Top Ten Tuesday is a feature hosted by The Broke and the Bookish (for the last time, sobs). This week’s theme is: Ten Books We Meant To Read In 2017 But Didn’t Get To (and totallyyyy plan to get to in 2018!!)

Oh so like, every book published in 2017, I guess? ? Kidding, kidding, mostly. But yeah, there are a ton of books I swore I’d get to, and for various reasons, didn’t. I do hope to read at least a few this year- because hell, at least I am realistic! But I do mostly know the reasons, I suppose. So I am going to give you the reasons and then the books!

Honestly, this reason seems super legit, if I do say so!

This seems pretty legit too, right? If you get some iffy reviews… it can be offputting. But I still have these on my TBR, and frankly, I also own them so there’s that.

Because they are. What if you invest time in a crappy book? What if your Goodreads Challenge chastises you? These things happen!

No one likes when the Hype Monster ruins your books, right?

Not any. I want to read them. I just have more books than time, I suppose!

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Which of these happens to you the most?

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What are some of the books you really meant to read this year but just didn’t? Do you have reasons too? Any of these I need to get to immediately?

Posted January 9, 2018 by Shannon @ It Starts at Midnight in Discussion, Top Ten Tuesday , / 60 Comments

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60 responses to “Why Did I Not Read These 2017 Books?

  1. In a nutshell, every blogger can SO RELATE!! -> “Oh so like, every book published in 2017, I guess? ?”

    I really enjoyed “Warcross” (read it at the end of the year) and ‘Sofi’ is good too! ‘Dimple’ is still on my list and having adored “The Start of Me and You,” I *cannot* wait to read Emery’s newest book!! Here’s hoping you enjoy these if/when you’re able to read them, Shannon. 🙂

  2. I can definitely relate to ALL of the reasons that you’ve mentioned. The hype monster gets me the most though. I’m scared of Caraval for that reason. I would like to say that I thought The Names They Gave Us was awesome though.

  3. Contagion looks pretty good, and I did like Teri Terry’s Slated series, so maybe. And I’ve got Satellite too on my shelf, haven’t read it yet for some odd reason. Hmm. Two Roads From Here I kinda like just because of the cover.

    Caraval I keep thinking I want to read, but never actually do, and I can vouch for Warcross- I mean I had some issues with it, but the whole concept and the game itself- in the story- is so freakin cool.

    The Evaporation of Sofi Snow has me really curious, and Spellbook of the Lost and Found just has an amazing cover, so I’ll need to check those two out.

  4. I can relate to all of the above reasons for not getting around to reading a book. Admittedly if there is one person who gives a one-star review of a said book then I have my doubts about it being good. Wierd right?
    I like the cover of We Are Okay by Nina Lacour.

  5. Thank you for putting reasons to why we fail!!! Because those are totally all of us book blogger’s fail reasons too!! Feral Youth totally made my list this week. I gotta read that soon. Did you read Violent Youth?? It was AMAZING, so yeah. THE ARSONIST was really really good. But yes, really really thick 🙁 It reads fast though!!

  6. My biggest obstacle is not owning the book. I read a lot, so I take a lot of chances, but I won’t buy a book I am not sure about, because I am poor. I definitely put off large books too. I know I let the release date for The Speaker pass, but then I sat down, read it, and loved it. Great post!

  7. Oh wow!! Big break down here!! See quite a few titles that I’ve read already and loved! In some cases, I won’t read a review for a book I really want to read because I don’t want anyone’s opinion affecting mine. It’s hard when you really want to love a book and everyone is all meh. Or you feel meh over one that everyone LOVED! I hope you’ll be able to read some of these this year! I still need to read Our Dark Duet! No excuses, just kept picking up other books. It’s hard when all 300+ books you own are ones you really really want to read equally! Lol!!

    Here’s my Tuesday Post

    Have a GREAT day!

    Old Follower 🙂

  8. I love how you put these in categories and YES I RELATE TO ALL OF THESE. My worst failure is just the books being too long.?? But also bad reviews. Like I haven’t read Flame in the Mist because so many people said it was slow and I have like less than no attention span these days.??

    ALSO AUTOBOYOGRAPHY, A CONJURING OF LIGHT, DIMPLE & RISHI, AND THE GENTLEMAN’S GUIDE AND OUR DARK DUET ARE AMAZING AND I WILL GIVE YOU CAKE IF YOU READ THEM. (Although that totally just ups the pressure doesn’t it?! Whoops this backfired ah hahha.)

  9. Great list, Shannon! I was really bad at crossing 2017 releases off my TBR last year. I remember thinking The Tiger’s Daughter sounded great but it got quite a few negative reviews that have put me off it and, like you, big books have begun to intimidate me so much that I’ve made tackling at least one of the big books on my TBR (600 pages or more) one of my resolutions for 2018.

    The Hype Monster is real. Not that it makes much difference, but I’m someone who’s always incredibly wary of hype and yet I really enjoyed The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue, so I definitely recommend picking that one up if nothing else! =)

  10. I loved your reasons and I can relate to all of them, especially the hype. It`s one of the reasons why I`m behind all the popular YA series. Personally, I hated Caraval because of the dumb writing and shallow characters. But I loved “When Dimple Met Rishi”. It was not that special, but the characters were likeable and the love story was cute.

    Carmen`s Reading Corner

  11. Love and agree with all your reasons. The Meh reviews are definitely a big one for me. Also Hype. You do have so many on there I loved and so many I want to get to . . .at some point. You actually have quite a few of my top reads up there – A Million Junes, The Names They Gave Us, Autoboyography, Spellbook. SO clearly I recommend getting to those lol. Oh and Denton Little. That is a fun book!

  12. Big books can be super daunting but like 80 percent of those are amazing! A Crown of Wishes is amaaazing.

    A lot of those Reviews are Scary books were misses with me so I think you can skip them all. ?

  13. Wow, you need to get on-top of that TBR, KIDDO. To be fair, like 11 of these books are on my tbr too that I did not read from the year of hell, 2017. IDK. The hype monster IS the worst though and has put me off reading many a book. My number 1 reason for not reading certain books last year was the length. I like books I can read in one sitting and that has been an issue. I want to read so many books on my tbr but if it’s over 400 pages, I tend to not read it. BUT LETS FIX THAT IN 2018. I AM FIXING A LOT OF THINGS THIS YEAR. MAYBE ILL FIX MYSELF TOO WHILE I AM AT IT>

  14. I am the worst with hyped books. I DNF’ed A Flame in the Mist (and I only DNF’ed 3 books last year so that’s saying something. I also didn’t love Spell Book of the Lost and Found as much as many other who read it. I usually love big books but never got around to The Speaker and Spark of Light after loving the first in both series. Hmmm…guess I should have added them to my list.

  15. I love your spin on the topic. Not owning the book is my excuse for not reading some things. I’m perpetually broke, and popular books have massive waitlists. This means I’m always chasing the hype train instead of riding it.

  16. Autoboyography is one I haven’t read yet for the same reason! I’ve requested that my library buy it, but I’m still waiting. (I would skip The Tiger’s Daughter, though. ?)
    Hype can absolutely ruin books. So I’ll tell you that ACOL, The Gentleman’s Guide, and Dimple are the worst books ever. Definitely don’t read them! ?
    To be honest, the main reason I don’t get to all the books I want to read (besides time) is that I buddy read so much. I end up reading books that weren’t necessarily on my TBR and neglecting ones that are. ?
    Here’s my list of books I really should have read last year: http://buecher-monster.de/2018/01/09/top-10-tuesday-ten-books-we-meant-to-read-in-2017-but-didnt-get-to-and-totallyyyy-plan-to-get-to-in-2018/ ?

  17. I love this post! Yes to all of these, but it especially gets me when a book is just TOO LONG!! I already have limited time as it is, and once a book reaches doorstopper status I start feeling more dread than excitement. I hate not finishing books, but if I already am lukewarm halfway through and still have 250 pages to go? Ugh. Not a good feeling. I need that nice middle of the road length, you know? Give me something worthwhile, but not so huge I want to hide under my covers.

  18. Jo

    Love the way you did this week’s post! I definitely get the long one, I have been known to put off long books, I only ever have time to read long books during the summer, so that’s basically three doorstoppers a year, I have to be very picky about them! ACOL I loved, it’s huge but it doesn’t feel like it, I read that one relatively quickly for its size (and it is amazing). Traitor I think could have been cut down a little without losing anything. Caraval I enjoyed as well, but I definitely get being scared of the hype for that one. Our Dark Duet was on my list this week too, though I haven’t really heard much of the hype around that one.
    My TTT: https://jjbookblog.wordpress.com/2018/01/09/top-ten-tuesday-141/

  19. Love this post and how you did it. Yep, all those reasons are why I didn’t get to some of the books I meant to in 2017. Another reason for me is I feel behind on the series and need to get caught up. Series books I can’t read out of order unless a review that I trust says yes, you can read this one out of order, otherwise series books are in order for me. ^_^

  20. I have honestly lost track of all of the reasons (and by that I mostly mean excuses) that I did not read many books in 2017. Since I only read 30ish books in 2017, I definitely have some catching up to do. I am so out of the bookish loop that I haven’t heard of half of the books on your list! The good news is that your list definitely helped me add to my 2018 TBR. I didn’t even know that E.K. Johnston had another book last year! I still REALLY need to read The Hate U Give, A Conjuring of Light, and They Both Die At the End, among an infinite amount of others. But, that is one of the great things about books, we will never run out of them! (At least, that is what I keep telling myself as I try not to suffocate underneath my TBR).

  21. Ahahah I love this list so much and love the categories! There are SO many books I wanted to read last year but didn’t, because…well, I didn’t own them/could buy them. If only we could have all the books, but… then, that’d make the question of “what to read next” even harder, haha. I REALLY want you to read The Color Project though, I loved this book so much! 🙂
    The hype monster is the worst and kind of ruined Caraval for me :/ I hope you’ll read When Dimple Met Rishi and Warcross and that you’ll love them! AND The Spellbook of the lost and found as well, that book was GREAT 😀

  22. I’m LIVING for the way this post is structured. I literally don’t know why I don’t read the books half the time. I buy them, am excited about them, and then they get abandoned for about 6 months. WHAT IS WRONG with me. I rarely read books with meh reviews. People influence me a lot and I don’t really give books a chance. It’s not the best thing to do, but oh well. I NEED TO READ Caraval, Autoboyography, and Wild Beauty soon!!!

  23. There are so many 2017 books I wanted to read but haven’t, and I definitely relate to all your reasons! A lot of it for me though is that I’m a mood reader, so there can be certain books I want to read, but I just don’t end up being in the mood for them, or I just have so many books on my TBR that I find it so hard to choose, and there are some that inevitably don’t get read for ages and ages.

  24. Your posts make me smile! My biggest reason is either I Do Not Own It, or I Own It But Could Not Find It Due to All of The Other Books Hiding Its Whereabouts.

  25. Am loving your different reasons for each category Shannon — I too will admit to putting off diving into big chunky books that are on my reading pile for fear of not subsequently have the time to devote to them, or being put off by other people’s meh reviews. And agree, too much hype can be such a turn-off because we’ve all been let down before after believing it, and our reading time is just too precious. My ‘should have read in 2017 but didn’t’ is Min Jin Lee’s ‘Pachinko’ – lauded by critics, chunky, and with love it or hate it reader reviews. Happy new year of reading!

  26. Oh yeah, the hype monster is real. I tend to shy away from those, for good or for bad. And mixed reviews, that’s another that gives me pause. I’m still super excited for Autoboyography and The Gentleman’s Guide. Those really need to happen soon. Ish. When Dimple Met Rishi was cute but the hype for it was ridiculous. I mean, it was a cute contemporary but it was not the second coming. LOL

  27. Oh, gosh. I’m actually writing up a post about how big books scare me so much!!! The other reasons here are pretty legit, too, of course. 😉 I’m SUPER scared to read Caraval and When Dimple Met Rishi because of the hype, too. D: BUT YOU SHOULD DEFINITELY READ WARCROSS. I just finished it a few days ago and it was FABULOUS (minus the meh romance). Thanks for sharing, Shannon! <3

  28. But of course you wanted to read every book published in 2017! 🙂 I love how you broke it by reason! meh reviews and big book are my main reasons! I see books we will be both reading [hopefully! 🙂 ] WDMR, Our Dark Duet, Caraval, We are ok.. Can’t wait for your reviews! 🙂

  29. reviews really do help me decide if I want to read a book. even though it’s all a matter of opinion, sometimes they are absolutely correct.

    the more hype a book gets, the less I’m likely to read it which is kind of strange but true. if a book is so popular then why do I not want to read it even after reading a hundred reviews?

    have a lovely day.

  30. LMAO, I love that option in the pole that’s like “I’m a mess.” THAT’S BASICALLY MEEEEE.

    Okay, I TOTALLY get you on the hype train reason. (I’m the opposite with the big books reason bc I LOVE big books. I DEVOUR them omg, and City of Brass (as well as The Speaker) is so so so good and worth the pages). But Caraval was SO. HYPED. I even preordered a personalized copy for myself. And I was NOT a fan. :'( Also Flame in the Mist was meh for me (which is soo surprised because Ahdieh’s writing is amazing). GOT DANG IT, HYPE. But some are definitely worth it. Like WDMR (SO worth it).

  31. shooting

    I think When Dimple Met Rishi is really cute! I also really want to read Autoboyography and Feral Youth but I don’t own them either. I think that’s my biggest – if I don’t own, or I just have too many review books to read. I want to focus more on the books I own or can get from the library this year than review titles, so hopefully that helps. I don’t really get into hype about a book too much…which doesn’t mean hype won’t make me MORE curious about a book, but if it’s bad, then ehh…it’s all good. It’s harder when the book is super long though, I get that. I own The Gentlemen’s Guide so I need to read that!

    -Lauren
    http://www.shootingstarsmag.net

  32. Kel

    Reason #1 is completely legit. If you don’t own it and the library doesn’t have it, it ain’t getting read. Reason #2 rings a bell too. I’ve actually taken to avoiding reviews of certain books I want to read to make sure a review doesn’t dim my enthusiasm–sometimes needlessly. One person’s bomb is often another’s bingo. Good luck getting to some of these in the new year!

  33. You really need to read City of Brass IMMEDIATELY! It was so good. I was scared to make a list like this for myself. There are so many missed out on because my “this book is important” meter is broken, and has been for quite some time. There are just so many on your list I should have added to my TBR. Also, books I own (usually pre-ordered) and then never got to. #thestruggleisreal

  34. I love that you’ve chosen reasons for this post! I have ALL of these issues and so many of the books you picked were on my list too! Even books that I didn’t list were 2017 releases I didn’t get to *gulp*. Side note: I had NO IDEA that Traitor To The Throne was that long! Yikes! I can tell you that I read Flame In The Mist this year and really enjoyed it.

    Feel free to check out my TTT list 🙂

  35. I have a post coming Tuesday about the books I’ve meant to read but yes, to all your reasons.

    With my physical TBR shelf, it’s gotten so large that it intimidates me. I avoid actually avoid it which isn’t helpful AT ALL. lol

    2018 is the year though! I will read all of them. Most of them. Some of them. hehe

    <a href="http://www.fwiwreviews.net/

  36. I agree about the hype monster xD that’s probably the most common reason for me not reading a book, truth be told. But it seems that’s not the most common reason for everyone else 😀 loved your take on this prompt!

  37. YEP IT’S BECAUSE I AM SIMPLY A MESS. And also I am playing video games. So there’s that. Also series finales. Those ones I procrastinate on THE MOST. I guess if I were to pick for you, I would make you read ACOL. AND YES TO ALL THE MEH BOOKS. Maybe you should just take them all off your TBR or give the books to me 😛

  38. Hahaha, I took the poll and I love the most popular answer! I am always afraid of the hype monster but I chose “I don’t have the book” only because it is a matter of time for me. I want to read them all but I can only choose so many books to order!

  39. I read everything. ALL THE THINGS! Mine is honestly just time. I’m lucky where I’m sent unsolicited copies that keep me constantly with something yo read but the only issue is that I have purchased books that I never seem.yo have the time to read then. This year I’m making the effort to clear a lot of backlisted books from my shelves too.

  40. I relate to all of these categories so much! My biggest struggle is when I don’t own the book, but there are a bunch of books I do own and have not read yet because I am just a total mess. Maybe 2018 will be the year I get my act together? That Inevitable Victorian Thing and We Are Okay are both books I have on my TBR because I’ve heard high praise of them. Plus they are so pretty! But alas I do not have copies and neither does my library, so they might be sitting on my TBR for a while until I get through all the books I *do* own and haven’t read. I hope you manage to get to all of these books this year, Shannon!

  41. Oooh I adored The Color Project and I hope you enjoy it, it was so cute but it didn’t shy away from the problems. Yeah, I was kind of disappointed with Flame in the Mist. A CROWN OF WISHES WAS MY FAVOURITE, READ IT.

  42. I seriously feel like it is IMPOSSIBLE not to get to the end of the year and have a list of a million books you missed. I read A LOT, but I still can’t get to them all. In past years, I would literally get sort of panicky at the end of the year when I would read all the Best of posts because I would lament everything I hadn’t gotten to. This year I got better and told myself to take a chill pill. It worked. Mostly.

  43. Okay, you’re right, the hype for The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue is a little crazy… but I promise you it is good. (I know I am sorta adding to it at the moment but I hope you get around to it in the future.) The reason of not owning the books is basically my main one… especially as I am on a student budget which means I basically never buy any book unless it’s for my course these days :'(

  44. These are all super relatable reasons, but I gotta say…number 5 is the most applicable to my own reading life. ? Sometimes I think the books that I’m the most excited to read are the ones that I end up putting off the longest, just because I like to savour the anticipation of reading them at some point in the future.

  45. It’s a tie between I don’t own the book, meh reviews and the hype monster. I’ve gotten bit by the hype monster and it sucks especially when paired with meh reviews. 🙂

  46. Omg I know how you feel! I have so many of these gorgeous books (I love the Lydia Kang one – the cover makes me drool), but I drown in the cover beauty. I am making sure I stick to books I own and just completing sets, but I’m not getting anymore FCs of books if I have the ARC or a digital copy. Unless it’s like Cruel Prince – that Owlcrate edition will be mine!!

  47. …Yeah I’m a mess ahahaha. I have too many books to keep up with that I’ve purchased or gotten ARCs from and I still keep going and getting stacks from the library. I thought I read a bunch of 2017 new releases and then when I looked at all the ones that are on my TBR thanks to reviews and hype from the blogging community I realize that I barely scratched the surface of 2017’s big releases. One day I’ll catch up, one day…

    Fun post though!

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