Ten (errr...Six) Books I HAD to Have to Complete My Life, But Then Totally Failed to Read

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish.

Most readers I know have this problem. There are these books that you just HAVE to have. You beg your parents, your friends, your library, your publicity contacts, yourself for the book.

You come out VICTORIOUS. The book is now in your possession.

Then, suddenly, months have gone by and the book is still unread. You just put it aside while you read this one other thing for class/for your trip/for review, but somehow it's been shunted aside...and, ummm, yeah, oops.

Actually, it turns out this doesn't happen to me much. I looked through all of my bookshelves, and I only came up with six books, and half of those are from high school. Turns out that somewhere along the way, I got to know myself well enough to know that I probably wouldn't get around to reading the books I purchase for a while, so I might as well save money and pick it up used or in paperback.

1. Days of Blood and Starlight (Daughter of Smoke and Bone #2) - Laini Taylor

This one I bought at the end of last year, promising it to myself as a present for having successfully completed my 2012 book challenge. It was supposed to be the first book I read in 2013. Ummm, yeah. It's not almost three months into 2013 and it's probably going to be a while longer before I have time for such a massive book that's not for review.

2. Bitterblue (Seven Kingdoms #3) - Kristin Cashore

I am a HUGE fan of both Graceling and Fire, and for like three years I would check freaking daily to see if publication information had been updated for Bitterblue yet. This book took forever to come out. I almost preordered it like ten times, but because I didn't have Amazon Prime at that point, I wouldn't have gotten the rest of my order until publication. I finally got a copy at BEA, which isn't technically buying it, but BEA is expensive to attend and I had trouble coming up with things, so deal with it. Anyway, still haven't read it, because I'm afraid I won't love it.

3. World Without End (Pillars of the Earth #2) - Ken Follett

Y'all, I straight up loved The Pillars of the Earth, and I still really like it, though not as much as my younger self did. I'm pretty sure I've read the 1000 page novel three times. When I heard there was a sequel, I knew that it had to be mine and soon. I called my dad from college junior year and PLEADED with him to please please please buy it for me. Of course he did, because he's a big softie. Guess what? It's been like five years and I still haven't read it.

4. Tai-Pan (Asian Saga #2) - James Clavell

Okay, so for a history class in high school we had to choose some fiction to read for a book report. This was basically my favorite assignment ever, because the list actually had awesome stuff on it. I read Catch-22 and Ishmael for the first time, and I also read Shogun by James Clavell. I loved all three, and Shogun actually kicked off my obsession with Asian culture. I immediately wanted more, so got my parents to buy me Tai-Pan. I think the fact that the characters were different threw me, though it could also have been the realization that it's technically the second book in the series and my sense of order demanded I read King Rat first, which I didn't have. Anyway, it's still on my shelves, patiently waiting.

5. The Nanny Diaries (The Nanny #1) - Emma McLaughlin & Nicola Kraus

Honestly, I no longer recall why I wanted so badly to read this. I think it may have been because it was so popular for a brief time in the early 2000s. I'm not sure if I started and gave up for later because I was bored or if I'm just remembering how boring the movie version was. Since I begged my parents for it, I still have it and intend to get through it at some point.

6. Girl, Interrupted - Susanna Kaysen

Again, I have NO CLUE why I was so desperate for this book, but I remember arguing with my mom, convincing her that I just HAD to have it. This is weird on so many levels. I've never been a big nonfiction reader and I don't generally care for memoirs. Plus, though the mental institution stuff interests me now, past Christina was all about happy reads and romance. Perhaps it had something to do with the movie, but that doesn't really make sense either, since I've never seen it and I'm not a big Winona Ryder fan or anything. I just don't know, but it lives on my shelves to this day.

Of course, you guys can always help a girl out by adding these to my Sadie Hawkins list! Don't know what Sadie Hawkins is? Find out more here!

Enough about me, what books did you purchase because you desperately needed the book RIGHT NOW and then forget to read?