Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly book meme run by That Artsy Reader Girl. This week’s prompt I found to be interesting because it forced me to take a harder look at my to-read list. Specifically, I use my to-read shelf on Goodreads to keep track of books I don’t want to forget, so it’s a catalogue of books I’ve at some point wanted to read and thus a list I don’t ever see myself completing.

With nearly 400 books shelved at the moment, there are in fact plenty of authors there I haven’t read yet. So, I needed to be more specific. There’s probably somebody I missed that could bump somebody else here, but I’ve tried to pick 10 authors that I have a particular interest in reading that I just haven’t gotten around to yet, with accompanying books/series that I already own/have the most interest in.

Agatha Christie

For some reason, mystery fiction is something I just don’t read all that often, and the most obvious point of neglect with respect to this is the fact that I’ve never read a Christie novel. I need to fix that, I know, and it’s only a matter of time, as I’ve owned a copy of Murder on the Orient Express for several years now. I just have to commit to reading it.

Anne Rice

This is another big author I’ve owned books of for even longer than Christie but just haven’t gotten around to yet. I’m not sure I’ll want to dig further into her bibliography, but I should definitely at least read Interview with the Vampire. I also own an old mass market paperback of The Witching Hour, which I believe my partner gave to me when she still worked at a thrift store, but I’m not sure I’ll ever read it.

Franz Kafka

Here is an author whose books I don’t own any copies of yet, but lately I’ve been thinking a lot about finally checking out his work. The two the catch my interest the most are The Metamorphosis and The Trial, the latter especially as it concerns a man going to trial for charges that nobody will explain to him, which is a level of alienation that I find really compelling.

Albert Camus

I’ve been really curious about reading Camus over the last few years, so much so that I picked up a copy of The Myth of Sisyphus a year or so ago. Buying a book of course doesn’t mean I’ll actually read it anytime soon, it’s just a more concrete commitment. I really want to check out this book specifically though, as I’m compelled by it’s exploration of existentialism from the point of view of embracing the absurdity of existence, rather than looking at things with a more pessimistic mindset. If I like it enough, I may read others.

Jeff Smith

Bone is a series I’ve heard people rave about since I was in high school, but I’ve never checked it out myself, nor any other Jeff Smith work (at least I don’t believe so). A few years ago, I purchased a complete digital volume that included the entire series, so one day I will finally crack that open and see what the fuss is about.

Scott Lynch

A friend of mine recommended to me that I read Scott Lynch’s Gentleman Bastard series many years ago, and many years ago I purchased a copy of The Lies of Lock Lamora. I’ve since made no particular mental movements to start reading it, but it’s been ever waiting on my shelf since then.

Patrick Rothfuss

I’m well aware that people really love The Kingkiller Chronicle series, so much so that I’ve owned copies of The Name of the Wind and The Wise Man’s Fear for years now, but I just haven’t taken the time to actually read them. I think I’m a little intimidated by the size of each book, which is silly considering what I’ve read in the past, I’m just worried they will eat up a lot of my reading time relative to other books. And they will, because they’re stupidly long.

David Foster Wallace

I received a copy of Infinite Jest from my childhood best friend’s father a few years ago, whom I also consider to be like family, so my interest in Wallace’s work is almost purely because of how much he would like me to check this book out.  Books as gifts can sometimes be awkward because I’m always worried I’ll get something I already have, but I love it when people gift me something that they like because they think I would like too. The main reason I haven’t read this yet is, again, intimidation with page count. Once a book hits 1,000 pages, I have a hard time committing. I’ll certainly read it someday though, it’s only a matter of time.

Maureen Johnson

My interest in Maureen Johnson is a little odd, because it starts with the fact that she became a character in the Welcome to Night Vale podcast. This has cemented her in my mind as author I want to check out, and I even have an ebook of Truly Devious already. When I bought it, I don’t even think it was a series yet, so I potentially have a lot of catching up to do once I finally read that first book.

Ruth Ware

Ruth Ware is another mystery author I’ve been curious about for years now. Admittedly, I was drawn to In a Dark, Dark Wood because of its cover. I really like high-contrast art, and something about this cover spoke to me, even though it’s fairly simple. I’ve had an ebook of this novel for a while now, and if I love it I’ll probably check out more of Ware’s books.

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Until next time, thank you for reading! Feel free to share your own list down below.