Top Ten Tuesday is currently hosted by artsyreadergirl and has weekly topics for bloggers to respond to and share. Click the link for more info and to read more submitted posts!
This week’s prompt is books you either read or avoided because of the hype. I’m going to do books I read, and save books I avoided for a freebie week!
For once I’ve ordered my list, we’re going from most to least disappointing! The titles are links to my review on either this blog or Goodreads.
These are all contemporary books that had a ride on the hype train in the last few years!
1. The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller: I’ve already ranted about how much I hated this one! This book was a wet tissue.
2. Nightcrawling by Leila Mottley : I read this after I saw a booktuber really hype it and I found it on a 99p Kindle deal. While it’s undeniably impressive from a teenage author, the language was way too flowery (some of the worst I’ve read) which is really not my taste.
3. Hamnet by Maggie O’Connell: this book was absolutely everywhere for a while. The first half was good, the second half was very disappointing. I have no idea why the author chose to make Anne Hathaway so unreal when it was meant to tell the story of Shakespeare’s young family. It didn’t work for me at all, and the Shakespeare connection was an annoying distraction. Plus, the prose were – again – far too purple!
4. Tomorrow, And Tomorrow, And Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin : I seem to be the only person that didn’t love this, I completely missed whatever people think is so special. Between this and The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry, I like the way Zevin writes, she creates great characters but I don’t enjoy what she does with them!
5. Normal People by Sally Rooney: I am definitely too old to enjoy Sally Rooney. I’d probably have loved her in my early 20s but now I see her writing as shallow, it tries to tackle deep issues like abuse and depression in what I felt was an “aesthetic” way – it felt used for decoration, for the vibes. Plus her characters between this and Conversations with Friends (which I read for a book club) are too similar.
6. Weyward by Emilia Hart: I saw it’s bright pink cover everywhere for a while, I was excited but then what a let down when I finally read it! If I’d known it was a book about pregnancy I’d never have picked it up.
7. Atomic Habits by James Clear: it’s a nonfiction book that I don’t seem to be able to get away from online! A lot of people seem to worship it but as a book irritates me so much, I often wish I’d never read it! My review of this book is actually my most viewed post!
8. Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells: It pops up as a recommendation everywhere but the eBooks were too expensive in the UK for such short stories. It wasn’t until I found them on Spotify/my library that I could finally read them! They are a joy!
9. Book Lovers by Emily Henry: my first Emily Henry and still my favourite. Romance books are always a risk but this one was perfect for me!
10. I’m Glad My Mom Died by Jeannette McCurdy: a rare case of the hype being totally justified. This book is a memoir masterpiece. I loved it, and I have never seen iCarly so had no idea who she is!
Have you read any of these?
I loved this round up! I am not a reader of books – not fiction, anyway, but I am also not immune to the hype that some books get. So to read them through someone else’s eyes is great and I really enjoy how much of your own character and vibe comes through in your reviews. Thanks for compiling this list – it led to me reading about five of your other reviews which I really enjoyed! Particularly the James Clear one.
(I’m a mostly silent reader but vehement enjoyer of your blog!)
Thank you for the lovely comment, Paul! I really appreciate it 😊
Yeah I have a lot of feelings about Atomic Habits and James Clear 😅 I kind of resent how it’s burrowed into my brain and in some sectors of the internet you don’t seem to be able to get away from it!
I didn’t like Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow either. You’re not alone.
Here is my Top Ten Tuesday.
I enjoyed reading this because I felt the same on a lot of them. It’s a nice echo chamber for me right now lol. Weyward is one I got for free after constantly thinking I’m not interested in it at all, and I still have not read in since I got it like eight months ago. After your comment… ehh. I may just give it away and spare myself. xD
Here’s my post for this week as well!
Ah thanks, I am loving this prompt! It’s a really great way to figure out who has similar taste!
Yeah Weyward turned out to be a bit of a mess in my opinion, I read it very quickly but I wouldn’t recommend it! There are many better books!
Glad the McCurdy piece was good. I enjoyed her character on iCarly (….I watched it babysitting XD) but was sad to learn about the circumstances of her acting career.
It’s fantastic, the way it’s written in her voice as she was at that age – without any of her present day comment – is really effective. I highly recommend the audiobook version!
I’ve heard good things about All Systems Red, but I haven’t actually read it.
Here is our Top Ten Tuesday.
Book Lovers was my first Emily Henry book too. I picked it up because of the hype around her books in general. Sadly, it’s the only one of hers I’ve read to the end. Happy Place was a DNF for me.
Pam @ Read! Bake! Create!
https://readbakecreate.com/lets-hype-these-books-ten-books-deserving-more-hype/
One of my book clubs read Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and it wasn’t universally loved at the meeting (I didn’t finish it before the meeting because I was supposed to be working and then my schedule changed pretty last minute).
I hope you have a great week.
My TTT if you wish to visit – https://justanothergirlandherbooks.blogspot.com/2024/09/top-ten-tuesday-books-i-bought-because.html
TOTALLY agree with your last three! The Murderbot books are a delight and Book Lovers is my fave Emily Henry. I didn’t know much about Janette McCurdy either – one of my kids watched iCarly and Sam and Cat but it was kind of this annoying drone in the background like all other kids shows. Her book is devastatingly good.
I somehow forgot Murderbot Diaries when I was making my list. That is a book I didn’t pick up until I saw all the hype. It was such a delight.
I’ve read the first 50 pages of Atomic Habits multiple times. That’s about as far as I get. 😂 It’s an interesting way to boost pageviews though. Just read wildly popular books so people will come to see your review. Clearly that’s not why you read it but that does give good insight into why certain book blogs are more popular than others.
Wow, I’ve never heard of anyone who hated ATOMIC HABITS. Personally, I love it. It’s so motivating and helpful for me that I reread it every January to inspire me for the coming year. Different strokes for different folks, I guess!
Happy TTT (on a Wednesday)!
Susan
http://www.blogginboutbooks.com
I know everyone else seems to love it, but it wasn’t helpful to me!
I loved Book Lovers and enjoyed the first Murderbot. Need to get to the rest someday now that they’re added to my library. Yes, I agree they were too expensive for novellas. Thanks for visiting my TTT!
Gasp! Blasphemy! I love several books you listed here and I can’t believe you’d say such mean things about them (Song of Achilles, Tomorrow x3, Atomic Habits)! 😭Jk, I totally get that we all have different opinions and I’m totally good with that, but it also made me LOL to read your post. I also loved a few of the books you loved (Murderbot, Book Lovers, I’m Glad My Mom Died), so it balances out!
Haze
https://thebookhaze.com/
I know 😂 those are three extremely popular books where I think everyone else just had completely different copies to me!