So, I’m going to start this new thing. I’m not sure anyone will even care :). However, I heart thebookrat.com and she does this deal where she presents five books that have been lingering on her shelves for a while and lets her readers vote on what she’ll read next.
I *might* have this little problem where I read by flavor. (See previous post.) Sometimes, I buy a book or two or nine ahead on that flavor and then get distracted by a new flavor. Leaving behind a book or nine that I don’t finish until the next time I have a taste for paranormal fiction or classic romances or vampire fiction or whatnot.
The problem with this game is I don’t think anyone but me cares what I read. Regardless, I’ll list the books. If people vote, great. If they don’t, I’ll read one of them of my choosing instead. But I’ll still read through at least one of those lingering, been on my shelves for a while, books a month.
This months stack of old books I’ve owned for who knows how long?
We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson
A Great and Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray
Forgive My Fins by Tera Lynn Childs
Delirium by Lauren Oliver
Deathless by Catherynne Valente
Tunnels by Roderick Gordon
Feel free to vote by color, cover, title, or spite. I bought these books for any of those reasons. (Except spite.) In fact, I bought Deathless and We Have Always Lived in the Castle because I love other books by those authors. I bought Tunnels on the recommendation of a friend’s child. I bought A Great and Terrible Beauty when I was in a gaslight fantasy phase and then it didn’t arrive before I’d moved on, and I bought both Forgive My Fins and Delirium because I thought the covers were pretty.
You know what would be amazing? If there was something in this list you wanted to read too, and we read it together! I’m just saying…..
If you want to vote, just leave a comment.
~Amanda
ps, I found these books by looking through my amazon orders. Um….I don’t want to talk about how many books I’ve purchased but haven’t read yet or the number of orders I have for any given year. Turns out, though, I made my first amazon purchase in 2002. Or….that’s as far as their history goes.
~Amanda
Amanda A. Allen 
We have always lived in the castle! It’s short, so you can always read a different one too.
Man, I so loved The Haunting of Hill House it surprises me I haven’t read this one yet.
I vote for ‘A great and terrible beauty’ just because the cover looks less like a scary book than the others. And if you want to read with others to talk about the book, why don’t you come to our book club? We’ll read one of your suggestions and we’ll come to your place, so that you can keep an eye on Tiny Pants. Just an idea 🙂
I love that idea. I have no idea whose really in the book club…so, you’re officially in charge.
I vote for We Have Always Lived in the Castle too.
Based on the covers alone, I would probably choose “Delirium.” But “We Have Always Lived In The Castle” looks creepy.
It will be creepy em. She was lovely. Delirium, BTW, is a post apocalyptic/ dystopian future where “Love” has been cured with some sort of medical procedure.
I vote for A Great and Terrible Beauty. I have no reason. (-;
Is it because you’re both great and beautiful?
I heart Libba Bray! I vote for ‘A Great and Terrible Beauty.’ Btw, even though it doesn’t look creepy, it kinda is. However, all of them look interesting to me. I would read any one of them, including re-reading ‘A Great and Terrible Beauty.’
Have you read all of Libba Bray?
I read the Gemma Doyle series about 4 years ago and loved it and just recently read ‘The Diviners’ and loved that. I have not read ‘Beauty Queens’ or ‘Going Bovine’ because the storylines weren’t as appealing to me. I love her writing style; it is more sophisticated than typical YA fiction.
I actually have Gemma Doyles, the Diviners, and Going Bovine regardless that I haven’t read any of her. Isn’t that insane? But I did buy all the The Diviners in the bargain type bin. I LOVE books set in the 20s, so the Diviners is on my list of highly-anticipated books. I plan to start A Great and Terrible Beauty just as soon as I finish We Have Always Lived in the Castle. That’s so short, I think I’ll finish it today.
I vote for: 1) We have Always Lived In the Castle – I think it sound really fun and creepy. or 2) A Great and Terrible Beauty – I’ve thought of reading this many times, but have never been sure if I really wanted to.