,

Difficult Reading

These are the books that we've all either HAD to read, or chose to read to see if we could. Some of these selections are re-reads; a new perspective gained with each page. These books run the gamut from confusing to difficult. Feel free to add your personal "nightmare" reading material!
1

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3.75 avg rating — 123,246 ratings
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2

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3.43 avg rating — 488,355 ratings
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3

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4.02 avg rating — 895,317 ratings
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4

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3.43 avg rating — 828,419 ratings
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5

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4.15 avg rating — 312,327 ratings
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6

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3.93 avg rating — 6,833 ratings
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7

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3.68 avg rating — 12,548 ratings
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8

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4.02 avg rating — 171,012 ratings
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9

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3.88 avg rating — 1,692,469 ratings
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10

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3.90 avg rating — 426,581 ratings
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11

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3.52 avg rating — 214,189 ratings
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12

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3.91 avg rating — 209,314 ratings
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13

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3.83 avg rating — 158,438 ratings
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14

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3.86 avg rating — 175,633 ratings
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15

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4.08 avg rating — 803,509 ratings
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16

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3.98 avg rating — 42,966 ratings
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17

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3.47 avg rating — 290,171 ratings
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18

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3.82 avg rating — 273,006 ratings
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19

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4.04 avg rating — 25,485 ratings
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20

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3.96 avg rating — 229,482 ratings
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21

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3.46 avg rating — 87,838 ratings
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22

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3.88 avg rating — 316,668 ratings
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23

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4.20 avg rating — 168,287 ratings
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24

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3.84 avg rating — 191,517 ratings
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25

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4.09 avg rating — 156,493 ratings
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26

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really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 42,075 ratings
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27

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3.99 avg rating — 271,312 ratings
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28

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4.36 avg rating — 306,961 ratings
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29

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3.39 avg rating — 143,402 ratings
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30

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4.11 avg rating — 430,713 ratings
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31

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4.43 avg rating — 274,383 ratings
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32

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3.96 avg rating — 18,740 ratings
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33

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4.40 avg rating — 506,806 ratings
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34

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4.09 avg rating — 1,316,314 ratings
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35

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3.97 avg rating — 107,935 ratings
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35

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3.53 avg rating — 536,896 ratings
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37

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4.01 avg rating — 102,846 ratings
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38

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really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 97,196 ratings
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39

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3.94 avg rating — 59,921 ratings
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40

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3.76 avg rating — 92,715 ratings
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41

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3.69 avg rating — 381,244 ratings
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42

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3.90 avg rating — 309,814 ratings
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43

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3.16 avg rating — 17,212 ratings
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44

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3.99 avg rating — 1,751,422 ratings
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45

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4.12 avg rating — 420,157 ratings
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46

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3.85 avg rating — 1,479,375 ratings
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47

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4.11 avg rating — 49,877 ratings
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48

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4.16 avg rating — 22,753 ratings
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49

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4.19 avg rating — 4,230,624 ratings
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50

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4.16 avg rating — 385,621 ratings
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51

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really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 867,498 ratings
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52

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3.86 avg rating — 10,194 ratings
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53

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3.85 avg rating — 10,294 ratings
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54

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4.27 avg rating — 206,700 ratings
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55

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3.41 avg rating — 153 ratings
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56

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3.51 avg rating — 6,343 ratings
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57

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3.73 avg rating — 21,030 ratings
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58

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4.29 avg rating — 14 ratings
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58

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4.82 avg rating — 105 ratings
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58

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3.96 avg rating — 93,994 ratings
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61

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3.77 avg rating — 10,241 ratings
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62

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4.29 avg rating — 321,885 ratings
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63

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3.85 avg rating — 228,035 ratings
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64

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3.82 avg rating — 26,595 ratings
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64

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4.01 avg rating — 7,836 ratings
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64

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4.17 avg rating — 1,424 ratings
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64

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3.76 avg rating — 8,271 ratings
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64

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3.86 avg rating — 2,688 ratings
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69

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3.86 avg rating — 436 ratings
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69

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3.99 avg rating — 1,739,610 ratings
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69

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4.26 avg rating — 2,149 ratings
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69

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4.09 avg rating — 28,605 ratings
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73

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3.95 avg rating — 554 ratings
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73

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3.28 avg rating — 650 ratings
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73

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4.09 avg rating — 515 ratings
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73

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3.46 avg rating — 2,430 ratings
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73

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3.45 avg rating — 276 ratings
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73

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4.17 avg rating — 88,795 ratings
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79

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3.80 avg rating — 20,728 ratings
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79

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3.90 avg rating — 2,429 ratings
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79

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3.40 avg rating — 222 ratings
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82

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3.95 avg rating — 28,607 ratings
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82

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3.85 avg rating — 2,882 ratings
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84

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3.61 avg rating — 4,659 ratings
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85

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3.23 avg rating — 207 ratings
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85

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4.01 avg rating — 14,007 ratings
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85

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3.87 avg rating — 1,205 ratings
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88

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3.98 avg rating — 12,136 ratings
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89

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3.96 avg rating — 12,768 ratings
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89

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3.44 avg rating — 6,703 ratings
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91

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3.63 avg rating — 30 ratings
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92

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liked it 3.00 avg rating — 2 ratings
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92

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3.79 avg rating — 130,378 ratings
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94

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3.76 avg rating — 6,572 ratings
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95

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3.91 avg rating — 1,063 ratings
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96

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4.13 avg rating — 58,847 ratings
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96 books · 96 voters · list created June 18th, 2009 by Tara Lynn (votes) .
32 likes · 
Lists are re-scored approximately every 5 minutes.


Tara 2334 books
184 friends
Cristen 234 books
46 friends
A.M. 1406 books
313 friends
Leslie 2534 books
169 friends
Charlie 154 books
3 friends
Bradley 2366 books
4966 friends
Tamar 760 books
23 friends
Elise 4176 books
222 friends

More voters…


Comments Showing 1-6 of 6 (6 new)

dateDown arrow    newest »

message 1: by A.M. (new)

A.M. Great list; I always feel so guilty when I don't finish a book, but sometimes it is just impossible!


message 2: by Whitney (new)

Whitney FI I finished all the books for which I voted, but all took ample research, contemplation and discussion. It's those books that challenge, which are more rewarding, at least for me, in the end.


message 3: by Andrew (last edited Apr 23, 2014 07:40AM) (new)

Andrew Obrigewitsch Who is voting on this list? The Phantom of the Opera is only hard to read if you think Twilight is high literature.

Same goes for Brave New World, 1984, anything by John Steinbeck, The Shadow of the Torturer (not hard but it is weird), Fahrenheit 451 (this book is super easy to read actually) and I'm sure at least half the books I haven't read on this list are not that hard.

I would say that, "Heart of Darkness and the Congo Diary" is medium difficulty, above those listed above, but I didn't find it difficult either. The only book on hear I didn't finish was The Silmarillion, because it was just boring and felt like reading a really dry history book taken from the Bible.


message 4: by Milo (new)

Milo I agree with The Silmarillion, Andrews, but am surprised anyone found Fahrenheit 451 hard to read. Perhaps the list also includes books people were forced to read in class, when they weren't in the mood.


message 5: by A.M. (new)

A.M. Andrew wrote: "Who is voting on this list? The Phantom of the Opera is only hard to read if you think Twilight is high literature."

I think the list has changed since I last looked at it - just reviewed it all now and there's quite a few titles on there that I've read and not found difficult. But I suppose each person has their own standards of what they find difficult...


message 6: by BookLovingLady (deceased Jan. 25, 2023...) (last edited Jun 30, 2019 01:50PM) (new)

BookLovingLady (deceased Jan. 25, 2023...) Andrew wrote: "Who is voting on this list? The Phantom of the Opera is only hard to read if you think Twilight is high literature.

Same goes for Brave New World, 1984, anything by John Steinbeck, The Shadow of t..."


I'm sorry to disagree but Nineteen Eighty-Four (#48) was not exactly an 'easy' read for me either. I read books which others found difficult and vice versa. I agree with A.M. on this, what's easy for some isn't easy for another.

Beowulf (#20), for instance, is a great read, but to say it is easy? Not in my opinion....

Besides, the description clearly says These books run the gamut from confusing to difficult.


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