Top 5 Tuesday #56: Hyped Books I Won’t Read

Top 5 Tuesday is a weekly meme created by Shanah, the Bionic Book Worm, and now hosted by Meeghan at Meeghan Reads.

This week’s topic:

Top 5 hyped books I’m not interested in

(Sometimes the hype-train isn’t for everyone. What are some hyped books that you’ve seen and just aren’t interested in reading?)

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I couldn’t be bothered to think up popular books I’m not interested in, so I just looked up one of those best-sellers lists and selected 5 books from it that I know I won’t read.

Normal People by Sally Rooney

From Blood and Ash by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Greenlights by Matthew McConaughey

The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett

The Lost Apothecary by Sarah Penner

I typically would include a few thoughts on each book, but I don’t know much about these. I’ve seen them around often, and I was interested in reading a few when they first came out — like Normal People, Vanishing Half, and Lost Apothecary because I like the cover. But I’ve yet to pick them up, so I doubt I ever will.

The other two — From Blood and Ash and Greenlights — I wasn’t interested in at all and know I’ll never read (although I’ve seen a few interesting reviews of Greenlights.)

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Have you read any of these?

If so, what was your reaction to it?

Top 5 Tuesday #55: Hyped Books on My TBR

Top 5 Tuesday is a weekly meme created by Shanah, the Bionic Book Worm, and now hosted by Meeghan at Meeghan Reads.

This week’s topic:

Top 5 hyped books on my TBR

(How many hyped books are on your TBR?? What are your top 5 that you need to read first??)

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I went a little overboard choosing books to feature for this topic. I have quite a number of hyped books on my TBR since I do get caught up in the excitement surrounding books and become interested in them whenever I read a review that sings them high praises for being awesomely great or totally rips them apart for being terribly horrible. Either way, I’ll probably add the book to my TBR out of curiosity. Well, here are 8 hyped books I’d like to read at some point.

PROJECT HAIL MARY BY ANDY WEIR

I read his Martian and really liked it so I placed this one on my TBR since the high praises for it got me interested. Plus, I keep seeing it mentioned that Project Hail Mary is similar to The Martian, which is okay for me.

CIRCE BY MADELINE MILLER

I’ve wanted to read this book since I first heard of it and still I procrastinate on doing so, smh. I’ll get to it eventually. I have a feeling that Miller may become one of my fav authors.

AMERICAN GODS BY NEIL GAIMAN

I actually attempted this last year but DNF’d it because I wasn’t feeling it. I’ll try again before I decide whether to unhaul the book.

Top 5 Tuesday #54: Hyped Books That Hooked Me

Top 5 Tuesday is a weekly meme created by Shanah, the Bionic Book Worm, and now hosted by Meeghan at Meeghan Reads.

This week’s topic:

Top 5 hyped books I love

(Tell us all about the hyped books that you love and think deserve the hype!!)

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I’ve read several hyped books that have fallen flat for me often because I read the book expecting too much from it or because it’s praised for something it is not. But there have been times when I read an overly hyped booked that paid off. It’s such a wonderful feeling when I read such a book. Here are a few hyped books that worked out for me.

The Arrival by Shaun Tan (illus.)

This is one of my favorite graphic novels. It’s a silent middle grade fantasy story, so it’s told using only pictures, and is about a man trying to find a safe place for his family to live due to a large threat in his home country. In that way, the story touches on immigrant experiences despite being a fantasy story. It’s such a great read, and I love the illustrations as well. I should reread it soon.

Top 5 Tuesday #53: Books I Want to Reread

Giveaway Winner

Before I get to the T5T post, I’d like to announce the WINNER of my Wyrd & Wonder GIVEAWAY!!!

The lucky winner is Tanja of Where Stories Lie. Congrats Tanja!!! 😆🤣🥳 She will receive a fantasy book purchase(s) of up to $30USD from Book Depository! 😀

Make sure to check out her Wyrd & Wonder wrap-up post.

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Top 5 Tuesday is a weekly meme created by Shanah, the Bionic Book Worm, and now hosted by Meeghan at Meeghan Reads.

This week’s topic:

Top 5 books I want to reread

(If you had the time, what are 5 books you would reread now??)

I love revisiting things and often reread books and comics and rewatch movies and TV shows. Being already familiar with the material helps me to focus on other things as I re-experience these books and shows, so it feels like a new experience too.

This is probably the third time I’m doing this topic on here, and I always come up with something new because there are many books I’ve read that I’d love to reread. Here are a few more.

Beloved by Toni Morrison

Top Ten Tuesday #49: Recent Fantasy Reads

Hey, it’s Top Ten Tuesday meets Wyrd & Wonder! 😀

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme that was created by The Broke and the Bookish and is now hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. This week’s topic:

10 most recent reads

I’ll flip this for Wyrd & Wonder and make it my 10 12 (went overboard) most recent fantasy reads starting with the most recent.

Top 5 Tuesday #52: Graphic Novels Not Often Mentioned

Top 5 Tuesday is a weekly meme created by Shanah, the Bionic Book Worm, and now hosted by Meeghan at Meeghan Reads.

This week’s topic:

Top 5 books graphic novels

(Recommend your favourite graphic novels!! Will also accept comic book series, webtoons and any other form of words and pictures.)

Instead of focusing solely on graphic novels I’ve read and loved, I’ve decided to mention here 5 graphic novels I don’t often see mentioned on bookish social media channels I use. These are listed by my rating (high to low). The lowest rating was a 2.5, which isn’t so bad.

THE GIGANTIC BEARD THAT WAS EVIL BY STEPHEN COLLINS (ILLUS.)

It’s a fable about a man named Dave who lives on a neat and orderly island called Here. Dave is bald except for a single hair above his lip that one day begins to grow into a full-blown beard that doesn’t stop growing and ends up disrupting the orderliness of the island he lives on.

The Gigantic Beard That Was Evil was a great read that touches on people’s fear of the unknown, and the story is accompanied by beautiful simple, yet detailed, pencil drawings. I HIGHLY recommend it.

Top Ten Tuesday #48: Colorful Covers

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme that was created by The Broke and the Bookish and is now hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. This week’s topic:

Colorful Book Covers

I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to do a post that’s entirely focused on book covers 😀 and not go a bit overboard with it, lol. Below are 12 books with beautiful, colorful covers: 6 I’ve read (linked to reviews) and 6 that are on my physical TBR.

Books I’ve read

Top 5 Tuesday #51: Books I’d Rerate

Top 5 Tuesday is a weekly meme created by Shanah, the Bionic Book Worm, and now hosted by Meeghan at Meeghan Reads.

This week’s topic:

Top 5 books I want to rerate

(Are there books out there that you loved the first time you read them but now not so much? Or maybe it’s the opposite and you didn’t enjoy a book the first time you read it, but later on you changed your mind?)

I’m pretty set on the ratings I give books. Well, to be more accurate, I’m pretty set on the ratings I give books once I’ve posted a review of them. I rate the books I read on Goodreads as soon as I complete them. But sometimes, once I start reflecting on the book to draft my review, I’ll end up changing the rating I initially gave it. This often happens with comics and picture books since they are short and I’ll read them quickly without giving them the time they deserve. That’s why I often read those a second time before starting on my review and finalizing my rating of them.

Top 5 Tuesday #50: I Want to Redo My First Time With These

Top 5 Tuesday is a weekly meme created by Shanah, the Bionic Book Worm, and now hosted by Meeghan at Meeghan Reads.

This week’s topic:

Top 5 books I wish I could read again for the first time

(Rereads are still great, but there is a kind of magic in reading a book for the first time.)

I decided to focus on some of my favorites. The first time I read these books was such a wonderful, magical experience that I’d love to experience it, feel it, again. But I’ve reread them too many times for that to happen now.

Saga series by Brian K. Vaughan, illus. by Fiona Staples

Top 5 Tuesday #49: Five 2-Star Reads

Top 5 Tuesday is a weekly meme created by Shanah, the Bionic Book Worm, and now hosted by Meeghan at Meeghan Reads.

This week’s topic:

Top 5 *freebie*

Ugh! I’ve been fighting to understand this Block editor thing, but it’s just NOT working well for me. It either doesn’t work in the way I want it to and includes too many parts in my posts or, when I think I’ve got it right, the preview is in no way what I was shooting for. I’m frustrated and annoyed, so here is a post of books I rated 2 stars that I’d recommend anyway because, yea, I didn’t like them and they frustrated me as I read, but I finished the book anyway. Quite like WordPress: annoying to use but, for now, I’m using it anyway.

(Btw, I managed to get this post to look the way I wanted because I started it out in the Classic block and, just so I could change the size of the photos, had to convert it to all Blocks. This thing is infuriating to me.)

The Wedding Date by Jasmine Guillory