Top Ten Tuesday – Top Ten Books I Really Want To Read But Don’t Own Yet

It is my first non specific-book related post! (Oh how I agonised over the placement of those hyphens.) Many thanks to the wonderful The Broke and the Bookish for the idea – I am really excited to be trying this out! Without further ado and in no particular order… let’s go!

1. This Book is Gay by James Dawson
Ever since I heard about the mere concept of this book, I have been excited to read it. James Dawson is one of my absolute favourite UKYA authors – not only is he fantastic at his craft, he is also proactive about diversity in YA. I had a (very) brief conversation with him when he signed my copy of Cruel Summer at LeakyCon about including gay characters in books where the focus isn’t on their sexuality but on the plot, and that idea has stuck in my mind ever since. What a privilege it is to have him writing books for us all to read! Soooo excited to own this one.

2. The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks by E. Lockhart
I added this book to my Goodreads ‘to-read’ list on July 18th 2012. And so far, have not owned it or been able to find it in any library in my local library’s network (despite searching for it on an almost-weekly basis since then). I found out why… it wasn’t published in the UK until an e-book came out a few days ago! Hooray! I entered Rosianna’s giveaway for a copy of the e-book and am waiting to hear about results before I buy it… and I should probably read the doorstops I’ve got out of the library before that. But I am so, so excited to read this book as I’ve heard incredible things about it.

3. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie
I was recommended this book to read when I was working in the public libraries in my city, and that was back in 2010. Since then, I have only heard good things about it and when a space comes up in my to-read list, it’s going straight on there.

4. Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting by in America by Barbara Ehrenreich
A fact that I haven’t yet revealed on this blog: I am a bit of a USA-lover. I’ve been there twice when I was very very young, and both times were on business trips with my dad when he worked for a trans-Atlantic company. I have had two dreams that haven’t changed since the age of about 13: to go on an American road trip, and to go to college in America. I feel like the second one is impossible now (come on, six-figure book deal…), but the first one is one I would really like to achieve. This book is about USA citizens who earn a very low wage, and how they get by with so little in a country that promises you everything. Seems like a really fascinating read, and I eyed it up quite a few times while working in my university bookshop (an embarrassingly long time ago), but never got round to reading it. I would like 2014 to be the year I start to make a dent in the books I’ve wanted to read for years, and I’d like to start with this one.

5. The Iron King by Julie Kagawa
I feel like Julie Kagawa is doing for the USYA scene what James Dawson is doing for the UKYA scene. I first found out about her when a Year 9 boy in my last school recommended I read The Immortal Rules, saying it was a vampire book, ‘but not one of those rubbish sparkly ones’. Fair play, boy in Year 9. I didn’t have anything to read that lunchtime so I thought I would take him up on that, and wow. It was incredible. So, so dark and mysterious and with diverse characters and amazing vampire lore and I was just in love with her writing. So I’d like to try another of her series’!

6. Hyperbole and a Half by Allie Brosh
I have been reading Hyperbole and a Half for years and years, checking it every couple of weeks to find new and hilarious posts from Allie Brosh describing her world complete with beautiful portraits. So when she just flat-out stopped posting, I was confused. She was doing so well and she just disappeared. After about a year, I thought I would check her blog again after about 10 months of forgetting about it, and I found her posts about depression, and I was totally floored. I have suffered from depression on and off for about 10/11 years now, and I couldn’t believe how much I identified with her posts. She just explained it in such an incredible way, not sugar-coating anything, and she managed to inject some humour into the situation as well. So when I heard she had a book out, I was sooo excited. I have it in my library, so when we go back to school I’m definitely getting it out and reading not only some web posts re-formatted for a book, but some new content as well.

7. It’s Kind of a Funny Story by Ned Vizzini
I saw the film, now I want to read the book. I was incredibly sad to hear that Ned Vizzini passed away after a long battle with depression earlier this year, and I am looking forward to reading the story that has touched so many people.

8. Untitled by Non Pratt
Just read my review of Trouble. You’ll know why I’m excited to read Non Pratt’s next book.

9. Maus by Art Spiegelman
I was recommended this, again, when I was working in public libraries and asking a colleague what graphic novels I should read because I was getting bored of superhero ones. I’ve wanted to read this ever since but haven’t quite got round to it. Soon, definitely. It is the story of the Holocaust, but using mice instead of humans. I have heard the story that Art Spiegelman wanted to write about the atrocities that happened during the Second World War, but just couldn’t deal with the thought of writing about humans, so instead he wrote about mice. I think I need to set aside an entire day for this book, I don’t think it’s something I’m going to be able to dip in and out of.

10. Aristotle and Dante Discover The Secrets Of The Universe by Benjamin Alire Sáenz
To be honest, I don’t have a clue what most of the books above are about. I prefer that – to go into a story with no preconceptions of what it’s about (although I did that with Cruel Summer by James Dawson and it resulted in waking up my partner at 3am in hysterical tears that I was going to be murdered), and just discover for myself what I think the story is about. I was recommended this book, I think by a booktuber. I can’t remember who or when, but it intrigued me, and I added it to my Goodreads list. The cover is beautiful and I love the title, so I’m going to give it a go, when I get the chance.

 

Thanks for reading! Let me know what books you’re excited to read but you don’t own yet 🙂