Oh boy, I’m ready to roast myself! There are so many books that I “should” have read, and so many feelings I have about the “should” part of that statement. 2020 is the year where I say whatever to reading goals outside of finish my TBR and read whatever the hell I want. I’m so over the unnecessary stress I keep putting on myself when it comes to reading, but I’m also very curious to see how many of these questions are going to make me cackle.

Thank you to Margaret @ Weird Zeal for tagging me in this! Beth @ Books Nest created this tag, and I’m super excited to dive in!

A book that a certain friend is always telling you to read

Gosh, there are a million and one books that Alex wants me to read, but probably the top of the list is everything and anything by Katherine Arden.

I read The Bear and the Nightingale in the summer and absolutely loved it, but the season was all wrong, so I said I was going to wait until the winter to finish the trilogy, and well, it’s March, and I still haven’t read it. I loved the first one, too, so I really need to get around to The Girl in the Tower.

A book that’s been on your TBR forever
and yet you still haven’t read it

Well, the oldest book on my owned unread TBR is:

But that’s about to change! I’ve mentioned it somewhere, but I’m planning on reading the last two Austens & all of the Brontë sisters this year, and Jane Eyre is definitely on the list. I’m currently reading Wuthering Heights, too, so it’s happening, y’all.

A book in a series you’ve started,
but haven’t gotten around to finishing

hahahahahahahaha IT’S TIME TO CALL OUT MYSELF

I have an entire list on Goodreads because I’m so bad at this. And by this, I mean series that I’ve started, but not finished, because I’m never in the middle of a book for longer than few days. A few that are really getting out of hand, though, are:

1. The Shadow Hour by Melissa Grey (I don’t even know how long I’ve owned this yet, but I read the first one in 2017.)
2. Wayfarer by Alexandra Bracken (This was the start of my “I’m going to read series together!” purchase promise that never actually happened.)
3. The Lady’s Guide to Petticoats and Piracy by Mackenzi Lee (I’m less mad at myself about this one since I just read the first one, but guarantee it’ll take me over a year to get to this.)
4. Sanctum by Madeleine Roux (I purchased every Roux book in the Asylum series with the intention of reading them for Halloween, and then read only one. I also still haven’t read Salvaged. I am The Worst™.)
5. The Girl in the Tower by Katherine Arden (See first question.)
6. The Golem’s Eye by Jonathan Stroud (This is the worst one on the list because I read the first one in 2017, and I’ve owned this one since 2018, sooooo.)
7. Probably every Shadowhunters book ever.

A classic you’ve always liked the sound of,
but have never actually read

Honestly, this is going to sound like cheating, but I don’t have one. I’m in the middle of my Austen & Brontë challenge, I’m not actually over the moon about Joyce, but I’m reading it anyway because I’m curious, and I’ve since stopped caring about other classics because I just don’t have it in me after reading only classics for four years in college.

A popular book that it seems everyone but you has read

Oh, you mean ACOTAR? Yeah, it’s never happening. But since I’ve already shot myself in the foot several times talking about Maas’ books, I’m going to instead shock and awe y’all:

Not only have I never read The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, I’ve never seen the movies, and it’s at the point where I don’t really intend to ever read them.

A book that inspired a film/TV adaptation that you really love,
but just haven’t picked up yet

I’m going to flip this on its head because I don’t watch before I read, so here are some books I’ve read that have adaptations that I really need to watch:

1. NOS4A2 by Joe Hill (I love literally everything by Hill, and the AMC TV show is the only adaptation of his that I haven’t watched!)
2. The Dark Crystal series by J.M. Lee (I loved the original movie as a child, and I’m even more in love with the young adult book series, but I only watched the first episode of the Netflix series, and I’m sad about that.)
3. A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness (This is such a last minute addition because I’m literally in the middle of reading it right now, BUT IT’S KILLING ME AND I NEED THE SHOW SO BAD.)

Also, because there’s not a ton, adaptations I’m looking forward to:

1. Shadow and Bone Netflix series (GIVE IT TO MEEEEEEE!)
2. LOTR First Age Amazon series (I’m finally starting to be hopeful about this.)
3. The Raven Cycle Syfy series (I just want the tiniest bit of news!)

A book you see all over Instagram but haven’t picked up yet

This always happens to me. I’ll be in a bookstore, I’ll have a specific book in hand, I’ll end up putting it back because I have too many books, and then I’ll go home to see approximately 85 posts about said book.

I don’t want to talk about the fact that I was literally holding The Final Six by Alexandra Monir on Sunday, put it back on the shelf so I could get a contemporary instead, and then saw a bunch of posts for it & its sequel that night. UGH.