Tuesday, September 05, 2017

Books I Struggle With

This will be kind of a different type of Top Ten Tuesday from me today.  Only I've been thinking quite a lot about the ways in which my reading habits have changed and the types of books I really love reading and the types of books that languish on my shelves. And as today's topic is 'books you struggle with' I thought I'd explore that a little bit more.

So what I've come to realise is that the types of books that I really enjoy reading are emotional contemporary stories. This can be dark, gritty emotional or intense, romantic stories, 'issue' stories, family or friendship dramas.  I'm just all about emotional stories set in realistic settings. Therefore the books I struggle with are anything outside of this.

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature hosted by The Broke and the Bookish


Fantasy Books

Like, fantasy books.  I recently cleared out an entire shelf of fantasy books that I had hoarded over the last year or so but when I really asked myself if I was even excited to read these books anymore ... my answer was a firm 'no'  I do still have some fantasy books on my shelves unread that I haven't quite gotten around to abandoning yet.  Mostly by big-name fantasy authors.  A Court of Mist and Fury and A Court of Wings and Ruin by Sarah J Maas. Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard. Lady Midnight by Cassandra Clare. The Sleeping Prince by Melinda Salisbury. Will I get around to reading these books at some point? Possibly.  Is it more likely they will be donated to a local secondary school? Yes. But we shall see.


Science-fiction


I also struggle with science-fiction books.  But unlike fantasy books, I'm much more inclined to abandon science-fiction books, therefore there aren't as many books on my unread shelves that fall into this category.  I think the only book I'm aware of that counts as science-fiction on my shelves unread right now is The Loneliest Girl in the Universe by Lauren James.  And I am hoping that I'll read that by the end of this month.  I hear good things but that doesn't always mean that it'll be enough.  I hope so though!


Middle Grade books


The other largest collection of books that are unread on my shelves include books aimed at sort of 8-12 year olds.  I think sometimes I hold onto these books thinking that I'll read them with the boys but usually that's just wishful thinking.  I have books I'm still excited to read amongst them though: Beetle Boy by MG Leonard, The Dreamsnatcher by Abi Elphinstone and some classics like A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle.  I'm not giving up though.


Funny Books

This one might be a little strange but ...I struggle with funny books.  Usually the type of book that's really awkward about the funniness. Like ... Noah Can't Even by Simon James Green or Super Awkward by Beth Garrod. I have to be in the exact right frame of mind to get into these types of books and I really just don't think they're right for me.  I lean more towards intensity and these books are all about humour and light-heartedness.  Not to say I won't read these books and love them ... eventually. Hopefully.

What books do you struggle with, if any?

4 comments:

  1. Okay, I think we're book twins because I love the dark, emotional contemporaries!!! Plus, we have the same name!! I have a very hard time with Sci-Fi and Fantasy-- maybe it's because it takes a while to "know" the world and I hate being confused for the first part of the book. I do like the funny books though-- but they're so rare!!

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  2. I'm not a fan of sci-fi, fantasy or dystopian books either. Perhaps I should force myself to branch out and give them the benefit of the doubt. But why? There are so many other great books out there. So many books to read and so little time...

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  3. I love, love, love fantasy novels. That said, I have to be in the right frame of mind before I start reading one or I'll abandon it. The same goes for sci-fi.

    I tend to struggle with romance novels, even though I tend to enjoy most of them. Too often, there's a huge misunderstanding that could be corrected with three sentences between your main characters but for some dumb reason, they never talk, so it's dragged out until the end. Just... why?

    Here is our Top Ten Tuesday. Thanks

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  4. I love fantasy novels and absolutely love anything with humour, I have been known to enjoy Sci-fi and I'll give middle grade a chance if it sounds interesting enough (I love Rick Riordan's books!) so I guess we don't sure any types of books that we struggle with. I like dark, gritty contemporaries, but I struggle with the lighter fluffy ones.
    My TTT: https://jjbookblog.wordpress.com/2017/09/05/top-ten-tuesday-123/

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