Top Ten Tuesday is an original weekly meme created by The Broke and the Bookish. I thought this would be a fun way to share a condensed version of potential rambles and thoughts that I have.
This Week’s Theme:
Top Ten 2014 Releases I
Didn’t Get To Reading
Initial Thoughts:
These releases aren’t ordered by regret or anything (though I do feel bad for hyping some of them to myself during the year.) I think I should go all full disclosure on the 3-4 ARCs I didn’t even get to reviewing. lolololol I’m good at this reading thing.
Guardian – Alex London
Timed myself to binge read both Proxy and Guardian after its 2014 release—didn’t happen.
All the Light We Cannot See – Anthony Doerr
Impulse bought and chilling on my nightstand. Cool, but so are 12937137129380812 other books.
The Girl with All the Gifts – M.R. Carey
The truth: I read the blurb—intrigued—still a no go.
Months later: Opened up its affiliated Goodreads—vision rolls over genre listings: oh… (It might not really be spoilers but I surely wasn’t expecting that.)
Half a King – Joe Abercrombie
2014 was the year I binged through the entirety of Game of Thrones. And then I wanted more. Then I happened over this in the store.
Bird Box – Josh Malerman
Perhaps I was daunted by it being so short but also so very expensive. (I thought I’d enjoy it and therefore would require my own physical copy to tab and stuff.)
Endgame: The Calling – James Frey
I guess I did start reading Endgame at Coles but only made it to chapter three before peacing out. I was also wondering if there were film options for this series and I happened across the official book (?) trailer LOL (to which the voiceover sounds like Jeff Bridges’ Giver).
Red Rising – Pierce Brown
There are no reasons for this. I just suck.
Non-2014 Releases:
Ari and Dante – Benjamin Alire Saenz
If it’s any consolation, I can definitively say that its among the top books that has remained at the top of my TBR for months. Otherwise, there is nothing to be said other than “eventually.“
Mockingjay – Suzanne Collins
Wanted to read it before the movie was released in theatres—decided not to watch Mockingjay. No problem, I got 11 more months until I this predicament resurfaces.
Legend Trilogy / Unwind Dystology / Mistborn Trilogy
I’ll probably make do with completing one series per year.
Manga Completed in 2014
Naruto (Dude…the fifteen year journey has reached an ending…)
Kuroko no Basuke (One would think that since I cosplayed this, I would have more of an urgency to finish this manga. Nope.)
Afterthoughts:
While these are just some of the many titles I haven’t found time to read, I actually wouldn’t trade the hours I spent in 2014 reading novels like We Were Liars to read any of the above instead. I guess a part of me is fine with the books I read; even if they were terrible. They were read with intent and for enjoyment, and though 70% of what I read didn’t resonate with me [at all]…they were all value-added in the grand scheme of growing yourself as a reader–and that has to count for something, right?
Cheers,
Joey
thoughts and afterthoughts. 
I know what you mean about The Girl With All the Gifts. At first, I thought it was going to be about people testing on children, but then I read the genre listings, and it turns out it’s going to be about zombies O_O
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I KNOW, RIGHT? There was definitely no indication that it would have turned out the way it did and I guess that would have been a “whoa” moment if I actually read it. Buuuut now that feeling might be eternally lost unless it’s actually introduced at the beginning. Ahhh.
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I liked Proxy well enough, but I never got around to reading Guardian either. It’s on my TBR, but I really don’t feel in a hurry to read it.
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Agreed. While there are clear aspects that were left unresolved, I did feel as though Proxy left on a good place–speaking specifically to the bromance between Syd/Knox.
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I scrolled through your whole list going yes yes yes yes yes yes. In other words, I concur.
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Validation is a great feeling!
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lol, i have so many friends who grew up with Naruto &were very emotional when it ended. also, i love your comment on The Girl With All The Gifts!
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It’s certainly bittersweet with Naruto’s ending but I’ve really been on and off regarding following it in during the past 6 or so years. I’ll probably need to binge read it all in one sitting.
I’m not even sure if I want to read Girl With All The Gifts now. Ack.
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Oh heavens, I can’t believe I forgot to include Half a King on mine! I haven’t had the chance to read Abercrombie yet, but Half a King sounded very much like a good place to start, but alas, didn’t get to it. Same thing with the Mistborn Trilogy.
I hope you get to Mockingjay soon. Although there are quite a few people who dislike it, it’s one very good book if you ask me.
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Yeah it seems like there are only polar opposites with appreciating mockingjay–at least from what I’ve seen.
I think part of the appeal for Half a King was that the blurb read like a character struggle similar to Tyrion Lannister. Of course, I only watch Game of Thrones so I can’t fully judge his character but it that was definitely enough to pique my interests!
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You haven’t read the books yet, then? If that’s the case, you really should. They’re much better in far too many accounts. The series did a very good adaptation of the first book, I’ll give them that, but afterwards? It’s just been getting worse and worse *sigh*
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I haven’t! Which is why it’s sometimes broken telephone when I talk to friends who refuse to watch it until the series is over haha. I think the only aspect of the book that I’d read into is anything that involves Arya and Gendry–I ship it. I ship it very much ahhhhhh.
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You really need to read Mockingjay! Ha ha! Especially since this year concludes the adaptation 😀
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Haha, 11 months is plenty of time since I’m in no rush to view the first Mockingjay movie (I’ve heard mostly disappointments in viewer ratings).
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I remember there being quite a bit of buzz about The Girl with All the Gifts, but after its initial release I’m not sure if I saw any reviews of it! Have you read the first two hunger games novels? I was surprised at how much Mockingjay Part 1 stayed true to the book.
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I think if you’re interested with Girl With All The Gifts–don’t look it up on Goodreads. I’m not sure if user shelving is spoilers or not haha, but my interest is definitely lessened with reading into something that wasn’t “clearly indicated” in the blurb (for the sake of reading impact and omph, I suppose).
And yeah, I read each Hunger Games as the movies came out. I thought CF was extremely well done for an adaptation (much better than the first movie) and though I’ve heard that Mockingjay was true to the novel, the appeal as a marketable franchise was lost in two-part-finale-syndrome; almost as if it was a placeholder for more gains. But I guess I’ll have to see for myself (eventually) haha.
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I definitely need to try and get to The Girl With All The Gifts! Hopefully soon 🙂 We’ll see… too many books, too little time.
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I hope you enjoy the read if/when you do get a chance. I’m still on the fence about it!
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I get it about a lot of books not resonating — but I like that I’m reading lots of different books, some good, some not so much… but mixed in with everything else, I do find gems! Looks like you have some good ones here! I really liked The Girl With All the Gifts. I had the completely wrong impression of what it would be about, which in a way made it all the more enjoyable. Anyway, I hope you get a chance to read some of these and that you find something you love!
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Difference and diversification was definitely a reading goal of mine in 2014 that I’m hoping to carry forward. It’s great to read into and discover what works/doesn’t work in books- and you’re right–you really do find needles in the needle-stack for some books that blow you away despite limited expectation for feels to occur!
I’m pretty unsure with wanting to read The Girl With All The Gifts. Let me ask you this though: is the zombie aspect introduced early on? Because the dissonance between the synopsis blurb and Goodreads user-shelving definitely feels a bit of a spoiler that inhibits the impact of it being zombie-fiction if its introduced much, much later.
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I don’t remember it being much, much later. I was really surprised at the time, because based on the synopsis I was expecting something more superpowery, special talents, etc. But within the first chapter or so (if I remember correctly) they start referring to Hungries, so it doesn’t take long to see what it’s about. It’s not some huge, shocking reveal or anything — but if you only went by the book synopsis, it would definitely be surprising.
Still, I’d say the book itself is so good that it’s worth giving it a chance!
(I hope this rambling makes some sense…)
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Ohhh, this information does help quite a bit actually. I was feeling a bit disappointed with how the top shelf (or perhaps one of the top shelves) was zombies and my response was literally “say whaaaaaaa?” as the summary wasn’t even close to disclosing that. And you’re right–I did think of something along the lines of abilities/super-powers too!
I’m glad it does get introduced early, so thank you for the clarification!
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I keep hearing really good things about Red Rising. I’ve never read anything by him but everyone seems to like him and this book. I should probably check it out.
Stefani @ Caught Read Handed
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Right? I even voted for this man (Pierce Brown) to win the Goodreads Award for best debut author (despite not having read anything of his). I must be a rebel for skewing results like that….
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HAHA! I did that too. Not with him, but I totally voted for authors in other categories I’d never read. Oops.
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Ooh, there are some really good books here that I want to read too! I loved Bird Box and yes, it’s short but in a good way.
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I do enjoy the occasional short read too (especially if they’re of the standalone variety) so perhaps this might be a good quick fix to rid myself of reading slumps!
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Well, this is a great list – I’ve read a few off here and would definitely, highly recommend you read The Girl with All the Gifts, Half a King and Red Rising! You gotta read them!!
Lynn 😀
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I should follow suit with your reading challenge-ish in an attempt to tackle some of these reads once in a while and not let them rot in the pile!
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I think that Endgame has been optioned for a film, yes. The Girl With All the Gifts and Bird Box are also titles I thought I might want to read – and Aristotle & Dante is one of my favourite YAs.
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While I don’t follow the antics of Frey and how he operates as an author (which are seemingly always co-written works), I hope he does have more success on the film circuit with Endgame than I Am Number Four.
I’ve made so many (hopefully-not) broken promises to read Ari and Dante…eventually aha that at this point I’m sure I keep including them in these lists as a reminder for myself.
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Red Rising and Half A king are ones I need to read as well. I hope we both get the chance this year.
Here’s My TTT
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I haven’t read Red Rising either, but I’ve heard great things about it. I hope you enjoy it when you get around to reading it!
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I hope its soon too as the second book was just released and is definitely begging to be binged in succession haha.
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I’ve read Proxy, but then… stopped. I can’t tell you why, it’d be a HUGE spoiler. I have listened to The Girl with All the Gifts on audio almost to the end, and was enjoying it alright, but then I got spoiled… and yeah, didn’t really feel it after that… Moving on, All the Light We Cannot See is on my tbr, sort of, as in I’m pretty sure I’ll be checking it out… sometime this year. 🙂
Ari and Dante – by “eventually”, you mean next week, right? 😀
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Oh, but you did read Proxy!! Then you can probably guess what made me abandon it.
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I actually have no idea which part may or may not have irked you. You’ve gotta enlighten me as all I can recall are generally positive comments haha.
Yeah…Ari and Dante…yeah…soon…hmm. Not even joining your LGBT challenge will expedite this read haha.
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