Top Ten Tuesday: Unread books on my shelf

• Siobhan O'Brien Holmes
• 3 comments

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl and it’s so much fun. My contributions will naturally be heavily kidlit skewed! 

I’ve gone with my own prompt today: books that have been sitting unread on my shelf the longest! I really want to read all of these, and I’ve already started some but, for some reason or other, didn’t manage to finish them and need to start again! I find it difficult to give up on a novel but over the years I’ve made peace with the fact that sometimes, it’s just not the right time for a certain book. I might be enjoying it but just can’t quite get into it or give it my full attention right now, and I need to cut it loose and keep it for later instead of slowly slogging through for the sake of it, particularly as I have a lot of books to get through thanks to my job!

1. Last Day on Mars by Kevin Emerson | I started this middle grade space opera years ago as research for an editorial report I was writing on a client’s book and never had the chance to get past the first chapter. I can’t remember anything about it but the blurb described it as Gravity meets The Martian which is up my street!

2. White Cat by Holly Black | I love everything Holly Black writes but never got around to starting this YA fantasy about a world where only 1% of the population can perform magic and have been driven underground.

3. All of the Above by Juno Dawson | I always say I love Juno Dawson because I’ve seen her on tons of panels and briefly met her at a writing class over a decade ago but I’ve actually only read one of her books – Say Her Name – so I’d love to finally get around to this one, which has been sitting on my shelf for yeeeears.

4. The Haunting by Alex Bell | Alex Bell is one of my favourite kidlit authors and I adored Frozen Charlotte and Charlotte Says so I’m sure I’ll love this YA horror from the same Red Eye collection by Little Tiger.

5. Threads That Bind by Kika Hatzopoulou | I picked this Greek mythology-inspired dark fantasy up after watching the author on a panel at YALC. It’s a gorgeous book and I really enjoyed the first chapter but for some reason I had to pause and read something else.

6. Rebel Skies by Ann Sei Lin | I also grabbed this after seeing the author at YALC. The premise is so unique and gorgeous (Japanese paper magic), but I haven’t managed to read it yet.

7. Red hood by Elana K. Arnold | I have no memory of buying this 😅 It’s a YA dark fantasy with Little Red Riding Hood vibes and sounds excellent.

8. Straight on til Morning by Liz Braswell | Ths is a middle grade Twisted Tales reimagining of Peter Pan told from Wendy’s POV as she tries to save Peter and Tinkerbell from Hook.

9. Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi | I’ve had this book FOREVER and I know it’s amazing because everybody tells me so all the time but for some reason I haven’t read it yet! It’s next on my list.

10. The Fire Sermon by Francesca Haig | I grabbed this for research because a client listed it as an influence on their book, and I read a couple of chapters to get a feel for the story but didn’t have time to finish it. It’s a YA fantasy about two twins – one perfect, one who must be cast aside, but nobody knows which is which.