Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together.
This week’s theme is Books I Never Reviewed (Share the titles of books you never reviewed on your blog/tiktok/insta/etc. and if you liked them or not!) Currently, I tend to review most of the books I read, mainly because my time management skills are lacking and I’m usually rushing to read and review whatever ARCs I’ve received before their release.
So unless I’m woefully under my desired goal on my Goodreads Challenge and having to read as many books as possible in a very short amount of time, I usually review the books I read. And when I’m super pressed for time, I usually read works of my favorite authors or romance novels because I know I’ll read those very quickly. Anyways, long story short, I guess I don’t read for pure pleasure much anymore and I had to go back in years on my Goodreads Shelf to find the books I haven’t reviewed.
the books
1. Bryony and Roses by T. Kingfisher
I am angry with myself for not having reviewed Bryony and Roses as it is one of my favorite Beauty and the Beast retellings all of time. I will simply have to go back and reread it and then review it one of these days.
2. The Battle of Medicine Rocks by Rachel Aaron
The Battle of Medicine Rocks didn’t work as well for me as the first book in the series, The Last Stand of Mary Good Crow, so I didn’t get around to reviewing it. Like most of Rachel Aaron’s books, this novel has a really interesting magic system and unique world-building. If you like westerns, this is definitely one series to check out.
3. A Wizard’s Guide to Defensive Baking by T. Kingfisher
Another tragedy–A Wizard’s Guide to Defensive Baking is definitely in the running for me for favorite T. Kingfisher books. It’s at the very least, in my top three. This book made me laugh and cry. Highly recommended.
4. The Frugal Wizard’s Handbook for Surviving Medieval England by Brandon Sanderson
A novel by Brandon Sanderson I didn’t like? I didn’t think it was possible, but it is. The humor of this novel just didn’t work for me at all and I did not even manage to finish the novel.
5. A Duel with the Vampire Lord by Elise Kova
I really loved The Loom Saga by Elisa Kova, with the romance of the series being an incredible slow burn, but I have found that her romance novels don’t work as well for me. Though I liked A Deal with the Elf King, A Duel with the Vampire Lord missed the mark for me.
6. Book Lovers by Emily Henry
This is the only book I didn’t review this year. I really enjoyed Book Lovers and the whole subversion of the Hallmark movie trope thing, but I didn’t truly feel a whole lot of the eponymous love for books in either character.
7. Mysteries of Thorn Manor by Margaret Rogerson
I was super worried about this follow-up novel to one of my favorite books of all times, Sorcery of Thorns, but I ended up really enjoying this novella. It was cozy, cute, and I was thankful to be able to return to the cast of characters I love so much.
8. Small Miracles by Olivia Atwater
This is embarrassing, but I honestly can’t remember much about this book at all other than that I did, in fact, like it and think that it was sweet, like Atwater’s other novels.
9. Minor Mage by T. Kingfisher
This is another one that I can’t remember all too well other than that I thought it had a really sweet message and was very original. Plus, you should read anything by T. Kingfisher.
10. Funny Story by Emily Henry
This was the first novel I ever read by Emily Henry and I wasn’t sure if I would like it, seeing as I was disappointed by the other romance novels I had read at the end of the year by Ali Hazelwood. I was pleasantly surprised and really enjoyed that Funny Story took its time developing the friendship (and eventual relationship) of two heartbroken people jilted by their former lovers (who are now engaged).
Now that I’ve spilled on some of my reading habits, I’d love to hear about yours. Do you read strictly for pleasure or do you review most of the books you read? How do you choose which books to review?
I hate to hear this about The Frugal Wizards handbook! It’s on my tbr and I’m a little afraid that I won’t like it.
I know other readers who really enjoyed it, but I just couldn’t get past the humor, unfortunately.
I still need to try Kova and that’s a bummer about Sanderson!!
The Loom Saga definitely hit the best for me out of all of her stuff! 🤭 Yeah, I just couldn’t do that one of his
I never did review A DUEL WITH THE VAMPIRE LORD, either. I still have a blank wordpad document saved with the book title, haha. I liked it, but it wasn’t my favorite; I did like it better than DANCE WITH THE FAE PRINCE, though.
I am pretty sure A Duel was one I read to cram more books in before the end of the year for my Goodreads challenge 🤭 Even though it’s not a romance, the Loom saga by the same author, has the relationship that worked the best for me of all her books!
I haven’t read any of the Kingfisher books in your list, but they are on my TBR because I want to read all of her books!! 😍 And I agree with you about The Frugal… I finished it because I didn’t dislike it but I didn’t enjoy it so much, either!
Ah, I still feel guilty about DNF-ing Frugal, so I’m glad you were able to finish it for both of us 😂 I will be so excited to see what you think of the Kingfisher ones!!