Like many other bookworms, I am in a constant struggle to make my way through my TBR. It sometimes feels like a never-ending battle, with my desire to add more books to the list constantly winning out over my ability to actually read the books I’m buying.
It’s the Bookworm Curse – too many books, too little space-time-and-resources.
Whilst sometime in the future I’d like to write about some of the other books that I have on my TBR (To Be Read, for the newbies in the room), today I wanted to take a look at the books that are my immediate focus. The books I’ve actually set aside and said since the start of the year “yes, those are the ones I am 100% going to finish before the end of 2024”.
So, without further ado, here are the first five books on my list as of March 17th 2024:
The Hunger Games: Catching Fire
Before anyone comes at me with the torches and pitchforks, crying out “how have you not read this yet???” let me clarify that I have indeed actually read all of The Hunger Games books. Well, the original books. I’ve yet to pick up Ballad yet, but that is the reason why I’m doing a reread. I started over a year ago on this little endeavour – it had been such a long time since I’d first read THG, but that first time was the one and only time I had ever done it. I want to know if I still feel the same way as I did ten years ago.
Noughts & Crosses
I have heard this is a book that is being held up as a modern classic, and I’ve seen it on shelves since I was a teenager. I always thought about picking it up back then, but didn’t even purchase a copy until the BBC made the TV adaptation. Now my stupid ass is stuck with a TV-tie-in cover which I want to get rid of eventually, however it would be a case of finding out whether or not I’d be replacing it with a better cover. To add to the incentive to finally read it, my place of work has a Reading Canon – 50 books they think people should read during their time in the building, and N+C is on the list. It’ll go towards my next reading badge as I have already read 10 books on the list without really even trying.
Home Before Dark
A newer entry to the list. This was a Christmas present from my parents at the end of 2023, one that I actually asked for, technically. I added it to a list of books that would be safe to buy me (they ask for a new list each year so they know I haven’t already got something on my shelf) because I’d seen the covers and read the synopsises of a bunch of Riley Sager’s books and thought they sounded really good. I like a good mystery, I like a good thriller, and these seem to fall nicely into those categories.
Grimms Tales
Another Christmas present, this time from my brother and his girlfriend. The absolute madness in their adorable little souls was on clear display when I opened this book up on Christmas Day, eager to see my reaction. This isn’t just any copy of Grimm’s Fairytales, this is the Penguin Clothbound edition – not cheap. Needless to say, it went into the TBR tray on my trolley immediately so it wouldn’t just sit around for the longest time because I’m not wasting a gift like this.
Miss Peregrine’s Home For Peculiar Children
Again, not my first time reading this one. I own all of the books in this series, and have read the first trilogy. I was content, but then some time passed and then the next trilogy start to be released and I had completely forgotten most of the details from the first three books. So, another reread begins. I remember really enjoying this series; the way Ransom Riggs built this curious little world based solely on old photographs really captured my imagination. I loved how original the concept was, turning these photos into little characters, building fictional lives for real people. It was really cool, so I’m interested in, again, seeing if my feelings for this series are the same as they were back then.
For each book that is a reread, I’ll be adding other books that are new so I’m not falling entirely behind on my other books. But there are so many series that I fell away from or just kept buying the entire series of that I really do need to just sit down and blast through them eventually.
I’d like to hear what books you have on your TBR list. Have you read any of the books above?
Thanks for reading.
Clare's Bookshelf 