Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. Each week a new Top Ten list will be posted. Everyone is welcome to join. Link back to The Broke and the Bookish so everyone can check out other bloggers' lists. It's a fun way to get to know fellow bloggers.
This week is Top Ten books I struggled to get into but loved or whatever variant thereof. I'm going with ten books that didn't entirely work for me even though there may be things I did like. In a couple cases I liked the book just fine, there was just a few questionable elements. So here we are...
Vicarious had a neat premise, and I love the VR angle, but it just didn't work for me, and I skipped the sequel.
This was a series I'd been wanting to try for a bit and I enjoyed it, but it didn't blow me away. I like the idea of her traveling the rooftops and keeping tabs on all the cryptids, but IDK- it's not motivating me to read on? I've almost started the next one a few times, but never do...
Heresy I know? How could I NOT like RPO? Actually I did (Galaga references? Joust references?) but I didn't love it as much as some did, and there were stretches where I kinda zoned out or got a bit bored. I know, probably just a me thing.
Not a bad book but just left me a little flat.
I liked this one too but there were a few stretches where it dragged just a bit. Good book though.
I actually liked this book, the romance just happened way too fast.
This was okay, I even liked it in a lot of ways, but for me it suffers from the whole new Star Wars canon thing- parts of it don't make sense to me. I liked the other Claudia Gray SW book a lot more.
This was a disappointment. Killer cover and a follow-on to a book I liked, The Immortals, but this just did not work for me. Skipping the third.
Disappointed by this as well. The story of two kids who face the end of the world- I wanted a little more end of the world and a little less driving around and angsting. Not a bad book, but not my thing.
I liked the McGuire one, but not enough to read on...so yeah
ReplyDeleteExactly same here.
DeleteI haven't read any of these so I can't really comment on them. sometimes I don't like a book because I'm not in the right mood for them and then I do like them at a different time.
ReplyDeleteI love the cover of Winter of the Gods
That is true, I have that too. And it is a nice cover!
DeleteI loved Ready Player One from the beginning but then I guess I was riding the 80s nostalgia train. I'll look into the others! Great list!
ReplyDeleteHa ha I know what you mean I enjoyed all the references too.
DeleteI've the trailer for Ready Player One movie adaptation and it looks great. I love the cover of All We Have is now, so colorful!
ReplyDeleteIsn't that an awesome cover? Love it!!! I wish I had liked it more... and I am curious about the movie.
DeleteI like Vicarious as well! It was different but I really liked that twist!
ReplyDeleteHere's my Tuesday Post
Have a GREAT day!
Old Follower :)
I was looking forward to it for a while. How did you feel about the sequel?
DeleteI completely gave up on Ready Player One...it felt too derivative to me. Probably just me. Sometimes I think I have just plain read too many books!
ReplyDeletehttps://readerbuzz.blogspot.com/2017/09/books-i-read-and-loved-but-didnt-really.html
Yeah the more we read... I think we get jaded or just like we've seen so much of it before! I can see that... for all the hype it got, I thought Ready Player One was good but I didn't love it nearly as much as some did.
DeleteI tried to read the first chapters of RPO but I couldn't get into it. I really want to try again because I've heard so many good things and the premise sounds so cool ~
ReplyDeleteIt is a cool premise, for me it just falls by the wayside a bit as it goes on. I'm glad that others have had trouble with RPO since I thought it was just me! But I had to struggle w/ it a bit!
DeleteGreat list! I read Ready Player One a long time ago. I'm so nervous to give it a re-read before the movie comes out. I'm afraid I won't enjoy it as much the second time... we'll see! :)
ReplyDeleteMy TTT
I hope you like it! I'm not going to re- read it because I didn't enjoy it THAT much, but the movie has me curious!
DeleteHi! I've been meaning to read Ready Player One. I think I haven't started it because everyone says it's so good, and I usually don't like things with a lot of hype. Probably just to be contrarian. lol.
ReplyDeleteMy TTT
Leslie
I'm that way too with hype sometimes. Like it will just turn me completely off from a book. And then I may read it later and like it, or sometimes not. :)
DeleteI definitely struggles with the Hockings book which was a shame because I was really hoping it would blow me away.
ReplyDeleteI was hoping for good things from that one too. I did like it, but the romance felt a bit rushed.
DeleteI listened to to the audio of Ready Player One and loved it, but it's one of those books that would have probably bored me a bit if I'd tried to read the print version.
ReplyDeleteI hope you have a great rest of the week, Greg!
I'll bet audio would be a good way to go with that one! Definitely...
DeleteYou too!
I really liked the Robin Sloan book but I think I know what you mean with some of the scenes dragging here and there.
ReplyDeleteI liked it too, a good book, but yeah it did drag for me at times. And I think I spent a lot of time trying to figure out what KIND of book it was!
DeleteI am with you on The Passenger. I wanted more. I did love RPO but listened which could be why.
ReplyDeleteThe PAssenger had a good premise, and it was okay, but I definitely was looking for more. And I think RPO would be fabulous on audio- as a book I had to slog through it.
DeleteI still haven't read Ready Player One yet, it's been on my shelves for ages, but my edition has such a small font, I don't feel like picking it up.
ReplyDeleteYeah I can see that. And it's not a short book as I recall...
DeleteI'm on the library list for RPO, so that's going to happen in my near future :) Also, I'm not sure about Paula Stokes. Have you read anything else from her?? I read her newest book recently and was like ???? I was expecting much better from things people have said about her stuff.
ReplyDeleteI have read a couple Paula Stokes books, although Vicarious which I was looking forward to was a disappointment, so I haven't read any of her most recent stuff. I know a lot of people like her. I think for me it depends on the book!
DeleteI was the same on Discount Armageddon...there was nothing wrong with it and I liked the mice but it just didn't grab me and make me want to read on. I didn't like The Immortals so I never got to the sequel.
ReplyDeleteSame. The mice were funny. But nothing said read the enxt one!!! you know???
DeleteI remember some of your reviews for these. I'm still interested in Vicarious and Freeks. :)
ReplyDeleteHope you're having a great week!
They're both pretty good. I was disappointed in Vicarious, I can't even say why, it just didn't entirely work for me? Maybe it wasn't dystopian ENOUGH? IDK! Freeks though isn't bad- nothing ground breaking, but I enjoyed it.
DeleteI really wanted to like Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore, but the writing was far too slow-paced for me to finish it.
ReplyDeleteHere is our Top Ten Tuesday.
It was a slow read.
DeleteReady Player One is one that I've had on my list for quite some time now. I feel like I have to be in the right mood for it to pick it up. lol! I heard it's going to be a movie soon so I better get on that soon tho! Freeks is one I was curious about. That's a bummer about the romance tho. Great list!
ReplyDeleteIt's interesting because I thought everyone had read Ready Player One and/ or loved it, but I'm seeing from comments (and peoples' lists) that that may not be the case! I did have a bit of trouble with it. It gets too out there sometimes- IDK, hard to explain.
DeleteFreeks isn't bad, yeah the romance is rushed but I liked it for the circus atmosphere.
I have Robin Sloane's novel on my ever growing reading wishlist!!
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by and leaving me a comment on my TTT post this week. :-)
You're welcome, and hope you like the Robin Sloane book. I liked it, just took me a bit to get thru it.
DeleteI didn't like Ready Player One either haha. I started it and got bored and never finished. In regards to the Claudia Gray Star Wars book, I'll be honest and admit I don't really understand this whole new thing I've seen recently. I don't even know what to call it. But it seems to be pretty popular. Her writing a Star Wars novel. Now I see Leigh Bardugo is doing a Wonder Woman book. I don't really get it?
ReplyDeleteThat is so good to hear! Like I said I thought I was the only one who was a little ambivalent about it. Good to know others struggled with it too (well, not GOOD, but you know) :)
DeleteI've noticed it too. Claudia Gray doing Star Wars, Leigh Bardugo doing Wonder Woman (that one kinda surprised me a bit). I don't know if some of these popular authors are just trying to get in on favorite fandoms of theirs, or if they're being approached... I think I saw somewhere that Gray is doing three Star Wars books now! I've read two and one I really liked. The other was so-so.
Ready Player One is on my TBR so I'm curious to see what I think - actually a little relieved to hear you struggled with it a bit because all the hype had me a bit intimidated... Sorry to hear you didn't enjoy Winter of the Gods since The Immortals sounded so, so good but it's a pity f the sequel is disappointing...
ReplyDeleteI did, and from comments and other lists it looks like I wasn't the only one that struggled with RPO. Which surprised me! Winter of the Gods was pretty disappointing for me, I liked the way she handled the premise in the first one but something lost me the second time around.
DeleteI feel you on The Passenger!
ReplyDeleteYup The Passenger I was looking for a little more!
DeleteI haven't read any of these but I've hear mixed things about Ready Player One! haven't really decided if I wanna read it yet!
ReplyDeleteI struggled with it. And apparently others did too- I didn't know that!
DeleteSo much yes on Ready Player One! I liked the parts in the game but there were definitely sloooow parts. Mr. Penumbra almost made my list. I did like it a lot but there was a pretty slow middle part. I think I would have liked it less if I hadn't listened to it.
ReplyDeleteYes- and it's funny how audio makes some books better, and others not. I think for example RPO would be good on audio? But Penumbra's- unless the narrator was really good it seems like audio of that would put me asleep!
DeleteI have no desire to pick up Ready Player One but my book club is going to read it in a few months so I'll have to at least try it.
ReplyDeleteI hope you like it. I know I'll never RE-READ it because once was enough!
DeleteA few of these are new to me, but I do remember struggling to get into Mr. Penumbra's 24 Hour Bookstore but ended up liking it. It also took me a while to get into Ready Player One, but once it finally hooked me, I flew through the rest of it.
ReplyDeleteI never flew through RPO but I'm glad I read it. And Penumbra's I liked too, but yeah it was a struggle at times.
DeleteHa - I'm with you on RPO (I even tried the audio but just wasn't feeling it) and The Passenger (I think I'm kinda burned out on these Gone Girl-like books.)
ReplyDeleteJen Ryland
RPO is another one of my DNFs. I loved the beginning, but then it started to drag and I just couldn't get into it.
ReplyDeleteI have only read 2 of the books on your list but those were books I had some trouble with too. Vicarious was ok but not great so I chose not to read the second one when it was offered to me. I was really disappointed by The Passenger. I gave it 3 stars but I really expected it to be so much more.
ReplyDeleteI do agree that All We Have Is Now was definitely less apocalypse, more angst. That said, I did like it- but if you were looking for adventure, yeah, probably not the best book. Sad about Vicarious, too, as I have liked several of the author's other books. And definitely sad about Winter of the Gods- your review of it actually made me question whether I wanted to bother with the series at all (I still haven't decided haha).
ReplyDeleteI am with you on Freeks (terrible romance) and Winter of the Gods (I just didn't think it was as good as the first). I ended up loving Bloodline though, even though I agree Gray's other Star Wars book Lost Stars was better. I can't wait to read her new YA Leia book!
ReplyDelete~Mogsy @ BiblioSanctum
I've read past discount armageddon but I can't really remember much and haven't made it much further. The rest on your list I haven't read and a lot I'm not familiar with
ReplyDeleteI recently picked up a copy of The Immortals - hope I like it. :)
ReplyDeleteLauren @ Always Me
I've heard LOTS of good things about Ready Player One, but never picked it up myself. Somehow I feel like it'd be a hard one for me to get into... and even then, I'm not sure it'd capture my attention.
ReplyDeleteMan, this list shoots down so many of my hopes, lol! I really want to read The Immortals but not if the sequels are sucky! And Claudia Gray's book about Leia isn't perfection? I also recently learned of and got really excited about Discount Armageddon but now, who knows. MY TBR is now gutted... Just Kidding - I still have 952 books left on my to-read list:). Anyway, I really hope I like some of these more than you did!
ReplyDeleteSorry!! You should try The Immortals and see if it works for you? Maybe ha ha. I haven't read Claudia Gray's NEWEST Leia book (the one that just came out), but this one was okay- I just didn't like it as much as Lost Stars.
DeleteI hope you like some of these more than me too. :)
I struggled with Ready Player One too; there was so many infodumps at the beginning of the book that it made it hard to get into, but I did still like it. I can't really say the same for Cline's other book because I struggled through that one and ended up not liking it so much.
ReplyDeleteI never really felt like reading any more of his books after RPO. I'm glad I read it but it didn't wow me.
DeleteI tried the audio for Ready Player One and just couldn't get into it. That was a huge surprise to me, because I get most of the '80s references, and they were fun, but it just dragged. I didn't finish it. I'm glad I'm not the only one, because everyone and their brother seems to love it. :)
ReplyDeleteI thought it dragged too- maybe it needed more editing? And some of the OASIS stuff lost me at times- I thought maybe that was just me tho. I liked the 80's references but overall... yeah kinda just OK. And I felt the same way!
DeleteI want to read the 1st three book. I can't remember if I read The Passenger - it has a very similar cover to a few others.
ReplyDeleteI think Discount Armageddon might be a good read if you like urban fantasy. Plus it's McGuire so there's that. It just didn't scream at me to read the next one, you know?
DeleteReady Player One is a book that I keep putting off. I don't know - maybe I'll pick it up someday?
ReplyDeleteA lot of people like it, but I was surprised to see from the TTT posts how many people also struggled with it. I didn't realize
DeleteAh, at least you enjoyed RPO on some level. I have a copy of Freeks, but have hesitated to read it (worried about that romance aspect)
ReplyDeleteI did, I didn't hate it, but I did struggle just a bit w/ it. Freeks is not awesome but it is good, I liked the circus elements, I'd say read it just knowing the romance happens kinda too fast.
DeleteReady Player One scares me because I rarely love books that everyone else does. I'm waiting until my expectations dip a little lower.
ReplyDeleteI have McGuire's October Daye series but I've never even heard of this one.
For What It's Worth
Yeah RPO was just okay for me.
Deleteyup I remember when you mentioned Freaks, The Passenger and Winter of the Gods. I also remember you were especially disappointed about the later because you really like The Immortals.! That's why I never finish series. No expectations = no disappointments [or an excuse to be a lazy reader lol]
ReplyDeleteFreeks I liked, all told. The Passenger was just okay, and Winter of the Gods was ugh. In fact it had me wondering if I really did like The Immortals that ???
DeleteI really enjoyed Discount Armageddon, but it took me a while to get into it too. Still have yet to read the sequel, but I will eventually since I own a copy!
ReplyDeleteYeah I've been planning on reading the sequels too, one of these days. I liked the mice!!
DeleteI was shocked when I saw RPO here *gasp* but your explanation makes sense lol! I adored it to be honest but I know other blogger friends who weren't sold on it as hard as I was :) I haven't read any of the others here so I can't comment haha!
ReplyDeleteI know? I thought I'd be the only one, was surprised to see others struggled with it!
DeleteI *loved* Ready Player One - BUT. But I listened to the audio book which was read by the uber-ultra king-of-geekdom Wil Wheaton, so that was pretty awesome. I'm not really into video games, but I enjoyed the treasure hunt, puzzles, and especially all of the '80s pop culture. :) The Passenger and Mr. Penumbra are both on my TBR, but now after seeing them on your list I'm not so sure about them.
ReplyDeleteI've heard it's a GREAT listen, so maybe that adds something to the experience. I enjoyed the references too. I would say Penumbra's is worth a read. The PAssenger was just meh.
DeleteI've wanted to read Freeks since the beginning of the year, but never got around to it. From what you say of the romance, I have a feeling I won't enjoy it particularly because of it. Another book to strike off the TBR.
ReplyDeleteAw, I hope if you do give it a chance you like it. The romance just seems kinda fast, that's all. I did like the circus-y elements tho.
DeleteI agree with you about Freeks. There was goodness there, but the romance wasn't actually necessary I thought. Didn't even give book one of Brodsky's series a go. Gave it a half-way go and just couldn't make it allthe way through. Still searching for a good mythology book though.
ReplyDeleteAgreed. Sorry you didn't like Brodsky's, I liked the first one but thr second one- no way.
DeleteYup, I was hoping for more from The Passenger. I hope you like RPO, I've heard it's great on audio!
ReplyDeleteRPO was much better as an audiobook. I couldn't get into it reading it on my kindle but the audiobook captured me and kept me engaged till the end. Kinda funny, like people who think the movie is better than the book. Lol.
ReplyDelete