I love to do this tag every year, and it is always interesting to look at my answers from the previous year. Here is a link to my 2021 version, if you are interested.
The struggle of getting started: a book/book series that you have struggled to begin because of its size.
I have the two books available in the Dark Star Trilogy, and even though I am intrigued by them, the size and content intimidate me! Black Leopard, Red Wolf is 640 pages and Moon Witch, Spider King is 656 pages. I think this series will require a lot of brainpower and attention, so I have to be in the right headspace to tackle it!
Cleaning out the closet: a book and/or book series you want to unhaul.
The Maid received a lot of prepublication hype and I was really excited about it! Sadly, it didn’t work for me and I had some issues with it. I would like to unhaul it but I am waiting until the end of the year because I have a feeling I will be talking about it in a few videos throughout the year.
Opening windows and letting fresh air in: a book that was refreshing.
There was so much about Legends & Lattes that was refreshing! It is a low stakes fantasy following a retired orc barbarian who opens a coffee shop. It was the breath of fresh air I needed in between some heavier reads. I have never read anything quite like this and I am thrilled for the author that it has been picked up by Tor!
Washing out sheet stains: a book you wish you could rewrite a certain scene in.
As much as I liked Dead Silence, there are certain scenes I would not only rewrite but remove altogether. I think the romance storyline took away from the tension of the novel and was completely unnecessary. It was distracting and didn’t fit the tone. I wasn’t invested in the relationship at all!
Throwing out unnecessary knick-knacks: a book in a series that you didn’t feel was necessary.
This is such an obvious answer to this question, but it had to be said! I have attempted to read The Ballads of Songbirds and Snakes a few times and I can just not get myself to care about Snow’s story. There were so many interesting stories Suzanne Collins could have told in this world, and this perspective is the least interesting of them all!
Polishing the doorknobs: a book that had a clean finish.
I was so happy with the ending of So Many Beginnings. No spoilers, of course, but it was refreshing!
Reaching to dust the fan: a book that tried too hard to relay a certain message.
Don’t get me wrong, I loved The Midnight Library, and most of Matt Haig’s work, but the majority of his books are trying to convey a certain message and it can feel like you are being hit over the head with it. That is especially true in The Midnight Library! It is not necessarily a bad thing, as I think it is an important message and can have a huge impact on readers who read it when they need that message most.
The tiring yet satisfying finish of spring cleaning: a book series that was tiring yet satisfying to get through.
Much like last year, I still don’t have an answer to this question! I continue to be terrible at reading series. My answer last year was that I would be thrilled when I finally finished the Inspector Gamache series by Louise Penny. The sad thing about that is that I haven’t read any of the books in the meantime!
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I love this tag! I like the idea of giving your TBR a spring clean – mine certainly needs it!!
Totally agree about Black Leopard, Red Wolf. I started listening to the audiobook, and although I did enjoy it, I really lost track of what was going on because, as is the case with most fantasy openings, there is a lot of world building and setup that you need to concentrate on. But the size of the book keeps delaying me on picking it up!
I started it too and had to put it down even though I was enjoying it! I am thinking that listening to the audio while following along in the physical copy is probably the best way to go.
I do enjoy doing that! It seems like a good plan!
I’m completely with you on Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes. I’m still not over how disappointing that was!
So disappointing!! There was so much she could have done!
This is fun! I’m eager to read So Many Beginnings
I think you will enjoy it!
Now I really want to read So Many Beginnings!
I would love to hear your thoughts on it Wendy!
The Maid has had such mixed reviews! It seems like people either absolutely loved it or hated it. Dead Silence is on my TBR. Unfortunate about the romance, but I’m glad it didn’t completely ruin the novel for you.
This is a fun tag! I’m going to save it for the future 🙂
The Maid is definitely one of those books! I haven’t seen many three star reviews!
Not to make the intimidation worse, but James’s Dark Star Trilogy was challenging for many to get into. However, I think it gets better the more you read and see how things are coming together. For me, the story picks up about 100 pages into the first book. It’s very interesting.
I had a feeling it would be that way! I think listening to the audio whole physically reading will help me to push through. I think it will be worth it!
Really great post! There are so many books that you talked about on here that I have either heard about or really want to read. I keep hearing about The Maid and I see it at the bookstore every time I go, but I haven’t read it yet. I really want to read The Midnight Library, but I’m waiting for it to come out in paperback. Have you read his previous book? I really want to start reading the My Brilliant Friend series because the HBO show looks really good, but there are so many books and they are all pretty long. One of these days I’ll get around to reading them.
I have read almost everything that Matt Haig has written! The Humans is my favourite of his and I love all of his nonfiction.
I have had my eye on My Brilliant Friend for years! The books are intimidating though.
Thanks so much for the recommendations! I’ll be sure to check those books out. I know, I really want to start reading the My Brilliant Friend series, but I keep putting it off because I know it’ll take me forever to finish. Plus, I only have the first book in the series at the moment.
I do want to read more books in translation though!