(Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme brought to you by The Broke and the Bookish. Want to make your own list? Clicking the image will take you to this week’s post. Happy listing!)
I don’t have a lot of disposable income these days, so my TBR list is the longest it’s ever been. I buy a couple books at time when I know I’ll be able to read them; but there are some that have been sitting on my shelf for months or years. Here’s 10 of them.
1. The Red Queen (Margaret Drabble) – I accidentally ordered Drabble’s The Red Queen (I meant to get this one) and was surprised to find from the summary that it’s right up my alley. Despite the reviews pegging it as solidly average, I kept it. Now I just need to read it.
2. Warm Bodies (Isaac Marion) – I’ve never been the biggest fan of zombies, but I knew that I needed to get Warm Bodies. What an interesting premise!
3. At Home: A Short History of Private Life (Bill Bryson) – I’ve always enjoyed Bryson’s writing, and At Home sounds like a great read. But at 497 pages it’s definitely a chunkster, and I don’t have that kind of time right now (or perhaps ever).
4. The Book of Pirates (Jamaica Rose and “Captain” Michael MacLeod) – Pirate stories are fun, and true pirate stories are fascinating. From the skimming I’ve done, The Book of Pirates looks funny and informative, and I need to read it.
5. Deerskin (Robin McKinley) – One of the bloggers I follow reviewed Deerskin a few months back, and highly recommended it. If the dog dies I’m going to throw the book through a window.
6. How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe (Charles Yu) – Part Thursday Next, part “Dr. Who,” How to Live Safely sounds perfect.
7. Inbound Marketing: Get Found Using Google, Social Media, and Blogs (Brian Halligan and Dharmesh Shah) – I bought Inbound Marketing for work, but have yet to get to it — mainly because I’m too busy actually working!
8. Water for Elephants (Sara Gruen) – I bought Water for Elephants just after the movie came out and everyone was fawning over it. I don’t think I was that enthusiastic about it to begin with, so it’s been sitting on my shelf since.
9. My Antonia (Willa Cather) – My mother-in-law bought a nice copy of My Antonia for me while she was on vacation over the summer. But it’s another long one, and I haven’t had the courage to pick it up yet.
10. Louisa May Alcott: The Woman Behind Little Women (Harriet Reisen) – My mom got me a copy of The Women Behind Little Women as a birthday present (back in June), but I was in the middle of Alcott madness and had read a lot about her; she didn’t have a happy life, and reading too much about her was depressing me. So this one’s still on the shelf.
What books have been gathering dust on your shelves?
I’ve not read any of these!
Here’s my Top Ten Tuesday post. 🙂
Me neither, what a coincidence! 😉
I keep starting Warm Bodies, not being quite in the right mood for it, and then putting it down again. I’ve gotta get to it soon! I read Water for Elephants pre-movie, and I wasn’t disappointed.
Yea, I read several zombie books in a row, so I’m kind of “meh” about the genre right now. I’ll cycle back around to it, though.
I’m glad to get a positive recommendation for Water for Elephants; I suppose I’ll have to move it up my list.
I don’t know much about the movie of Water for Elephants but I heard good things about the book so I bought it too. Unfortunately it’s still sitting on my shelf. I’ve heard mixed things about Deerskin. I’m trying decide if I’ll actually read it.
I’d never heard of Deerskin until I read the one review I mentioned. It just struck me as something I’d really enjoy — I love me some fantasy stories!
I loved Water for Elephants, put this one to the top of your to-read pile.
I don’t think it’ll make it to the top of my TBR pile just yet — there’s too many other things that I really want to read. But I’ll certainly keep it closer to the top of my mind. Thanks for the thumbs-up on the book!
I’ve just ordered a copy of Warm Bodies after that Halloween Top Ten. The only one on your list I’ve read is Water for Elephants – it was sitting there for about three years until I finally read it when the movie came out.
Yay! Welcome to the zombie side of reading. Watch where you step! :p
What did you think of Water for Elephants? I’ve heard a lot of great and a lot of “meh.”
Mixed. There were things I liked and things that were definitely “meh”. I didn’t like the use of present tense in both the past and present chapters, and the love relationship lacked chemistry or sexual tension or something to make it have the oomph it was described as having. And I was a bit confused as to how the circus worked, enough that I had trouble getting my bearings at times. But there was lots to enjoy too. Bottom line is, I’m glad I read it but it doesn’t make me enthusiastic about reading more of her work. That probably doesn’t help much!
But it does help! It makes me not feel rushed to read it. 🙂 No chemistry? Lame. What’s the point of the relationship, then?
I read Water for Elephants when a friend bought it because of the movie… The book was all right, but since I still haven’t seen it, I’m kind of hoping the movie is better, lol
I’m almost always disappointed in film adaptations of books. I’ve heard a lot of good things about Water for Elephants, but I’ve also heard a lot of what you say: “It was alright.” I don’t have time to read a book that’s just “alright.” 🙂