Ohhhh, this tag is going to call me out big time, and you’re all going to have a quick moment of jaw-dropping at the sheer amount of unread owned books that I have. Welp. Better to rip it off like a Band-Aid than keep hiding all these unread skeletons in my bookshelf. I found this over at Bookwyrm Bites, and it was originally created by Lily Anna Writes.

Fair warning: this post is massive.

Rules:

• Name a book title from your TBR for every letter of the alphabet (can exclude words like ‘the’ if needs be) – these must be books that you have physical/e-book copies of and not ones you intend on getting but haven’t yet.
• Try and include different authors for every single one
• At the bottom of your list put how many you could fill in (out of 25)
• Tag other people to join in and link back to the person who tagged you!

Because I’m The Worst™, I’m going to add on a little something extra to really call myself out. I have a list on my Goodreads that contains all of these books, so I’m going to feature one book and then list all the others under that letter. Because why the hell not, let’s do the biggest call out ever so maybe it’ll get me reading.

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I’ve definitely already said this, but I saw Amberlough by Lara Elena Donnelly described as James Bond, but written by Oscar Wilde. One little known fact about me: I am serious Bond fan. Like, so much that I’m going to link you an epic fic I wrote because it’s all I’ve been able to think about lately. Also, Wilde? I once answered a question that was probably supposed to be serious that was, like, if you could ask one dead famous person one question, what would it be? And ALL I could think to ask was, “How gay was it really?” to Wilde. I am not ashamed. But truthfully, if you’re going to combine those two things, I am SOLD. I don’t even remember what this book is about other than that.

Other As:

• The Amber Spyglass by Philip Pullman
• Angela’s Ashes by Frank McCourt
• Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
• Asylum & Asylum Novellas by Madeleine Roux

There is NO good reason for why I haven’t read this yet. (Yes, there is.) John O’Donohue is one of my favorite writers/philosophers, but he’s dead, and I own everything by him (there will be a few more on this list), and I don’t want to finish all of it, thus me procrastinating Beauty even though it sounds exactly like something I need to read. What turned me onto O’Donohue was his book Anam Cara, which is a Gaelic term for “soul friend,” and y’all. Seriously. Do yourself this favor.

Other Bs:

• Becoming Dangerous: Witchy Femmes, Queer Conjurers, and Magical Rebels by Katie West
• Beneath the Citadel by Soria Destiny
• Between Shades of Grey by Ruta Sepetys
• Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty
• Blanca & Roja by Anna-Marie McLemore
• The Bone Witch by Rin Chupeco
• Boy Erased: A Memoir of Identity, Faith, and Family by Garrard Conley

Circle of Shadows by Evelyn Skye is literally on my TBR cart right now. I’d originally planned on reading it during September because it felt dark enough to be pre-spooky, but then I realized I had 10 preorders to catch up on before my epic Halloween TBR, so this got quickly backlisted again. It sounds right up my alley, too, and I remember that I didn’t buy it one time while shopping, so that of course meant that everyone started posting about it.

Other Cs:

• Call Me By Your Name by André Aciman
• The Candle and the Flame by Nafiza Azad
• Carrie by Stephen King
• Clockwork Prince & Clockwork Princess by Cassandra Clare
• Curse of the Blue Tattoo by LA Meyer

There are a couple other totally expected titles I could have featured, but instead I want to shame myself because I probably bought Dragon Rider by Cornelia Funke sometime around its publication in 2005, so it’s been literally 14 years that I’ve owned this unread book, and wow okay now I hate myself a little. WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME? I love Cornelia Funke, and yet here I am.

Other Ds:

• The Dark is Rising by Susan Cooper
• Deadfall by Stephen Wallenfels
• The Devil’s Thief by Lisa Maxwell
• The Dhammapada by Anonymous

Hi, my name is Mary, and I like to hike mountains, but I haven’t done it in two years because life sucks, and so no one actually knows that I like to hike mountains, but Even the Darkest Stars by Heather Fawcett is set in something similar to the Himalayas, and if I just have to live vicariously through other people, I will, damn it. (When I am old and rich, I am retiring to the mountains where I have no neighbors because GOODBYE.)

Other Es:

• Empire of Sand by Tasha Suri
• Escape from Asylum by Madeleine Roux
• Eternal Echoes: Celtic Reflections on Our Yearning to Belong by John O’Donohue

Okay, look, I think my excuse for not having read this yet (despite owning it for 5+ years) is valid because I am 100% certain that it’s going to break my heart worse than anything ever has before. I’ve long since come to terms with the horrors of the Dalai Lama’s past, and I’m able to read about it without getting furious, but I love him dearly, and it still hurts to read about it, so Freedom in Exile is definitely going to be tough. I’m aiming to get it read by the end of the year, though!

Other Fs:

• Finnegan’s Wake by James Joyce
• Fire in the Hole by Elmore Leonard
• The Flight of Gemma Hardy by Margot Livesey
• Flourish: A Visionary New Understanding of Happiness and Wellbeing by Martin Seligman
• The Fork, The Witch, and the Worm by Christopher Paolini

Am I the only one left who hasn’t read The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice & Virtue by Mackenzi Lee? This sounds like everything I’m usually into, which is mostly friends to lovers, and like? I don’t know what’s stopping me. I keep feeling like I want a contemporary, but this is technically not a contemporary because it’s set in the early something? 1800s? 1700s? I literally know nothing about this book. This is a serious case of everyone else liked it, so might as well buy it. With a helping of gay is good, so they must be onto something.

Other Gs:

• Girls Like Us: Fighting for a World Where Girls are Not for Sale by Rachel Lloyd
• Girls of Paper and Fire by Natasha Ngan
• Gods of Jade and Shadow by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
• The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman
• The Golem’s Eye by Jonathan Stroud
• Grandmother Moon: Lunar Magic in Our Lives–Spells, Rituals, Goddesses, Legends, and Emotions Under the Moon by Zsuzsanna E. Budapest
• Greenwitch & The Grey King by Susan Cooper

I’d like to be noted that I have read The Heroin Diaries by Nikki Sixx, but this is the graphic novel, so I’ve been kind of putting it off because I already know the story, so it doesn’t feel as urgent to me. However, if the Broadway musical for this ever actually gets up off the ground, I plan on reading this beforehand.

Other Hs:

• House of Leaves by Mark Danielewski
• The House on Fortune Street by Margot Livesey

Oh my god, this thing is huge. I almost never buy trilogies all bound together, so I’m not really sure why I thought buying this (probably over a decade ago) was a good idea, but here we are with The Dragon King by Stephen R. Lawhead. This massive tome has also survived several culls, so maybe it’s meant to be someday.

Other Is:

• In the Belly of the Bloodhound by LA Meyer
• Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer

I only have one J book! Hallelujah! (I honestly did not realize how long this list was going to be, yikes.) I’ve actually got a plan for this book, too. I’m finishing up my Austens right now, and then it’s onto the Brontë sisters, so Jane Eyre, I’ll see you next year!

Ah yes, the book I wasn’t sure that I wanted to actually read–Kingsbane by Claire Legrand. Does anyone remember my chaotic hate/mild like review of this book? Looking back, I’m frankly shocked that I gave this four stars and not three because WOW the dubious consent is a lot. I really wasn’t sure if I wanted to read this, and went so far as to not preorder it, but then fell to the hype of my friend, Alex, reading and loving it, so we’ll see what happens!

I haven’t read La Belle Sauvage by Philip Pullman for one reason: once upon a time, I read Tess of the Road by Rachel Hartman without having read any of the Seraphina books, and I was mad at it the entire time because I felt lost for no reason. Flighty!Mary bought the first volume in The Book of Dust series because she didn’t bother to look up if it took place in the same universe as His Dark Materials, and now, here I am, not wanting to be angry at this book because I haven’t read HDM yet.

Other Ls:

• Le Morte d’Arthur by Thomas Malory

I actually talked about why I bought this book and then never read it in my College Lessons post. That said, I’m no longer that person, and I’m aiming to get through a stack of adult literary fiction by the end of the year, which includes Maya by CW Huntington Jr.

Other Ms:

• Mansfield Park by Jane Austen
• Mississippi Jack & My Bonny Light Horseman by LA Meyer
• The Monstrumologist by Rick Yancey
• The Mountain of Light by Indu Sundaresen

I don’t care if I have this book planned for next month because Halloween, I need to be shamed. I’ve owned this book forever, and there is no reason why I haven’t read it. I love Joe Hill. I wanted to watch the show for N0S4A2, but, as we discussed at the beginning, I am the worst, and I don’t know why I avoid things just so I can buy new books. IT MAKES NO SENSE.

Other Ns:

• The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
• Nocturna by Maya Motayne
• Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen

Ohhhh yeah, let’s feature this one. Over Sea, Under Stone by Susan Cooper is the first in The Dark is Rising series, and I have no idea how long I’ve owned it, but probably since middle school. I have no excuse other than I just haven’t read it. These are so short, and probably so fast, and they’re Maggie Stiefvater’s favorites, so really, I just suck.

Other Os:

• Olivia Kidney and the Exit Academy by Ellen Potter
• On Chesil Beach by Ian McEwan

You know, I’m not actually convinced that I own this? I’m going to have to double check, but either way, Paradise Lost by John Milton is one of those English major books that I read partially because we were only looking at certain bits of it, and then never finished even though I enjoyed it.

Other Ps:

• Persuasion by Jane Austen
• Preacher, Vol. 2: Until the End of the World by Garth Ennis
• Pretties by Scott Westerfeld
• Project X by Jim Shepard

No Qs, so skipping right to a R that I’m definitely supposed to have read by the end of this year since I got it for Christmas last year: The Right Stuff by Tom Wolfe. I’ve seen the movie, which I loved, and I know that I’ll adore this, it’s just about finding the right time for it. I definitely want to read it, too, because I’ll be hoping for some new astronaut books come this Christmas, and I like to be cleared out of my old ones before then.

Other Rs:

• Red Dragon by Thomas Harris
• Runebinder by Alex Kahler

I’ve owned Seafire by Natalie C. Parker only for a few months, but I keep telling myself to wait until I’m writing my pirate book before picking this up. I’m honestly probably going to keep doing that, too, and I’m not too mad about that. I like reading the same kinds of things that I’m writing at the same time to keep me inspired and motivated, so I think this is a valid reason.

Other Ss:

• Sanctum by Madeleine Roux
• Scythe by Neal Shusterman
• Seven Years in Tibet by Heinrich Harrer
• The Shadow Hour by Melissa Grey
• Silver on the Tree by Susan Cooper
• The Slippage by Ben Greenman
• The Soloist: A Lost Dream, an Unlikely Friendship, and the Redemptive Power of Music by Steve López
• Song of the Abyss by Makiia Lucier
• A Spark of White Fire by Sangu Mandanna
• The Star-Touched Queen by Roshani Chokshi
• Stardust by Neil Gaiman
• The Subtle Knife by Philip Pullman

The Telling Pool by David Clement-Davies is one of those YA fantasy books that I bought in high school that sounded amazing and Arthurian and always going to be my vibe, and honestly, nine years post high school graduation, it is still all of those things. Maybe someday I’ll stop buying YA fantasy books and actually read the ones I already own.

HA

Other Ts:

• Tinkers by Paul Harding
• To Bless the Space Between Us: A Book of Blessings by John O’Donohue
• Tomb of Ancients by Madeleine Roux
• The Towering Sky by Katharine McGee

I’m currently working my way through all of Tolkien’s works, but I’m at a small standstill because I don’t own the next two books, which means I’m not yet chronologically at Unfinished Tales of Númenor and Middle-Earth. That’s still not an excuse for not reading, though, because I buy books all the time, so I need to just buy the next two books in the Elder Days trilogy and get my butt in gear. I also don’t have a deadline for this project, though, and technically this is my dad’s book, not mine, but let’s not split hairs.

Other Us:

• Ulysses by James Joyce
• Under the Jolly Roger by LA Meyer
• The Upanishads by Anonymous

I’d like to pretend that I was saving Vicious: The Art of Dying Young by Mark Paytress for when I was writing my novel that’s music-centered (and has some serious Sid Vicious vibes), but I finished writing it almost two years ago, so really, I’m just not reading this because I don’t feel like it.

I was gifted Women Who Run with the Wolves: Myths & Stories of the Wild Woman Archetype by Clarissa Pinkola Estés, and so that’s why it’s taken me a minute to get to this, but I was gifted it several months ago, sooooo. It’s definitely something I’m interested in, but it’s a little denser than the witch books I usually read.

Other Ws:

• Walden by Henry David Thoreau
• War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy
• Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen
• Wayfarer by Alexandra Bracken
• The Weight of Feathers by Anna-Marie McLemore
• We Rule the Night by Claire Eliza Bartlett
• We Set the Dark on Fire by Tehlor Kay Mejia
• The Wrath & the Dawn by Renee Adhieh
• Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë

No Ys and no Xs, so here we are, the final book on the list, Zenith by Sasha Alsberg. This was a definite cover + space setting buy, and I’m not even a little bit ashamed. Somehow, despite having a full shelf dedicated to YA space, I still feel like I don’t have enough.

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This is obnoxiously long, and way more over the top than the tag called for, but I had a fun time calling myself out, and hopefully, this list will be a lot different by the end of the year!

If you’re also feeling like you need some accountability, consider yourself tagged!