Hi! Hello! I came across this tag on Peruse Project on booktube and it seemed really fun and interesting. It’s a tag originally created by Nicole & Her Books, also on booktube. I kind of contemplated if I really want to do this because it’s quite controversial to talk about popular books in this manner, but hey, as readers, we all have different reading styles and tastes, so let’s not judge each other based on the books that interests us and the books that we dislike. So without further ado, let’s dive right into the questions:

A popular book everyone loves that you have no interest in reading?

I recently started reading non-fiction books and most of the books that I’ve read, I actually loved and enjoyed. But for this question, there’s this one book that almost immediately came to my mind and it’s The Daily Stoic by Ryan Holiday.

So many people are raving about this book and I just honestly don’t understand the hype. Partly because I’m not a big fan of self-help books or devotional books for that matter. I’ve tried reading a couple of titles though and one of them is The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle and ended up DNF-ing that book because at some point, it turned out to be a bit creepy for me, but that’s for another discussion entirely. I mean, some books I did learn a thing or two, but most of the time it’s a no. So I’m not seeing myself reading this in the near future.

A classic book you don’t have an interest in reading?

If you’ve been following me for some time now, you might have noticed that I don’t actually read classics. I do intend on getting on some of them that somewhat pique my interest like Anne of Green Gables, Little Women, The Great Gatsby, Rebecca, etc. but they are, like, not on my top priority. So to answer the question, I’ve listed a few books that I don’t think I’ll ever be reading: Don Quixote, Moby Dick, and Les Miserables. I mean, I just wouldn’t bother myself reading books that are hard for me to digest because I have a full-time job, and personally, reading is supposed to be my time to relax, so I’d like to focus more on books that I would actually enjoy.

An author whose books you have no interest in reading?

Veronica Roth, the author of the Divergent series. Here’s the thing, I actually loved Divergent, I mean, the first book. But the succeeding ones, I just couldn’t push through with. I think I tried 3 or 4 times to continue on with this series, but I always end up DNF-ing it because Insurgent was so boring. I just decided to let it go because there are so many books to read and I just can’t afford to spend time trying to read that I know I wouldn’t even like in the end. 

A problematic author whose books you have no interest in reading? 

J.K. Rowling. I’ve read the Harry Potter series as a kid and absolutely love it, I still love it. I think this is a dilemma for all the Potterheads out there, we just had to separate the author from the book because Harry Potter was this escape, this world, this comfort zone that we had as kids. But with everything that has surfaced from her in the last couple of years, I just couldn’t stand it. For the record, I think that I will always be a Potterhead, but I just don’t speak about these books anymore the way that I used to. It doesn’t need to, though, it’s popular as it is. Anyway, I’m not reading any of this author’s books moving forward. A lot of people may say that this “cancel culture” is not helping us grow as a community, but this is our way of showing that we do not support them. This is resistance. 

An author you have read a couple of books from & have decided their books are not for you?

Michael Crichton. I just tried so hard to read his books, but I always end up disliking them or DNF-ing them. There’s just something in his books that seem so far-off and dragging in my opinion.

A genre you have no interest in or a genre you tried to get into & couldn’t?

I have a few genres on my list for this question:

Self-help books, which I’ve already mentioned in the first question. I mean, I just can’t. It just feels kind of cringe-y reading about someone else’s experiences and imposing their lessons on the readers. Some authors tend to sound that way, and I just couldn’t help but roll my eyes! Though there is this one book that I kind of like but I’m still not finished reading it and it’s about introversion. It’s interactive and not really the kind that’s imposing their lessons on you, it’s kind of helping you realize that you should not be ashamed of your introvertedness and that you don’t have to pretend to be outgoing just to fit in. And maybe that’s the reason why I like it a bit, because it’s more of making you understand things instead of forcing you to believe and incorporate their life lessons on you.

Also, classics, and though I have a few classics that I want to read, I still think that I have this love-hate relationship with this genre for reasons that I’ve already mentioned in the second question. I do hope that love overpowers that hate in this relationship though.

Another one would be regency romance/historical romance. I’m not sure why, but I just couldn’t wrap my mind around this genre. I tried reading a few, and just didn’t like it and I couldn’t even explain why.

A book you have bought but will never read (this can be a book you have unhauled/returned to the library unread)?

I think I bought these two at a secondhand bookshop years and years ago, back when there were so much hype for them, but for some reason I just couldn’t start reading them. 

A series you have no interest in reading or a series you started & have dnf’d?

Red Queen, I just couldn’t get past the first couple of chapters. I’ve read this when it first came out and my online bookish friends and I decided to mail it around and annotate, but I ended up disliking it and DNF-ing it altogether. 

As for Insurgent, I mentioned in one of the questions above that I absolutely loved the first book in this series, but just couldn’t continue on with the second and third book. It was just so boring for me, I tried for a couple of times to go on to no avail. This is a series that saddens me because the first book had so much potential, but the second one just didn’t live up to Divergent. I even heard that the last one, Allegiant, was even worse.

A new release you have no interest in reading?

I don’t usually base on other people’s reviews when it comes to books I read, but these two have been discussed all over the internet and have had mixed reviews. And it was such a huge impact when Regan of Peruse Project didn’t like Book of the Night because I was looking forward to it like she was, and she was so disappointed and I really don’t want to be disappointed in Holly Black, so I’m just avoiding this book. To Paradise, on the other hand, didn’t quite pique my interest the way A Little Life did, so I decided not to pick it up.