Happy Tuesday!! Tis the season for all things spooky, frightful, strange… and bookish! Today is the day that ghouls, ghosts, and thrill-seeking bookworms alike have been waiting for all year: HALLOWEEN. Since this week’s Top Ten Tuesday topic is a Halloween freebie, I’ve decided to share with you all ten scary bookish dilemmas that you most definitely wouldn’t wish on the worst monster.
1. Forgetting when your library books are due.
This is one of my greatest fears at Oxford because I regularly check out SO MANY books from SO MANY different libraries.

2. Accidentally annotating/dog-earing/destroying a book that isn’t yours.
Hear me out. I love annotating, dog-earing, and physically marking up the books that I read so long as I own them; however, it’s a completely different story when a book isn’t actually mine. I’m always paranoid about accidentally highlighting a line in a library book!
3. Inadvertently buying a sequel to a book you’ve never read.
So. Many. Times. I think it should be mandated that books in series must have whatever number they are in the series on their spines.
4. Letting a friend borrow a book and never receiving it back.
We’ve all been there. It’s a scary, sad time.

5. Cover designs based on book-to-movie adaptations.
OH, THE HORROR. I’ve seen my fair share of terrible, terrible book-to-movie adaptation covers and I just want the terror to END.
6. Hating a book that was recommended to you by a friend.
It’s always sad when this happens, but fortunately it’s a pretty rare fear for me. Luckily my friends have excellent bookish tastes!
7. Pre-ordering a book to be shipped to your house in the States even though you’ll be in England when it actually arrives so you won’t be able to read it until you go back home for winter break.
This is currently my dilemma with John Green’s new book Turtles All the Way Down and all I want to do is teleport back home, grab this book, pet my dogs, and read it.
My mom sent me this photo of my book and I’ve been admiring it from afar.
8. The death of your favorite character.
There are too many examples to name, honestly. How can writers be so ruthless?
9. When you read a book thinking it’s a standalone but realize once you get to the end that it’s actually a 6-book series.
Such a large commitment, so little time. But sometimes you get so invested in the characters that you just have to keep going… and going…
10. SPOILERS.
I speak from experience, friends. Even worse than stumbling upon spoilers online is spoiling the book for yourself. *cough* Looking for Alaska *cough*
What do you think is the most frightening bookish dilemma? What do you think of the ones I’ve listed? What are you dressing up as for Halloween this year? Let me know in the comments section below!
Happy Halloween!
Yours,
HOLLY
Oh all of these definitely are scary bookish dilemmas, ahah, I can’t imagine your frustration at having the John Green book – and signed!! – and not be able to see it. I’d go a bit crazy, ahah 🙂 I really hate it when i start a book, thinking it’s a standalone, and it ends up being a massive series ahah, the commitment is just TOO MUCH at times ahah 🙂 great post, holly! 🙂
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Thanks, Marie! The first thing I do once I land in the US for winter break is crack open Turtles All the Way Down and read it in a night haha 🙂
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Love this take on Halloween Freebie!!
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Thanks!! 🙂
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I feel your pain! I can relate to all of these!
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It’s nice to know I’m not the only one! 🙂
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Number 3 is the worst. I`ve got so many books because they were on sale, only to later realize that they`re part of long series. I know I`m in minority, but sometimes I like spoilers. If I`m not really enjoying a book I`ll skip to the end and see if it`s worth reading or not.
Carmen / Carmen`s Reading Corner
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Ooooh interesting! I always end up accidentally spoiling myself when I flip to the back to see how many pages there are and inadvertently look at the last sentence or something…. it’s so frustrating!
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Yes, it’s always quite awkward when someone recommends a book to you that you end up not liking at all.
Here is our Top Ten Tuesday. Thank you!
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Definitely, especially when they discuss it with you a lot…. I always feel so bad!
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SO TRUE. Great list on this week’s TTT!
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Thank you!! 🙂
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Love your take on the Halloween freebie this week!
My TTT: https://jjbookblog.wordpress.com/2017/10/31/top-ten-tuesday-131/
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Thanks so much! 🙂
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🙂
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Oo this is a cool take on this week’s prompt! Also, gotta say I’m jealous of your school library, it looks pretty Harry-Potter-magical-ish.
It is always hard when you don’t love a friend’s recommendation! My friend sent me a couple books for my birthday– she has good taste but definitely a different taste in books as compared to me so I actually haven’t gotten around to reading them yet…D: I know, I’m the worst.
My TTT
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Being given books as GIFTS that you’re not really interested in is even worse! I always try to read them regardless, though 🙂 Thanks!!
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OH THE HORROR!!!! I can’t even pick one that is more horrific than the others, lol!! I agree with the entire list!
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I’m glad I’m not the only one with these bookish fears! 🙂
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I love how creative this is!! And oh, yes, I agree with them all! 😖😜
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Thanks so much, Theresa! 🙂
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Hmm…the worst of these (in my opinion) is letting a friend borrow a book and never getting it back.
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True! It’s happened to me a few times and it’s always so sad.
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I have a select list of people who are allowed to borrow books from my personal library. Pull a stunt like keeping my books or returning them in poor condition and you lose borrowing privileges…and I insist on you paying to replace my book.
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Ooh, these are scary bookish dilemmas! I totally agree with you. I hope you’re having a great time at Oxford!
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Thanks so much!! 🙂
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LOL. Love this list!
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Thank you!! 🙂
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This is my favorite take of this topic so far! So original. So accurate. So terrifying! =D Check out my list if you’d like: http://nerdnarrationblog.wordpress.com/2017/10/31/top-ten-tuesday-halloween-freebie-halloween-movies-their-bookish-counterparts/
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Thanks so much!! 🙂
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Haha! These are so scary! Especially spoilers. I hate when people on Goodreads don’t hide their spoilers.
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Reading Goodreads reviews can be so frustrating that way, especially since there’s literally a built in way to hide spoilers!
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OMG, the overdue library books, movie tie in covers, and unwanted spoilers will give me nightmares for weeks!
My TTT https://franlaniado.wordpress.com/2017/10/31/top-ten-tuesday-halloween-freebie/
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It’s nice to know I’m not the only one! 🙂
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I feel so bad that I didn’t like How to Ruin Everything 🙈 I am always afraid that people won’t like the books I recommend them, or that I won’t have room for all my books and will have to sacrifice some of them
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