Top Ten Books That I Will Never Read

This week's Top Ten Tuesday (hosted by The Broke & The Bookish) is a linkup that I couldn't pass up: Books that I will never read! This list isn't all hate, but there is a whole lot of judgement, side eye, and duck lips going on here.

10. A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin
They are just so big and daunting… and I have to make character maps with most normal length novels in order to remember the characters. What would I have to do with these books?

9. The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman
This book was written to instill atheism and undermine Christianity. There’s a difference between writing a children’s book to teach about something (morals, friendship, atheism), and writing a book to teach kids that religion sucks. Even if your religion is believing in magical invisible flying cats, I believe authors should respect that.

8. Nicholas Sparks novels
I see the movies, which are cute, sappy, and predictable, and that’s enough for me. I’m more of a Georgian England romance kind of gal.

7. The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
This book is similar to a good pop song that you would have enjoyed except for the radio played it a million and two times too many. It’s likely that I’ll read some of Green’s other books (I read Will Grayson, Will Grayson actually), but I’m gonna pass on this one.

6. Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert
I’m feeling so cynical while making this list! But from what I understand of this book, the author has a mid-life crisis, travels around and discovers simple living and gratefulness, then writes about it. Great if you need to read this, but I already did that whole experience five years ago.

5. The Shack by Wm. Paul Young
Please find me one person that you have met in real life that liked this book. One. Person.

4. Shopaholic series by Sophie Kinsella
I’m as big of a Sex & The City fan as the next lady who wonders how Carrie could afford a walk-in closet in NYC living on the money made from a sex column, but I like my trashy TV time to be separate from my book reading times.

3. The Education of Little Tree by Forrest Carter
Duuude, I listened to a This American Life (http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/527/180-degrees) episode about this book and its author. The author is actually a very influential KKK member and this book is absolutely not a change of heart.

2. Twilight saga by Stephenie Meyer
I just. I can’t, you guys.

1. Fifty Shades of Grey by E.L. James
I do enjoy reading me some good live blogs, however.

New on the Stack || April Edition

The Deliberate Reader hosts the monthly linkup New on the Stack to share what you’ve added to your piles in the past month. I separated my acquisitions into "smart people books", novels, and graphic novels/manga. And goodness, I need to lay off the ARC requests. That will be my May resolution: no more ARCs!

Salad Anniversary by Machi Tawara
How I got it: Netgalley e-ARC
Why I got it: Poetry month was last month and I really wanted to enjoy it.

The Circle Game by Margaret Atwood
How I got it: library ebook
Why I got it: I had high hopes for reading a lot of poetry last month, but that really fell flat. I didn't finish this one though I adored the poems I did read.

Measure for Measure by William Shakespeare
How I got it: library audio drama
Why I got it: To do a review for the Bard on the Blogs event. You can see my guest post on Alexa Loves Books.

Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
How I got it: library audiobook
Why I got it: This has been on my TBR for years (literally), and right when I needed a book to listen to, it was available.

Bream Gives Me Hiccups by Jesse Eisenberg
How I got it: Netgalley e-ARC
Why I got it: There is little I love more than idiosyncratic short stories.

The Star Side of Bird Hill by Naomi Jackson
How I got it: Netgalley e-ARC
Why I got it: Honestly, I'm a little burned out on YA lately. I've been wanting some heavier, more refined, subtler reads.

Neverland by Shari Arnold
How I got it: Netgalley e-ARC
Why I got it: The cover drew me in. Plus, it's a re-imagining of Peter Pan!

Barry Goupe: In the Midst of Lies by Sean P. McClure
How I got it: The author reached out to me and sent me an e-ARC.
Why I got it: Being a self-published author is tough, and I'm still keeping with my resolution to get over my prejudice against self-pubbed books.

Let’s Eat Ramen and Other Doujinshi Short Stories by Nagumo and Aji-Ichi
How I got it: Netgalley e-ARC
Why I got it: Doujinshi is, from what I understand, independently published manga. Like, manga for manga-creators. Zines of the manga world. I'm so in.

Shadow Show: Stories in Celebration of Ray Bradbury by Neil Gaiman and friends
How I got it: Netgalley e-ARC
Why I got it: Ray Brabury? Neil Gaiman? Graphic novel? No need to say more.

Low, vol. 1: The Delirium of Hope by Rick Remender and Greg Tocchini
How I got it: Netgalley e-ARC
Why I got it: Basically I love anything about the ocean, and the illustrations looked totally gorgeous (which they are, btw).

Twisted Dark, vol. 1 by Neil Gibson
How I got it: Netgalley e-ARC
Why I got it: This is a bunch of interconnected short stories that promised to be dark and...twisted.

Wayward, vol. 1: String Theory by Jim Zub, Steven Cummings, and John Rauch
How I got it: Netgalley e-ARC
Why I got it: It reminded me of a Miyazaki film, and boy was I right. A must-read if you like Miyazaki.





Did you read any good books that I should add to my stack in May?

3 Graphic Novel Mini-Reviews

Saturday is Free Comic Book Day! (Pss… Check here to see who nearby is participating.) Yeah yeah I know the difference between graphic novels and comic books, BUT in honor of illustrated story telling, here are some graphic novels I read recently!

Low, Vol 1: The Delirium of Hope by Rick Remender
In the future, the sun is on the verge of death and its solar rays are out of control. Humans live in underwater colonies to be protected from the sun, but the air supply is going sour and one ridiculously optimistic woman believes she has a way to save humanity… and her family. Full-color, richly illustrative, of course I love the way that undersea animals have evolved into beautiful scary creatures.
For fans of: metaphysics (the plot revolves around if positive thinking determines reality), dystopias, light sci-fi

Wayward, Vol 1: String Theory by Jim Zub, Steven Cummings, John Rauch
A teenage girl who grew up in Ireland moves in with her Japanese mom in Tokyo. She discovers she has supernatural powers to see things that other can’t. The infusion of Japanese mythology, full-color beautiful art, realistic Tokyo scenes, and interesting characters was fantastic.
For fans of: Miyazaki’s Spirited Away, contemporary stories based in Japan but not manga per se.

Twisted Dark, Volume 1 by Neil Gibson
A collection of dark short stories which feature recurring characters (if you can spot them!). The art styles vary and the plots are all totally different. The writing is pretty straightforward, but it’s interesting. I was most interested in the story about human slavery in the United Arab Emirates, because I used to live there. It was extremely accurate of what really happens, and the illustrations were so realistic that I could recognize specific parts of the city.
For fans of: text-reliant graphic novels, Alan Moore