Hey pals,
We are getting close to wrapping up the year, I’m putting up a video in the next few weeks about all the books I own but still need to read, so my full TBR that I want to try and demolish in 2021 before rebuilding a new collection of books to be read! Today, I thought I would talk about the most daunting and intimidating books on my TBR and why they feel that way to me and possibly why I’ve struggled to complete TBRs I’ve made in the past.
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These three are from my Spooky Season TBR post
The Sight by David Clement Davies: “Morgra knows that one of the pups born beneath the castle holds a key to power even stronger than her own power that could give her control of this world and the next. But the pack she hunts will do anything to protect their own, even if it means setting in motion a battle that will involve all of nature, including the creature the wolves fear the most: Man.” It’s a very fat book, which is my main concern with reading this. I worry that I’ll get half way and hate it, and have wasted God knows how long reading a book I might DNF.
Dead Tomorrow by Peter James: This was a book I picked up as a part of my reading books about my local area theme, “The body of a teenager dredged from the seabed off the coast of Sussex is found to be missing its vital organs. Soon two more young bodies are found. Caitlin Beckett, a fifteen-year-old in Brighton, will die if she does not receive an urgent liver transplant. When the health system threatens to let her down, Lynn, her mother, turns in panic to the internet and discovers a broker who can provide her with a black-market organ – but at a price.” I love watching crime shows but wanted to delve into the realm of reading it. It is quite a chunky book though, so I hope the pacing is good and it’s filled with lots to keep me interested. I also relate to the topic but worry it might be gory.
Black Hills by Nora Roberts: Apparently this is classed as a Romance, Thriller, Mystery so not usually something I go for but it sounded interesting when I picked it up. “Twelve years later and Cooper has returned to run the ranch after his grandfather is injured in a fall. Though his touch still haunts her, Lil has let nothing stop her dream of opening the Chance Wildlife Refuge, but something – or someone – has been keeping a close watch. When small pranks escalate into heartless killing, the memory of an unsolved murder in these very hills has Cooper springing to action to keep Lil safe. They both know the dangers that lurk in the wild landscape of the Black Hills. And now they must work together to unearth a killer of twisted and unnatural instincts who has singled them out as prey.” Uh, bit of an odd plot but I’ll have a go.
These are from my Non-Fiction TBR post
Anti-Racism books
There is a selection of anti-racism and system dismantling ebooks I have yet to read. How To Be Anti-Racist, Superior: the Return of Race Science, Who Do You Serve Who Do You Protect?, and Heart of The Race: Black Women’s Lives in Britain. I am worried that my cognitive function won’t allow for me to read and understand these books as easily as a Neuro-Typical person. These are all books on a very important topic I want to continue improving on, but I do worry about how accessible it is going to be for me. I’m hopeful my concerns are unfounded and are just me being anxious.
The Woodpecker Story – I’ve mentioned this before, many times, but it is the story of the Woodpecker platoon of the RAF in World War Two. My great Granddad was the mechanic in this platoon and he died 11 years ago. I can’t ask him any more questions, so I hope this book will one day give me some more interesting information of what he went through during that period of his life. But I’m worried it won’t be enjoyable or about the specific events my Granddad experienced. I talked about this in my 2020 TBR video.
The Body Book: The Law Of Hunger, The Science of Strength, and Other Ways To Love Your Body By Cameron Diaz, this book is about health and learning to love and care for your body based on scientific facts. This is the important part for me, I find it’s close to impossible to find reputable sources when it comes to nutrition and fitness, and I really enjoy Cameron’s work and social media presence, and I feel like this would be a good book for me to continue learning about these things and implement them into my own life. She also has a second book on body science called The Longevity Book. Again, for me, it’s the accessibility factor I worry about and I hope that I’ll be able to understand what it is talking about.
Trans Britain – Another book I’ve mentioned a few times. The history of Trans people in Britain, a topic I don’t know much about and feel I should as a trans Brit. Interviews with different trans people. It’s quite a thick book and even though I really enjoy nonfiction, I do worry about being able to find full books interesting. I mentioned this in my Lockdown TBR video.
Falling Leaves: The Memoir of an Unwanted Chinese Daughter – A Memoir by Adeline Yen Mah, who born in 1937 North of Shanghai and the youngest child of an affluent Chinese family. She sadly suffered abuse in her youth from her ‘Eurasian’ step-mother. She eventually moved to England the America to become a physician and a writer. I’m trying to make my reading more diverse when it comes to race and heritage, because it’s very easy to pick up a book by a white British or American author in England without thinking. I’m not sure when I picked this book up, I believe when I was at university, and I’m really interested to get into this one. Almost 300 pages long, it’s an average length. Another popular book with thousands of ratings on Goodreads. Accidentally picking up a very popular book is always daunting for me because I worry it won’t live up to the feedback I’ve already seen.
Angela Carter’s books of Wayward Girls and Wicked Women, I’ve read one or two short stories from Angela Carter and I know she’s of the Gothic Literature genre, which is intimidating enough by itself. I think this is also an anthology book with multiple writers, but it’s short so hopefully even if I find it’s not for me, maybe I’ll manage to get through it. This is from my Collective Lockdown Book Haul post.
I hope you enjoyed reading this post, I’m still working on my GoodReads Challenge of 2020, I have three books left to read. Check out my video where I talk about this. I’ve also taken a look through my books at which ones have less pages and see if I can bash out a good chunk of my reading early in 2021, I may write a post on this too as it may be a helpful post for anyone looking for some shorter reads! Let me know what you think! What’s a book you want to read but are most intimidated by?
~ Artie
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