARD BOOK by Neil Gaiman

 

 

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10. NEVERNIGHT by Jay Kristoff

 

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42 replies
  1. Grace @ Rebel Mommy Book Blog
    Grace @ Rebel Mommy Book Blog says:

    Oh I am the same way as you. I I own the book there is no urgency to read it. If I borrow or have an ARC I am all sorts of crazy trying to get to it! I still haven’t read Heartless or Caraval either. Carry On is so good!! Starts slow so stick with it but so worth it. Dark Matter was amazing and the audio was really good if you do audio at all. I might be the outlier here but I wasn’t such a fan of Replica. Hope you get to these!!!

    • Suzanne
      Suzanne says:

      I’m glad I’m not the only one who still hasn’t read Heartless and Caraval yet. I’m determined to read both of those this summer though.

      Thanks for the head’s up on Carry On. I could see myself getting discouraged and giving up otherwise.

      I occasionally do audio so I will definitely keep that in mind for Dark Matter. I don’t think I’ve read a single negative review on that one so I know I’ll be in for a treat if I stop procrastinating my reading of it, lol.

  2. Alexandra
    Alexandra says:

    Great post! The only book I read from this list is «Carry On» by Rainbow Rowell. I’ve been trying to keep myself up to date with the new releases but sometimes it can be quite challenging.

    • Suzanne
      Suzanne says:

      It really is a challenge to keep up. If only there were more hours in a day to do everything I need to do and then still have tons of reading time… 🙂

  3. Angela
    Angela says:

    Haha, I’m usually the last person to read a book, especially if it has a lot of hype, so now I don’t feel so bad! Although, I have read a few of these. But I only just read Caraval last week!

    • Suzanne
      Suzanne says:

      I’m glad I’m not the only one who does this! I am determined to read Caraval this summer and get it off my TBR once and for all. I have blog posts going back a year where I was flailing about how excited I was to read that book and yet here it still sits. I feel so lame every time I look at it still sitting on my shelf, haha.

  4. Sydney
    Sydney says:

    I’ve read literally one of these. And that one I hated. lol. But then again I only have interest in read The Graveyard and Dark Matter.Oh and maybe Carry On. But yeah. You aren’t the last one in the community to get to these books.

    • Suzanne
      Suzanne says:

      Right? I definitely need more hours in my day to get everything I need to do taken care of and then still have a few hours left over for reading. That would be heavenly!

  5. Julia @ Vivacious Reads
    Julia @ Vivacious Reads says:

    Dark Matter was such a thrill!! I’m right there with you, though. I’ve only read a single book from my shelves this year! I should definitely go back to my rule of only buying books I’ve already read and loved… but then I see a new mystery I just have to have. Lol. Good luck on your challenge!

    • Suzanne
      Suzanne says:

      I’m right there with you. I think I’ve only read maybe 4 or 5 books that I already owned but still can’t seem to stop myself from buying more.

  6. Jasmine
    Jasmine says:

    I haven’t read any of these titles yet! Heartless & Caraval are on my nightstand ready to read though, just have to wait until I finished my current read 😊 Great list and you are not alone!! Haha

  7. ShootingStarsMag
    ShootingStarsMag says:

    Oh, I feel you. If I own a book, it gets pushed down on my TBR because I spend so much time reading review books. I want to mix it up – and I’m doing better with that. I have some read of these though like We Were Liars – I really enjoyed it and The Casual Vacancy – loved it too but it’s very much literary fiction, so it can be a slower read.

    So many of these books I NEED to read though like Carry On and Heartless, because I own them, and then others because I want to read like The Graveyard Book, Nevernight, and Dark Matter.

    • Suzanne
      Suzanne says:

      I’m glad I’m not the only one who does that with owned books. I’m really planning to push myself to read more of what I already own, if I can get myself to stop requesting so many ARCs on Netgalley, that is, lol.

  8. Jovita
    Jovita says:

    I only read one book you have listed and four of the books listed I have sitting on my shelves, Im not sure why I haven’t read them. It maybe because they are part of a series, and I dislike waiting for the next book to be released. I rather binge read a series. I also noticed going through older posts on my blog, if I borrowed a book from the library, I read as soon as it was borrowed… and why am I borrowing when I have plenty of unread books?

    • Suzanne
      Suzanne says:

      Right? I’m exactly the same way. I’ve lost count of how many books I own and still need to read, but yet I have 4 library books sitting on my desk right now to read. I can’t explain it, haha.

  9. Jordan Rose
    Jordan Rose says:

    I’ve actually only read four of these, so you’re not alone! I’m pretty bad at keeping with all the books I want to read, so I completely understand. I also want to add on my recommendation for The Graveyard Book! Neil Gaiman is an extremely interesting author in that his works vary so much that I think it’s common for people to completely hate/dislike one thing, but love another, so I certainly recommend you give it a try if you want. 🙂 I hope you get to read some of these!

    • Suzanne
      Suzanne says:

      So glad to have your recommendation on The Graveyard Book. I’ve had a few people tell me that even with my mixed experience with reading Gaiman, I should still like that one. Hope you’re having a great week!

  10. Kelly
    Kelly says:

    Don’t worry – I own most of these and haven’t read any except for Caraval and We Were Liars! I’m not really one for reading super hyped up books because I never really enjoy them all that much when I do. Most of these are on my list to read, but I’m just not in a hurry. And then I keep buying more and adding them to my shelves instead of reading the ones I already have. Good luck on your challenge, though! I hope it works better for you than it would for me, lol.

    • Suzanne
      Suzanne says:

      I often struggle with the hyped books too. I think I build them up in my own mind so much that it’s nearly impossible for them to actually live up to such high expectations.

      Thanks, I really hope the challenge works out for me too. Otherwise I might end up drowning in a pile of unread books since I can’t seem to stop myself from buying them either, lol.

  11. Elise @ Roaming Reader
    Elise @ Roaming Reader says:

    THIS IS ME! I’ve been eyeing Caraval and Heartless for a while now and I just started hearing about The Diabolic! We Were Liars is seriously a great book (I’ve read it twice now) AND it’s a good summer read so you should get on that one!

    • Suzanne
      Suzanne says:

      I’m pretty determined to get to Caraval, Heartless, and We Were Liars before the end of the summer, so we’ll see how it goes. 🙂

  12. Greg Hill
    Greg Hill says:

    I definitely feel less urgency to read a book once I have it. 🙂

    We Were Liars was good but the twist in that one is the thing. I liked Replica too but the one on your list I would say is REALLY good is Dark Matter. The rest of em I haven’t read either.

    • Suzanne
      Suzanne says:

      I’m glad I’m not the only one who tends to set aside books they own in favor of others. Thanks for the rec on Dark Matter. I’ve read several great reviews of it so that’s one I refuse to put off for too much longer.

  13. sydneyeditor1
    sydneyeditor1 says:

    *hands up* I htink heartless might be the only book on that list I’ve read. Nods. Hyped books tend to send me going the other way, and tbh if a book sounds good I will get distracted by it and lose track of other goodness, when I really should be better about keeping lists of books I want to read (I’m so not, I figure if the universe wants me to read it, I will get there. Eventually)

    • Suzanne
      Suzanne says:

      Getting there eventually seems to be my way as well. I do want to try to get some of these off my reading list mainly just because they’re all piled up in a corner in my office and threatening to topple over and squash me, haha.

    • Suzanne
      Suzanne says:

      I’m glad I’m not alone in not having read most of these. Caraval is on my list for the summer as well. I hope to get to it in late July/early August.

  14. Jessica @ Strung out on Books
    Jessica @ Strung out on Books says:

    I feel this way SO OFTEN. I don’t have nearly enough time to read lately, so I’m definitely feeling left behind when I see EVERYONE talking about books that I want to read so badly. A lot of the books on your list are books I’ve been wanting to read but haven’t yet either. Great post! I don’t often do TTT, but now that it’s on break I miss having the opportunity. Gonna have to come up with my own topics for awhile I guess lol

    • Suzanne
      Suzanne says:

      I’m glad I’m not the only one who feel like this sometimes. Yeah, I miss the TTT topics as well but I have enjoyed using the time to go back through a do a few of the ones I hadn’t done before.

  15. Molly @ Molly's Book Nook
    Molly @ Molly's Book Nook says:

    The only book I’ve read on this list is We Were Liars and according to the comments above, you are DEFINITELY NOT ALONE. I haven’t read so many of the really popular books out there…I’m so behind >.<

    • Suzanne
      Suzanne says:

      I have to say I’m glad I’m not the only one way behind on the popular books. Oh well, that’s just means they’ll get a second wave of enthusiastic reviews once folks like us get to them, right? 🙂

  16. Paige
    Paige says:

    The Graveyard Book is such a lovely one to share with kids, since each chapter can be read as a self-contained adventure before bedtime! We Were Liars sat on my to-read list for ages because so many people I knew loved it, and yet it was totally underwhelming when I finally got around it it. Same as The Casual Vacancy – the hype detracts from the book, which never had any hope of living up to people’s extremely high expectations 🙁

    • Suzanne
      Suzanne says:

      That’s great to know about The Graveyard Book. I do love to read to my son at night so maybe we can tackle it together. 🙂

  17. Di @ Book Reviews by Di
    Di @ Book Reviews by Di says:

    Oops. I’ve only read three of these! SO not everyone has read them 🙂

    Caraval, Heartless and Replica.

    I do however have a few on my TBR so we’ll have to catch up together! 🙂

    • Suzanne
      Suzanne says:

      Yay, I’m not alone! I’m planning to read Heartless and Caraval before the end of the summer at least I’ll get a few of these finally knocked off my list. 🙂

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