hall of shame

Welp, I’ve joked enough about a list of books I’m glad I didn’t spend money on that I thought I’d actually make one. Looking through my old reviews, I have realized there are considerably more of these than I first thought. And I want to make it clear up front that THIS IS NOT A LIST OF THE WORST BOOKS I’VE EVER READ. I also want to note that inclusion on this list does not automatically mean that I hated the book, or that it was problematic in some way (although, to be fair, some of them were). If you’ve read any of these and liked them, there is absolutely no shame in that. They just didn’t make me want to add them to my bookcase, and that’s okay too. We’re all okay.

Books are listed in the order in which I read them.

Books I’m Glad I Didn’t Spend Money On

  1. A Companion to Wolves – Sarah Monette and Elizabeth Bear
  2. Isolde, Queen of the Western Isle – Rosalind Miles
  3. The Dove’s Necklace – Raja Alem
  4. Ming’s Christmas Wishes – Susan L. Gong
  5. The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle – Stuart Turton
  6. The Heart Goes Last – Margaret Atwood
  7. The Bell Jar – Sylvia Plath
  8. Daughters of the Wild – Natalka Burian
  9. These Ghosts Are Family – Maisy Card
  10. Dear Child – Romy Hausmann
  11. The Book of M – Peng Shepherd
  12. The Court Dancer – Kyung-Sook Shin
  13. The Traitor Baru Cormorant – Seth Dickinson
  14. Defenestrate – Renée Branum
  15. White Chrysanthemum – Mary Lynn Bracht

Books I Wish I Hadn’t Spent Money On

  1. House of Many Ways – Diana Wynne Jones
  2. The Priory of the Orange Tree – Samantha Shannon
  3. The Chronicles of Alice – Christina Henry
  4. A God in Ruins – Kate Atkinson
  5. Jane Eyre – Charlotte Brontë
  6. Ariadne – Jennifer Saint
  7. You – Caroline Kepnes
  8. Elektra – Jennifer Saint
  9. The Snow Hare – Paula Lichtarowicz
  10. Ordinary Monsters – J.M. Miro
  11. A Thousand Ships – Natalie Haynes
  12. The Bone Shard Emperor – Andrea Stewart