Top Ten Tuesday: How Am I Doing On My Backlist Books?

Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together.

This week’s topic is the goals we still want to accomplish in the remainder of 2023. Well, I didn’t take part in the goals and resolutions prompt, but I gave that one a spin. I listed 10 backlist books i want to read in 2023 and now it’s time to reflect on this list. Spoiler alert: I won’t make my reading challenge, at all. I’ve read 70 out of the 100 books I set as goal, but that’s most likely not going to happen. So, how am I doing on the backlist?

  • Beautiful Mess by Claire Christian – No, I still haven’t read this. In fact, I forgot about it already. Maybe it’s time to permanently remove it from the TBR and my Kindle. Has any of you read it and can you tell me whether it’s worth it?
  • The Things We Leave Unfinished by Rebecca Yarrros – Yes, I read this. [review]
  • The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne – Confession time! I still haven’t picked this one up.
  • Instant karma by Marissa Meyer – I think I have to unhaul this one. It doesn’t speak to me at all anymore and nobody is talking about it either. However, I’m afraid I can’t return this title on Audible anymore since it’s “too old”.
  • One Of Us is Next by Karen M. McManus – Guilty, I haven’t read this book either. However, One Of Us is Lying also made it to this list and I’ve finished that one though. When reading, I noticed that I’m getting too old for these kind of books. [review]
  • I Wish You All the Best by Mason Deaver – This was a solid 5-star read for me. [review]
  • Kiss & Tell by Adib Khorram – I notice that a lot of these backlist titles are YA and I’m slowly drifting away from that genre. So, you might be guessing already that I haven’t picked this book up either.
  • The Murders at Fleat House by Lucinda Riley – I’m a little ashamed to say I haven’t read this book either. I have read Atlas though, but that’s not a backlist title.
  • Confess by Colleen Hoover – Guilty again, I haven’t picked this book up. I did so with several other books by this author so I think I can’t do this one anymore for now.
  • Noughts & Crosses by Malorie Blackman – Oh dear, I even forgot about this. This is an older YA and I tend to enjoy these more than the current YA books, so we’ll see!

Verdict: Out of the 10 backlist titles I listed in January 2023, I’ve only read 2. I think I have some work to do here, haven’t I?

What reading goals would you like to accomplish before the year is over?


Comments

17 responses to “Top Ten Tuesday: How Am I Doing On My Backlist Books?”

  1. Sounds like purging makes sense considering your change in reading material. Think I am also going to make that purge by year end. Seventy plus books is a great accomplishment. I’m hoping to make 55 by the end of the year. Good luck with your goals.

    https://thebookconnectionccm.blogspot.com/2023/10/top-ten-tuesday-top-ten-bookish.html

  2. I Wish You All the Best sounds like a good one!

  3. Instant Karma is a book I want to read too!

  4. All the best with your reading list!

  5. All the best with your reading list. Have a great week.

  6. Honestly I have done about as well as you in a backlist challenge this year!

  7. It’s interesting to see how our reading tastes and priorities can change, even from month to month. I’m glad you read and enjoyed some of these at least.

    Happy TTT!

    Susan
    http://www.blogginboutbooks.com

  8. Great list of books to read, and great job at the ones you have finished. Good luck in finishing the others.

  9. masterspj Avatar
    masterspj

    Earlier this year, I listed six books I wanted to read this year. Sadly, I’ve only picked up one; it was a DNF. 🙁 But there’s still time in the year when I hope to read a few more of them.

    Pam @ Read! Bake! Create!
    https://readbakecreate.com/2023-reading-challenge-updates/

  10. Good luck! You still have time to read them all. 🙂

  11. The Boy in the Striped Pajamas is a great story. I teach it to my English 9 Honors kiddos. It’s a tear-jerker for sure. Have kleenex!

  12. I’ll have to read Noughts & Crosses sometime soon. I’ve heard it’s worth it!

  13. Always hard to stick to backlist when there are so many other books coming out. I hope you are about to pick up a few more of these before the year is over.

    1. Also because I get more annoyed with YA now 🙂

  14. I think if you open your book by Lucinda Riley, you will devour it in no time – I haven’t read this one, but was so impressed by that one: https://wordsandpeace.com/2013/06/05/i-love-france-53-book-review-the-lavender-garden/

  15. 70 books is impressive! You may want to skip The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas (https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/jan/27/the-boy-in-the-striped-pyjamas-fuels-dangerous-holocaust-fallacies)–for a better YA book about the Holocaust, from an actual Jewish perspective, I’d recommend The Devil’s Arithmetic by Jane Yolen.

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