[Top Ten Tuesday] Most Intimidating Books

Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish but is currently being run by That Artsy Reader Girl. A prompt is given each week, and I hope to do it every week so I always have something going up on Tuesdays. This week we had an option of two prompts: one being the best books we've read so far this year, or doing an old topic from previous weeks that we may have missed. I decided on the latter because I prefer to talk about my favorite books of the year at the end of the year. So this week I am going to talk about some books I've been too intimidated by to read, despite having most of them either on my kindle or on my shelves waiting to be read.

Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke 
I've owned this book for far too long! I got it for really cheap at a library sale and I have been staring at it on my shelf basically ever since. I hear amazing things and I have little to no doubts about how much I'll love it. But knowing my hardcover copy is almost 800 pages makes it so intimidating.

Synopsis
Sophisticated, witty, and ingeniously convincing, Susanna Clarke's magisterial novel weaves magic into a flawlessly detailed vision of historical England. She has created a world so thoroughly enchanting that eight hundred pages leave readers longing for more.

English magicians were once the wonder of the known world, with fairy servants at their beck and call; they could command winds, mountains, and woods. But by the early 1800s they have long since lost the ability to perform magic. They can only write long, dull papers about it, while fairy servants are nothing but a fading memory.

But at Hurtfew Abbey in Yorkshire, the rich, reclusive Mr Norrell has assembled a wonderful library of lost and forgotten books from England's magical past and regained some of the powers of England's magicians. He goes to London and raises a beautiful young woman from the dead. Soon he is lending his help to the government in the war against Napoleon Bonaparte, creating ghostly fleets of rain-ships to confuse and alarm the French.

All goes well until a rival magician appears. Jonathan Strange is handsome, charming, and talkative-the very opposite of Mr Norrell. Strange thinks nothing of enduring the rigors of campaigning with Wellington's army and doing magic on battlefields. Astonished to find another practicing magician, Mr Norrell accepts Strange as a pupil. But it soon becomes clear that their ideas of what English magic ought to be are very different. For Mr Norrell, their power is something to be cautiously controlled, while Jonathan Strange will always be attracted to the wildest, most perilous forms of magic. He becomes fascinated by the ancient, shadowy figure of the Raven King, a child taken by fairies who became king of both England and Faerie, and the most legendary magician of all. Eventually Strange's heedless pursuit of long-forgotten magic threatens to destroy not only his partnership with Norrell, but everything that he holds dear.

 And I Darken by Kiersten White
This book has gotten such mixed reviews that I have been intimidated by it because I am excited to read it but I am worried  I'll hate it. It is historical fiction, a genre I rarely pick up. The mixed reviews I've heard are polar opposites, the positive reviews are incredibly positive and the negative reviews are super negative. So it seems like you either love it or hate it and I really hope I love it. I plan on reading it soon. 

Synopsis
No one expects a princess to be brutal. And Lada Dragwlya likes it that way. Ever since she and her gentle younger brother, Radu, were wrenched from their homeland of Wallachia and abandoned by their father to be raised in the Ottoman courts, Lada has known that being ruthless is the key to survival. She and Radu are doomed to act as pawns in a vicious game, an unseen sword hovering over their every move. For the lineage that makes them special also makes them targets.

Lada despises the Ottomans and bides her time, planning her vengeance for the day when she can return to Wallachia and claim her birthright. Radu longs only for a place where he feels safe. And when they meet Mehmed, the defiant and lonely son of the sultan, Radu feels that he’s made a true friend—and Lada wonders if she’s finally found someone worthy of her passion.

But Mehmed is heir to the very empire that Lada has sworn to fight against—and that Radu now considers home. Together, Lada, Radu, and Mehmed form a toxic triangle that strains the bonds of love and loyalty to the breaking point.

Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo 
I hear amazing things about this duology all the times. The fanbase are vocal and enthusiastic about these characters and it makes me really want to read it. However, I haven't read the Grisha Verse trilogy and I am not sure if you have to before reading Six of Crows. If so, it seems like a big reading commitment especially since I hear mixed reviews about the Grisha Verse.

Synopsis
Ketterdam: a bustling hub of international trade where anything can be had for the right price–and no one knows that better than criminal prodigy Kaz Brekker. Kaz is offered a chance at a deadly heist that could make him rich beyond his wildest dreams. But he can’t pull it off alone…

A convict with a thirst for revenge.

A sharpshooter who can’t walk away from a wager.

A runaway with a privileged past.

A spy known as the Wraith.

A Heartrender using her magic to survive the slums.

A thief with a gift for unlikely escapes.

Six dangerous outcasts. One impossible heist. Kaz’s crew is the only thing that might stand between the world and destruction—if they don’t kill each other first. 

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak 
I have owned this book for a handful of years now and I haven't picked it up yet. I enjoyed the movie but because it was so sad I know I will have to be in the mood for a sad book to read this one. Maybe sometime this winter. I feel like sad books are the best to be read in the winter. 


Synopsis
Trying to make sense of the horrors of World War II, Death relates the story of Liesel--a young German girl whose book-stealing and story-telling talents help sustain her family and the Jewish man they are hiding, as well as their neighbors.

 

The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater 
This series is such a well loved one in the book community. I do plan on giving it a shot this Autumn, but I am definitely intimidated. It's so hyped up and it makes me so excited to read it but I am also worried I'll be let down. I hope that I will be able to enjoy it so I can join in on the fangirling of this series.

Synopsis
“There are only two reasons a non-seer would see a spirit on St. Mark’s Eve,” Neeve said. “Either you’re his true love . . . or you killed him.”

It is freezing in the churchyard, even before the dead arrive.

Every year, Blue Sargent stands next to her clairvoyant mother as the soon-to-be dead walk past. Blue herself never sees them—not until this year, when a boy emerges from the dark and speaks directly to her.

His name is Gansey, and Blue soon discovers that he is a rich student at Aglionby, the local private school. Blue has a policy of staying away from Aglionby boys. Known as Raven Boys, they can only mean trouble.

But Blue is drawn to Gansey, in a way she can’t entirely explain. He has it all—family money, good looks, devoted friends—but he’s looking for much more than that. He is on a quest that has encompassed three other Raven Boys: Adam, the scholarship student who resents all the privilege around him; Ronan, the fierce soul who ranges from anger to despair; and Noah, the taciturn watcher of the four, who notices many things but says very little.

For as long as she can remember, Blue has been warned that she will cause her true love to die. She never thought this would be a problem. But now, as her life becomes caught up in the strange and sinister world of the Raven Boys, she’s not so sure anymore.

The Shining by Stephen King 
I have had this book on my kindle for way too long. I have been saving it for a rainy day for so long that it's become a bit intimidating to finally pick it up. I am hoping to read it one day, but unlike a lot of the books on this list, it isn't a high priority right now. If you think it should be please tell me in the comments! I am easily persuaded. 

Synopsis
Jack Torrance's new job at the Overlook Hotel is the perfect chance for a fresh start. As the off-season caretaker at the atmospheric old hotel, he'll have plenty of time to spend reconnecting with his family and working on his writing. But as the harsh winter weather sets in, the idyllic location feels ever more remote...and more sinister. And the only one to notice the strange and terrible forces gathering around the Overlook is Danny Torrance, a uniquely gifted five-year-old.

A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness
This is another series  I hear a lot of hype from the fandom about and it makes me excited about re-reading this first book. I read it in the past and I do not remember a lot about the story other than that I didn't love it. I want to give it another shot, but I am worried that I'll dislike it like I did the first time. However, I am hoping I read it at a bad time and I will enjoy it more this time around.

Synopsis
Deep in the stacks of Oxford's Bodleian Library, young scholar Diana Bishop unwittingly calls up a bewitched alchemical manuscript in the course of her research. Descended from an old and distinguished line of witches, Diana wants nothing to do with sorcery; so after a furtive glance and a few notes, she banishes the book to the stacks. But her discovery sets a fantastical underworld stirring, and a horde of daemons, witches, and vampires soon descends upon the library. Diana has stumbled upon a coveted treasure lost for centuries-and she is the only creature who can break its spell.

The Way of Shadows by Brent Weeks 
I really enjoyed this book when I read it over three years ago but I do not remember everything so I really want to re-read it. Especially since I own the sequel and would love to continue the series. I hope I like the first one as much as I did last time or I will be less inclined to continue the series. These books are almost 700 pages long so it's a bit intimidating to figure out when to read it.

Synopsis
For Azoth, survival is precarious. Something you never take for granted. As a guild rat, he's grown up in the slums, and learned to judge people quickly - and to take risks. Risks like apprenticing himself to Durzo Blint.

But to be accepted, Azoth must turn his back on his old life and embrace a new identity and name. As Kylar Stern, he must learn to navigate the assassins' world of dangerous politics and strange magics - and cultivate a flair for death.

Loki by Mike Vasich 
I have had this book on my kindle for a while now and I keep getting so excited every time I remember I own it, but something is keeping me from reading it. I am intimidated by it and I am not sure why. It's not very long, a little less than 400 pages, and the synopsis sounds so cool. But I keep stopping myself from reading it. I am hoping I can get to it soon.

Synopsis
God of Mischief. Father of Lies. Harbinger of Destruction. Exiled and tortured by the gods, Loki swears vengeance. He will summon the mighty Fenris Wolf and the legendary Midgard Serpent, and they will lead an army of giants and all the dead in Niflheim. Brimming with the power of the most destructive being in the Nine Worlds, he will not rest till Asgard is in ashes and all the gods are dead under his heel.

Little Women by  Louisa May Alcott 
If anyone knows me, they know I am not a fan of classic literature. I am not sure if it is because I was forced to read a lot of them because I graduated as a English major or if they're just not for me. However, I have wanted to buy a nice edition of this book and read it one day because I think that if I am able to push through it I will love it. But classics intimidate me sometimes.

Synopsis
Little Women is a story that traces the lives of four sisters- gentle and agreeable Meg, straightforward and outspoken Joe, quiet and shy Beth, and dramatic and manipulative Amy. The novel shows the sisters’ life in Civil War New England and follows them as each of them matures and chooses her own life path. Originally created as a children’s novel, Little Women is a story that would be equally as interesting to an adult reader, as it is revolved around such themes as different versions of womanhood and a woman’s place in society.

 Thanks for reading!