2018, book meme, top ten tuesday

[Top Ten Tuesday] – #162 – Books I Enjoyed But Will Never Re-Read

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Top Ten Tuesday is an original weekly meme created by The Broke and the Bookish, which is now hosted on That Artsy Reader.

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This Week’s Theme:
Books I Enjoyed But Will Never Re-Read

Initial Thoughts:

My actual answer is “everything”.

The only time I have ever re-read is when I was returning to a book that I had to put on pause (for whatever reason) and decided to start over again from the beginning. That was maybe…twice? What’s more interesting is that I’ll always revisit film adaptations and re-watch certain scenes.

The Hunger Games (Suzanne Collins)

Honestly though, I’ve watched bits and pieces of Hunger Games (or just mainly Catching Fire because 10/10 that is the best film of the four) too many times to count. And it’s just a more viscerally gripping experiencing than the books.

Grisha Trilogy (Leigh Bardugo)

…because I’m petty as hell that my ship is not end game. BYE.

Eliza and Her Monsters (Francesca Zappia)

This is one of those picks that I’m grateful for having read — because the online culture and experience this book shines a spotlight on hit home for younger-me (and maybe even a bit of now-me). And though it has staying power, it doesn’t compel me to pick it up anymore.

Zeroes (Scott Westerfeld et al.)

I liked the first book. Full stop. Then when the cover of the second book came out and I chirped how awful it was (some friends and I agreed it looked like Microsoft WordArt of a colour palette), one of the three authors dropped some shade for commenting on its terrible design. SO FAREWELL TO THIS SERIES.

American Panda (Gloria Chao)

Like Eliza, I’m glad there’s shelf space for this book…but I also lead the life of going for weekly/monthly dim sum with family, being a familial disappointment, et cetera., so…

The Serpent King (Jeff Zentner)

I love Jeff, and I love his characters in TSK, but I’m just not sure if I could see myself picking up a slow-going story that punches me in the face repeatedly (which isn’t to speak to it being boring but rather it’s deliberately more “quiet”). I’d watch the adaptation though.

Tell Me Three Things (Julie Buxbaum)

Rom-Com aside, the thing about mystery driven plots is that once you “know”, it’s less fun. And that’s my problem with this story after-the-fact.

Calamity (Brandon Sanderson)

How did the ending of this series come to be? I was vibing so hard with the urban fantasy and magical post-apocalyptic America…regular folk with X-Men-y powers…then the fucking non-ending in Calamity was one of the biggest ??????????? I still don’t quite get it.

The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry (Gabrielle Zevin)

Another pick that I’m pleased to have experienced (because Fikry is basically a doppelganger of me 30 years today) but despite it being a book about books with candid nods to certain literature, the overall mood of the story is something I’m satisfied with only experiencing once.

Afterthoughts:

But really I still wouldn’t reread anything so….

Cheers,
Joey

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afterthoughtAn // twitter
anotherafterthought // goodreads
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49 thoughts on “[Top Ten Tuesday] – #162 – Books I Enjoyed But Will Never Re-Read”

  1. SAME with eliza and her monsters, the premise was really relatable for me????? but I dnf because I couldn’t get into the plot :”)

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    1. I get that. I guess I was completed invested in that forum lifestyle and concerns of online anonymity and translating that into real life that it come-and-gone real quick haha. I still do need to give Made You Up though, as readers seem to hype that book being the better of Zappia’s two.

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  4. I hardly ever reread books. No time for that when there are hundreds (maybe thousands) of other books I want to read too. I’d probably listen to the audiobook of the Serpent King a second time around. Although I think the audiobook might hurt even more.

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      1. If I do reread books, I usually go with the audiobook the second time around. I can listen to them at work and save up time at home to read other books that I haven’t read yet. I read The Wrath and the Dawn and I didn’t really like it very much. I decided to later listen to the audiobook version and ended up liking the book so much more having listened to it. I want to listen to the Hunger Games eventually. I love that series and it was what got me into reading YA. It’ll be cool experiencing it through audiobook too.

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        1. That’s fair. i probably didn’t think of audiobooks because I’ve failed to be able to get into audiobooks after that one time I tried years ago. I tend to need to just…lay there and listen cause I can’t get into the story any other way if I were doing something else hah.

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  5. I wouldn’t re-read The Serpent King either, but mainly because I am not okay with reading the same something happening again, I’m still not over it. My heart is still very broken and suffers from that. WHY.
    I’d reread Eliza and Her Monsters someday though, it was way too relatable haha 🙂
    Lovely list! 🙂

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  6. Like you, I think I tend not to re-read a lot, either, with the exception of a few things I remember loving to read as a child and now can’t remember anything about. And even then, I think it’s more about recapturing the nostalgia. I love your reasons for not re-reading these books. Totally fair (especially Calamity, but that’s been mentioned).

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  7. I’m all for re-reading. Re-reading is actually my go-to for slumps. Now, I agree with you about the Hunger Games. Catching Fire is definitely the best of the films, but I’ve not been drawn to re-watching them.

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  9. I actually don’t mind re-reading books where there’s a mystery/twists. I feel like when I reread them I find something I’ve missed. One of the only books I’ve re-read, The Lace Reader, I read for that reason. And I want to re-read Nine Minutes for the same reason. I want to know if I missed any important clues!

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  11. Oh goodness! This list 🙌🏼 I nodded my head vigorously when I got to The Serpent King 😭 and for the same reasons I just couldn’t re-read. Although thinking about it, I also don’t do rereads in general. Unless like you, it’s one that I stopped reading midway. Either way, these are great picks…reminder to p/u American panda 📝 💓

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  14. The only book I can ever remember rereading is one I did a book review on a few years after reading it. There’s a couple I’d maybe like to reread just to revisit the stories but it’s really not something I do, there’s just not enough time!

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  17. I used to never really reread things but then I realized that I tend to forget the plot of 90% of books so now I’m a bit more open to reread them lol but it’s usually just my favorites or things that Ik I might be able to pick out new details with reread (so really mysteries or thrillers)

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    1. Oh 10/10 I’ve probably forgotten most of what I’ve read. Which is why I’m trying to be better at drafting reviews in such a way that help me remember key points of the plot (so long as I can connect the dots properly!).

      I can definitely see myself picking up on little details in mystery/thrillers on second passing too. If only we all had the time to re-visit all these stories!

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      1. That’s a good idea! Ik those people who put together recaps of entire novels can be lifesavers!

        Oh yeah that’s the downside about rereading things, that you’re taking time away from reading new things. I guess that’s why sometimes I’m more in the mood to reread things than other times

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