Books I own and haven’t read yet (please help haha)

/ carly books and rambling

Over the past year I’ve actually done really well in my goal to read lots of new books and try to read lots of the books on my shelves (giving away the ones I don’t like). I have a bad habit of buying books- I do try to buy lots from charity shops- and whilst I read roughly 100 books a year, I LOVE the comfort and experiencing of rereading, so it can take me a long time to get round to all of my new books. I’d love to end 2020 with some reading highs (given the riot that the year has been otherwise hahaha), so I’m going to list the books that I own and haven’t read yet and I’d love your opinions on what books I should priories. 😊 Please, please let me know if you’ve read any of these and why you’d recommend them (or why you absolutely hated them). I have 20 books left to read to reach my yearly goal! (I’ve made the books that I’m currently most interested in reading bold).

  1. N-W- Zadie Smith
  2. Blonde Roots- Bernardine Evaristo
  3. The Remains of the Day- Kazuo Ishaguro
  4. The Mothers- Brit Bennett
  5. Calypso- David Sedaris
  6. The Sellout- Paul Beatty
  7. Northern Lights- Philip Pullman
  8. The Book of Dust- Philip Pullman
  9. Morbid Relations- Jonathan Whitelaw
  10. Theology and Works and Days- Hesiod
  11. The White Boy Shuffle- Paul Beatty
  12. Percy Jackson and the Last Olympian- Rick Riordan
  13. The Book of Strange Things- Michel Faber
  14. Under the Skin- Michel Faber
  15. The Republic- Plato
  16. Jesus: A Life- A. N. Wilson

Books that I’ve owned for at least a year (some are honestly 5+ years old hahaha):

17. George Harrison: Behind the locked door- Graeme Thomson

18. The Light Between Oceans- M L Steadman

19. The Wasp Factory- Iain Banks

20. The Understudy- David Nicholls

21. Lanark- Alasdair Gray

22. Them- Jon Ronson

23. The Trial- Franz Kafka

24. Being Elvis- Ray Connolly

25. The Post Birthday World- Lionel Shriver

26. The Secret Garden- Francis Hodgson Burnett

27. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo- Stieg Larsson

28. Horns- Joe Hill

29. I am the Messenger- Markus Zusak

30. School Daze- Elaine McGeachy

31. The White Queen- Philippa Gregory

32. The Lost Books of the Odyssey- Zachary Mason

33. The Bluest Eye- Toni Morrison

34. The Miniaturist- Jessie Burton

35. David Bowie: A Life- Dylan Jones

36. The Lie Tree- Frances Hardinge

37. Casting Off- Elizabeth Jane Howard

38. All the Light We Cannot See- Anthony Doerr

39. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy- Douglas Adams

40. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest- Ken Kensey

41. Not the Life Imagined- Anne Pettigrew

42. Utopia for Realists- Rutger Bregman

43. American Gods- Neil Gaiman

44. The Elephant Keeper- Christopher Nicholson

45. The Complete Grimm’s Fairy Tales- The Brothers Grimm

Oh dear, 45 hahaha. Although it was genuinely about 100 a couple of years ago. There are some on the list that I really should just give away, but I’m quite the hoarder and don’t want to miss out on a potentially interesting read. Also, I’ll definitely take into account any comments, but I’m such a mood reader so please, please don’t be offended if I end up reading completely different books haha! Also, I rarely know anything about authors so please let me know if any are a bit dodgy/controversial for any reason. I hope you’re well and have read great books so far this year! 😊

13 thoughts on “Books I own and haven’t read yet (please help haha)”

  1. The Remains of the Day is an absolute literary masterpiece. I highly recommend it and I think you are going to love it. Nothing that Ishiguro pens is easy or fun to read, but it is fulfilling and emotional. I won’t personally bother with One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. The film is 100% better and seeing that everyone knows and most seen the film, there is no point to plough through the Nest, even if it is relatively short. The Bluest Eye is harrowing but very good, and The Miniaturist is so manipulative and “commercial”, but I would love to know your opinion. One also either gets and loves Kafka or feels totally lukewarm and indifferent. The Trial is very philosophical and existential and I love it for it. That’s the ones from the list that I read.

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    • I’m excited to read the Remains of the Day at some point, I really enjoyed Never Let Me Go! yeah I always want to read cuckoo’s nest but end up putting it off again. Again, really want to read the bluest eye but I’ve been waiting for a time when I’m in a really positive mindset haha because I want to appreciate it properly and get the most out of it. ooh, I’ll definitely review the miniaturist if I read it! I know nothing about it but kept seeing it in charity shops everywhere. Thanks, hopefully I’ll like The Remains of the Day and The Trial when I get to them 🙂

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  2. I have (or had) a lot of those books, too. I’ve reached the age where if I have to “work” at reading something, it’s not for me. I pick up a book, and if it doesn’t immediately grab me, I mark it as DNF (did not finish) and move on. I tend to steer clear of emotional or heavy reads. I read a LOT of romances. I want a happy ending. Books for me are pure escapism. There’s too much tragedy in real life, I don’t want it in my entertainment, too. I did really try to read the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy. That’s a STRANGE book, and I have a quirky sense of humor.

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    • yeah I think that’s a really good way to do it, I honestly think due to instagram, booktube and even blog posts, reading can become almost competitive and feel a little bit like something you should be doing instead of an enjoyable habit, which is crazy! I love a happy ending, books should be for escapism and it’s amazing that you’ve remembered that so you can get the most out of reading 🙂

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  3. Blonde Roots – I found that just too painful to read.
    Remains of the Day – excellent, a must read.
    The Wasp Factory – usually like his stuff but this was too difficult.
    The Post Birthday World- Lionel Shriver – absolutely excellent, as I find all of her books.
    The Secret Garden- Francis Hodgson Burnett – oh yes. Must read.
    The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo- Stieg Larsson – I loved this trilogy. But the post-Stieg Larsson books – dreadful.
    The Miniaturist – didn’t read the book, but loved the TV series.
    The White Queen – I have to be in the mood for Philippa Gregory, but when I am, this is a great series.

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    • Thank you! 🙂 Yeah I feel the same about the white queen, excited to read it but need to be in the right mood! I absolutely love we need to talk about kevin so hopefully that means I’ll also really enjoy the post birthday world 🙂 I think that’s why I’ve been putting off blonde roots but I’ll give it a go as I love all of Evaristo’s other books. I’m glad to hear/read that everyone seems to love the remains of the day so I’ll definitely read that one soon! Thanks 🙂

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  4. Well, I think I’ve only read one or two of those books and that was so many years ago! So good luck with the rest of your 2020 reading – hope you get through a few by the end of the year.

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