Today’s Top Ten Tuesday prompt was Top Ten Books I Meant to Read In 2020 but Didn’t Get To. I had far too many of those to narrow down, so instead I’m doing the Top Fifteen Sequels I Meant to Read in 2020 But Didn’t Get To. These are all sequels to books I loved that I was really looking forward to, but just… didn’t end up reading for literally no real reason? I’ll definitely try to get to them soon, though we all know how that works with TBRs.

The Red Scrolls of Magic & The Lost Book of White

I’m counting these as sequels because they’re part of The Shadowhunter Chronicles, even if they’re technically a distinct series. I have no good reason for not starting these other than not finding Alec very compelling as a character. Magnus Bane is by far my favorite Shadowhunters character, so I really want to read them and just… never got around to it? I’m really going to try to get to those this month though, and, even if I don’t, hopefully I’ll get through them before The Black Volume of the Dead comes out at some point this year.

The Missing of Clairdelune & The Memory of Babel

I absolutely adored the first book in this series so, like above, there’s no reason for me not to have read them already. I want to read 5 translated books this year, so hopefully these will be two of them.

Sword in the Stars

The main reason I haven’t read this one yet is that it’s set in Camelot and the sci-fi retelling aspect of the first one was the main thing I liked about it? The characters honestly aren’t nearly as compelling as the world-building was, so tearing the narrative out of that world seems like a strange choice. I’ll definitely read it, but I’m 87.6% sure I won’t like it as much as I did the first book.

Legacy & Unlocked

Literally the only reason that I haven’t read these was that I was super pleased with how my ship for this series ended up at the end of Flashback, and I know it’s going to get messed up in these two books. I don’t even care that much about the shipping aspect of this series, but that’s why I haven’t read them yet. I’ll definitely try to get to them soon though, and I’ll have to get to them this year because the final book is coming out.

My Calamity Jane

I have no justification for not getting around to this at all. I adored My Lady Jane and My Plain Jane (which I’m going to reread after I finish Jane Eyre), so I have utterly no idea why I haven’t read this yet.

A Beautifully Foolish Endeavor

This is another case where I adored the first book and have absolutely no justification at all for not reading the sequel.

Ember Queen

I love this series so much, and have no excuse for not reading this. It’s another case where I’m just a little hesitant because my ship might get messed up? I do definitely want to read it soon though.

The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Riddle of Ages

I have been waiting for another Mysterious Benedict Society book for a literal decade, and I was super excited for this; I’m just hesitant that it might mess up everything I adored about the original three books? I’m super excited to see the characters aged up, but I’m also not sure about the addition of another character? I don’t know.

Tales from the Shadowhunter Academy

I’ve been meaning to read this since accidentally skipping it while binging all Shadowhunters books four years ago. I really thought 2020 would be my year for getting to it, but alas, it was not to be. I will get to it eventually; I just literally don’t care about Simon at all as a character, so that’s holding me back a little. I know that he isn’t the only character, but the fact that he’s a central one to the collection makes me feel a little ambivalent towards it.

This Coven Won’t Break

The main reason I haven’t read this one is that I got two chapters in and had utterly forgotten everything about the first book, which made it confusing. Might have to do a reread before finally jumping into this.

Aurora Burning

The Illuminae Files is my favorite science fiction series of all time, and I absolutely loved Aurora Rising, so I was really looking forward to its sequel, but I just haven’t gotten to it. A large part of it is that I just wasn’t feeling like reading science fiction for a large portion of last year, but I really want to read this soon.

Of Ice and Shadows

This is a case, like This Coven Won’t Break, where I loved the first book, but don’t feel like I remember enough of it to jump into the sequel, so I’d need to do a reread, and just haven’t worked myself up to it yet.

The Conference of the Birds

Okay, if I’m being honest I kind of feel like the fourth book in this series kind of ruined it, so the main reason I haven’t read this yet is because I don’t want it to go further downhill? I’m definitely going to read it at some point; the first three books were just so strong, and this arc doesn’t feel like it has a lot of what made the first books so compelling.

What are some sequels that you meant to read in 2020 but didn’t get to? Is there any particular reason holding you back?