Top Ten Tuesday – Books I Want to Read but Don’t Own

Today’s TTT prompt from the Broke and Bookish is books you want to read but don’t own yet. This one is tricky for me. I usually don’t run out and buy books by authors I haven’t read – especially if I’m just curious about the book. I’ve read too many terrible books over the last couple years. I have the first three books in the Mortal Instruments series sitting on my shelf because I decided I liked the covers and the idea of the books and I wanted to own them. Now they annoy me, because they weren’t the books I wanted them to be and now I own an incomplete series. But, that was before I’d gotten my library card. Nowadays, I get most of the books I’m curious about from the library. But, there are some books that I’ve seriously considered buying even though I haven’t read them.

The Bat – Jo Nesbo

Jo Nesbo has been on my list of authors to read for years. When I first started looking, the first book in English was The Redbreast, but that wasn’t the first book in the series. It wasn’t a conscious decision, but that might have been why I kept putting off reading it. I went in the other day to see what I wanted to order with a gift card I had and these books were on my list. I didn’t end up buying them, but I did see that the first two novels are out in English now. These are moving up my list.

Out of Oz – Gregory Maguire

If this book was available in the mass market paperback, I would own it. It’s the only one in the series I don’t own. I’ve actually read half of it, so maybe this is a cheat, but I’m including it anyway because I really want to own it. I kept taking it out of the library and not getting a chance to finish it and now it’s been so long that I would need to start over. Once I can buy this one, I’ll probably try to re-read the whole series – and maybe I’ll actually get through book three this time.

Stardust – Neil Gaiman

I loved this movie and I really like Neil Gaiman. There’s really no excuse for not having read/bought this one yet.

The Last Unicorn – Peter S. Beagle

I know about this one because of the cartoon. The red bull scarred me. Like emotions scars. Then I started re-watching it when I was older and was influenced by… let’s say, external elements. The scars healed and I decided I loved it. Then I found out it was a book. I kind of want to own this one just so I can see it on my shelf. And I have a friend who is obsessed with it and would like to be able to talk about it knowledgably.

The Princess Bride – William Goldman

Pretty much the same explanation as the last entry. I loved the movie as a kid, didn’t know it was a book until I was an adult. It’s one I’d like to own.

I Wanna Be Your Joey Ramone – Stephanie Kuehnert

I’ve read a different book by this author and loved it. She really gets the heart of the 90’s, grungy, punky, tortured teen. I love her style. I want to read this one and own several of her books.

The Devil in White City – Erik Larson

This one is the only ‘non-fiction’ entry on the list. I say that in quotes because it’s not straight non-fiction. It’s creative. It’s the simultaneous story of the Chicago World’s Fair and America’s first serial killer H.H. Holmes. I discovered it while doing some research for something I was writing. I’ve read a chapter or two and it doesn’t read like true crime – which is perfection.

Gathering Blue – Lois Lowry

As you know by now, I love The Giver. This is the second book in the series. I keep meaning to read it and to own it (and the following two books). I just have this fear that reading the rest of the series is going to ruin the first book for me. I don’t know why. It’s totally irrational. But it’s there.

The Rules of Attraction– Bret Easton Ellis

I don’t know why I want to own his books, but I do. There’s no greater explanation here.

Charles Dickens

I’m not narrowing it down any more than this. I’ve read part of A Christmas Carol and loved it. It’s shameful that I haven’t read more of his books. I want to own a lot of them and I want them in really nice bindings.

Here are the books I ended up buying with that gift card I was talking about earlier. New books!