Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly book meme run by That Artsy Reader Girl. I thought this week’s topic would be an interesting one to delve into, as I used to review nearly every book I read, but lately I’ve been reviewing maybe a handful or so a year from what I read. Looking a little further back so as to not make it too easy on myself, I was surprised to find some of these I really hadn’t reviewed, while others I still feel a pang of regret.

The Princess Diarist by Carrie Fisher

From what I recall, I actually finished this book at a time when I was fairly regular with reviewing each book I finished. I recall liking this book just fine, though memoirs aren’t always what I go for, but I recall feeling a bit off about formally reviewing something that felt so personal to the author, especially without feeling like I had anything especially noteworthy to say about it myself.

The King in Yellow by Robert Chambers

Weird fiction, especially older weird fiction, can be a bit of a challenge to review, I’ve found. On the one hand, they’re possessed of wonderful ideas that are notably strange at the time they were published, but often these authors (especially Lovecraft) aren’t actually great at the writing craft. I liked this collection of stories as I got further into it, but it was so disjointed in some respects that it felt to me that a full review might be a strenuous exercise, especially since short story collections can already be tricky.

What If? 2 by Randall Munroe

This book was a rather unique case as it serves as a rather perfect follow-up to its predecessor, considering its format of the author choosing questions provided by his fan-base and expounding upon the most interesting ones. I didn’t feel like I could actually review it in a way that would be distinct from my review of the first book. It gives you more of a good thing in more or less exactly the same way.

Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton

First of all, this was a reread, and as yet I don’t believe I’ve ever written a review for a reread before, so I didn’t feel like starting then. Secondly, I have mixed feelings about reviewing classics sometimes, even more modern ones like these. Sometimes, the reading experience compels me to do so (like with Slaughterhouse Five), but other times, such as this, I feel that I’d be adding just another drop in the bucket to something already widely known/talked about.

Video Game of the Year by Jordan Minor

I read this one at a more recent time when I was busy with editing and didn’t want to sink time into reviewing every book, but in hindsight I actively regret not reviewing this. I even rated it in an update post, having resolved at the time to not do a full one. I have some pointed opinions about this book that persist to this day, however, so I wish I’d struck while the iron was hot and actually written a review after all.

Son of a Trickster by Eden Robinson

I distinctly remember this from an especially busy summer for editing work. I really enjoyed this book, and I’m excited to start reading its sequel, so I really do wish I had reviewed it at the time (almost three years ago now). I’m fine with letting a few months go by before a review, but even with that I bristle a little because the experience starts to fade. Years later is just too long, so that’s condemning this entire trilogy to not being reviewed, unfortunately.

The Haar by David Sodergren

This is one of the rare novels I’ve actually managed to read in one sitting. I really loved this book, but for reasons I can’t even remember I decided to let it go unreviewed. I think perhaps I had reached the point here where not reviewing books had become the standard for me, and actual reviews for each book I was reading really had become the exception.

I Wear the Black Hat by Chuck Klosterman

I’d reviewed a book of Klosterman’s before, and I think with this one I had settled on not wanting to do that again. He’s an excellent essayist, but so much of what he writes about is outside of what I normally engage with or was before my time such that I really just wanted to forgo the idea of having to review and assess it and just engage with it as a reader.

This is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar & Max Gladstone

This book I was honestly shocked to find I had not reviewed and I very much regret not doing so. I believe I did it some justice in a yearly top five post, but this is a novel I still think about from time to time, so I really do wish I had given it a more in-depth look here on this blog. It deserved the distinction.

Tracking the Chupacabra by Benjamin Radford

Nonfiction is typically outside my wheelhouse, so that had already dissuaded me from reviewing this a little, but by the end I think it once again came down to feeling like I had nothing much to say beyond my enjoyment of it, some minor drawbacks notwithstanding. It really is an excellent bit of investigation into a rather niche topic, however, and if you have any interest in cryptids or the paranormal I highly recommend reading this book, as it does a great job laying bare the facts and exploring how modern myths like this take shape.

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