Books you Never Read

[Jessica]

My top ten would be:

1) Fahrenheit 451
2) The Grapes of Wrath
3) War and Peace
4) The Kite Runner
5) Outlander
6) The Shack
7) Eat, Pray, Love
8) The Perks of Being a Wallflower
9) Tuesdays with Morrie
10) The Reader

[Suzanne]

ULYSSES(ten times)

[Stacey]

1. Moby Dick
2. Catcher in the Rye
3. 1984
4. Darkest Evening of the Year (hubby loves it, I couldn't get past the first 20 pages)
5. Fahrenheit 451
6. Catch-22
7. Les Miserables
8. Slaughterhouse-Five
9. Eat, Pray, Love
10. The Outsiders

I have several more in mind, but these are the top ten.

[Carol]

1. Moby Dick(still trying to work up to it)
2. Woman In White(will read in next few weeks)
3. The Man In The Iron Mask
4. The Neverending Story
5. Zorba The Greek
6. Guns Of August
7. Bleak House(want to try it again)
8. 1776
9. Remembrance Of Things Past(bucket list)
10. The Decline Of The Roman Empire

[JSou]

Suzanne wrote: "ULYSSES(ten times)"

Hahahaha!

[Marti]

1. Ulysses
2. The Iliad
3. The Odyssey
4. War and Peace
5. Dante's Inferno
6. Anna Karenina
7. Moby Dick
8. Any more Shakespeare especially Hamlet
9. Any more Charles Dickens
10. Any Jane Austin

The reasons are numbers 4, 5, and 9.

[Marie-vicky]

Hi
Oh my God I have so many books unopened in my personnal library.There are the list of the top ten that I really have to read;

1.Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follet
2.Les Miserables by Victor Hugo
3.Main Street by Sinclair Lewis
4.The Corrections
5.Emma by Jane Austen
6.Life of Pi by Yan Martel
7.1776
8.Catch as Catch Can by Joseph Heller
9.The Kite Runner
10.The Penderwicks

[Jayme]

Hmmm, in no particular order:

1.The Mutiny on the Bounty Trilogy
2.The Danzig Trilogy: The Tin Drum, Cat and Mouse, Dog Years read the Tin Drum, but abandoned the other two.
3.The Hero with a Thousand Faces I've been half way through this for a year now.
4.Snow Falling on Cedars
5.The English Patient
6.Snow Flower and the Secret Fan
7.Origin of Species still determined to finish it, but it's slow going.

That's it for things unread on my shelf right now.

[Chantelle]

The Book Thief - I can't get through it!
Eclipse - and the whole series, really. I stopped midway through Twilight and couldn't finish.
A Wizard of Earthsea - I'm supposed to teach this to my 6th graders and I just can't. get. through. it.
The Canterbury Tales - no interest
Beowulf: A New Verse Translation
The Shack
Three Cups of Tea: One Man's Mission to Promote Peace . . . One School at a Time
My Sister's Keeper - too incredibly depressing
Mein Kampf-I'm sickeningly fascinated by the Holocaust and really should read this, but haven't yet.
The Notebook - I've never read any of his, for some reason.

[Marci]

Too many books too little time!!

Almost anything by Magaret Atwood. I read Alias Grace and Robbers Bride, otherwise I buy her books because I should reader her but just can't seem to do it.

[Kristie]

There aren't many but

1. The Great Gatsby
2.Rant: An Oral Biography of Buster Casey
3.The Price of a Child: A Novel
4. The Mermaid Chair

These are what I have tried......I can't think of others I just don't want to ...

[Liz]

These are all books I'm really interested in, but haven't gotten to yet...
1.) The Name of the Wind
2.) The Hunger Games
3.) Wuthering Heights
4.) the Jane Austens which I haven't read yet
Hmm, I know there are lots more but at the moment can't think of. These aren't in any particular order.

[Allison]

I want to cram Name of the Wind and Hunger Games down your throat, Liz!

er...in a nice, friendly way ;)

[Cait]

The Brothers Karamazov
A Fine Balance
Anna Karenina
Infinite Jest
The Count of Monte Cristo
The Satanic Verses
Catch-22
Foucault's Pendulum
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
East of Eden

And now I have to make it my personal goal to read them all by the end of the year. :oP

[Bhumi]

Yes, Liz! Read The Hunger Games already! :)

[Heather]

Jessica wrote: "My top ten would be:

1) Fahrenheit 451
2) The Grapes of Wrath
3) War and Peace
4) The Kite Runner
5) Outlander
6) The Shack
7) Eat, Pray, Love
8) The Perks of Being a Wallflower
9) Tuesdays with M..."

I am almost surprised by 'The Perks of a Wallflower' and 'Tuesdays with Morrie' on the list because those are books you can read in one sitting since they are short...I am biased though because I love both of them ! Here are some of mine
1) House of Leaves(I get though it little by little)
2)1984(I just keep finding books to read before it!)
3)A Fine Balance
4)Jane Eyre
5)Any Charles Dicken's, Shakespeare, etc

[Kaion]

I tried to do a rounded list well-encompassing list, but it's a little depressing. :(

Started:
1. Crime and goddamn Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky: I got to the part where he's feverish and guilty as all hell. Supposedly this is barely the beginning of the action, but I really suspect this is the entirety of the action. (I *like* Dostoevsky but I wish he was terser.) That was several summers ago. (I also found I have two copies. Take that as you will.)
2. Birds of a Feather by Jaquelin Winspear: I don't really read mysteries... I just want it to get to the point, but instead there's a lot of slOow backstory. Seems like it could be interesting once it got to the point though. Has been on my "reading" shelf for 2 years?
3. Selected Poems by e.e. cummings: Love him. Been reading this off and on for years. Suspect collections aren't my thing. (Also I received just about zero schooling on poetry and it's sometimes very very intimidating.)

Barely Started:
4. The Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens- I like what I remember of Dickens, but all the characters! And the plots! I need like a serious life vacation to really get into this.
5. Brave Story by Miyuki Miyabe (I bought the hardback when it came out, eep! And it's just so LARGE looking, I haven't cracked it since the few chapters I got in the bookstore.)

5. The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin: My friends recommended this book to me... TEN years ago. I keep meaning to read it and I finally bought it a few weeks ago as an incentive to do so. Let's see how that goes.

Other Newbery books I've been meaning to read since I was a elementary-school child:
6. Hatchet by Gary Paulsen
7. The Watsons Go to Birmingham - 1963 by Christopher Paul Curtis

8. The Ear, the Eye, and the Arm by Nancy Farmer: Another friend recommendation, except in middle school.

9. When Heaven and Earth Changed Places by Le Ly Hayslip: The first book where I started amassing books I hadn't read- the beginning of the dreaded to-be-read pile that now has to be partially hidden in the garage. I don't even know where it is right now, haven't seen in a few years.

10. The Catcher in the Rye: I am the only person on the planet without an opinion on this book.

[Catamorandi]

Here are my top ten in no particular order:

1776 - David McCullough
Life of Pi - Yann Martel
The Kite Runner - Kholed Housseini
The Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas (audiobook)
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo - Steig Larsson
The Girl Who Played with Fire - Steig Larsson
Rebecca - Daphne du Maurier
Andrea Carter and the Trouble with Treasure - Susan K Marlow
Shutter Island - Dennis LeHane (audiobook)
Rituals of the Season - Margaret Moran

[Dara]

Chantelle wrote: "The Book Thief - I can't get through it!
Eclipse - and the whole series, really. I stopped midway through Twilight and couldn't finish.
[book:A Wizard of Earthsea|13642..."

Chantelle...I am reading the Book Thief now and though I haven't felt compelled to put it down I am kinda wondering what they hype is about. I am about 150 pages into it and am going to keep plugging along.

The Shack...good book, I am not overly religious but found this a very slow read and very, very though provoking. I couldn't do too much of it in one sitting.

My Sister's Keeper, though very sad, I loved the message and really enjoy JP's books. They aren't meant to be some literary phenomenon, just good books that tackle very controversial and sensitive subjects.


The Twilight series...though I read all of them and pretty quickly at that, I do not see what really all the hype is over this. Not the greatest story...but readable.

Mein Kampf...I really want to read this one too. I am very interested in the Holocaust. That may be what keeps me going with The Book Thief.

[Joseph]

Here is my top 10

1. The Idiot by Fyodor Dostoevsky
2. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë
3. A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens
4. Trainspotting by Irvine Welsh
5. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey
6. A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce
7. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
8. War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy
9. The Taming of the Shrew by William Shakespeare
10. The Hunchback of Notre-Dame by Victor Hugo

[Felina]

These are books that I mean to read but just never do. I think thats what this thread is about more than books that you can't read or don't like, right? I bet I would really like these books if I could get around to it.

1. Interview With the Vampire
2. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
3. Fahrenheit 451
4. 1984
5. Shogun
6. The Three Musketeers
7. The Pillars of the Earth
8. American Gods

[MissJessie]

l. The Time Traveler's Wife - I simply Could Not Get Into It and finally donated it. I can't see what the joy is all about.

2. Any Dickens.
3. Life of Pi. No appeal at all
4. Kite Runner. Probably very worthy, but I don't want to think about the whole war thing I guess.
5. Anything by any Russian author whatsoever. Doorstops.
6. Anything by Al Gore - for me, the master of manipulation and lying (but I know not everyone agrees so don't start:)).
7. Marley and Me. I don't want to cry at the end.
8. Ditto the book about Dewey the Cat.
9. Any book that strikes me as horribly depressing regardless of its merit. Life is too short.

The older I get, the less I want to be bored, depressed or grossed out and I avoid those books which threaten to do so like the plague.

[Becky]

Felina... your list just crushed my soul.

2. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
3. Fahrenheit 451
4. 1984
5. Shogun
6. The Three Musketeers
7. The Pillars of the Earth
8. American Gods

ALL of these books should be on your "I NEED TO READ FREAKIN' IMMEDIATELY" shelf.

I haven't read The Three Musketeers yet, but Dumas is awesome.

Hurry. Go read them now. We're waiting. *looks at watch*.

[Felina]

I know. I know. And I think I would probably love them all. Things just keep coming up. I want to do Shogun soon but I just finished Dome and Thrones which were both massive and I'm afraid to jump into another monster.

[MissJessie]

Shogun is worth the trouble for sure, maybe after a couple of short YA's for a break?

Hitchhiker--a can't put it down, you'll love it. BUT you need to be in the right mood.

1984, Fahrenheit 451--agree. Very worthy books and all, but not cheerful and uplifting, depends again on the mood. I'm never in that kind of mood.

[rebecca j]

Books I never want to read:

Anything written by a politician or about politics
Anything by Charles Dickens or Victor Hugo (could they be more boring? I don't think so!
Anything Russian
Most of what people list as classics
Most textbooks - everyone has to read them, why can't they make them more entertaining?
Most Biographies
books recommended by talk show hosts - guess I don't have much in common with them!

[Julia]

1. Pride and Prejudice!!!
2. 1984 - intimidating genre & something I should read
3. Catch-22 - classic

Anything SciFi my friend recommends to me...

[Madeline]

Goodness I have a lot but..
1.I feel like I should read William Shakespeare: The Complete Works, Deluxe Edition, and I'm working on it! There are a lot of plays in there folks. :?
2.Haven't read The Fiery Cross despite owning it because I don't have Voyager yet and I figure I should move through them in order.
3.For some reason I'm afraid The Time Traveler's Wife will turn out to be boring and slow paced, Despite raving reviews from multiple people that are usually trustworthy.
4. The Court of the Lion: A Novel of the T'Ang Dynasty is HUGE!, and I dont' know anyone who's read it o.o so how do I know it's worth it?, and the average rating is 3.69. Not very encouraging, but it's been sitting near the top of my TBR list since forevvvvver.
5.I bought The Voyage Out as a prop for something... don't remember what, but I actually spent money on it and it's a classic. Dang.
6.There's a really good chance that I'll love One Good Knight and I don't have any other excuses except that I just have too many books to get through.
7.Witches' Forest was free... but it looks like manga that forgot it's pictures... but it was free.
8.I've never not liked Amy Tan, and yet I've had Saving Fish from Drowning: A Novel waiting patiently in the wings for at least a year now.
9. I don't wanna read Favorite Recipes from Quilters but it has some yummy things in it, but I feel about learning to cook about the same as I used to feel about doing my math homework... Sometimes I surprise myself with my skill but it's generally hateful.
10. I bought The Serpent on the Crownwhen there was a bookshop that was on my walking route to work. I love Elizabeth Peters, but this is one of many books I bought there until they went out of business. (sadness) I still have the company of the un-read to help me cope with the loss.

[Marts]

My list comprises stuff I've wanted to buy (shelf space is becoming an issue), have ebooks for, or have a copy at home but there just always seems to be something else popping up:

1. War and Peace
2. The Shack
3. Catcher in the Rye
4. Bleak House
5. Anna Karenina
6. Pillars of the Earth
7. The Kite Runner
8. Life of Pi
9. The Satanic Verses
10. Time Traveller's Wife

[Jill]

1. Anything by Jane Austen. I made it through Sense and Sensibility unaided, but I needed frickin' zombies to finally make it through Pride and Prejudice. I just cannot get into her writing, and I still can't see why it's so popular.
2. Crime and Punishment. I know I should read this. Really I do. But, much like Austen, I've never been able to get into Russian literature. I've tried. I'm even reading Gogol's Dead Souls at work right now (I keep a book at work to read at lunchtime).
3. The In Search of Lost Time series by Proust. I have the whole set sitting on my bookshelf. I'm terrified of even attempting it.
4. The tale of Genji, the full version. This is huge and it's Japanese (translated into English, because I'm not quite awesome enough to learn Japanese). It's considered the first novel. And I am afraid.

[Kaion]

I've read the The Tale of Genji, Jill, and it's nothing to be afraid of. (I wouldn't call it anything to write home about either, translation and not actually being of the poetry-writing court culture leaving much of the charm behind, I'm afraid.) I still found it interesting and pleasant for the footnotes and poetry, but go figure, the moneyed and titled class didn't do much. Although it can be fun trying to keep track of who is who, being constantly referred to by title or more often, current housing arrangement (which understandable changes and rotates).

As for In Search of Lost Time, I considered it, but it's simply too long. I think I'll just stick with Samsoon's "sexy cookie" summary myself

[Natalie]

Carol (akittykat) wrote: "1. Moby Dick(still trying to work up to it)
2. Woman In White(will read in next few weeks)
3. The Man In The Iron Mask
4. The Neverending Story
5. Zorba The Greek
6. Guns Of August
7. Bleak House(w..."

Is the Guns of August written by Barbara Tuchman - it's at the used book store in Kona and I keep thumbing through it. I read Woman in White years ago and liked it. Can't get through Dickens, gave my Heritage Club series of Dickens to my daughter who doesn't read him either. Oliver Twist was the only one I finished.

[Madeline]

Kaion wrote: "I've read the The Tale of Genji, Jill, and it's nothing to be afraid of. (I wouldn't call it anything to write home about either, translation and not actually being of the poetry-writing court cult..."

Oh I enjoyed The Tale of Genji. I found it really relaxing. I recommend reading The Tale of Murasaki: A Novel first. It's a fictionalization of the author of Genji's life and gives an easier intro into that era. It inspired me to read the actual Genji and I think I enjoyed it far more than I would have had I not read Murasaki first.

[Usako]

I started Save a Fish from Drowning but never could finish :/