Top Ten Tuesday: Books By My Favourite Authors That I Still Haven’t Read

This week’s Top Ten Tuesday, we’re drawing attention to unread books by favourite authors! I tend to read around a lot, so there are a lot of authors who I’ve only read a few books by – here’s ten of them:

Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman

I was SO EXCITED for this book. I’m a big fan of mythology and folk tales, plus I love Neil Gaiman, so this book is perfect for me. But I haven’t read it yet, despite having owned it for a good year and a half! I’ve read maybe a third of it, but don’t know why I stopped – I know I was enjoying reading it! It feels like a good book to read over Christmas to me, so hopefully I’ll have read it by the end of this year.

Monsters of Men by Patrick Ness

I first discovered Patrick Ness through More Than This, after his Chaos Walking trilogy was complete. I’ve read the first two books in the series, but I’m just not as engaged with it as I am his more recent fantasy/sci-fi/contemporary fiction. Having said that, I feel I need to finish reading the trilogy someday!

Conrad’s Fate by Diana Wynne Jones

I’m deliberately pacing myself reading Diana Wynne Jones’ books as I know there will never be any new ones published (cry). I’m thoroughly enjoying the Chrestomanci series, averaging reading one book a year, and am excited to read the next tale in the sequence (but not until 2019).

Villette by Charlotte Brönte

I often cite Charlotte Brönte as one of my favourite classic authors…but I’ve only read Jane Eyre. I definitely need to rectify this ASAP, particularly as I named my cat Bronte!

Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen

I never expected to enjoy reading Jane Austen – the first 100 pages of Pride and Prejudice were TORTURE – but after pushing through I found them to be surprisingly funny! I’ve actually read three of her six novels at this point (although I don’t remember Northanger Abbey at all as it was one I skim read at university), so I’m committed to reading the full set.

The Rental Heart and Other Fairytales by Kirsty Logan

Words cannot express how much I love Kirsty Logan’s writing. She writes queer folk tales in a beautiful lyrical style – i.e. EVERYTHING I most love in fiction – so I need to read this book of short stories from her backlist someday.

Swing Time by Zadie Smith

On paper, Zadie Smith’s novels aren’t something I’d expect to enjoy – I’d compare them to soap operas, which I’ve never been a fan of – but her writing is funny and tackles deeper themes, particularly in relation to race. I’ve read White Teeth, On Beauty, and NW so far, so I need to read her most recent novel.

The Casual Vacancy by J. K. Rowling

I’ll be honest: I’m probably never going to read this. I tried to read the first Comoran Strike novel, but either I don’t like J. K. Rowling’s non-children’s writing or it’s just my dislike of crime novels, but I couldn’t get into it. I haven’t heard anything good about The Casual Vacancy and I don’t want to waste precious reading time.

A Darker Shade of Magic by V. E. Schwab

After reading Vicious, I put A Darker Shade of Magic on my TBR immediately. But after several years, I’ve still never picked it up! Every time I consider buying it, there’s another book I’m more desperate to read for some reason. Maybe I’ll read A Darker Shade of Magic someday, but that day will probably mean there are no books I’m excited to read, which is a troubling thought, so who knows if I’ll ever read it?

Girl Meets Boy by Ali Smith

Ali Smith is one of those authors who writes in a way you either love or don’t understand at all. She’s relaxed about punctuation, narrative perspective jumps around, and it can be difficult to follow exactly what the book is about anyway. I started off reading Autumn as I was intrigued by the idea of a post-Brexit novel (there are a lot of books that fall into this camp now, I wouldn’t be surprised if it becomes a field of study someday), and I fell in love with Ali Smith’s writing style. While I wait for the third book in the series (presumably called Spring), I’m planning on dipping into her backlist a little.

Which of your favourite authors’ books haven’t you read?