Top Ten Tuesday: Ten series I’ve been meaning to start

Happy Top Ten Tuesday! Today is a freebie week, so I thought I’d go with ten series I’ve been meaning to start. I feel like I’m always meaning to do something bookish, whether it’s starting a new book or looking into an author or writing a bunch of reviews (though I have been better about that recently). At some point, when I’m caught up on everything else in my life, I’d love to give these ten series a shot.

✨ Percy Jackson and the Olympians by Rick Riordan. I’ve been meaning to start this series for years. Last time I was hanging out with my boyfriend’s much younger cousins, one of them was talking about how much he loves this series and honestly, hearing this eleven-year-old kid talk about how great the books are just made me want to read it even more.
✨ The Wrath and the Dawn by Renee Ahdieh. Twitter’s always all abuzz about this series! It’s got mixed reviews from my friends and following on Goodreads, but for better or worse, people are always talking about it.
✨  The Raven Cycle by Maggie Stiefvater. This is probably heresy or something, but I think I’m the only book blogger alive who’s never read a Maggie Stiefvater book? Everybody is always raving about how awesome her books are, and yet I’ve never taken the time to read them.
✨ The Illuminae Files by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff. Even though each book is a 600+ page monstrosity.
✨  Three Dark Crowns by Kendare Blake. This is another series with mixed reviews, but it also sounds amazing, so…
✨ The Archived by Victoria Schwab. Even though the next book is like 50 years away.  (This is the only reason I haven’t read it yet.)
✨  The Wolves of Mercy Falls by Maggie Stiefvater. See above.  I feel so bad. This has been on my TBR since 2012.
✨  The Stormlight Archive by Brandon Sanderson. I have literally all of the books on my living room bookshelf (boyfriend is a big fan) but the sheer size of them always scares me away!
✨  The Thousandth Floor by Katharine McGee. This is another one that, good or bad, everybody is always talking about.
✨  Replica by Lauren Oliver. I used to love Lauren Oliver’s books, but I haven’t read any in years. I have her Replica series on my library wishlist, so eventually, I’ll get there.

What series have you been meaning to start? Which one do you think I should dive into first?

Let’s talk about: Books I’ve forgotten about (on my shelves)

It’s been almost exactly a year since I moved into my new house and I still have two huge boxes of books in my garage. I really would like to get them unpacked (I feel so guilty) but in the meantime, let’s talk about some books that I’ve already forgotten that I own! I don’t even want to know how much longer this list will get when I see what’s in those boxes.

✨ Slaughterhouse-Five is undoubtedly a modern classic. I feel bad that I haven’t read it. It sits in a secluded corner of my bookshelf and it’s so small that I never notice it.
✨ I’m sorry, Book of the Month. I’m so bad about reading you. As Bright As Heaven is from January and I keep forgetting about it. I’ll get there. Eventually.
✨ I bought The Martian for my boyfriend one Christmas and he says he enjoyed it. I’ve been meaning to read it myself, but I keep forgetting.

✨ Oh, god, I bought American Gods when I was still in high school, I think! I tried it a couple times and could never get into it so it was relegated to the corner of my shelf so it wouldn’t taunt me. That just means that I keep forgetting I own it, though.
✨ Brandon Sanderson is one of my boyfriend’s favorite authors. I’ve been planning to jump into The Way of Kings for YEARS. I think we have every one of this guy’s books on our big bookcase, but do you think I’ve read any of them? Nope.
✨ It hasn’t been that long since I got The Queen’s Rising in my Uppercase box. It sits on my nightstand with the rest of my immediate TBR, but for some reason, I always overlook it when choosing my next book. Oops.

Are there any books that you keep forgetting to read?

Book tag: TBR

Thanks to PeruseProject for sharing this book tag! I was hopping around on Twitter and saw her video pop up and just had to do it… but not on video because I’m awkward enough as it is.

So, this is a pretty quick book tag about the books that just hang out on your TBR forever. I’m only including books I actually own in this. (Except for the one about books you’ve yet to read because they just came out.)

1. Talk about a book you’ve been unable to finish.

As a rule, I really don’t DNF a lot of books. That said, I tried for months to read Neil Gaiman’s American Gods and I don’t think I ever made it past the 100-page mark. Maybe even the 50-park mark. I really wanted to love it but just couldn’t get into it. Someday I’ll try again.

2. What book are you yet to read because you haven’t had the time?

A Court of Thorns and Roses, for sure. I have nothing against the book or its length, but I’m worried that once I start, I won’t be able to stop, and I do not have time to fall into an entire series rabbit hole right now.

3. What book are you yet to read because it’s a sequel?

So many, honestly. The first one that comes to mind is Pierce Brown’s Morning Star. Now, don’t get me wrong. I loooved Red Rising and Golden Son. I marathoned both. But it was ages ago and I cannot remember anything more than the bare bones of the plot.

Next up would be Before the Devil Breaks You by Libba Bray. Same reason. I read The Diviners back in 2013 and Lair of Dreams in 2015 and do you think I remember what happened? Aside from some general spookiness in 1920′s New York City, nope.

Then we have The Girl in the Spider’s Web by David Lagercrantz. Lagercrantz picked up Steig Larsson’s Millennium series after his untimely death, but by the time this book came out, it had already been five years since I read the last book and I could probably jump back in, but I’m going to have to spend some time convincing myself.

4. What book are you yet to read because it’s brand new?

I guess Truly Devious by Maureen Johnson? I just haven’t gotten to a bookstore to buy it yet.

5. What book are you yet to read because you’ve read another book by that author and haven’t enjoyed it?

I have two for this one.

First, Legal Affairs by Sawyer Bennett. It has really great reviews, but I didn’t love Lucas and I’m a little nervous to read it. Second, Very Bad Things by Ilsa Madden-Mills, which also has pretty good reviews. I just didn’t love Dirty English when I read it a while back and I’m hesitant to try another one of her books.

6. What book are you yet to read because it’s humongous?

Definitely The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson. I have it, it’s taunting me from my TBR, I know everybody loves it, and it’s over a thousand pages so I just need to find some time that I can dedicate to reading it.

7. What book are you yet to read because you just haven’t been in the mood?

As Bright As Heaven by Susan Meissner. It was my choice for January’s Book of the Month and while it sounds good, I haven’t been feeling like historical fiction recently.

8. What book are you yet to read because it was a cover buy that turned out to have bad reviews?

The Mutual Admiration Society by Lesley Kagen. I didn’t actually buy it, but it was an impulse pick from Kindle First one month. It looked so cute but it’s barely holding a three-star average, so yikes.

9. What’s the most intimidating book on your TBR?

Probably the debuts! I always want to like the books that I read, but I feel extra pressure to enjoy it when it’s a debut author. I want to give these authors good reviews to start them off on the right foot, but I always worry that I’m not going to enjoy their books.