For some reason, I never read popular books or series when they’re at the height of their popularity. It doesn’t matter whether I end up absolutely loving them when I do eventually get around to reading them, but I never do it until after all the hype has died down and people have moved on. Then again, with the sheer length of my TBR list, maybe it’s not such a surprise that I haven’t gotten to some of these books yet. At any rate, because of this bad habit, there are quite a few bestselling series that I haven’t caught up with yet. I’m not proud to admit some of these.
Harry Potter | J. K. Rowling
I always feel like someone should take my fantasy lover’s card away from me whenever I have to admit to the fact that I haven’t yet read any of the Harry Potter books. Especially knowing how big a part they’ve been of so many people’s childhoods. I have watched the majority of the first movie, which was actually pretty good and just strengthens my conviction that this is probably something I should have read by now. I think part of what holds me back from reading Harry Potter is simply that it’s so popular. As a fantasy author myself, whenever I explain that I write fantasy, the automatic response is ‘Oh, like Harry Potter?’. It’s a silly thing to hold against it, but when you get asked that question regularly, it’s hard not to feel frustrated. I want to be the first Imogen Elvis, not the next J. K. Rowling. And not every fantasy book is going to be wizards at school like Harry Potter is.
Hunger Games | Suzanne Collins
It’s been over ten years since the first Hunger Games came out, which suggests to me that I am just a little behind the times when it comes to this series. It sounds right up my alley as well. A dystopian book with strong sisterly bonds and certain death in an elaborate game show? Sign me up. I even have the whole trilogy on my Kindle, so you’d think that maybe I should have read these books before now. And I do intend to catch up at some point. Just, with my track record, I’m not holding my breath on when that will be.
Twilight | Stephanie Meyer
I remember when the Twilight books were at their most popular. All my friends were reading them, lending around their copies of the books, or borrowing them from the libraries and not telling their parents. I know that they have a bit of a bad reputation now, but they were certainly very popular back then. For me though, vampire books have never really been a genre I’ve enjoyed much, and neither are romances, so a series that’s a teen romance involving vampires wasn’t really a draw for me. Also the vampires sparkle and I really can’t get past how ridiculous that sounds to me. I know that there’s a lot more to the books than that, but when they’re not genres that I enjoy very much, I’d prefer just to let people love the Twilight books as much as they want, and I’ll stick to genres that are a little more my speed.
The Mortal Instruments | Cassandra Clare
Cassandra Clare’s books have always had such a good reputation. A fantasy series about family, demon hunting and magic does have rather a good sound to it. My library actually has the whole series, which great for me, as I tend to discover most of my new reads at the library, as my budget doesn’t stretch to buying books very often, unfortunately. I may pick this on up in the future. I really can’t be much later to the party than I am at the moment, seeing as there are several companion series at this point. More for me to catch up if I ever get around to reading The Mortal Instruments, I guess.
Game of Thrones | G. R. R. Martins
You can’t touch the fantasy genre without hearing something about the Game Of Thrones books. The first thing I ever knew about them was that they were intimidatingly long, and the audiobook version were going to take several days to listen to. Now I know that there are dragons and battles and winter is coming and anyone can die, so don’t get too attached to the characters. Unfortunately, some of the other, less savoury elements of the series puts me off reading this one. I’m very happy for everyone else to love it, but something that dark and gritty, with questionable morals isn’t really my speed.
Now it’s your turn. What’s a popular book or series that everyone else has read and loved, but you’ve not yet picked up? What’s the one book that you feel bad telling people you haven’t read yet? Do you read books when they’re at their most popular, or wait for some of the hype to die down first?
I’m with you on four out of the five here!! So glad I’m not alone. xD Though I will try and bump up the Hunger Games for you: I’m completing my first read-through of all the books right now. And wow wow wow, the character dynamics and tension throughout is amazing! Maybe try and read them before the prequel comes out? 😉