I *had* to have this book… so why have I still not read it? (x10)

I originally planned to do this by looking at all the books I’ve purchased over the past few years as either preorders or sequels and see which ones I still hadn’t read but I realised that it’s not actually quite 10 books (which is exciting). Instead, I thought I’d go through all the books I bought this year that I haven’t read yet.

I’ve excluded books that I bought for my studies since I mostly read random chapters as they become relevant so I’m not counting that as a book I ‘had’ to have and have then just left and abandoned. This is more about the books that I used my few precious book buying spots to buy (or books I ignored my own self-imposed book buying restrictions to buy) that I still haven’t read.

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme originally created by The Broke and the Bookish and currently hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. Covers link to Bookshop.org UK and are affiliate links.


Technically, I have 20 books that I’ve bought this year and not yet finished and that are not also related to my thesis. However, since this is top ten Tuesday, I thought I would just pick the top ten based on how excited/urgent I felt about the book at the time of purchase.

In my top five are books that I preordered and still haven’t read, or books that I was really excited for and am still really excited for but haven’t gotten around to yet. Hopefully I will get to all of these before the end of the year.

Books 6-10 made this list for a variety of reasons. 6-8 are all books about/set in Scotland and since I’m only living here until the end of August, I would have hoped to get through a few more of them before I leave. It is in my plans for August, but we’ll see how well that goes.

Lake of Souls makes this out of shame – I picked it up because of the Imperial Radchalong and we’re now a full month after the readalong for (some of the stories in) this book and I still haven’t started it. I’m not too fussed about finishing the whole thing this year, but I will read the stories set in the Imperial Radch world before we read Provenance in September.

Finally, Expiation is the second book that I bought in 2026 (the first was Poyums by Len Pennie), and it’s by one of my favourite classics authors (Elizabeth von Arnim), so I really need to not be intimidated by its length and just read it.


Which of these books do you think I should prioritise?

Keira x

P.S. To anyone who I told my review of the new Becky Chambers book was coming out on Tuesday (i.e. today) – sorry, I had a brain fart! It’s tomorrow.

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36 responses to “I *had* to have this book… so why have I still not read it? (x10)”

  1. lydiaschoch avatar
    lydiaschoch

    Flick sounds like a good read.

    Like

  2. WordsAndPeace avatar
    1. Keira @Keira’s Bookmark avatar

      I’ve got tickets to see a book talk with the author and translator in August, so it definitely needs to happen soon!

      Liked by 1 person

  3. Dini @ dinipandareads avatar

    I haven’t heard of most of these titles that you’ve mentioned but I have read A Natural History of Dragons and I absolutely loved it, so I’d definitely prioritize that one! 🤭 I hope you enjoy all of these whenever you get around to reading them though.

    Like

    1. Keira @Keira’s Bookmark avatar

      I never really heard anyone talking about A Natural History, but every time I mention it in a post people are always either praising it or saying it’s on their TBR as well! It’s definitely one I want to get to ASAP.

      Like

  4. lindseyreads avatar

    A Natural History of Dragons looks great 🙂 Hope you’ll enjoy all of these when you get to them!

    Like

    1. Keira @Keira’s Bookmark avatar

      I’ve heard great things! Thank you.

      Like

  5. Zezee avatar

    The Herlands title sounds interesting. And I could have included Marie Brennan’s book on my list too. Actually I have the entire series sitting unread on my shelves.

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    1. Keira @Keira’s Bookmark avatar

      It seems like a really interesting topic, and it has a really global perspective as well, which I’m very much looking forward to.
      Having the whole series sat there sounds like a pretty good excuse to give book 1 a go!

      Like

      1. Zezee avatar

        Ikr! I really should just give in and read it.

        Liked by 1 person

  6. Nicole @ BookWyrmKnits avatar

    I need to read A Natural History of Dragons too! I keep forgetting that I have that one because it was on my wishlilst for a while before I got a copy.

    Lake of Souls was really enjoyable, though I think I enjoyed the books in The Raven Tower universe more than the Imperial Radch ones. I’m curious to see what you think of them!

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    1. Keira @Keira’s Bookmark avatar

      It seems like everyone has either read it or wants to read A Natural History of Dragons! Definitely the most popular book in the comment of this post.

      I’m really interested to see what I think of Lake of Souls after not enjoying the other random short story of hers that we read very much. I’m going to try and prioritise the Imperial Radch ones first and then slowly work my way through the others, so it might be a while before I have an opinion for you, but I’ll definitely post about it once I’m finished!

      Like

      1. Nicole @ BookWyrmKnits avatar

        Was They Sink and Are Vanished Away the other story you read? That one made no sense to me, and I liked it less than probably every single story in Lake of Souls. Apparently Leckie herself doesn’t like that story much anymore (hence why it wasn’t included in this collection).

        Like

        1. Keira @Keira’s Bookmark avatar

          Yes it was! I remember talking in the discord about it and being so happy that I wasn’t the only one who didn’t get it xD

          Like

          1. Nicole @ BookWyrmKnits avatar

            I felt a bit dense until I realized no one else really got it either. 😉

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            1. Keira @Keira’s Bookmark avatar

              Always nice when you can feel stupid together xD

              Like

  7. Ashley Kittrell avatar
    Ashley Kittrell

    I have A Natural History of Dragons on my own TBR collecting dust.. A Thousand Blues and Women of the Highlands look intriguing!

    I hope you enjoy all of these!

    My Post:

    https://thegentlechapter.blog/2026/07/28/top-ten-tuesday-books-i-have-not-read-yet-but-had-to-have/

    Like

    1. Keira @Keira’s Bookmark avatar

      A Natural History of Dragons is really popular on this post!

      I think A Thousand Blues could be a really heartwarming book, so I’m really looking forward to it! And I study women’s history (albeit not of Scotland), so I thought the Women of the Highlands book would be perfect.

      Liked by 1 person

      1. Ashley Kittrell avatar
        Ashley Kittrell

        It looks like it!
        Ooh yeah that would be perfect for those who enjoy women’s history.
        I hope your horizons ae broadened after you read them 🙂

        Liked by 1 person

  8. shanaqui avatar

    Oh goodness, I still have Lake of Souls on my list, and I got it when it came out… so either way you certainly won’t be the last to get to it, hahaha.

    Like

    1. Keira @Keira’s Bookmark avatar

      Haha that makes me feel slightly better!

      Like

  9. Pam @ Read! Bake! Create! avatar

    I hope you enjoy them all when you get the chance to read them.

    Here’s my TTT for the week: https://readbakecreate.com/the-ten-holiday-reads-on-my-tbr-the-longest/

    Like

  10. Susan avatar

    I hope you enjoy all these when you get to them!

    Happy TTT!

    Susan

    http://www.blogginboutbooks.com

    Like

  11. Emma avatar

    A Thousand Blues is a lovely book, I think you’ll like it! A Natural History of Dragons is also one of my favourite series ever!

    I really need to pick up a copy of Apothecary by the Sea, it’s really high on my tbr!

    Like

    1. Keira @Keira’s Bookmark avatar

      It seems like it would be really heart-warming so I’m really looking forward to it! And I think you might have actually inspired the Natural History of Dragons purchase, so thank you.

      It’s such a stunning book! There are also some recipes and things in it, from the looks of it, which is quite cool.

      Like

  12. mphtheatregirl avatar

    There can be many reasons why we buy books and wait years to read them:

    1. A series we know still hasn’t released all its books
    2. How many books we read at once
    3. Etc

    Like

    1. Keira @Keira’s Bookmark avatar

      Absolutely! Although I’m usually pretty happy to start a series when it’s still releasing books, sometimes I end up sitting with a sequel on my shelf for years because I forgot what happened in book 1!

      Like

      1. mphtheatregirl avatar

        Then there are the series that we think are finished, but then the author surprises us and choose to expand it

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        1. Keira @Keira’s Bookmark avatar

          Yes! The Emily Wilde series comes to mind! I’m always cautious about these cases…

          Like

  13. PerfectlyTolerable avatar

    Flick sounds kind of awesome, I think I will have to check it out!! I’ve also been meaning to read A Natural History of Dragons! I hope you love all these if you get to them!

    Like

    1. Keira @Keira’s Bookmark avatar

      I haven’t really heard anyone talking about it but it seemed like such an interesting topic!!

      Liked by 1 person