Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish and is now hosted by Jana at That Artsy Reader Girl. Check out upcoming Top Ten themes on Jana’s blog!
This week’s theme is Books From My Past Seasonal TBR Posts I STILL Haven’t Read (Submitted by Dedra @ A Book Wanderer). Being as how I haven’t done any seasonal TBR posts (yet), I’m taking liberties and drawing yet another topic from the TTT archive.
My choice: Books I’d Gladly Throw into the Ocean. I’ll count ’em down from 10 to 1, 1 being the book I’d like to yeet into the abyss and never see again. Some may have commentary, some may not. Only the worst of the worst will have a picture, so you can be sure to steer clear if you see it in the wild.
10. Beowulf. I don’t even remember why, precisely, I didn’t like it. I just didn’t.
9. Fugue. Not a bad premise, but the book had these very disconcerting shifts from present tense to past tense and back again. And I don’t mean flashbacks.
8. Secrets of the Starcrossed (The Once and Future Queen #1). The ending alone would have had me tossing a hard copy version across the room.
7. Breaking Time. I usually love a good time travel novel. This one just didn’t strike me as very good.
6. The Unfinished Land. Greg Bear is a master of science fiction. This, his first foray into fantasy, wasn’t nearly as enjoyable. It was nearly The Unfinished Book for me.
5. This Might Hurt. I really wanted to like this one. It went a little too dark for my taste, and when the big reveal of the earth-shattering secret came, it wasn’t that big.
4. Life of Pi. I know this was a wildly popular book at one point. It just didn’t click with me. Meh. Bye, Pi.
3. Tristram Shandy. I tried to read it to meet the category of “a classic” on a reading challenge. It was unqualifiedly horrid. I gave up about three pages in.
2. Raspberry Truffle Murder. I love a good cozy. I love a mediocre cozy. I am a fan of the cozy mystery genre. I couldn’t finish this one. Maybe it’s because I tried to listen to it on audiobook. Perhaps I should give it another try. Mmm, no.
1. And the book I’d most like to throw…Gormenghast by Mervyn Peake. More specifically, the first volume of the trilogy, Titus Groan. I couldn’t get past the first chapter, much less finish it. Mervyn Peake was a painter, and he writes like he’s painting – layer upon layer upon layer of excruciating detail. When it takes seventeen lines on a page to talk about a castle wall, that’s too much. (That may be a slight exaggeration, but not by much.) And since I couldn’t finish the first, I can’t comment on the throwability of the second. It’s almost universally agreed that the third in the trilogy is awful and should be avoided, even if you like the first two. My husband swears it is a masterwork and absolutely fabulous. It made me want to poke a stick in my eye. Read at your own peril.
Good for you for knowing your limits!
My post: https://lydiaschoch.com/top-ten-tuesday-books-from-my-past-seasonal-tbr-posts-i-still-havent-read/
It’s helpful! Theoretically, if I know what I like and what I don’t, I’ll get through my TBR pile faster. Theoretically. LOL
I couldn’t get into Life of Pi either.
Here is our Top Ten Tuesday.
I’m glad it wasn’t just me! So many people raved about it, and I was underwhelmed.
Fun list! Ha ha. I’ve only read LIFE OF PI, which I remembered liking but not really fully understanding. I know I read portions of Beowolf in school, but it was so long ago that I don’t really remember anything about it.
Happy TTT!
Susan
http://www.blogginboutbooks.com
Hi, Susan! All I truly remember about Beowulf is my intense dislike for it. Maybe I should give it another go as an adult? Nah. Too many other books I think I might like are waiting on me! LOL
Thank you for visiting!
#4 – I saw the movie and then I tried to read the book – big mistake. The movie’s better.
The others I haven’t heard at all except for #1. I guess Peake writes like Charles Dickens? Sometimes details can be a bit too much.
Have a lovely day.
I don’t remember Dickens grating on my nerves as much as Peake does. But there can definitely be too many details.
Thank you for stopping by!
I started Life of Pi and abandoned it pretty quickly.
Ugh I remember trying to read The Life of Pi when it first came out and just not clicking with it at all, and then giving up. I definitely agree with you on that one, and Beowulf! I had to read it for school and it was just so BOOOOOORING!
I saw a book recently that billed itself as “a gripping, far-future, Beowulf-inspired thriller.” I may have to read it to see if I loathe it as much as I did its inspiration!
I’ve not read any of these, but I remember having fun doing this topic when I did it. It’s fun to be a little salty sometimes!
My TTT: https://jjbookblog.wordpress.com/2022/07/26/top-ten-tuesday-378/
Absolutely! And I’m glad you haven’t read Gormenghast. Nobody should have to read that. LOL
I like that theme. I have the Life of Pi to read at some point…
I get a bit bored if there is too much detail. There isn’t always the need.
Have a great week!
Emily @ Budget Tales Book Blog
Yes! I love the wordy words. But there’s such a thing as TOO MUCH, and Gormenghast is it.
I love this theme!
It was a fun post to write!
I couldn’t get on with The Life of Pi either so I DNF’d early one!
Oh, good! All the “not loving Pi” comments are making me feel better. I always felt like I was one of the few who didn’t rave about it!
So funny! I had never thought about which ones I would chuck, but now that you mention it, I can think of a few.
My list of ones I’d chuck is really surprisingly short. I could probably find a few more, but I guess I do a decent job at selecting books I like from blurbs and recommendations.
I liked The Life of Pi. I found it very confusing but also so creative.
I know plenty of folks did enjoy it. It just didn’t click with me. I wanted to like it, though!
oooh, I remember doing this a while back!! I haven’t read any of these but I think I’m going to take Life of Pi off my TBR! lol
Don’t do it on my account! LOL Lots of people enjoyed it. I just wasn’t one of them.
I haven’t read any of these! Which might be good I guess, seeing as you’d like to yeet them a long way lol.
Probably! Although I know a lot of people loved Life of Pi. It just wasn’t for me. I think there were some kind words for just about every book on my list – except for Titus Groan (the third of the Gormenghast novels). Nobody likes that one. LOL
A fun post! I remember reading Beowulf in high school and not enjoying it. Maybe it’s because it’s an old poem translated from a dead (?) language.
Perhaps that was the reason! Although I liked Chaucer well enough, and it was written in Middle English. Close-ish to Beowulf’s Old English. Ah well, unless I go read it again (doubtful!), I may never remember why I didn’t like it.
If only we can travel in time and not read the books we did not like but use that time on better ones :-).
It’s such a hassle having books I don’t want to read. For example my NetGalley list, I have books waiting for me to read them and when I requested them they sounded good, now not so much. I’d love to not read them but I feel obligated to read and review EVERY single one of them!
Oh, I understand that! I’ve got some books on my Kindle that I finally get to and think, now why did I want to read that? But I’m trying to read and review them all.
I haven’t read any of these. I’ll still probably read Life of Pi eventually. The others, I’ve honestly never heard of them. I guess I’ll steer clear of them. 😀 Thanks for stopping by my TTT.
Oops. I have heard of Beowulf. I’m not really interested in reading it. I watched the latest movie and didn’t understand a thing. LOL.
I don’t think I even knew there was a Beowulf movie. I’ll avoid that, too! LOL
Thank you for stopping by!
Is Breaking Time that one by Sasha Alsberg? I was curious about that one because years ago I used to watch her booktube videos, but I haven’t picked it up which maybe tells me it just wouldn’t be a good fit for me. Thanks so much for visiting Finding Wonderland! I really appreciate that – apologies it took me this long to visit here.
It is the one by Sasha Alsberg. I had no idea who she was when I got the book from Netgalley, so her status as an influencer had no impact on my reading of the book. The premise sounded like one I’d like. It turned out not to be as enjoyable as I’d hoped, alas.
And no worries! There are many corners of the internet, and we can’t get to them all in one day. Thanks for stopping by mine!
I haven’t read any of these, and your list has me thinking that’s a good thing! 😂
As far as I’m concerned, you aren’t missing much by not reading them! LOL