The intimidating TBR tag!

A tag today! Have I done this already? Maybe! I don’t remember! I found this here, but honestly I have no idea where it originates so if you know lemme know.

What book have you just not been able to finish?

The Blood Mirror by Brent Weeks. Honestly I have no idea why this book has been so slow-going for me. I’ve literally been reading it for over a year, and I’ve actually restarted it once because there was a gap so big where I didn’t touch it that I forgot what was happening. And right now I also haven’t touched it in months. But really though I don’t know why: It’s probably gonna be a 4 or 5 star book for me, from what I’ve read.

What book haven’t you read because you haven’t had the time?

Caliban’s War by James S. A. Corey. Technically I have started reading this. I’m about 2/3rds through it, but it’s currently on the back burner. I keep getting distracted by other books! And honestly right now I’m really in a manga kick and haven’t read too many normal books period lately. But this book, so far, is also a 4 or 5 star read, so why I haven’t found the time to prioritize it, I don’t know.

What book haven’t you read because it’s a sequel?

The Dragon Republic by R. F. Kuang. I think I bought this book on release day or something. Shame on me.

What book haven’t you read because it’s brand new?

Seven Blades in Black by Sam Sykes. I mean it’s brand new to me. This is my most recent book purchase and technically I’ve started it, but I’m only a chapter or two into it so far and as I’ve mentioned, I’m much more in a manga kick right now.

What book haven’t you read because you’ve read another book by the same author and didn’t care for it?

The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater. I realize it’s a bit of a bandwagon thing to say ‘I didn’t like Shiver,’ but I didn’t, unfortunately. I have heard that this book and all her other works show great improvement over that one but I still have trouble with overcoming the mental block. I’ll get there though: I need a readathon or something for it.

What book haven’t you read because you’re just not in the mood for it?

I feel like this is more of a genre instead of an individual book, but a good example is Saving Fish From Drowning by Amy Tan. Basically any serious-themes literary fiction that will probably just crush my soul. I do want to read them, but man, I feel like I need a buddy read for these kinds of books so I can share my pain.

What book haven’t you read because it’s humongous?

Jerusalem by Alan Moore. This is the guy who wrote V For Vendetta and The Watchmen and stuff like that, and this is basically his magnum opus, something he’d worked on for a decade or something, and man, it’s 1266 pages. My main hesitation with its length is… I’m not sure I’m going to love this. Like, I don’t know if I want to sacrifice 1300 pages of reading time for something I find just ok, y’know? I mean I hope I do love it, but I’m hesitant.

What book haven’t you read because it was a cover buy and you’ve seen heard mixed reviews?

Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo. This wasn’t necessarily a cover buy so much as a ‘I like this author’ buy, but I know I’m not the only one who’s been hesitating due to the reviews for this that seem to be all over the place. So we’ll see. I’ll get to it. Eventually.

What book haven’t you read because it’s the most intimidating book on your TBR?

S. by J. J. Abrams and Doug Dorst. This is one of those multiple layer stories. You have the book, The Ship of Thesues, and then you have the footnotes by the author, Straka, and then you have a conversation happening between two readers as they write notes in the margins to each other. And this comes in a box and within the pages are folded notes and maps and stuff that come out. I’ve given this a shot once already and got a bit overwhelmed, so I’m intimidated. And the other most recent multiple layer book I read, House of Leaves, turned out to by a disappointment. I know they’re nothing alike but in my mind they’re both up there at the same level. hm hm hm

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And that’s it! I tag Katy and Zezee. But if you’d like to do this tag, consider yourself tagged!

Top 5 Wednesday(ish): Intimidating Books

Hush, I know it’s Thursday.

This week’s topic is intimidating books. And it took me a long, long long time to narrow this list down to just five. And before I start, my personal definition of an intimidating book is one that once I start reading it, I feel it will:

A. Take me a long time to finish due to its size, its content, or its language use.

B. Rip me a new one in my emotion center and I’m just putting off the inevitable.

So each of the books that made this list fall into one of the above categories, or in some cases, both. So here they are:

5. The Historian by Elizabeth Kostava

Intimidation Factor: Huge, dense, emotionally draining

This book is one that I bought years ago. I’ve started in two or three times and kinda was scared away from it for completely goofy reasons. This book follows a young woman who comes across a series of letters and documents that delve into the history of Vlad the Impaler, the character base of Dracula. These letters lead her to believe that the ‘Dracula’ stories were not just stories. This book is a historical-ish fiction with a slow-building, yet gripping tension and elements of horror. Every time I start it, I get really into it. It’s slow-moving, but engrossing. But at some point, I always end up getting distracted by other books or something. I don’t know why. This is a good book from what I’ve read so far and I really hope to actually finish it. I’ve had it for nearly a decade for goodness sake. I’LL FINISH IT SOMEDAY I SWEAR. In the meantime, if you’ve read it, let me know your thoughts. :”D

4. House of Leaves by Mark Z Danielewski

Intimidation Factor: Huge, psychologically demanding, difficult content organization

This is one of those books I’ve picked up in the store to purchase but by the time I go to check out, I’ve put it back on its shelf again. It happens every time I see it in stock. I just can’t bring myself to buy it. The reason is I’m already intimidated by it, so I know if I bought it that it would just sit on my shelf for ages and I’m trying to buy books that I feel I’ll read rather quickly after buying them. So I think ‘I’ll buy this when I’m ready for it’ and put it back. But the ‘I’m ready for it’ hasn’t happened yet.

I’ve kept myself pretty much unaware of what this book is about on purpose. I just know from flipping through it that the organization of the thing is like no other book I’ve seen before. And the only thing I know about the plot is that it’s about a house that’s bigger on the inside than it is on the outside. And I know that it’s suppose to mess with the reader’s mind big-time. So I haven’t read it yet, let alone bought it. I want to, but I’m a-scared.

3. The Future of the Mind by Michio Kaku

Intimidation Factor: Dense, intellectually challenging content

For those who don’t watch the Science Channel, Michio Kaku is a theoretical physicist. He’s written many, many books on the theoretical possibilities of different dimensions, space travel, you name it.This book is his most recent, came out in 2013 or 2014 I believe. I actually pre-ordered this one (two copies actually – one for me, one for my SO, who is Kaku’s biggest fanboy ever) and they’re even signed. This book delves into what the human brain will accomplish and be able to do in the future – theoretically, mind you. But this book man. I’ve skimmed it so far and it reads like a text book at times, but at the same time, it’s such a fascinating topic. He talks about shooting our consciousness off into space in a laser beam as a form of space travel! It’s so cool! But I can’t bring myself to actually sit down and read straight, hard (theoretical) science. I just can’t. I’ll do it eventually, but my brain is retaliating against me. I feel like I’d be a lot better suited to attend a class taught by Kaku and have him go through his book that way. I love this kind of thing, I just can’t sit and absorb it all without my brain oozing.

2. S. by J.J. Abrams and Doug Dorst

Intimidation Factor: Dense, huge, difficult content organization

I received this book for Christmas two years ago now and I’ve barely touched it. One – I’m too scared to leaf through it in case a piece falls out and two – I feel like the order in which you read stuff will be difficult to grasp at first.

S. is a book within a book within a book. The cover I show in the picture is actually a box. Inside the box is a book called The Ship of Theseus, which appears as an old library book. As you open it, you’ll notice three things immediately:

1. The book is covered in scribbles.
2. There are loose-leaf articles and odd bits shoved in between the pages
3. There are huge foot-notes everywhere.

Each of these contributes to one of the stories happening as you read this book. The Ship of Theseus is the main book, written by the author Straka, who you’ll notice has written all the footnotes. As you read The Ship of Theseus, you’ll pick up the main story but also Straka’s increasing obsession in the foot notes. The foot notes are just as important, as they shed light on the creation of The Ship of Theseus. And then, there are the scribbles throughout the margins of the book – two people are reading this book and communication back and forth with each other. As they research the book and Straka, they leave the articles and things in the pages they are relevant. So you get the story of these two people as well, on top of the slow psychosis of the author, on top of the main story itself.

It’s a lot to take in, which is why I find it intimidating. One of these days. I feel like I’ll love it when I do get to it at least. Just need to make it happen.

1. Notre Dame de Paris by Victor Hugo

Intimidation Factor: Dense, emotionally draining, psychologically messed-up, difficult language use.

This is the book I’m most intimidated by. This is by no means the largest book I own, nor is it the densest. But I feel like it’s going to mess with me the most. This book, originally written in French, is a book written in the 1800s and has since been translated and re-written a few times, including as Disney’s The Hunchback of Notre Dame. So you know how that movie, even though it was a kids’ movie, had content in it that was a tad unsettling? Like the creepy Archdeacon, Claude Frollo, who had that weird obsession with Esmerelda?

Well, that adaption barely touched the tip of the ice berg. The original translation is dark. It’s disturbing. And it’s not just Claude Frollo, a lot of the characters are definitely unsettling. There is a lot of dark content in this book, and mixed with the difficult writing from the 1800s, I feel like it’ll be a challenge for me to get through. I feel like I’m going to need a box of tissues, a barf bag and goldfish crackers to much on all in one.

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And that’s it for today! As always, if you would like to join, here is the list of posters  to add your name! Happy reading!