3.92 avg rating — 202,001 ratings

"Ellison's book is supposedly one of the most controversial and inspired a generation of writers... I might get around to seeing for myself."

3.75 avg rating — 412,537 ratings

"I think a professor from Nigeria recommended this book to me. I just wish I had the same amount of free time as college professors."

4.38 avg rating — 338,276 ratings

"I've read parts of it, but never got around to finishing it."

4.15 avg rating — 18,789 ratings

"Essential for all teachers... except those of us who have a bazillion other things to do."

3.90 avg rating — 84,430 ratings

"One of the most eloquently written mystery-romances ever... but I wouldn't know because I never got around to even cracking the spine. I think the price tag is still on it..."

3.91 avg rating — 15,782 ratings

"This book inspired Jack Kerouac and a score of other writers. So I've heard."

3.91 avg rating — 305,234 ratings

"I hear it's really funny and I agree because I read the first 20 pages... but it's like a bajillion pages long, so I didn't finish it."

4.10 avg rating — 931,500 ratings

"My friends keep telling me this is one of the greatest books of all time, but..."

3.80 avg rating — 873,966 ratings

"Maybe it's because I've already seen the movie... you know, the one with Gwyneth Paltrow? What? It's not a good adaptation? Eh, I might read the book, then... eventually..."

3.90 avg rating — 2,050,872 ratings

"Wait... is this the same Emily Bronte who wrote that really long book about the girl and the crazy woman in the attic... what was that book called?"

4.21 avg rating — 843,781 ratings

"My friend said this book was amazing... he has no life..."

4.03 avg rating — 994,257 ratings

"I read Of Mice and Men because it was short. This one? A bit longer."

4.11 avg rating — 520,226 ratings

"Wait...this is about a war? I love war books. Why haven't I read this yet. Oh yeah, I have a life."

4.01 avg rating — 102,991 ratings

"Life-changing, amazing, and that guy who froze to death in Alaska was obsessed with it...but I don't even know what it's about."

4.12 avg rating — 1,104,727 ratings

"This book has one of the best opening lines in the history of literature. I know this because I've read the first page more than once..."

3.94 avg rating — 168,470 ratings

"Raymond Chandler is the king of crime fiction, and this is his best...so I've been told..."

3.86 avg rating — 115,462 ratings

"I'd make a terrible detective. I can't pay attention long enough to... do whataver it is detectives do."

3.76 avg rating — 137,837 ratings

"Of course, I can count the number of people I know who have read this one one hand, so I don't feel so bad."

3.83 avg rating — 1,192,493 ratings

"I feel like I already know it, like I've heard the story a thousand times, just told in different ways."

4.39 avg rating — 386,379 ratings

"I hear it's amazing. But it's just so long... so, so long..."

4.09 avg rating — 66,632 ratings

"It's a stunning portrait of a lost age and filled with... *sigh*"

4.24 avg rating — 73,144 ratings

"Why haven't I read this yet?"

3.86 avg rating — 196,024 ratings

"Southern gothic at its best? I don't even have time to think about what that means."

3.84 avg rating — 147,648 ratings

"Apparently Willa Cather is one of the most eloquent writers of all time, a master of the craft. But I wouldn't know, because I've never even held a copy of this book."