You know how, sometimes, you’re scared to start reading a book? Because, you know… It might disappoint you? Or even worse: it might be distinctly average, and you’re just left cold by something you had been really anticipating? That’s basically what the best of my tbr is for: the books that I knew I wanted to read as soon as I saw them. So I added them to my TBR. And then I got scared. Because, you know, what if they’re not what I’ve made them up to be?
1. Me and Earl and the Dying Girl
This book, in theory, has everything I could like. And if I remember right, a lot of people were gushing about it a little while back. And as I’m writing this, the book is literally standing next to me – waiting to be read. So why haven’t I started it yet? I dunno. (Goodreads)
Up until senior year, Greg has maintained total social invisibility. He only has one friend, Earl, and together they spend their time—when not playing video games and avoiding Earl’s terrifying brothers— making movies, their own versions of Coppola and Herzog cult classics. Greg would be the first one to tell you his movies are f*@$ing terrible, but he and Earl don’t make them for other people. Until Rachel.
Rachel has leukemia, and Greg’s mom gets the genius idea that Greg should befriend her. Against his better judgment and despite his extreme awkwardness, he does. When Rachel decides to stop treatment, Greg and Earl must abandon invisibility and make a stand. It’s a hilarious, outrageous, and truthful look at death and high school by a prodigiously talented debut author.
2. A Wrinkle in Time
This one is also standing next to me. Next to the previous book, actually. And I’ve had it for a while. This time, though, there’s an added fear: what if I do like it? And then I have to buy and read the entire series? Cuz, you know… Me :p (Goodreads)
It was a dark and stormy night; Meg Murry, her small brother Charles Wallace, and her mother had come down to the kitchen for a midnight snack when they were upset by the arrival of a most disturbing stranger.”Wild nights are my glory,” the unearthly stranger told them. “I just got caught in a downdraft and blown off course. Let me be on my way. Speaking of way, by the way, there is such a thing as a tesseract”.Meg’s father had been experimenting with this fifth dimension of time travel when he mysteriously disappeared. Now the time has come for Meg, her friend Calvin, and Charles Wallace to rescue him. But can they outwit the forces of evil they will encounter on their heart-stopping journey through space?
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3. Dumplin
Basically, if too many people say a book is great, I start to hesitate on reading it, and that is 100% what happened with this one. (Goodreads)
Self-proclaimed fat girl Willowdean Dickson (dubbed “Dumplin’” by her former beauty queen mom) has always been at home in her own skin. Her thoughts on having the ultimate bikini body? Put a bikini on your body. With her all-American beauty best friend, Ellen, by her side, things have always worked…until Will takes a job at Harpy’s, the local fast-food joint. There she meets Private School Bo, a hot former jock. Will isn’t surprised to find herself attracted to Bo. But she is surprised when he seems to like her back.Instead of finding new heights of self-assurance in her relationship with Bo, Will starts to doubt herself. So she sets out to take back her confidence by doing the most horrifying thing she can imagine: entering the Miss Clover City beauty pageant—along with several other unlikely candidates—to show the world that she deserves to be up there as much as any twiggy girl does. Along the way, she’ll shock the hell out of Clover City—and maybe herself most of all.With starry Texas nights, red candy suckers, Dolly Parton songs, and a wildly unforgettable heroine—Dumplin’ is guaranteed to steal your heart.
4. The Last Beginning
In this case, it’s mainly just a matter of “I read and liked the first part and what if the second part doesn’t live up to that?”. That’s it, really. (Goodreads)
The epic conclusion to Lauren James’s debut The Next Together about true love and reincarnation.Sixteen years ago, after a scandal that rocked the world, teenagers Katherine and Matthew vanished without a trace. Now Clove Sutcliffe is determined to find her long lost relatives.But where do you start looking for a couple who seem to have been reincarnated at every key moment in history? Who were Kate and Matt? Why were they born again and again? And who is the mysterious Ella, who keeps appearing at every turn in Clove’s investigation?For Clove, there is a mystery to solve in the past and a love to find in the future, and failure could cost the world everything.
5. The End of Your Life Book Club
And to finish us off, a book where I know with absolute certainty why I’m scared to read it. The last time I read a book about a book club? I got kinda disappointed. And that was a Jane Austen book club. Can you imagine with one that’s not even about her? (Goodreads)
The inspiring story of a son and his dying mother, who form a “book club” that brings them together as her life comes to a close.Mary Anne Schwalbe is waiting for her chemotherapy treatments when Will casually asks her what she’s reading. The conversation they have grows into tradition: soon they are reading the same books so they can have something to talk about in the hospital waiting room. The ones they choose range from classic to popular, from fantastic to spiritual, and we hear their passion for reading and their love for each other in their intimate and searching discussions.A profoundly moving testament to the power of love between a child and parent, and the power of reading in our lives.
Are there any books that you really want to read, but you just can’t? Because, you know… They sound just about too good to be true? Be sure to let me know below!
-Saar
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