10 Books That I Put Down That I Want to Pick Back Up Again (Well, Eventually) ft. my dumb stories

I make a habit of dnf’ing books randomly, when I’m literally in the middle of them.

I just put them down… and don’t pick them up, ever again?

But there’s a few, select, lucky few books that I know I will eventually pick back up again!! And hopefully I will enjoy the second time that I try to read them.

Like, it’s not that I put it down because these books were genuinely of low quality or subpar writing… I might have just been bored. Or I wanted to do something else. I don’t know.

Anyways, I haven’t done a book list in a while, so if anyone who’s been a long-lasting reader of my blog remembers at all, I’m excited to do one again!

(Also, I haven’t posted in a while shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. And I haven’t replied to any comments I PROMISE to catch up this month. How do y’all bear with me.)

{all covers link to goodreads}

The Way You Make Me Feel  /  maurene goo

Firstly, I will forever scream whenever I see this cover. *heart eyes at the ombre of the colors and whatever model is doing with her hand on her face*

Also, I don’t know why I just stopped reading this book?? I was a good 20% into it and mildly enjoying myself when I just… stopped.

I’m so sorry for disappointing my fellow East Asian brethren I won’t let you down again. I didn’t even get to the part where the romance kicked in… what was I doing.

Escaping from Houdini  /  kerri maniscalco

So, I was really lucky to be one of the people that got a physical arc of this book when I was at BookCon!! I was so jazzed, you guys.

Within a couple of months (I totally forgot the timeline), I started reading the book and I really liked it! But then (!!!) I realized that the main character was Audrey and the love interest was Thomas and they already had an established relationship.

I was SO SURPRISED and taken aback because for some reason, I thought that all of the novels in this series were all separate novels with completely different characters? I felt really sad because I actually had been enjoying the book, but I’ll wait until I’ve read the first two books to read this one!!

Forest of a Thousand Lanterns  /  julie c. dao

Team, I am still so sad about this one.

This novel was literally My Most Anticipated Novel of 2017 because CHINESE-INSPIRED FANTASY. YES.

I got a copy of this via booksfortrade on Twitter (I don’t go on there anymore) after… several months… of waiting (I’m still a little salty) and I was so excited! I tried to buddy read it with my dear fellow Chinese friend, Kai, but we both couldn’t get past the initial 30%??? Us??? It was… wild.

I’m definitely going to pick this up again, even though I’ve heard it’s not that good and kind of falters in some areas. I’m just going to read it so I can get that backstory for the sequel, Kingdom of the Blazing Phoenix ✌️✌️

The Elephant Vanishes  /  haruki murakami

I received this along with 1Q84 (also by Haruki Murakami) for Christmas from my older sister’s boyfriend, and I had no recognition of this author but now I know that he’s a renowned author whose works are translated from Japanese!

Anyways, I tried to start reading this novel and I was really confused as to the meanings of the stories (but still intrigued) but then I stopped midway through the book because I wanted to sleep.

I still want to pick this up again because I know a lot of people loved his books and that they have a lot of symbolism / meaning to people (particularly to those who are Japanese).

The Darkest Part of the Forest  /  holly black

*the two readers of this post boo at me*

And, well… I know, right?? What am I doing??

Yeah, so I was reading this book and it was really engaging and then I suddenly decided to go to sleep (are you noticing a pattern here) and I left the paperback in a laundry basket and NEVER FOUND MY COPY AGAIN.

Until, like, a month ago?? I found it inside a random tote bag inside the garage? I think my mom found it and put it there lmaooo.

My copy is kind of beat up now 😦 but I’m still going to read this within the next two years?? Hopefully? The idea of a prince fairy being locked inside a glass coffin is so intriguing and I also loved Holly Black’s The Cruel Prince, so.

My Name is Daniel Tate  /  cristin terrill

I started reading this in a Barnes and Noble (yes I did that… don’t judge me I am very much a broke child) and I remember being so intensely captivated by the story and I was just very… into it and I think I was almost halfway through? But then we had to leave the store, and what was I supposed to do?? buy the book?? [laughs in poor] I think not.

Anyways, I really want to pick this up again because I know there’s an unreliable narrator and apparently there’s a terribly predictable twist at the end. Also, this cover looks like one of those Pictagram collages I made back when I thought I was cool, but I still kind of dig it.

Tess of the Road  /  rachel hartman

Okay, I had both a digital review copy & I got a physical arc via booksfortrade and… I regret getting the arc because the final copy cover is gorgeous (!!) but the arc cover is not. It literally is dark blue, says “Tess of the Road,” and some blurbs. That’s it.

I honestly will never ever ever get over this cover!!! That dragon is so amazing and cool and so is the city design behind it omgg.

Also, I got like 50% (?) into the digital copy and I just eventually put it down because it was getting a little boring but I still want to pick it up because there’s a gender-fluid lizard and I want to get into the meat of the fantasy story, please.

This is a companion novel to the Seraphina series which my friend absolutely adored so that made me so much more excited to read it!!

Busted  /  Gina Ciocca

This is about a girl who basically becomes a hire-able snoop who checks on people’s boyfriends (and see if they’re cheating) and the main character falls in love with one of the boys she’s investigating, so when I first saw the synopsis I was so here for it.

And then I started the first couple chapters via ebook and I was just… not that into it?? #LolThat’sAwkward

I’M STILL COMPELLED BY THE PLOT THOUGH. I didn’t really get to the romantic part either, so I feel like when the plot kicks up I’ll be more invested in the storyline and the characters!

Strange the Dreamer  /  laini taylor

I really, really loved Laini Taylor’s Daughter of Smoke and Bone* books (aka the first two books + the novella) and her writing is so gorgeous and I love her characters SO MUCH. I would put my life on the line for Zuzana, ok.

But I… read the first chapter and I was not here for it in that specific moment, and I think it was just the mood that I was in. Laini’s writing is so pretty, but it can also be overwhelming at certain moments.

Also, whoooooo loves the UK covers more than the US covers??? and why???? Did you see those moth outlines in the US cover??? And that foil thingy?? Yeah, that’s what I thought.

*Y’all, when I first wrote out the title I put “Daughter of Smoke and Bone”??????

Natalie Tan’s Book of Luck and Fortune  /  roselle lim

I started buddy reading this with Shealea because I had a digital arc and I actually had to put it down because I couldn’t get past the first chapter! I actually didn’t realize that the main character’s mother died in the first chapter (so definitely cw for familial death/grief), and the writing is really thick— which is good, but not what I expected. I kind of expected a bustling book about happy cooking??

Anyways, I’m still fully planning to read this because I’m still interested, it publishes in June, and also because I now have a physical arc: HUGE HUGE SHOUTOUT to Melanie for sending me this??? (She also sent me two other books? I’m cryinf.) Thank you so much?? I DO NOT DESERVE.

It’s so gorgeous in person, I’m still sobbing.

Life update… y’all, I’m going to see Avengers: Endgame in two days and I am so so so excited to watch it aaaah!! I went onto Youtube and the feed was like “here’s the REAL reason these characters aren’t part of the mcu anymore” and there was a thumbnail with certain superheroes on it and I was just like, the audacity ???????????? I’m honestly just hoping it was clickbait at this point, because I absolutely loved that character goodbYE.

HAVE YOU DNF’D ANY OF THESE BOOKS?

HAVE YOU READ ANY OF THESE BOOKS + ARE YOU DISAPPOINTED I DIDN’T FINISH THEM?

WHAT ARE SOME NOVELS THAT YOU PUT DOWN BUT ARE PLANNING TO STILL READ?