Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature hosted at That Artsy Reader Girl. Each week you compile a list of ten books which coincide with that week's theme. You can find everything you need to know about joining in here!
This week's theme is 'Books I Can’t Believe I Read'.
Most of these are books I had to read for school or university, but they're all books I'm proud I managed to force my way through considering how much I disliked them or had trouble getting through them. I'm now much better at DNFing books I'm not enjoying, particularly as I no longer have to read anything for a piece of coursework.
If you don't like reading negative things about books (which is perfectly understandable - it can be a bit of a bummer!) then I recommend you don't read any more of this post...
Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller: I'm so sorry to American Literature, but other than Of Mice and Men I did not have a good experience with it in school. This story seemed so unnecessarily depressing and I got so bored of talking about the American Dream in my English Lit classes.
The Withered Root by Rhys Davies: I ended up reading this one while helping to format the eBook at my publishing internship. All I can remember is how much I hated it.
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald: I loathe this book. I know it's a favourite of so many people's and I totally respect that, it's just not for me.
Peter Pan by J. M. Barrie: I did a really interesting module on Victorian Popular Fiction at university where we studied detective fiction, adventure fiction and children's fiction. It was a brilliant module but it made me realise just how twisted the original Peter Pan story is, and something about it made me too uncomfortable to enjoy it.
Wise Children by Angela Carter: This one just felt weird for the sake of being weird and I didn't like it at all when I had to read it in school. I wish The Bloody Chamber and Other Stories had been my introduction to Carter and not this strange novel.
The Boy With the Cuckoo-Clock Heart by Mathius Malzieu: If I had to pick the absolute worst book I'd ever read this one might be it. I forced my way through it because it's so short, more of a novella than a novel really, but it's just awful.
Vinegar Girl by Anne Tyler: I forced my way through this retelling of The Taming of the Shrew hoping it would get better. It didn't.
Harry Potter and the Cursed Child by John Tiffany and Jack Thorne: I'm very lucky to have been to see the play in London, which I really enjoyed, but the script and story itself I didn't like at all. This story does such a disservice to some of my favourite characters and for me Scorpius was the only saving grace.
The Gift by Alison Croggon: I didn't dislike this one, I just remember it took me a long time to get through it and that it wasn't particularly memorable so I'm surprised I managed to force my way to the end of it.
Requiem by Lauren Oliver: I loved Delirium, and I think even with that ending it would have been a fantastic standalone, then Pandemonium came along and made Delirium just like every other YA dystopian triloy, then Requiem came along and kicked us all in the teeth. I like to pretend Pandemonium and Requiem never happened.
Which books made your list this week?
I've heard that about Peter Pan too (I've never read it myself) and frankly it makes me want to read it less. And that's good to know about Requiem, since I do plan on reading more of Lauren Oliver's backlist at some point. Maybe some of her backlist lol.
ReplyDeleteIs it horrible of me to say that I'm so glad to see The Great Gatsby and The Cursed Child on your list? They're on mine too! I despise The Great Gatsby, and I thought The Cursed Child (as the script, I've never seen the play) was just a disservice -and at certain points an insult- to HP fans.
ReplyDeleteI bought The Gift a while back, but still haven't read it. Am kind of hesitant to do it now :)
Bummer about the Delirium series. I love Lauren Oliver, but haven't ventured into that series yet. Also, I read Peter Pan (the original) for the first time a few years ago and it was SO WEIRD!!! I couldn't believe the Disney version came out of that!!
ReplyDeleteThe only one of these I've read is Cursed Child and... yikes. I'm glad to hear the play was actually enjoyable! Maybe one day I'll get to see it!
ReplyDeleteI didn't enjoy The Cursed Child story. I'm glad the play was better.
ReplyDeleteI haven't read any of these, but I know a lot of people who had to read The Great Gatsby in school and didn't enjoy it. Here is my Top Ten Tuesday.
ReplyDeleteCursed Child... grrrr. I'd rather watch the play, I feel like it would be MUCH more enjoyable.
ReplyDeleteI loved The Great Gatsby, but yeah I can see that not being for everyone!
ReplyDeleteGotta agree with you on The Great Gatsby. I never got the point... although I've loved other books by Fitzgerald. I did not like Vinegar Girl at all -- it felt like the Shakespeare plot was being forced into such a contrived version, and it just didn't work. I actually enjoyed Cursed Child, despite the plot issues. I'm seeing it on Broadway in June, and I"m so excited! Great list. :)
ReplyDeleteHA, I hate most American "classics" and I am American, so no worries there :D They're mostly crap, what we read in high school and such anyway. I got bored reading The Great Gatsby for school and just bought the Cliffs Notes (ahhh, old people problems ;) ) I am reading your Boy With The Cuckoo-Clock Heart review now, so that is fun! And REQUIEM, man, do not get me started on Requiem. We may have discussed this before, but I loved Pandemonium (as one of the three staunchly #TeamJulian members) but Requiem.... what even!? IT DIDN'T ACTUALLY EVER END. (Sorry, I may never actually forgive Lauren Oliver for that book!)
ReplyDeleteI really wanted to read Laura Oliver's series at one time (and I saw there was a TV pilot shot way back when too). But I haven't. I think I own books one and two, but at this point, who knows. They may end up donated. That said, the new covers sure are pretty! :)
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for visiting Finding Wonderland, Jess.