Hello everyone! I’ve decided to do up yet another bookish list post because I am not only a big fan of books (obviously) but also of lists, I love making lists. So I wanted to share with you all some of the book community’s most popular books that I have not read or even read any installment in the series. Try not to be TOO shocked with me, after all I did JUST read my first Sarah J. Maas book this year.
This is going to be a list that is a little quicker and shorter than usual!
I’ll also try to put these in order of what is the most popular (via number of Goodreads ratings) and not by how bad I feel by not having read them yet….
10.) Falling Kingdoms by Morgan Rhodes
I know, I know this one isn’t too bad but I feel like a lot of people like this series and the worst part is I have this sitting on my shelf unread as it has been for a few years. Whoops.
9.) The Young Elites by Marie Lu
While I definitely wasn’t a big fan of Marie Lu’s “Legend” I am pretty excited to read this book of hers even though I’m pretty late to the party considered the trilogy is complete now and I STILL haven’t read it. At least I won’t have to wait for the other books to come out……
8.) An Ember In The Ashes by Sabaa Tahir
I’ll get to this one…..eventually.
7.) Red Rising by Pierce Brown
I actually feel pretty bad about this one since it seems like a book and series I would enjoy but I just haven’t convinced myself to buy my own copy yet. I also probably won’t be reading this for a long time.
6.) A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas
PLEASE DON’T HURT ME! I have only read “Throne of Glass” and wasn’t too impressed but I decided to buy this one anyways because I heard the sequel is very, very good. However, I’m just not sure I’ll be one to jump on the Maas bandwagon.
5.) The Iron King by Julia Kagawa
I have heard nothing but good things about this series as well as the author Julie Kagawa and so I’m really wanting to read this book or at least one of her other ones. Not to mention I haven’t really read any Fae books and that’s something I need to check of the list.
4.) Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard
So I don’t really feel bad about not having read this yet because I’m not sure if I’ll actually like it or not. All signs point to no but I just can’t quite bring myself to delete from my TBR yet.
3.) The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey
I’m disappointed with myself for not having read this yet because I think the movie looks good and I’m the type of person who has to read it before they see it.
2.) The Maze Runner by James Dashner
This was probably the one time I went and saw the movie without reading the book and I even bought the book before the movie came out so I would read it. Now I just think it’s going to sit abandoned on my Nook forever because I don’t really have an interest in it anymore.
1.) The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
I AM SO SORRY I HAVEN’T READ THIS YET!!!!!!! It sounds so good and everyone I know loves it so much! I’m actually debating on just picking up a copy of my own so that way it stares angrily at me from my shelves and I’ll be forced to finally read it.
Have you read any of these books? What did you think?
What popular books have you not read yet?
Do you feel bad when you haven’t read super popular books?
Would you rather read popular books or underrated books?
Let me know in the comments!
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I’ve read four of these – A Court of Thorns and Roses, The Night Circus, Red Queen, and Red Rising. My favourite out of them all is the Night Circus although I’ve not read it for a while. Red Rising was pretty good but I don’t seem to be as enamoured with it as other people are and I’m still wondering whether it is worth finishing the trilogy or not. Out of them, I think Red Queen is probably the book that is overhyped. I did like it when I first read it but I tried reading the sequel and I DNF’ed it about 30 pages in.
At first I was bothered about reading all the popular books but I constantly felt let down if I didn’t like them as much as other people did. I will still read them if I want, but I’ll now do it in my own time rather than reading them alongside everyone else. Popular trilogies I haven’t read are The Hunger Games, The Maze Runner, The Fifth Wave, The Winner’s Curse, and The Lord of the Rings and I don’t feel bad that I’ve not read them because the premise of either of the series don’t grab me. Although with LoTR I’m not bothering to read that because I have a problem with Tolkien’s writing style.
At the end of the day it all comes down to personal preference and we don’t need to apologise for that.
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Glad to hear you enjoyed the Night Circus the most I have yet to hear anyone dislike that one!
I can kind of see how Red Queen is overhyped because I haven’t really heard too many great reviews for it, sorry to hear the sequel didn’t work for you though.
And I definitely agree with you on reading popular books, I don’t like to be the black sheep all the time and I definitely don’t like having my expectations be super high and then be let down by a hyped book. So I read them when I have time too!
Thanks for this wonderful, thoughtful comment I really appreciate it. I do agree that we all have different opinions and we shouldn’t be ashamed of them! 😊
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Honestly, ACOTAR will likely not sell you to Maas’s books, BUT the sequels to both that and Throne of Glass are huge improvements and what got me hooked on each series.
The Night Circus is my favorite book of all time, so I hope you enjoy it when you’re able to get to it. I personally didn’t enjoy Red Queen or The Maze Runner, but An Ember in the Ashes was not bad. I haven’t read Red Rising either – that’s definitely on my “eventually….” list, too. I hope one day you get to read some of the ones that have gone overlooked and enjoy them more than you expected 🙂
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Yes that seems to be the general consensus with Maas books is that the sequels are better. It’s hard to read the first one and not like it and then try to convince yourself to read more. Hopefully I can push through and get to all of these amazing sequels though!
I really do need to read the Night Circus desperately because I mean it when I say NO ONE has told me they hated it.
I have a feeling I probably won’t like Red Queen and I may not ever read the Maze Runner.
Hopefully I can get to at least a few of these next year! Thank you! 😁
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If it helps, Red Queen and The Night Circus are the only two I have read. I do highly recommend both though!
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It does haha, it’s always good to know I’m not the only one who hasn’t read popular books. Thanks for recommending those two, like I said I have yet to meet anyone who didn’t like the Night Circus! 😊
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I still have to read ACOTAR and Ember in the Ashes.
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Good to know I’m not the only one! 😊
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I should put ACOTAR on my Beat the Backlist TBR!!
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I’ll add my love to An Ember in the Ashes, The 5th Wave and The Night Circus (this one is probably my wife’s favorite audiobook). I’ve come to the place, though, where I don’t put pressure on myself to read the things everyone else is reading. I did once, when I did a lot of reading to make recommendations to my students, but I’m much more selective as a reader now (and still make fairly good recommendations).
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I agree that’s a good mindset to have and we should all read what we want and not JUST because it’s a hyped book. Thanks for this very thoughtful comment! 😊
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The Night Circus is defo on my TBR list! I haven’t read any other books you pointed out but if I was to pick another one that looks interesting, then it’s The Iron King… love that cover.
Hope you get to read these books on your list soon 🙂
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Thanks and good to know I’m not the only one who hasn’t read The Night Circus! It’s so popular! And yes I agree the Iron King cover is gorgeous! 😊
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I actually started listening to the audiobook version of ACOTAR last weekend and so far, I’m not disappointed even though I thought I would be! I’m smelling a bit of obvious romance coming along soon, though, so I hope that won’t be too bad ;).
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Good to hear! I think I’ll be okay with it if I just go in with low expectations. I hope you enjoy the rest though, I’d like to hear your full thoughts on the book! 😊
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I already own Red Queen and Falling Kingdom and I haven’t read either!
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I have so many popular books and new releases that haven’t been read yet too! It always makes me feel a little bad like the books may be mad at me, haha! 😊
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Like you’re letting them down. Yep.
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I haven’t read any of these either, and I am pretty ashamed of it. But I do have a copy of most of them. Now I just need to wait until I’m in the mood for them :p
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Yes exactly! I always feel bad when everyone recommends and loves books that I have yet to read and it’s worse if I own them! I’m so mood reader too so maybe our books will get read eventually haha! 😊
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I do hope so, as well. I will get to those books eventually, but I need to be excited to read them 🙂
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I still haven’t read Falling Kingdoms yet and I really, really want to!! As soon as I find the time to squeeze it in, I’ll be reading it!
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I hope you enjoy it I’d definitely like to hear your thoughts on that one! I keep saying I’ll read it but it gets put off a lot
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I haven’t read any of these either but 6! I haven’t read Throne of Glass but have to say I really enjoyed ACOTAR and of course as you have heard the sequel ACOMAF. DEFINITELY.
I’m about 180 pages into 5th wave but I have to put it aside for now because I need to try and read as many books for my dissertation as possible!
Hope that makes you feel better knowing you’re not the only one out there yet to read these!
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Glad you liked ACOTAR i really want to just get through it and see what everyone’s talking about with ACOMAF!
And yes it does make me feel a lot better! I feel like everyone but me has read some of the more popular books and it’s good to know I’m not alone! 😊
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Red Rising is amazing, I recommend it to everyone, heck I send it to everyone!!! Everyone must become a Pierce Brown groupie lol. Also I am caught up in the Falling Kingdoms series and it took me until book three until I started liking it
I’ve had the Lux series sitting on my bookshelf for over a year now… I should probably get to that.
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I have seen how cute Pierce Brown is so I definitely want to be a groupie,haha! I just haven’t gotten around to Red Rising but I do need to maybe this coming year!
If I don’t get into the first Falling Kingdoms book I don’t think I could make it to book 3, there are so many other books I need to get through.
I also hear good things about the Lux series and it’s still on my TBR too. 😊
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An Ember in the Ashes was amazing, I think you should definitely read that one (the A Torch Against the Night). These books are completely unpredictable and there are some really awesome characters. I personally really, really disliked Red Queen…I found it to be a bit of a rip-off off other YA books, I didn’t even finish it. I have some of these on my TBR list too 🙂
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Glad to hear An Ember in the Ashes is awesome AND unpredictable, if there’s one thing I love in a book it’s unpredictability! I’ve heard a few negative things about Red Queen so I don’t know if I’ll ever end up reading it at all, I hate when books are so unoriginal like that.
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I know and its such a surprise when you come across unpredictable books because a lot of them have the same themes these days. Yeah I personally wouldn’t recommend Red Queen, you’re better off saving your time for something more worth while 🙂
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Yes, I agree I feel a lot of YA books these days rip off others. And thanks for the non-recommendation, haha, I really think I probably won’t like it so it’ll end up being stricken from the TBR more than likely. 🙂
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I haven’t read a few of these, either! I actually got halfway into Falling Kingdoms and DNF’d it.
I know that is definitely an unpopular opinion to not like it. Hopefully you do when you get around to it! I wasn’t the biggest fan of Throne of Glass when I read it, either, but I actually kind of enjoyed ACOTAR! I’m still scared to pick up ACOMAF, though lol. I have Red Queen on my shelf, too, but like you, I don’t think I’ll like it, so I’m not too worried about picking it up anytime soon.
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I’ve picked up Falling Kingdoms a few times and keep setting it back down hoping I’ll go back to it but not yet. Glad to hear someone else who didn’t exactly love Throne of Glass liked ACOTAR I’m a little leery about reading it because I didn’t like ToG. I’m definitely not worried about getting to Red Queen anytime soon if ever! Glad we agree on so many of these, haha! 🙂
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I highly highly recommend reading The Night Circus! It’s such a strange, interesting, and beautiful book. I’m considering rereading it (even though I almost never do that!)
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Ah! I seriously need to read The Night Circus and I do love strange, interesting books! I have not had a single person direct me away from that book either so I’m hoping someone will maybe get it for me for Christmas and I can read it finally! 🙂
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The only two I’ve read are Red Queen and The Maze Runner. I really loved both. Most of the rest of these are books I want to read. There are just so many books to read and not nearly enough time haha
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Definitely not enough time! I get overwhelmed every time I add books to my TBR or look over at my bookshelf, haha! Glad to hear you enjoyed both of those! 🙂
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Reading this made me feel so much less alone, haha. From this list I’ve only read A Court of Thorn and Roses and The Maze Runner. I wasn’t a fan of ACOTAR and I loved the first 2 TMR books, but the last one ruined the whole series for me. The rest are on my TBR though. I really want to read The Young Elites!
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I feel you, I love posts like this because then I can be relieved that I’m not the only one who hasn’t read a super popular book! I didn’t really love Throne of Glass and I have a feeling I may not be crazy about ACOTAR either but my brain keeps telling me MAYBE I’ll finally like a Maas book. As for The Maze Runner I may never actually finish it because of all the books I have I want to read more but we’ll see I usually don’t like going for a series knowing the books fizzle out.
I really want to get to The Young Elites as well, especially since the trilogy is finished and come on who doesn’t want to read about an anti-heroine? 🙂
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OMW! You have to, have to, have to read The Night Circus before the year is over – it’s amazing! I still have to read Red Rising, ACOTAR & The 5th wave, those three are pretty high on my TBR, especially Red Rising! Red Queen wasn’t spectacular, but I’m excited to hear your thoughts on it 😊
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I know! I keep feeling guilty because I know it’s one of your favorite books AND everyone else says it’s amazing seriously I have yet to see a person hate that book! Hopefully someone will buy it for me for Christmas and I can finally read it! Red Queen isn’t very high up on my list but I do want to take a chance on and see. As for the others I bought them and they sit on my shelf because I “had to buy them” and …there they sit, haha! 🙂
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Yes!! Put it in your wishlist 😊 Oh well, we all have books that have been on our shelves for years that we don’t read. One day we’ll get it under control 😊
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Yes hopefully and if I don’t get this book for Christmas I am going out and buying it because I definitely need it, haha! 🙂
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Great list… though, it makes me feel like such a slacker. If it makes you feel any better, I’ve read absolutely none of these books. In fact, I’ve only read my first HALF of a Sarah J Maas book– Throne of Glass– and I wasn’t even convinced enough to finish it yet. Though, I do own An Ember in Ashes and The Night Circus. They’re just such big books and my end-of-year brain cannot handle that.
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Thank you! Don’t feel like a slacker! There are sooo many popular books a lot of us haven’t read so you aren’t alone! And when I first tried reading “Throne of Glass” I had to put it down for a few months because I just didn’t like it all that much then had to push myself to finish it. So don’t feel bad if you don’t finish it or don’t like it because it isn’t just you (which it feels like sometimes because it’s such a popular series!). 🙂
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