Books I Want to Read that Nobody Cares About

As a book reviewer, I’ve often felt pressure to read popular books. It makes practical sense why we would want to do this: if we talk about the books that everyone else is reading, we’re more likely to get page views. People are more likely to comment because they’ll share the common experience of reading the same books. Reading the same material is the heart of this community, but it can be somewhat discouraging if we want to talk about unpopular books, which is why I’m sharing books I really want to read, but nobody else is reading.

This post is inspired by YouTuber Ariel Bissett, who posted a video talking about books that she’s interested in even though nobody else seems to care about them. You can watch that video here and visit her channel here.

Sounds Like Me by Sara Bareilles
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Since the days of her hit “Love Song,” I’ve been a huge fan of Sara Bareilles and her California coffeehouse music. When I found out she was writing a collection of essays detailing her creative process and her development as an artist, I couldn’t wait to read it. As popular as Bareilles is, especially since she wrote the musical “Waitress” and is literally hosting the Tony’s, I’m surprised that this book has received such little buzz.

Update: in between writing this and posting it, I’ve read Sounds Like Me and cannot sing its praises enough! This is a tiny and beautiful book that has impacted my relationship with my self-image. Everyone should read this book!

Lunch in Paris: A Love Story, With Recipes by Elizabeth Bard
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Lunch in Paris is part-memoir, part-cookbook about how Band fell in love and the recipes that she discovered along the way. This book seems like a perfect summer contemporary to read and bake your way through.

The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath
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The Bell Jar does have some name recognition like all classics, but I feel like very few people are talking about classic lit at the moment. I’ve had a hankering for some Hemingway or an equivalent to punctuate all the time I spend reading young adult adventures. This book seems like a refreshing and necessary change in pace.

The Potion Diaries by Amy Alward
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This book came onto my radar after watching a video in which YouTuber Zoella recommends it. The Potion Diaries is a charming mix of modern technology and quirky fantasy that seems unique and lighthearted.

You Will Know Me by Megan Abbot
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You Will Know Me centers on the lives of a gymnastics prodigy, her parents, and their gym community, which is rocked by the murder of someone in the community. Their lives start to unravel and dark secrets about everyone they know start floating to the surface, which sounds like a slightly dark and entirely fantastic read to me.

Party Girls Die in Pearls: An Oxford Girl Mystery by Plum Sykes
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It’s 1985, and college freshman Ursula shows up at Oxford for her first term. After stumbling upon the body of a fellow student, Ursula is catapulted into the investigation as she tries to find the culprit and gain a position of power at the university’s newspaper. I don’t know about you, but 80s culture mixed with a mystery surrounding society’s elite sounds like a recipe for a great read.

What books do you want to read that nobody cares about? Have any obscure book recommendations?

Related Post // My July TBR

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