Let’s Talk Bookish: Putting off books you actually WANT to read

Let’s Talk Bookish is a weekly meme, hosted by Rukky @ Eternity Books & Dani @ Literary Lion, where we discuss certain topics, share our opinions, and spread the love by visiting each others’ posts.

This weeks theme really speaks to me: Putting Off Books You Actually Want To Read

Do you ever put off the books you actually want to be reading? 

I saw this weeks topic and I went, “Wow, this is literally ME!” I put off books I really want to read all. the. TIME. My bookshelves are FULL of books I was excited to buy, proceed to buy, and then have sat there for who knows HOW long.

Why do you put off the books that you would rather read for other stories?

I’ve put off a lot of books that are the first in a series. If I know a book is going to be a duology or trilogy, I know I’ll forget what happened in the first book by the time the third one comes out. I don’t usually have time to reread, so I’ll tend to wait until release of the second (or final) book of a series before starting it. A great example of that is Chain of Gold. I freaking love Shadowhunters! But those are longggg 500+ page books, and I can’t always reread them. So I waited until just before Chain of Iron (2nd book) was coming out and finally read Chain of Gold. (Now, will I read Chain of Iron before the 3rd book comes out in 2022? We’ll see.)

I can name quite a few series I’ve put off starting or finishing for this reason: Caraval series – I read Caraval and Legendary, but I wanted to reread before Finale…..and Finale has been out almost 2 years now and I still haven’t reread the series, or finished Finale.

An Ember in the Ashes – I read the first two books, but wanted to wait for the 4th book to come out before rereading and finally reading the 3rd one… STILL HAVEN’T BUT I hope to this year!

And I see my own flawed logic – how do you know you want to read all the books in a series if you don’t know if you like the first one? I don’t. Sometimes I just wait anyways!

And sometimes I put off a series if I’m scared – everyone else loves it, but will I love it? So I avoid it completely.

What do you end up reading instead? 

Literally anything else on my TBR, typically a standalone! I’m a big fan of standalone books and have been reading more of those lately. Sometimes I’ll get distracted by an ARC I have, or an audiobook hold that just came in at my library, or a new shiny release that just came out.

Do you treat reading books you’re excited for a reward?

Reading isn’t a “reward” for me, it’s just something I enjoy doing at all times. I try and plan my reading (even though I rarely stick to a TBR…) so I don’t read back to back fantasies for example. I need a palette cleanser in between heavy intense books. Or I try and schedule my library holds accordingly.

How about you – do you put off books you are genuinely excited for? Why?