Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme created by The Broke and the Bookish, if you want to know more about it, you can just click on the name! I strayed a bit from this week’s theme, which would have been as followed:
Ten Books I Feel Differently About After Time Has Passed (less love, more love, complicated feelings, indifference, thought it was great in a genre until you became more well read in that genre etc.)
It’s not that I’ve never changed my opinion about a book, but I couldn’t really think about all that many examples. So, instead I want to talk about books I will probably never read again, because I am scared that I won’t love them the same way. Makes sense, right?
The Thief Lord by Cornelia Funke
Whatever I am going to write now is true for a lot of the books from this list. Many I have read during my childhood and they have manifested a love for books and traveling, certain topics and characters as well as places. The Thief Lord was always pure magic to me, making the real Venice a vast disappointment until nightfall came and all that magic returned. I am scared that if I read that book now, I wouldn’t be able to read it with the same innocent eyes of a child as I did before and that might ruin the story.
Momo by Michael Ende
Oh, Momo! I watched the TV show and read the book and it was one of the first books I used for the book reports at school. Whenever I think of it, I think of spending my time wisely and not letting adult responsibilities cloud my judgment of what’s truly important in life. That story is way too precious in my head.
A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket
I was considering re-reading the series before the Netflix show comes out, but nope, I just can’t do it. That series accompanied me for years and I have them all neatly in a row on my shelf. My laptop’s name is Lemony. Those books had a real influence on me and I will forever not trust adults I guess.
The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
Again, this book is magic itself. I lived in a bubble of black, white and red for days afterwards, having images of all my visits to the circus and their shortcomings in comparison to the Night Circus stuck in my head. Maybe I’ll re-read it one day, but I am afraid that I’ll be bored by knowing what’s going on and what will happen.
The Martian by Andy Weir
There are some things that are still funny after hearing them 100 times. As much as I love Watney and want one in my life, I am scared I won’t laugh anymore and that would be sad.
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
This book ruined me! I was a sobbing mess in parts and even the movie, which isn’t even as emotional as the book still has me crying. So, it’s not that I don’t think it’s a beautiful piece of writing, but I am simply scared of putting myself through that torture again.
The Death and Life of Charlie St. Cloud by Ben Sherwood
This book always brings about memories of a certain song (The National – So Far Around the Bend), a summer working in France (because that’s what I was doing while reading), a really long fake-pearl necklace (because that came with the book in the package my parents sent me) and the matter of life and death to me. There is no way I could ever recreate all the same circumstances to make this book as meaningful as it was the first time.
Das Buch by Wolfgang & Heike Hohlbein
This one was my first attempt at a really long book. It took me months, not having acquired the super speed reading abilities I have now. It was a weird book and you felt like you were in a bit of a loop sometimes, but somehow it stuck and it won’t go away.
Ingo by Helen Dunmore
I never read many mermaid books, even though I loved the concept of them. This isn’t really about mermaids either, but definitely about beings from the sea. I just loved water and the idea of getting lost in it, even though I was always scared of all the creatures that lived in there that I could and couldn’t see. It doesn’t make sense, but it was such a lovely tale that I cherished, but I never finished the series due to some really annoying publishing issues that I won’t go into now.
The Secret Circle series by L.J. Smith
This one is easy, I wanted to read it before the show, I did (at least book 1-3) and then I was super sad when it was cancelled and I can’t re-read it now. Just can’t!
How did your TTT go? Could you think of books that you didn’t keep feeling the same about over time? Are there some you wouldn’t want to read again either out of fear you won’t love them as much?
Charlie St Cloud, wow, I haven’t read the book, but I did see the movie and that one just BROKE MY HEART and left me in a sobbing mess, haha. I don’t re-read a lot of books actually, now that I think about it, it’s just, I’m so scared of liking them less afterwards
LikeLiked by 1 person
I nagged my parents so long after seeing the Charlie St. Cloud trailer that they eventually got me the book hahaha I can be persuasive that way. I remains one of my favourite stories and the book was even more intense than the movie, I can promise you that.
I don’t re-read entire books either. But I sometimes re-read parts of them.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Haha, well you can be very persuasive then, that’s awesome 😛
LikeLiked by 1 person
That was a good take on the list. You’re right, sometimes you read a book in the perfect moment and that’s why you enjoy it so much. Reading it again in different conditions might ruin it.
My TTT is here if you want to check it out, though my take was literal.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you 🙂 a certain mood or environment can change everything when you are reading a book! Glad you understand 😀 I’ll take a look at your list in a bit!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I saw this list and I was like, “Which books is she afraid to read? Probably anything by me or Stephen King.”
Speaking of The Book Thief, by the way, my youngest sister got it out of the library. I was quite shocked to learn she didn’t like the writing style of the story.
LikeLike
Hahaha you missed the “re-” in the title then 😛
That makes me sad to hear, but she is not the only one. I’ve heard that complaint from several people unfortunately.
LikeLike
No, I saw the “re-“, I just meant if you were to do that sort of list.
LikeLike
Well, yeah, yours and King might have been on there then.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I know I read the Secret Circle, but I didn’t remember the books. I did love the show, though. Wish they hadn’t cancelled it. 😦 Great list!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you! And YES, I wish they hadn’t cancelled it either …
LikeLiked by 1 person
Then again, I also wished they hadn’t killed Nick for real and no one listened to me.
LikeLiked by 1 person
The Book Thief. I am definitely scared to re-read that book because it provoked such an intense emotional reaction from me the first time and, like you I don’t think I could cope with that again.
I also feel like I should re-read The Night Circus but at the same time the fear of possibly not enjoying it as much is holding me back. I love your spin on this weeks topic. 😀
LikeLiked by 1 person
I am glad you understand me! Especially with the Night Circus I felt really enchanted, and I would be so sad if I lost that feeling while reading.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Great picks! I’m kind of scared to reread Ingo as well but I have a feeling I would love it, just a bit differently. I think I’ll just see it as a middle grade fantasy-ish book that has some kind of creepy-ish elements (well, I thought it was a bit creepy when I was young). I love the whole concept though! ❤
LikeLiked by 1 person
I read the books when I was younger too, which is why I read them in German
and then, which was really the most terrible thing to happen, the German publisher didn’t release the 3rd book anymore. I was devastated! Years later, I found out that they re-released the series but with a different name and cover art. By that time I didn’t want to go into it again, but I was SO mad!
And I have to agree, it definitely has creepy aspects! You are actually one of the few who has read those books as well 😀 most people I know haven’t heard of it at all.
LikeLike
Nooooo, that sucks! I wonder what happened. Was it just a rights issue?
I haven’t read Ingo in AGES and I actually stopped reading past book 3 or 4, if memory serves. Are you going to ever read it again, do you think?
LikeLike
I honestly don’t know what’s up with that. Maybe it wasn’t successful under the first name? But I don’t think I could pick it up again now. I just don’t know.
LikeLike
I loved the Series of Unfortunate Events books too!! I can’t wait to see what Netflix has done with it
LikeLiked by 1 person
Me too! Although I am a little unsure about Neil Patrick Harris as Count Olaf. He looks so weird in his full costume hahaha
LikeLiked by 1 person
He definitely does look weird, but he does weird well most times!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I agree, but somehow Jim Carrey’s version is a bit stuck in my head hahaha
LikeLiked by 1 person
I really didn’t like that version…
LikeLiked by 1 person
They changed A LOT from the books and not really in a good way, but just the way he looked. That looked like Olaf for sure.
LikeLiked by 1 person
That’s true
LikeLiked by 1 person
I LOVED The Secret Circle Series when I was a teenager and then the series was so crap by comparison.
LikeLike
That’s true. The show wasn’t as good, especially the main actors weren’t exactly my cup of tea, but I liked the side characters.
LikeLike
I’m not sure if I finished the Ingo series- I thought I did, but then I saw other ones later that I hadn’t read
And I love Cornelia Funke- I get what you mean about those books- I don’t want them to be ruined for me by how much I’ve bigged them up in my head. I also feel the same about the Wind Singer trilogy
LikeLiked by 1 person
I never finished Ingo. I stopped after book 2
Cornelia Funke is the best! Inkworld and the Thief Lord were such a big part of my childhood.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Ahh I think she wrote a sequel after 3. It’s a shame you didn’t read the third one- it was a pretty exciting, if a bit odd, finale/! Ahh me too! I *loved* Inkworld- glad you meet another fan!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I was super sad when they cancelled The Secret Circle! I loved it, they always cancel shows I love aha!
I haven’t read the books, I’m sort of put off having watched the series it’s like Vampire Diaries… I’ve watched the TV show I don’t think I could read the book, is that weird? Am I missing out by doing this?
LikeLiked by 1 person
The books are very different to the show. For one, there are like 12 circle members, so a ton more characters. I enjoyed it, but it turns out I haven’t even read the entire series but only up to book 3.
LikeLike
Maybe I should give it a whirl then considering it’s rather different character wise 😀
LikeLike
It also has a very different story hahaha they did the same as they did with The Vampire Diaries – they took the names and a tinsy part of the main conflict and that’s it hahaha
LikeLiked by 1 person
[…] Books I am Scared to Re-Read […]
LikeLike