Anti-TBR #2: Popular books I am not going to read

Hello book lovers!

So, writing the #1 of this series was such fun, and honestly one of my favorite posts to write! I have one rule when it comes to my TBR: it cannot pass 100 books. It’s a purely arbitrary rule, but I found it helps me keep in check the books I really am interesting in vs. the ones I feel I should read because they are classics, or so hyped, etc.

Just to make it clear once more: the books I list here are not books I think are bad. They are just books I have decided not to read, at least for now, and didn’t make the cut to the 100 books I want to read most.

Without further ado, let’s get to the list!

Ready Player One, by Ernerst Cline

This book is a YA science fiction, and lately I’ve been reading quite some science fiction. But it just doesn’t speak to me, although I cannot point out precisely why. Maybe it’s all the 80s references this book is supposed to have. Maybe I’ve just read too much dystopia lately. In any case, it just didn’t interest me enough to kick out a book from my TBR to add this one instead. In addition to that, I have read quite some “meh” and some negative reviews about it.

1st do Die, by James Patterson

When I lived in the US, if people caught me reading a book, they asked if I’d read James Patterson and gasp in shock when I said no. One time I smiled politely while holding my medieval French feminist book and added that I normally read other genres (partially true). Do you guys also get annoyed when people find out you like reading and then are shocked you haven’t read this particular book or author? Anyways, I feel that James Patterson is so hyped, and yet for some reason, the plots of his books so far haven’t interested me at all.

 The Reader, by Traci Chee

By now I think this book isn’t too hyped anymore, but back when it came out, it was all I heard about. I’m not sure why, but I don’t like the cover of this book at all. That is not the reason why I won’t read it, of course, but doesn’t help either. But the plot didn’t make me feel like I absolutely need to read this, it sparked only a mild interest. Secondly, I’ve read many reviews saying that, at best, this book is ok. I know opinions are personal and I could end up loving it, but it surely didn’t help making me want to add it to my TBR.

The Infernal Devices Series, by Cassandra Clare

This is actually on my “maybe one day, if I run out of books” list. Which, in practice, means it has little chance to actually make it. It’s not that the story doesn’t interest me, it looks really good, actually. It’s just that I read The Mortal Instruments, was very entertained by it but not much else. Cassandra Clare’s writing style didn’t wow me and I couldn’t connect much to the characters. It was a good book series but not an awesome one (for me), and I feel like there are books I want to read more than this series.

Lux Series, by Jennifer L. Armentrout

I keep telling myself to give this book a chance, it keeps getting recommended, more specifically on Booktube. From what I can tell from the blurb, it seems to be a paranormal romance with Aliens and adventure and a science-fiction feeling to it. Honestly, it looks to me like it will be Twilight with Aliens, which isn’t quite my thing. I have nothing at all against trashy romance novels (I loved Kiss of Deception, for example), but I need to be in the mood for it and it should be well executed – I find trashy romance to be one of the hardest genres to pull off. I’ve never read a paranormal novel with Aliens, so I am curious, but I am also very hesitant to buy it.

 Because you love to hate me

I’ve been seeing this book around for a while now, and many reviews about it… a lot of those are quite negative, and it seems that the book focuses on high-school stories about the villains, which confused me a little and reminded me of Prom Nights from Hell, which I read a long time ago and didn’t particularly love. So, putting all of those thoughts together, I have decided not to read this. It seems like a book that might be entertaining but not much else….

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, by Mark Twain

I read The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, and really enjoyed it! I love Mark Twain’s writing (his humor on The Awful German Language is so good I was laughing out loud in a bus). It’s just… I’ve already read and heard about so many “boy goes in adventure” stories I just feel that I want more original ones. Maybe this book is awesome, but I’m just a little saturated there: The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Treasure Island, Lord of the Flies (I know it’s a satire, still counts), Hatchet, The Goonies… feels like I’ve read this book already.

Other Anti-TBRs:

Anti-TBR #1

Anti-TBR #3