I’ve seen this challenge around a lot, but Callum‘s recent post inspired me to take part. This challenge was started by Mercedes on booktube. What you do is you pick out 5 books on your TBR that you think are going to be 5-star reads. When you finish, you can come back and make a post letting everyone know how you got on.
My 5-star read predictions:
Till We Have Faces by C.S. Lewis: I’m taking a bit of a leap of faith here because I only made it about three books into the Narnia series when I was younger and I didn’t like them at all (sorry), but, I’m fairly confident I’ll love this. For one thing, it’s a Greek mythology retelling, which, you know me; and it’s about Cupid and Psyche, which will be a nice change from the thousand retellings about Achilles that I’ve read. And for another thing, Steph loved it and she has yet to let me down with her recs! (NO PRESSURE STEPH.)
The Murder at the Vicarage by Agatha Christie: On the other hand, it feels sort of like cheating to include an Agatha Christie when I’ve had nothing but good experiences with her, but I was trying to stick to books that I already was intending to read in the next couple of months, so here we are. I’ve read five Christie novels so far this year and I’m currently on my sixth (Crooked House) but I have actually yet to meet Miss Marple, so I’m excited about that!
Days Without End by Sebastian Barry: This Man Booker longlister has so many of my auto-read buzzwords it’s not even funny… Irish, check; LGBT, check; historical fiction, check. This is about an Irish boy who flees the Great Famine and signs up for the US Army in the 1850s. I’ve heard nothing but good things and I’ve heard that Barry’s prose is spectacular, so I’m really looking forward to starting this.
Medea by Christa Wolf: This Medea retelling has been on my radar for a while and was recently re-recommended to me, so I think it’s about time I get around to it. Medea is one of my favorite characters of all time and I loved Bright Air Black by David Vann, so I’m really looking forward to delving into her story again.
Asking For It by Louise O’Neill: You know me, I love all things Irish and feminist, so I’m really excited about this one. It’s a YA contemporary which is admittedly not my favorite genre, but it’s apparently about rape culture and victim blaming, which is a subject that I am very interested in and passionate about. I’m getting the impression this will be one of those hard to read but rewarding books… I hope I love it!
Wow, all Greek mythology or Irish or Agatha Christie. I’m so predictable.
Anyway, I’m not giving myself a set deadline for these because that’ll take some of the fun out of it, but I think it’s reasonable to expect that I’ll get around to them all in the next three months or so? Whenever I do finish, I’ll make a post to update everyone on how many of these actually ended up being 5 star reads. Wish me luck!
I’m also challenging Steph and Chelsea to do this (though you guys don’t have to) – and anyone else who feels like it!
Ooh, I read Asking For It earlier this year and I believe I gave it five stars, so I’m excited to see how you get on. I hope you have more success with this challenge than I did, haha.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Ahh EXCELLENT I’m really excited about it! It’s the only one on my list I don’t already own so I suppose another book order is in my imminent future…
LikeLiked by 1 person
I think that’s a really interesting idea! It will be cool to see if you actually do think they are 5 star reads.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yes, I am very curious!!! Like how well do I actually know my own tastes?? You should also make one of these posts if you want!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Awesome, maybe I will! 😀
LikeLike
Oh, I am so glad you did this tag! I am looking forward to your thoughts on all those books!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’m so curious to see how well I know my own tastes! I need to hurry up and finish the books I’m currently reading so I can get started on this challenge, I’m excited.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Oh, this is fun! I’m definitely going to have to make a post like this. It’s always interesting to see which books you really think you’ll like and what you actually think of them!
LikeLiked by 1 person
YES do it!!! I’m going to be so curious to see how this experiment turns out.
LikeLiked by 1 person
They all look like good picks. Please make sure you post your results.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I definitely will! I’m eager to finish up the books I’m currently reading so I can get started on this challenge.
LikeLiked by 1 person
OH NO I’M SCARED. Hahahaha I hope you love it!! I will say I didn’t expect Till We Have Faces to be a 5 star read until I got to the end….that book was NOT what I expected it to be, so I’m curious to see what you think!!
LikeLiked by 1 person
That sounds great tbh I love books that creep up on you. IT’S OKAY I HAVE READ AN ARROW’S FLIGHT I CAN EMBRACE ALL KINDS OF WEIRDNESS NOW
LikeLiked by 1 person
I should just take the remaining books you lent me as well as The Absolutist ahahahah……now THAT would be pressure, lol.
LikeLiked by 1 person
LOL oh my god I don’t think I even gave all of those 5 stars 😂 actually maybe just not If We Were Villains….. it was a 4.5 rounded down. But that would be hilarious omg I’d have two challenges running simultaneously, how well I can predict my own tastes and then how well I can predict your tastes NO PRESSURE, ME
LikeLiked by 1 person
LOL okay that would be an interesting post, though, predicting books fellow bloggers would love…but also intimidating…
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’ve heard so many good things about Sebastian Barry. I’ve always wanted to read it! Let me know if it is indeed a five-star book 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’ve heard nothing but good things too, I am very excited!!! I’ll definitely post a review when I get around to it!
LikeLiked by 1 person
[…] Rachel from pace, amore, libri challenged me to predict my own 5 star reads….and I have accepted! This challenge was started by Mercedes on booktube. You pick out 5 books on your TBR that you think are going to be 5-star reads. When you finish, you can come back and make a post letting everyone know how you got on. […]
LikeLike
[…] soon as I saw Rachel post this, I knew I had to do it. It’s a challenge started by Mercedes on booktube. You […]
LikeLike
[…] Rachel of pace, amore, libri challenged me to choose five books on my TBR that I think I will be 5-star reads, and I’ve accepted… with one caveat! Since I use half-stars in my ranking system, fewer of the books I read are wholeheartedly 5-star choices. For this reason, I’m choosing books that I think will either be 4.5 or 5-star reads. […]
LikeLike
[…] […]
LikeLike
[…] back in November I made this post predicting what I thought were going to be five 5-star reads for me. It took a little longer than […]
LikeLike