Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Julia's Top Ten Books I Can't Believe I've Never Read


Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created here at The Broke and the Bookish. This meme was created because we are particularly fond of lists here at The Broke and the Bookish. We'd love to share our lists with other bookish folks and would LOVE to see your top ten lists!

Each week we will post a new Top Ten list complete with one of our bloggers answers. Everyone is welcome to join. All we ask is that you link back to The Broke and the Bookish on your own Top Ten Tuesday post AND sign Mister Linky at the bottom to share with us and all those who are participating. If you don't have a blog, just post your answers as a comment. Don't worry if you can't come up with ten every time..just post what you can!


Looking back on my childhood, I can think of the moment where from that moment on I could be labeled a reader. For the curious among you it was carrying out a stack of about 20 books from my local library for the first time. But with being a reader comes the task of actually reading books. The more I travel to the library, stumble upon book blogs or walk through a bookstore my "want to read" pile grows exponentially. So without further ado, this reader gives you:

The Top Ten Books I Can't Believe I've Never Read

1. Lemony Snicket Series - I remember back when the last few books in this series were coming out. I was relatively young, still marketable for these books. All of my friends were gaga over what was going to happen to these kids (my extent of the knowledge of the book). I remember feeling like, "I need to read this. I want to be part of the gang!" but as the last book came out and the fervor died down, I put it off and thus it ends up on this list.

2. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy - I really think I would like these books. My friends have said that I would. I just never have had them in my possession or read a word of their pages.

3. Catch-22 - How many times have I heard the phrase "It's a Catch 22." Actually, not that many. But every time I do hear it, it makes me want to learn more about its origins.

4.The complete chronicles of Narnia series - This one shames me to put on here since I credit the first three or four books in this series as getting little me back into reading. I devoured the first books but once the Pensive kids exited the main storyline, I did too. I've tried a couple of time since then to finish, but every time I try another book comes along that I want to read more. So sadface, here they sit on this list.

5. Pride and Prejudice - In high school, I heard stories about how dreamy Mr Darcy was and how this book was the epitome of romance. Being a romantic myself, I bought it at the library book sale. I really couldn't get into it. I kept getting confused about who was saying what to whom and who would answer. So I gave up and watched the BBC series. Ever since I feel like I'd be able to go back and enjoy it but again, other things have pushed it to the side.

6. Middlesex - This book was the first book I added to my Goodreads shelf back in 2007. Three years later, it still sits there.

7. The Hobbit - I don't know if this will ever come off of this list. I went through a huge Tolkien craze my junior year of high school. I read the whole Lord of the Rings series followed by all of the Appendices and The Silmarillion. But I read 40 pages into The Hobbit and could go no further. I feel like this makes me less of a Tolkien fan, but I just couldn't get into it like the other three books.

8. Paradise Lost - I've wanted to read this book since we read an except of it in my high school British lit class. I even started it at one point, but after 30 pages of getting hit over the head with mythological references I had no idea about, I decided to put it on the back burner and read a book about Greek mythology in preparation. Well that took awhile and by the time I finished, I needed some light reading and never went back.

9. Anything by Dickens OK. This isn't necessarily true. I did read A Christmas Carol. But that was like reading the transcript of every movie version of that novel. So, I've never read Dickens. I feel like I should, but have never taken the initiative to do anything about it.

10. 1984 - It sounds right up my alley. There are so many references to this book culturally that I feel like I am missing something by not have been initiated with Big Brother.

And so concludes my wall of text. What about you? What are your top ten never read books?

Next week's topic is Top Ten Favorite Heroines

43 comments:

  1. I'll be doing my list during my lunch break but I just wanted to add that up until last week Pride and Prejudice would have been on my list too! Read it! I had the same troubles as you did at first but it gets wayyy better and is way worth it! My list will definitely be having Catch 22 on it as well.

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  2. Mine is a list of shame! I'm hoping public humiliation will force me to suck it up and read them.

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  3. Haha Lyndsey..mine is going to be the same way!

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  4. Catch 22 seems to be common not read book - maybe that's because it's boring :)

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  5. Well, at least Harry Potter ain't on my list! I have read 5/7 of them!!

    Anyway, my list of shame is up.

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  6. I haven't read Catch 22 either but have wanted to for awhile!

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  7. I have only read 2 books on that list, but this has reminded me of all those books I still have to read! Maybe this will help me tick them off :)

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  8. This particular Top 10 Tuesday makes me feel really guilty for all I haven't read! Catch-22 is on my list as well.

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  9. Hi I'm Tintin and I'm a new book blogger :) I have not read Catch-22 either! I tried but only went a few chapters.

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  10. Wow, I've read most of those, which means you probably have read most of mine. Narnia is the exception, one and done, just couldn't get into it. JUST read Ender's Game, at 43 that is unforgivable but that just means the rest of the series is on my list now. Missed lots of kids classics: Peter Pan, Marry poppins...

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  11. I couldn't get into the Hobbit either, like you I loved Lord of the Rings, but this one is still sitting on my shelf waiting until I have enough courage to try again.

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  12. This was a great exercise in humility! :)

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  13. It's time to visit my shame. I think my list will consist mostly of classics that my obviously deprived childhood never got to. I have read a lot of the book you've listed, but there are a couple that I feel I should read, such as Hitchhikers. Everyone keeps telling me how funny they are. I watched the movie, does that count?

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  14. Skip Middlesex... and def. read 1984 :) I haven't read Pride and Prejudice either.

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  15. I know some Jane Austen fans would be heartbroken that I tried to read P&P and didn't like it and didn't finish it. But I absolutely loved Catch-22 because it cracked me up and I am stunned that not everyone loved it too.
    I guess it's all just an example of our individuality. :)

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  16. PLEASE try again to read The Hobbit!!! I personally think it's much more exciting and an easier read than LOTR. I do agree that it's kind of hard to get into.

    Also, please don't feel bad about not reading Paradise Lost- I read it for Brit Lit in college and I just don't think it was worth it. Read the Biblical account, and then if you want some Biblical literature, read Dante's Inferno. Of course, this is just my opinion and I have a fear of dense reading ;)

    Thanks for the fun list!

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  17. As I said in my post...my list may raise doubts as to my qualifications for an English degree....

    Can't believe how long some of these have been on my TBR list.

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  18. We're right there with you on P&P, Catch-22, Paradise Lost, and 1984. And a lot of the rest, actually. You should definitely find Hitchhiker's Guide, though, it's absolutely hilarious!

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  19. Love the Top 10 list and want to share some of mine with you. Mine are on children's lit.

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  20. Oh man, my list is shameful. At first I was having trouble with it, so I asked my boyfriend for help thinking of books. He was like, "Well surely you've read this, so..." and I would have to just shake my head, because I hadn't read it. It was so embarrassing.

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  21. Great topic! I have to say that if it wasn't for my project, I would have had a lot more titles to list!

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  22. This was a great idea. I like this meme idea! I'll definitely be back every Thursday.

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  23. YOU MUST READ 1984!!!!! MY NUMBER 1 BOOK OF ALL-TIME!!!!

    Oh yeah, and also I haven't read all the Narnia books or Hitchhiker's Guide. Go us!

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  24. I echo ConnieGirl's sentiments. "1984" is amazing and should be read ASAP.
    I'm afraid I don't quite know what to make of your comment on "The Hobbit." To me that's like reading "Ulysses" then "Finnegan's Wake" and not being able to get through "Portrait of the Artist" (damn, I've been talking about those books a lot today). Nothing wrong with that, just unusual. Maybe you could get more interested when (if) the movie comes out, but if you liked Tolkien's more difficult stuff you should give it another try.
    -Isaac
    towerofstories.blogspot.com

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  25. Well, it's after 10pm but I finally posted my list!

    Now, for yours...

    1. I read the first 4 or 5 books in the A Series of Unfortunate Events collection, but it just got repetitive. I'd like to finish someday, since I started and all.

    2. Hitchhiker's Guide was funny but, again, I didn't make it through every book in the series.

    3. I still haven't read Catch-22. I tried to do it for my Independent Reading class in High School, but it made no sense to me at the time. I'll get there sometime!

    4. Definitely not a big fan of the Narnia books. Another series I gave up on.

    5. Pride and Prejudice is my second favorite Austen novel, after Northanger Abbey. It's very well written, and the humor/wit is top notch.

    6. Middlesex was brilliant. It took a long while to get into the story, but it's one of the only modern day masterpieces, in my opinion.

    7. You have to read The Hobbit!. So good, so fun, so well written. It's better than the LotR series, I think. Easier, but more enjoyable.

    8. Paradise Lost? Meh. If I didn't feel obligated to read this (pretty much every class I took in graduate school mentioned PS and its influence on other great writers) I wouldn't have. I mean, the story behind Milton's illness and perseverance is inspiring, but meh.

    9. Great Expectations was definitely my favorite. A Tale of Two Cities was okay, but I can't help comparing it to Hugo's Les Miserables which is leaps and bounds ahead of Two Cities.

    10. I haven't read 1984 either. I tried and gave up. It was a yawn fest for me at the time, but I'll give it another go.

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  26. Wow. Tons of comments that I missed! Completely forgot today was Tuesday (as I wrote this over the weekend).

    I must say. You guys have done what I thought was impossible and convinced me to go back and give The Hobbit another try.

    I feel better about Catch 22 though.

    (I can't be too sorry about missing all the comments since Mockingjay did come out today and I've been zooming through that since 7pm)

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  27. Julia--I think this is the most people we've had for TTT so far!

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  28. This is definitely true. Nothing like a douse of communal shame to bring out the droves.

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  29. I actually have three of the books on your list, on my "mental" list. I didn't get a chance to do a top ten this week-- may add it a day late though! Anywho. I would have The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Catch-22 and Pride and Prejudice. All of which I've been wanting to read for quite some time now! Guess they're all going onto the TBR list!

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  30. Funny that you loved Lord of the Rings and could not get into Hobbit; I much preferred Hobbit!

    Perhaps it's my childish mind.

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  31. I really think the reason I didn't get into The Hobbit was I hit my Tolkien limit. The Lord of the Rings and The Silmarillion are quite daunting... The Hobbit, even in it's simplicity, was too much Tolkien world/not enough elves.. lol

    I'll give it another go. It's around here somewhere

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  32. I wasn't going to participate in this, but I decided to.

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  33. I cam to this a bit late, but I couldn't pass it up.

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  34. 1984 is SO good...the ending always gives me chills.

    Catch-22 is really good as well, though a bit raunchy for my tastes. It'll have you in stitches, though.

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  35. I haven't finished the Narnia series either, which is just crazy to me!

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  36. Don't sweat it...you'll get to them eventually if you really want to, otherwise meh. That's right, meh.

    Paradise Lost is really tough to follow, so I don't blame you for that one :oP

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  37. I tried to read Catch-22 a year or two ago. After several weeks of getting nowhere I gave up at about page 30. Life's too short. I'm currently stalled with Narnia mid-way through The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. P&P is a wonderful book. It's one of the very few that I reread. Once you've read it it's even more delightful the next time.

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  38. I've only read #2 and #5. Pride & Prejudice is one of my all time favorite books. I finally convinced my Mom to read it and ti took her forever. Needless to say, she won't be reading it again. I finally read Hitchhiker's Guide this year. It's all right but over-hyped in my opinion. Maybe if I had read the other four books I would have liked it more.

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  39. I think I am going to make Paradise Lost a life goal of mine since it is going to be quite ridiculous to follow :)

    As for 1984 and P&P, they are coming into the batters circle soon!

    I love that people are still commiserating with me on this. Thanks guys!

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  40. I can't believe you haven't read a series of unfortunate events! That was my fave book series. I hope you've read it now, though. Wen was this post dated?

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  41. There are so many books that I should've read but haven't, but I've managed to bring the list down to 10.

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  42. Hitchiker's Guide is just... brilliant. Not kidding. I have a special spot on my shelf saved for Sir Adams's brain. As for SoUE, I quit halfway through the thirteenth and final book.

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  43. I just posted my top ten list at vivacioushobo.com. I love all of your top ten lists!
    http://wp.me/p4LW88-k4

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