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I have a confession to make: I’m a mood reader of the worst kind. I pick up and drop books with reckless abandon. I regularly have 5-8 books I read at the same time. There’s books I’ve dropped and picked up a full year later, continuing on the page I left off.
While my “read” bookshelf is suspiciously roomy, a monster steadily grows beside my nightstand. It’s consuming my life. My TBR cart is sinking under the weight of the burdens I am not ready to bear. The books are piling up, seldom is one taken away, and even rarer is it taken to my “read” bookshelf. Typically, I experience the walk of shame back to the TBR cart. Every night, whispers surround me, reminding me of my failure to finish these books like a normal person.
What books could possibly be haunting my dreaded nightstand so badly? I’m glad you asked because I’m determined, I am RESOLUTE, to finish these things. I will finish at least three of these this month, come hell or high water.
A House of Sky and Breath
By Sara J Maas
I know, I know, it’s been two years since it came out. I’m halfway through it and getting there, I swear. Here’s the thing: it’s boring. I’m sorry to all the Sara J Maas fans who are screeching in the background; I was you once. I loved A Court of Thorns and Roses and Throne of Glass, but these new books are almost a completely different genre and it’s hard to get behind.
She’s begun to write more mystery-esque novels, and while that’s great for her, it’s not my thing. I don’t want to sit through 800 pages to discover the plot, especially if the book could be much shorter. The publishers are using her popularity to give an excuse to have longer books, but it’s not working. I’ve talked to years-long readers, and the consensus is more or less the same: she has the wrong audience, and the books don’t fit well with us.
Nevertheless, it haunts me. I promised my sister I would finish it because she finished both the second and the third book. She won’t give me a good reason to finish since even she said they weren’t as good; I suspect she just wants someone to suffer with.
The Lies of Locke Lamora
By Scott Lynch
If I can bring myself to pick up this book, I can finish it, but I look at it with dread. The book is so good, and I love the whole crew of thieves, but I’m not connecting with the characters as well as I thought I would. This is one of my first adult fantasies, so I wonder if it’s just because of the writing style.
The thought and intricacies behind the worldbuilding are amazing, it’s so detailed you feel like you’re there. The plot is cool too, but it’s incredibly slow. Another mark of the adult fantasy genre, and it’s kicking me in the ass. However, I have heard such great things about this series and I’ll connect with the characters after reading more… hopefully.
Babel
By RF Kuang
This is a controversial one; I can feel it. As with most of these, I am not saying it’s bad, just a little slow. A couple of odd coincidences made it difficult to continue the book, but since the pace is picking up I’ll keep reading.
There’s one more issue I have with finishing this book. I know how The Poppy War series ended, and it devastated me. I need to be in the right mindset to handle the heartbreak I’m about to go through, and I’m not ready for that right now. When I am there, I don’t want to read an entire book to find out if it gets sad. A catch-22, as you can see.
Babel is one of the books I can easily see myself finishing this month, I just need to pick it up and accept my fate. RF Kuang wrote such a fantastic book with the Poppy War series; I know this book is stellar.
The Bell Jar
By Sylvia Plath
The Bell Jar has been on my TBR for a while. I started it a couple of years ago but could never get further than the first few chapters. The writing style is older, so it’s harder to read than the modern-day books.
This is supposed to be a great book about mental health, so I’m determined to finish it. This would be a great book to help me learn about these issues, especially how they were treated in the 1920’s. I’m not a classic reader, but I will get there.
Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Fairies
By Heather Fawcett
I love this book. It’s so cozy right now, reading about a researcher going out to study fairies. You can tell there’s a slight mystery with the way the villagers act around the mention of fairies (not a spoiler, I’m on chapter 3), but overall, there’s a close-knit community, a romance I have yet to experience, and a main character on a mission.
I can’t wait to continue reading this book, and I knew it would probably take a while to get through it. Cozy fantasies, while they make me feel warm inside, are about the slow life and thus, take their time. Books like these are best suited for a rainy day and a hot cup of tea.
One Dark Window
By Rachel Gillig
Good news: I haven’t even started it yet; this is one of two books on the list that I haven’t even looked at the front page. I picked this book up the day after my favorite booktuber, The Book Leo, recommended it.
Fantasy will always feel like coming home to me; it’s the genre I started with and will keep forever, but I’ve been straying away from it. My horizons have expanded, and there are so many other books to read, but I miss my chaotic teenage main characters and their hot, non-human boyfriends.
I’m excited to start this one, as it comes highly recommended. I’ve heard it won’t be anything life-changing, but I’m always here for a fun read.
Longitude
By Dava Sobel
As has already been expressed here several times, I have a deep love of pirates. While this isn’t pirates per se, this book has become widely known in the nonfiction community. It tells the story of how we created longitude to prevent seafarers (including pirates) from getting lost at sea. I don’t know anything about ocean navigation, so I’m excited to learn a little about it and hopefully get more insight into my pirate books.
Dotcome Secrets
By Russel Brunson
Here comes the shameful concession that I am trying to grow a business, and this book comes highly rated from the online world. Ali Abdaal calls it his top three books in business. It’s got a 4.24 on Goodreads; it’s got to have something good in it.
It’s also almost 300 pages long. Frankly, rarely do I read a nonfiction book over 200 pages and think, “Wow, this was the perfect length.” I find them long and preachy, reiterating the same point over and over just for the sake of a word count. I’m wary of this book, but if all else fails, I can skim it.
The Creative Business Handbook
By Alicia Puig and Ekaterina Popova
Men dominate the business world and the books about it. When I saw this book written by not only one but two woman, I instantly bought it. I found this book while searching for Million Dollar Weekend, and I’m hoping it’ll be just as useful. The book is creatively fun, and the authors aren’t afraid to let their personalities show.
I’m hoping it’ll give me the steps to success, just because it’s such a fun read that I’d love to recommend it to others. We will see come next month…
Million Dollar Weekend
By Noah Kagen
I’m suspicious of this book, and most books that claim “getting to a million dollars is easy, being poor is what’s hard.” Ali Abdaal recommended this book in his newsletter along with three podcasts and two other books on business.
I hate to admit it, I hate to be this person, but the book is good. I’m about halfway through and will probably finish it by the end of this week. Unfortunately, I’m going to have to reread it because I didn’t take it seriously. I thought it was a “stop being poor, money is a mindset” book.
It’s not. It’s honest and realistic. It breaks down which business idea you should choose based on numbers and how to start it with little to no upfront costs. Of course, I don’t think my million dollars will come anytime soon, but maybe this can be my start.
Conclusion
You can see why I’m haunted, right? I wish I were lying too, but I’ve dropped every single one of these books by my nightstand and never returned them to the cart. They forever gaze upon my nonreading activities with disdain.
I aim to remove five books from the stack, but the bare minimum is three. I’ve considered a book-buying ban, but I always find myself in a bookstore because I just “have to have” a book or on my Kindle because it “doesn’t count anyway.” Will I finish this outrageous stack within the next few months, or will it grow even larger? Who knows? Definitely not me.
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