TBR of Shame: My Big Three

Hi friends!  I only received one book this week, so I figured instead of doing an IMM, I'd save it for next time and share with you my TBR of Shame.  In the last few weeks, Holly over at Book Harbinger, and Chachic at Chachic's Book Nook made some lovely lists inspired by Flannery's list over on The Readventurer.  Not only did these lovely ladies get me to start reading The Readventurer (which is a pretty sweet blog if you don't read it yet), they kinda got me itching to make my own such list.  You can check out Holly's here, Chachic's here, and Flannery's here.


I'm going to try to keep my list realistic for me for this year...because let's face it, long term goals are a problem for future Heidi.  I call this my 'TBR of Shame' because these here are the books and authors I'm most ashamed of myself for not having picked up yet:

My Big Three: Authors

So the authors on this list are all ones that I've read nothing by, but want to read all of the books!  Seriously.  Pretty much every book in each of their backlogs is on my TBR, and I solemnly swear to read at least ONE thing by each of them this year:

Melina Marchetta

It's pretty hard to hang out in the YA blogosphere and not hear all about Melina Marchetta.  She's probably the best known Aussie YA author this side of either ocean.  Chachic, bookevangelist pro, is celebrating Marchetta Madness which has done a lot to solidify my shame and guarentee I will be picking up Saving Francesca in my next digital library haul.  Why am I starting here?  Well, for one, it's available through Overdrive, and two, I've heard comparisons between Thomas Mackee and my latest mad crush, Marcus Flutie, making Saving Francesca and The Piper's Son an easy priority.

Marcus Sedgwick

Marcus Sedgwick is another one of those authors where I pretty much only hear good things about his books.  Especially from Ana of The Book Smugglers.  Ever since becoming intrigued by last year's Midwinterblood, I've been meaning to pick something of his up.  Particularly when every time I run across a new book of his, I just add it to my TBR.

Juliet Marillier

Ah...Juliet Marillier...I really have no excuse for this one slipping under.  She writes exactly the type of books I adore, and yet, I've failed to ever pick one up.  Well, this year I have sworn up and down that I will at least start the Sevenwaters series.  Mostly so that Alyssa doesn't stop being my friend. :P

My Big Three: Series

Song of the Lioness

Somehow I got through a childhood parked in the Fantasy section of my library without ever picking up this series.  I'm going to go ahead and blame my slight Mercedes Lackey obsession.  But the time for excuses has ended, this year I want to at least start this series.  It's classic girl in boys clothing, and how can I resist that?  That's right, I can't.

Tomorrow

Okay not having read this one isn't so incredibly shameful.  It's a series that Aussies grew up with, but never got the notoriety it probably deserved in the U.S.  Well, ever since hearing about it I've been dying to read it, especially after seeing a trailer for the movie over at Inkcrush.  Instantly added the movie to my Netflix queue, and I'll be reading the books asap to prepare.

Five Hundred Kingdoms

Ahem.  Remember two minutes ago when I declared my Mercedes Lackey obsession?  Well, I lied.  It's more of a Valdemar obsession.  I've shamefully never read any of one of my favorite author's works outside of the Valdemar universe.  I particularly want to read this series, as it's all fairy tale retellings.  In fact, I am so ashamed I haven't read this series, I can barely say it publicly.  I love Mercedes Lackey and I love retellings.  From my understanding, each is more or less a stand alone novel taking place in the same universe, so I think I can read them in whatever order I please, but someone correct me if I'm wrong. 

My Big Three: Books

So there are books I'm probably more ashamed of not having read.  When I was in college, my History of the Book class was full of bibliophiles, and we'd sit around playing "What's the most famous book you've never read?"  And there's a lot I could name, but these three are books that I feel like I'm the last person to read, and have wanted to read for ages.  They're books I actually really want to read, not just to fill in gaps or because I think I should, because I genuinely want to pick them up and think I'll love them!

The Phantom Tollbooth

You might find this hard to believe, but I didn't even hear of this book until I was in college and found out it was my good friend's childhood favorite.  I'm sad for childhood me every time I see this book.  I've actually checked it out from the library at least three times, and never read it before returning it.  How shameful is that?

The Book Thief

This one's fairly recent, but I have little doubt that it's on its way to being called a classic.  I've been meaning to pick it up since it came out, but never feel quite in the mood for it.  It always takes something out of me to knowingly read WWII stories.  Still, I've heard good things about the audio, and will probably listen to this one fairly soonish.  I hope.  Maybe.

The Last Unicorn

The Last Unicorn was, without a doubt, my favorite movie as a child.  I made my parents rent it constantly.  And get this--I honestly believed it was magic.  Somehow, every time I watched it I would fall asleep (hey, I was a kid!), but every time I would fall asleep just a few minutes later than the time before.  I didn't know I was falling asleep, I honest to God thought that the movie would get a little longer every time I watched it.  To me, it was magic.  It's my strongest memory of really having that belief as a child, and I can't believe I haven't read the book yet.  I mean, I own the VHS, I own the DVD, I name my Rock Band bands 'Last of the Red Hot Swamis'.  Of course I'll love it, but something inside of me is afraid to disappoint.

So that's it--my TBR of shame.  Fewer books than other lists, but probably more wordy.  Let me know if you've read any of these books, what you've thought, or who and what is on your own TBR of shame!