Inspirational Skai: Day 1 | TBR Love Party Hosted by Once Upon an Ordinary: Books I'm Scared to Read

I wrote one intro for this blog, but it didn't save, so here I am rewriting it, hoping I can remember the great writing from my original introduction.

Hello! Welcome to TBR Love, a blog party hosted by Once Upon an Ordinary! This weekend while we are celebrating love, I will also be showing some love to the often-neglected entity that is my TBR pile. I've been watching too many YouTube videos about the different ways people are motivating themselves to read their "to be read" books, so I'm saying this blog series is my motivation.

Since I probably have some new people, as well as some returning readers, I will start by introducing myself and sharing how I came to be a participant in this blog party. My name is Skai; I like to write and read. I really enjoy writing about the books I read. I can also be found on Instagram as @Skai_BooksAndBracelets. Over there, I pair books with friendship bracelets that I make as I talk about my current reads, reviews and other fun bookish posts. Presently, this blog primarily showcases books, but initially when I launched it was devoted to my fiction writings. I still have several older (often poorly proofread) stories. This is the first TBR Love blog party; it's hosted by Kate at Once Upon an Ordinary. You may have heard about her before, if you've read my blog before. Last September, in 2025 and in September 2024, I did Five Fall Favorites which is a week of blogs where bloggers are given a topics, genres, or themes and share their favorite books. After Five Fall Favorites last year, Kate mentioned this blog challenge and I immediately signed up. I have plenty of TBR reads to talk about. More about that below.

When I first received the prompts for this weekend, I got a little overwhelmed. My TBR* lists are out of control. I've got lists of classic and influential young adult books. (That's the genre I write the most.) I have two book journals, each with their own list. My Goodreads list, as well as my physical books not in any lists to read. Needless to say, I have a huge TBR list. I was scared just trying to figure out how to narrow it down to five books. Then while I was writing a Love Your Library blog, I was reminded of the fact that I've checked out many books from my library that I did not read. Instead, I added them to a TBR list and returned the books. A few of these titles, I've even checked out multiple times. So, this blog is part TBR list and part deep dive into my psyche as I attempt to determine why I haven't read these despite my best efforts. Welcome to my first TBR blog, 5 TBR Books I'm Scared to Read.

*Side note: TBR stands for "to be read." I would totally be the person to read this whole blog and never figure out what TBR stood for if it were not defined for me.

1. Purple Hearts by Tess Wakefield

For the first book that I am scared to read, we have Purple Hearts by Tess Wakefield. This book inspired the Netflix movie, by the same name, starring Sofia Carson and Nick Galitzine. Because I love Sofia Carson from Disney's Decedents, when saw the trailer on Netflix, and saw it was a romance with lots of music, I had to watch it. I don't often watch rated R movies, but I decided to watch it, since I could skip or turn it off if there was anything too vulgar. The movie has language and one scene with the main characters in bed after they get married, so I would caution younger or more sensitive audiences against it. The story is super sweet and the music, which Sofia Carson helped write, is so good. I would highly recommend the music. There's one song that uses D*mn but, otherwise the music is actually about real self-love and healthy relationships. I'm saying all this to properly explain why I want to read this book but am simultaneously scared. The movie and music are so good, I'm not sure I want to read the book and find out it's not as good.

Synopsis from Goodreads:

When a soldier with a troubled past and a struggling songwriter agree to a marriage of convenience for the military benefits, neither expects much after saying “I do.” Then tragedy strikes, and the line between what’s real and what’s pretend begins to blur in this smart and surprising romance perfect for fans of Nicholas Sparks and Jojo Moyes.

View on Goodreads.

2. Pretty Little Liars by Sara Shepard

Every list of YA must read mysteries and thrillers booklist includes Pretty Little Liars by Sara Shepard. In my teen years, I didn't have cable, so I haven't watched the show, but I always saw the teasers for this the TV show based on this book. Between those two reasons, I have had this title on my TBR list multiple times. I have had this book in my hand, and I've said many times that this will be the very next book I read, after my current read, and I still don't pick it up. And I am left wondering what is wrong with me, why can't I just start it. I've heard it has mystery, thrills, drama, romance, and general teenage angst, all things I love in a book.

Synopsis from Goodreads:

EVERYONE HAS SOMETHING TO HIDE - ESPECIALLY HIGH SCHOOL JUNIORS SPENCER, ARIA, EMILY, AND HANNA

Spencer covets her sister's boyfriend. Aria's fantasizing about her English teacher. Emily's crushing on the new girl at school. Hanna uses some ugly tricks to stay beautiful. But they've all kept an even bigger secret since their friend Alison vanished.

How do I know? Because I know everything about the bad girls they were, the naughty girls they are, and the dirty secrets they've kept. And guess what? I'm telling.

View on Goodreads.

3. Youngbloods by Scott Westerfeld

The fourth and final book in the Imposters series is Youngbloods by Scott Westerfeld. I read the first three several years ago, and as I neared the end of the third book, I did not know there would be a fourth book. Then the last few chapters of book three happened. Everything fell apart for the main character Frey, and as it finished, I was sobbing. In the final chapter, readers are teased the final book in the series. I know that it brings back Tally Youngblood, from the Uglies series, but I haven't been able to bring myself to read it. I don't know how this series ends and I'm not quite sure that I want to know, but part of me doesn't like that I don't know. So that's why I'm scared to read this title.

Synopsis from Goodreads:

IT'S TIME TO

COME OUT OF HIDING

Frey has spent her life in a family of deceivers, a stand-in for her sister, manipulated at her father's command. Free from them at last, she is finding her own voice -- and using it to question everything her family stood for.

Tally was once the most famous rebel in the world. But for over a decade, she's kept to the shadows, allowing her myth to grow even as she receded. Now she sees that the revolution she led has not created a stable world. Freedom, she observes, has a way of destroying things.

As the world is propelled further into conflict and conspiracy, Frey and Tally join forces to put a check on the people in power, while still trying to understand their own power and where it belongs.

With Youngbloods, master storyteller Scott Westerfeld decisively brings back his most iconic character and merges his Impostors and Uglies series into a breathtaking tale of rivalry, rebellion, and repercussion.

View on Good Reads.

4. The Agathas by Kathleen Glasglow and Liz Lawson

While I was shopping at Barnes and Noble, I saw this book about a pair of mystery loving friends, written by a pair of mystery loving friends The Agathas by Kathleen Glasglow and Liz Lawson. I have my own story about a pair of teenage friends solving mysteries. I started it when I was a kid, so I love this concept. It's another book I keep saying that I am going to read, but I haven't read it. I think this is a book I might want to buy, so I can read it when it's convenient for me...

Synopsis from Goodreads:

Last summer, Alice Ogilvie’s basketball-star boyfriend Steve dumped her. Then she disappeared for five days. She's not talking, so where she went and what happened to her is the biggest mystery in Castle Cove. Or it was, at least. But now, another one of Steve’s girlfriends has vanished: Brooke Donovan, Alice’s ex–best friend. And it doesn’t look like Brooke will be coming back. . .

Enter Iris Adams, Alice's tutor. Iris has her own reasons for wanting to disappear, though unlike Alice, she doesn't have the money or the means. That could be changed by the hefty reward Brooke's grandmother is offering to anyone who can share information about her granddaughter's whereabouts. The police are convinced Steve is the culprit, but Alice isn't so sure, and with Iris on her side, she just might be able to prove her theory.

In order to get the reward and prove Steve's innocence, they need to figure out who killed Brooke Donovan. And luckily Alice has exactly what they need--the complete works of Agatha Christie. If there's anyone that can teach the girls how to solve a mystery it's the master herself. But the town of Castle Cove holds many secrets, and Alice and Iris have no idea how much danger they're about to walk into.

View on Good Reads.

5. Otherearth by Jason Segel and Kirsten Miller

During 2020 when the world was on lockdown, I read the first one in this series, Otherworld by Jason Segel and Kirsten Miller. I thoroughly enjoyed this escape from the reality of being trapped in my parent's house by escaping to their backyard to read on the porch. Possibly, a major reason that I kept some semblance of sanity during that uncertain time. I escaped into virtual reality along with Simon. Frankly, now I'm just afraid that if I read the sequel, it won't have the same magic that I experienced when I read the first book. I also know that sequels don't always live up to the first book, and this title promises action, adventure, and a dangerous conspiracy. I don't want to be disappointed.

Synopsis from Goodreads:

Return to the series BuzzFeed compared to Ready Player One in the second book in a new fast-paced trilogy from New York Times bestselling authors Jason Segel and Kirsten Miller that's perfect for fans of HBO's Westworld.

Simon saved his best friend, Kat, from the clutches of the Company and their high-tech VR gaming experience, Otherworld. But it was at a steep price. Now he, Kat, and their friend Busara are on the run. They know too much. About the Company's dark secrets. About the real-life consequences of playing Otherworld. And about Kat's stepfather's involvement in everything. The group is headed to New Mexico to find Simon's old roommate, who is a tech genius and possibly the only person who can help them reveal the truth about the Company before it's too late and the line between what's real and what's fantasy is erased... forever.

Imagine a future in which you can leave reality behind and give in to your greatest desires. That future is now. And the future is terrifying.

View on Good Reads.

Conclusion

While I was working on this list, my co-workers (lovingly) started a rumor that my TBR list is out of control. Well, I thought as I closed, I should address that rumor. It's true. I have a problem of adding books to my TBR list without consideration for the hordes of books already on the list. So, as I compiled this list, I had to narrow it down to 5 books. I picked five that I borrowed from the library and wanted to read but failed to read while I had them checked out. All five of these books are ones that I added to one of my two book journals when I returned them to the library. Now, I guess it's time to go check them out from the library again. May this time I will finially read them. 😉🤣 If you would like to read more about my library ramblings, I write an almost monthly blog, Love Your Library, Hosted by Bookish Beck.

Thank you for reading. Tomorrow, we will look at my Wishlist books. For that list I've picked out five upcoming releases. Please come on back to see those.

Which book do you think I should start with? Have you read any of these? What books are you intimated by?