We’re back with another Top Ten Tuesday, a weekly meme hosted by Jana @ That Artsy Reader Girl.

This week’s topic is: Books I HAD to Have Immediately but Still Haven’t Read (this is a throwback topic from 2022)
Well, well, well… I feel completely called out today. 😂 All I can really say is that I’m as much of a book collector as I am a reader, and we all know it’s much easier to collect the books that you want than it is to read them. As the saying goes: so many books, so little time (and adulting gets in my way every day)! ✨ Can anyone else relate or am I alone on this island? 😌
So, this is a random mix of books that I needed the minute I saw them and some were even pre-orders (rare for me as an international reader as I never get them early or ‘on time’ to begin with). To be fair, some of these titles aren’t super old… Only one is still on this list from the last time I made it! *cough






The Everlasting by Alix E. Harrow
Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil by V.E. Schwab
Beach Read by Emily Henry*
Transcendent Kingdom by Yaa Gyasi
The Book Eaters by Sunyi Dean






Intermezzo by Sally Rooney
A Love Song for Ricki Wilde by Tia Williams
The Undermining of Twyla and Frank by Meg Bannen
The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden
Butter by Asako Yuzuki

Have you read these books or are any of them still on your TBR? What are the books you *needed* to have but still haven’t read yet? 👀

Butter sounds like a good read for sure.
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I’ve seen some mixed reviews but it definitely sounds intriguing. I’m curious to give it a go and hopefully, I’ll enjoy it 🙂
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Some excellent books waiting for you 🙂
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I’m excited to get to them. Fingers crossed I love many, if not all, of them 🙂
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I love Beach Read!
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It’s a very well-loved title!
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These look good. I have Beach Read on my TBR 😂
Have a great week!
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I hope you enjoy it too whenever you get to it 🙂 Have a great week as well!
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Thank you 😊
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Looks like a good list! I have Butter on my TBR list – but I don’t own it yet.
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I hope you enjoy it if/when you check it out 🙂
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The Bear and the Nightingale is so good! And yes, I definitely relate; collecting books is way easier and I still dream of winning the lottery so I don’t have to adult anymore and can just spend my winnings on books and my time on reading them! 😂
Haze
https://thebookhaze.com
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I’ve only heard great things about the series so I’m not sure why I haven’t read them yet. Omg, winning the lottery to stop adulting would be the dream 🤣 Maybe the more we put it out there, the more we can manifest! Haha
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The Undermining of Twyla and Frank! I LOVED book one and was so excited to continue the series… and then I didn’t and now I have forgotten so much about it that I want to do a re-read before continuing the series… but when that’ll happen is anyone’s guess haha 🙂
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Honestly, I think one of the reasons that I haven’t read Twyla and Frank yet is because I have forgotten so much of the world and all I remember form Hart and Mercy’s story is how much Hart’s storyline gutted me and had me ugly crying at the end 🤣 So, I want to do a re-read before continuing the series… Sigh, one day! I hope we both enjoy the entire series whenever we get to it! 😉
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The Everlasting is so good! I adore Harrow and all her books though. The Tia Williams is one that I also want to read if you want to add it to our list?! haha! I loved The Undermining of Twyla and Frank, but I didn’t love the last book. 😦 I hope you enjoy these when you get to them!! ❤
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I’ve adored all of the Harrow books I’ve read as well. Always so emotional and surprising and of course, beautifully written! I have a feeling I will love The Everlasting but there’s always some weird random chance I won’t (even though it’s so super slim) but that is still a fear 😂 I’m such a silly goose, lol. Oh no, I’m sorry to hear you didn’t love the last book after Twyla and Frank! Tbh, now that I think about it, I don’t think I’ve seen a lot of people talk about it either… And yes, defo down to add to our buddy read list 🤣
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The Bear and the Nightingale is absolutely still on my TBR. I even bought an audiobook copy recently in the hopes that it would get me to pick it up soon… but nope. Not yet. Someday!
I hope you enjoy these books when you have time to read them.
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Ooh, I for sure thought you were going to say TBATN is my favourite 😂 I also think that I got the audiobook for the very same reason… Well, at least whenever we get around to reading it we’ll be fully prepared? 🫣 I hope you love it when the day comes, haha.
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😂 Nope, haven’t read it yet! I’ve been meaning to for ages, but just haven’t gotten there. (I think the hype made me shy away from it for a while.) Hopefully we’ll enjoy it when we get to it!
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I have not read or even heard of most of these but The Book Eaters and The Bear and the Nightingale look interesting! I hope you enjoy and love all of them 🙂
My Post:
https://thegentlechapter.blog/2026/07/28/top-ten-tuesday-books-i-have-not-read-yet-but-had-to-have/
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Thank you! I hope I do as well 🤭
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I really need to get to Butter, too! I’ve had it from the library long enough I have to return it now, oops!
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Oop! I hope you enjoy it if/when you get around to it 😀
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We are both guilty of not reading Twyla and Frank. We need to fix that.
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I thought you’d read it! We do have to remedy this… At this point though, I defo need to read Hart and Mercy again first to remember what all happened and the world we’re set in! 🤭
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I am confident that the author does a good enough job jogging my memory once I start reading it. I usually catch up in the winter because there are like no ARCs to read.
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I really love the whole Winternight trilogy. It gets better with every book!
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So many good ones! I loved Bury Our Bones and The Everlasting, and The Bear & Nightingale (and the entire trilogy) is so great! I hope you love whichever you pick up.
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I need to read the Bear and the Nightingale too!
I read The Everlasting earlier this year and didn’t love it as much everyone else seems to, but it is really well written!
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You are SO not alone, haha. I’ve read a couple from your list – The Everlasting, which was…fine? But I didn’t rave about it like everyone else seems to. Twyla & Frank, which I liked but it’s my least fave of the trilogy. And Beach Read, which I LOVE. Top tier read for me and I probably tell you every other week to read that one, haha.
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I wish I could find a way to get paid to read, and it be enough to cover the expenses of being an adult! 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/
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Ohhh, you have some great ones on your list that could have easily made mine, as well! I bought The Everlasting as soon as it came out and yet… 😅😂
I hope you love all of these once you get to them!
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Buying books and actually reading them are two VERY different hobbies! LOL
Happy TTT!
Susan
http://www.blogginboutbooks.com
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Two hobbies that I think I excel at, although one more so than the other, if I do say so myself 🤭 Hehe
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You definitely have plenty of company on that island!
Thanks for sharing your #TTT
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All the company on the island is quite nice 🤭
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Ooh I’ve had Butter on my Kobo since it was published haha, I should read that soon too…
I enjoyed The Book Eaters, I hope you do whenever you get to it!
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LOL, to be fair, I’m pretty sure I’ve had my copy since it was released because I scooped it up the second I saw it in the store thinking they’d run out of copies otherwise (I was very wrong as they restocked very quickly)! 😂 I hope you enjoy it whenever you get around to it!
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I’ve read Transcendent Kingdom, and I really loved it when I read it after hearing the author speak. I’ve also read Beach Read and I thought it was okay.
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Honestly, despite all the hype surrounding Emily Henry’s books, I see enough mixed reviews that have me leaning towards “I think I might not enjoy them…” But I really hope that I’m wrong! And I’m also looking forward to reading Yaa Gyasi for the first time cos I’ve heard incredible things about her books.
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Bury Our Bones! I’m a big Schwab fan and can’t believe I still haven’t read this one.
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I loooove Schwab and this was one of the rare pre-orders I made cos I had to have the beautiful Illumicrate edition… And yet it still sits unread… But at least it looks stunning on my shelf 😂 I hope you love it when you get to it!
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You are not alone!! I’ve been told that collecting books and reading books are two different hobbies 😂 but I also felt called out by this topic!!! I hope you enjoy all these if you get to them!
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We share 3 titles! That being said, you’re going to LOVE the Winternight Trilogy!
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Sooo many amazing books! You have some great reading ahead of you… I also have Book Eaters on my TBR, I got approved for an arc and just never got round to reading it
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Whoaaa… that was not meant to be that big lmao
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I have soooo many books that I bought and haven’t read yet. Of your list, I’ve read and enjoyed Beach Reads and The Bear and the Nightingale. I read The Book Eaters, but it was a tough one for me. It was definitely out of my comfort zone. I hope you enjoy these if and when you get to them, Dini.
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I’ve read several of yours, but they aren’t books that stick with me. Maybe it will be different for you though!
My TTT: https://laurieisreading.com/2026/07/28/top-ten-tuesday-how-am-i-doing-on-my-2026-backlist-titles/
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had the exact same thing happen to me with the book eaters hahahah
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[…] #TopTenTuesday: Books I NEEDED but still haven’t read… […]
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Pretty much all of these books are still on my TBR, as well, though I had just planned to get them from the library. xD I think we’re all together in this slowly sinking ship LOL.
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I have been avoiding Butter for a while (idk why) but then I read it’s a thriller and murder somehow connected to butter and I immediately added it to my TBR 😂
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I loved Bury Our Bones and The Bear And The Nightingale. I really think you’d enjoy the writing style of the latter, its so lyrical and merges history and folklore together beautifully.
The Everlasting is definitely one of mine too. How its still sitting unread on my shelves I simply do not know 🙈 I’m also especially eager to get to Book Eaters and the Megan Bannen books. And how I’ve never tried an Emily Henry title I simply do not know 🙈🙈
The Poet Empress is one of mine. I was basically happy dancing when I heard that it would be Illumicrate’s January choice yet I still haven’t read it somehow. Others that have sat on my shelf for longer include The Deathless Girls and Where The Dark Stands Still.
Also book buying and book reading are definitely two very different hobbies. I actually read a book where the FMC was comfort buying books she knew she wouldn’t get to anytime soon and felt so seen 😂
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