Top Ten Tuesday #18

Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together.
Books I was SOOO Excited to Get and I Still Haven’t Read

The literary community in Utah is amazing. A. Maz. Ing. Before the pandemic, my bookish friends and I used to go to a signing at least once every other month sometimes more often. I’ve had the opportunity to meet some fabulous authors like Stephenie Meyer, Lois Lowry, Markus Zusak, Cassandra Clare, and Sarah J. Maas, not to mention all the Utah authors like Shannon Hale, Brandon Sanderson, Ally Condie, Jennifer A. Nielsen, Jessica Day George, etc. (I’m not saying this to brag. I’m saying it to help paint a picture.) I bought books at most of the signings I attended, and I’ve read some of them. And, I haven’t readatleasthalfthebooks in my library.

As you can imagine, this week’s prompt’s really hard for me to narrow down my list to just ten books. (I know. Someone call the wambulance. #firstworldproblems ) Anyway, here are my top ten 12 books I was sooo excited to get and I still haven’t read:

What about you? Which books made your list this week? Do we have any in common?

About Jenni Elyse


Hi, I'm Jenni. I’m an eclectic reader. I mostly read fiction and I favor fantasy, science fiction, historical fiction, mystery, thrillers, and romance. The more kissing in a book the better!
Read More

56 replies
« Older Comments
  1. Greg
    Greg says:

    The Starless sea was wild. I can’t say I really liked it but I think most reactions I’ve seen have been positive, so it might be me. Illuminae I highly recommend, and I LOVE the second book Gemina- one of my favorite SF books.

    The Utah book scene does sound nice. I’ve liked Shannon Hale’s stuff.

    Reply
    • Jenni Elyse
      Jenni Elyse says:

      Ha ha. I understand. Sometimes books just aren’t for you. I loved THE NIGHT CIRCUS so I’m optimistic that I’ll like THE STARLESS SEA too. I’ve heard such great things about ILLUMINAE and its sequels. I really look forward to reading them.

      Reply
  2. Margaret
    Margaret says:

    I love a number of these authors–great choices! I have way too many books I want to read, but sometimes don’t feel like reading. (if that makes any sense)

    Reply
    • Jenni Elyse
      Jenni Elyse says:

      I totally understand what you mean. I struggled with that all last year. I also struggled with that for several years prior. I called it an epic reading slump. I still have days where I don’t feel like reading, but not like the last few years where those days stretched into weeks and months.

      Reply
  3. Brittany
    Brittany says:

    I also have As You Wish but haven’t read it 😬 haha I bought it right after I read Princess Pride and wanted more. I read the first 2 pages of As You Wish and accidentally never picked it back up (I still want to read it!)

    Reply
    • Jenni Elyse
      Jenni Elyse says:

      LOL. I’ve done that with books before. My latest one was WATER FOR ELEPHANTS. I got 80 pages in and got distracted and I haven’t gotten back to it. It’s not that I wasn’t enjoying it. I just picked up other books for other challenges or reasons.

      Reply
  4. Elyse
    Elyse says:

    Oof you don’t even want to know the amount of books in my personal library (of all formats) that I haven’t read. lol. Out of your list and also in my TBR; Defiance, Forever (haven’t read any of the Wolves of Mercy), Mistborn, And I Darken, Shadow & Bone, Poison Study, I need to finish the Blue Bloods series and now there’s a new book coming out! I had Bridge of Clay out for about 2 months from my library and I only ever got 46 pages through. It just was not doing anything for me. I loved The Book Thief, like everyone else, but I didn’t really care for I Am the Messenger.

    Reply
    • Jenni Elyse
      Jenni Elyse says:

      I know a lot of people who’ve struggled with BRIDGE OF CLAY. I hope I’m not one of them. I haven’t read I AM MESSENGER yet. I wanted to read it this month, but I don’t know if I’m going to get to it.

      Reply
    • Jenni Elyse
      Jenni Elyse says:

      It doesn’t surprise me that it was so long ago, lol. It came out forever ago, pun intended. Ha! I’ve read SHIVER AND LINGER. I just never moved on to FOREVER. I really should just read it, lol.

      Reply
  5. Karen
    Karen says:

    Utah is an amazing place to live when it comes to books. I live near Portland and that’s very bookish but not for what I usually read.

    I remember in the days of the cons and the books I absolutely needed to get lol I’ve actually read a few from your list.

    I don’t really do that anymore. I have no idea what’s coming out and I tend to stick with buying or borrowing what I’m ready to read right then.

    I do have Crooked Kingdom to read though. I ordered the collectors edition and everything but I’ve been only 40 pages in for several years now ha!

    Karen @For What It’s Worth

    Reply
    • Jenni Elyse
      Jenni Elyse says:

      I understand. I don’t buy books like I used to. I only get books from a few select auto-buy authors. I’m trying to be more selective in what I put on my shelves. 🙂

      Reply
  6. Lindsey @ Lindsey Reads
    Lindsey @ Lindsey Reads says:

    Haha, love that you had more than 10 😉 This was indeed such a hard list to narrow down to 10!
    I’ve read and loved Shadow & Bone and Scarlet and had mixed feelings about The Starless Sea. Hope you’ll enjoy all of these when you get to them!

    Reply
    • Jenni Elyse
      Jenni Elyse says:

      Thanks, Lindsey! 😀 I don’t think I could’ve narrow this down, lol. I’m glad to hear you loved SHADOW & BONE and SCARLET so much. I’ve heard that a lot people have mixed feelings about THE STARLESS SEA. Hopefully, I’ll like it. Only time will tell.

      Reply
  7. Susan (Bloggin' 'bout Books)
    Susan (Bloggin' 'bout Books) says:

    It is crazy how Utah has become such a mecca for writers and bookish people. It wasn’t like that when I lived there during college (course, I’m around the same age as Brandon Sanderson [actually, I just looked it up and Sanderson is only three days older than me], Shannon Hale, Ally Condie, and some of the other authors who put Utah writers on the map). You’re luck to live in such a reader-friendly community! I’m actually going to be in your neck of the woods in a few weeks. I’m taking a big test in SLC, so I won’t have much time to do anything else but I am hoping to sneak in a trip to Pioneer Book in Provo. Such a great bookstore!

    I’ve only read a few of the books on your list. POISON STUDY is one I’ve been wanting to read for forever. I even have a copy of it—just haven’t read it yet. Argh. So many books, so little time…

    Happy TTT (on a Thursday), my friend!

    Susan
    http://www.blogginboutbooks.com

    Reply
    • Jenni Elyse
      Jenni Elyse says:

      I know, right?! It just boomed one day. It seems like it was after TWILIGHT was released and YA became a thing, then Utah became YA author central. I hope you do get to go to Pioneer Book while you’re here. Good luck on your test. If you do get a chance to go to lunch or something, let me know. I’d love to meet you.

      Reply
  8. Jaime
    Jaime says:

    I didn’t get around to Bridge of Clay until last year. But I love Scarlet and Shadow and Bone and Illuminae!

    Good luck with your list 🙂

    Reply
« Older Comments

Leave a Reply

Want to join the discussion?
Feel free to contribute!

Leave a Reply to Deanna (A Novel Glimpse) Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.