Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten Books I Just Had To Buy...But Are Still Sitting On My Bookshelf

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted at The Broke and the Bookish, and this week seemed particularly appropriate for me because I do this all the time.  Most of the books on my shelf are a product of me going "that sounds awesome, I must have that, I will read it immediately...ooh, that sounds even more awesome, I must have that, I will read it instead" ad infinitum (either that or are a result of needing a third book for Waterstone's 3 for 2 offers).  Then there are the ones I've bought for university courses/essays and not read.  And the ones I asked for for Christmas and haven't read.  Or those that I bought because someone online recommended it, or I read the author's blog and they seemed cool.

To be honest, picking ten might be tricky...

1. The Amber Spyglass by Philip Pullman - because I slid off the end of The Subtle Knife, went "what the hell?  How can you stop there, you evil man?" and then dashed in town to get the third book.  Which I've never finished reading.

2. Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Seth Grahame-Smith - it's Pride and Prejudice...with zombies.  The Bennet sisters fight zombies.  Darcy fights zombies.  I think characters I dislike become zombies. How could I not have that in my life?

3. The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters - I love Sarah Waters, I'm pretty sure I pre-ordered this because I'm such a fan of her work - and then I didn't read it.

4. Nation by Terry Pratchett - it's Terry Pratchett, if he publishes I buy.  Then I hear that it's quite bleak and even though one of my favourite Discworlds is Night Watch, I put off reading it.

5. Possession by A.S. Byatt - practically all of my friends have recommended this to me, even those whose reading tastes vary wildly.  It has been sitting there for years and I haven't touched it.  I like to think I'm saving it till I'm older.

6. The Girl Who Played With Fire by Stieg Larsson - read The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo and had to buy the remaining two.  They have now been sitting, unread, on my shelves for over a year.

7. The Fourth Bear by Jasper Fforde - I love the Thursday Next books, I liked the first Nursery Crimes book, I bought this in hardback and I haven't touched it since.

8. The Devil in Amber by Mark Gatiss - again, I loved the first Lucifer Box book, I bought this one in hardback, and there it sits, unread.

9. Evelina by Frances Burney - friends recommended it, Jane Austen loved Burney, she's one of the biggies of eighteenth-century literary, and yet I can't even read her shortest novel.  I have her others and they are intimidating doorstops, but this is comparatively light.

10. Clarissa by Samuel Richardson - I bought this for a course and have been terrified of it ever since.  It is bigger than a normal Penguin.  It is a million words long.  It is there and judging me because I haven't read it yet.

This is just the tip of the iceberg.  I have more unread than read books, and even when I take vows not to buy any more there are always really good charity shops that sell great titles cheap (that doesn't count as buying books because it's so much less money).