One of my goals for the last couple of years has been to work more backlist titles into my schedule. Basically, I want to have more free reading time away from my review books so I can catch up on the amazing titles I’ve missed, as well as rereading favorites. I’m really excited to embark on these popular series, but this also comes with a good deal of trepidation.

When you’re reading review books, you’re on the front wave of the hype generally. You may have seen a few reviews out there, but it’s not usually overwhelming, though a few books (think The Fifth Wave and These Broken Stars) do manage to get an overwhelming push before the release date. Still, one of the advantages of an advance review copy is being able to read before the real hype train gets rolling.

Very few books can live up to praise on this level.

Journeying back to popular backlist titles has it’s advantages. For one thing, various people have taken that ship and you can see if it ended in a tragic sinking by plotberg. It’s a lot easier to know what books you’ll like when everyone you know has already read and rated the book.

HOWEVER, there’s always the danger of being the black sheep. There’s SO MUCH PRESSURE. Everyone has been telling out about these books for years and they want to know the outcome. Maybe.

The thing is that if you end up absolutely loathing everyone else’s favorite book and writing a scathing review, that could be a problem. Now, your friends won’t hate you or anything. We’re not THAT tied to these books. You might, however, make them sad. I worry about this a lot when embarking on friend’s favorite books and worry about it in turn when someone picks up one of my recommendations.

Plus, we’re all on Goodreads and we have blog links showing what we’re currently reading. Everyone knows what’s going down. People will constantly check in for your thoughts and feelings, not intending to scare you but because they love you and want to go through this experience with you. I sometimes find this causing me to read differently than I might if there weren’t so many people eager for my feedback.

Finally, we come to the point of my post. I’m going to be sneak reading various books. They won’t go on Goodreads or show up on my currently reading here on the blog, because I don’t want people to know until the review is WRITTEN.

It’s funny how difficult it actually is for me to not talk to people about the books I’m reading now. Back in the pre-blogging days, that sad wasteland of bookishness, I rarely could talk to anyone about whatever book I was obsessed with or irritated with. These days, most of the books I read I discuss with someone, either in passing or occasionally in depth. I’m used to sharing my every thought while reading with people like Meg (Cuddlebuggery), Gillian (Writer of Wrongs) or Debby (Snuggly Oranges).

In some ways, reading completely secretly is wonderful. I relish the idea of surprising everyone and my freedom to let my feelings do what they want without any well-intentioned pestering. I like that I’m in charge and won’t risk accidental spoiling or getting people’s hopes up by loving and then hating their favorite book. At the same time, though, doing so has really highlighted how much I LOVE having so many people around me who do love to talk about what I’m reading. I’m so excited to get to talk about the books once I come out of my hermit reading cave and into the sunshine.

What about you guys? Do you ever feel compelled to sneak read books to spare your feelings or the feelings of your friends?

And, oh yeah, I read The Raven Boys and you can check out that review tomorrow if you dare.

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