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TBR Books You Have Been Putting Off Reading


Kylie

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Seeing Alexi's review of North and South reminded me that it has been on my TBR pile for many years. The reviews on the English counties challenge thread are all very positive, so I shouldn't keep putting it off I suppose!

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Seeing Alexi's review of North and South reminded me that it has been on my TBR pile for many years. The reviews on the English counties challenge thread are all very positive, so I shouldn't keep putting it off I suppose!

 

It took me a little while to get into it but I really enjoyed it. However, I put it off for ages so I am definitely NOT one to talk :giggle2: 

Oh, don't be put off by The Crimson Petal and the White. It's a brilliant book (though Pontalba may disagree :giggle:)! You'll know pretty soon (like within the first few pages) whether you are going to enjoy it or not, I think. :readingtwo:

I agree with this. I loved it as well. 

 

I'm ashamed to say those two Victor Hugo books are still on my TBR! I'm also putting off the next one in the Game of Thrones series - so long, plus there's a whole series of them that long! - but I must do it soon or I will have forgotten everything in book 1. 

 

Oh, and 1Q84 stares at me intimidatingly all the time. It's on the bookshelf in the dining room so stares at me balefully every time I sit down to eat. Perhaps it should be moved to a less conspicious bookshelf :D 

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Gyles Brandreth Oscar Wilde and the Candlelight Murders

Christopher Brookmyre The Sacred Art of Stealing

Glen David Gold Carter Beats the Devil

Charles Elton Mr Toppit

John Irving A Prayer for Owen Meany

John Irving The World According to Garp

Kate Mosse Labyrinth

Jed Rubenfeld The Interpretation of Murder

Kate Summerscale The Suspicions of Mr Whicher

Donna Tartt The Secret History

 

Three years later, I've only read Donna Tartt's The Secret History and Jed Rubenfeld's The Interpretation of Murder. I loved them both (especially the former).

 

I believe I ended up dumping Irving's A Prayer for Owen Meany and Mosse's Labyrinth. I thought I had dumped Mr Toppit too, but it's still listed on my TBR pile. I think that book has received a lot of reprieves! I don't even know what it's about, off the top of my head. It really should go.

 

I still have the Brandreth, Brookmyre, Gold, (other) Irving and Summerscale books to read. And there's probably now quite a few others I should be adding. I'll have to go through all of my shelves again at some point!

 

It took me a little while to get into it but I really enjoyed it. However, I put it off for ages so I am definitely NOT one to talk :giggle2:

I agree with this. I loved it as well. 

 

I'm ashamed to say those two Victor Hugo books are still on my TBR! I'm also putting off the next one in the Game of Thrones series - so long, plus there's a whole series of them that long! - but I must do it soon or I will have forgotten everything in book 1. 

 

Oh, and 1Q84 stares at me intimidatingly all the time. It's on the bookshelf in the dining room so stares at me balefully every time I sit down to eat. Perhaps it should be moved to a less conspicious bookshelf :D

 

:giggle2:

 

I just bought Les Miserables. Goodness knows how long it will be on my TBR pile for, but I'm quite keen to read it, so fingers crossed!

 

I have the Game of Thrones series and 1Q84 (three different editions!) on my TBR pile as well, but there are quite a few books in front of them on this list!

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Last year was a good year for me reading some of the books that I'd been putting off for eons.

 

I still have quite a few left!

 

Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides has been loafing around on my shelf for over a decade.

Ditto a number of books by John Rechy:  Marilyn's Daughter, This Day's Death, and Our Lady of Babylon.

Life of Pi by Yann Martel -- I REALLY want to read this one soon!  

Dear Genius by Jack Dunphy, which recounts his life with Truman Capote.  I've had THIS one for over 20 years, and have only ever flicked through it. 

Ulysses by James Joyce.  Yeah, good luck to me getting to THAT any time soon.

Orlando by Virginia Woolf

Early writings by Joe Orton:  Between Us Girls, The Boy Hairdresser, Lord Cucumber, and more.

 

There are others, but the above are the ones that glare at me the most accusingly.

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Half of a Yellow Sun - Chimamanda Ngozi Adiche

My Animals and Other Family - Clare Balding

Shadowplay - Laura Lam

The Angel's Game - Carlos Ruiz Zafon

The Bronze Horseman - Paullina Simons

 

The Man Who Broke Into Auschwitz - Denis Avey

The Stand - Stephen King

 

These books are all in red on my TBR list as they have been waiting far too long, and I don't know why! I am determined to get around to them this year. I am buying far less new books as saving money for the work we are planning on the house so no excuses as long as I avoid the libarary! :D

 
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Kylie - I hate to say this, but I dumped Mr Whicher after about 120 pages, as it was so tedious....I've got too many books on the tbr piles to mention, but I do tend to put off reading the larger books simply because they take me so long to read, so my main book in the "big" category is probably Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett, although I loved the TV series.  Plus loads of Dickens, and a couple of George Eliots.

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There are many classic and famous books I still haven't read. Some I never will, they don't interest me and others I've been planning to read for years, but the problem is there are also many many other titles I want to read equally as much. 

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Kylie - I hate to say this, but I dumped Mr Whicher after about 120 pages, as it was so tedious....I've got too many books on the tbr piles to mention, but I do tend to put off reading the larger books simply because they take me so long to read, so my main book in the "big" category is probably Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett, although I loved the TV series.  Plus loads of Dickens, and a couple of George Eliots.

 

Thanks for letting me know your thoughts on it. :) I almost hope that I dislike it; that way I can remove it quickly from my TBR pile and move on to something else. :)

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I've had these since before 2010!

 

G K Chesterton - The Man Who Was Thursday

H Rider Haggard - King Soloman's Mines

Jane Austen - Sense and Sensibility

John Wyndham - The Chrisalids

John Wyndham - The Kraken Wakes

Robert Louis Stevenson - Treasure Island

Sebastian Faulks - On Green Dolphin Street

Virginia Woolf - The Common Reader

These were what I posted last time round.  I've only managed to read two of them (the bolded ones), both of which I loved! I've read a couple of other of Wyndham's books since posting (I'd already read 'Triffids') and have loved them all, so I'm no longer daunted by The Chrisalids, but I just haven't got round to it!

 

I'm another who loved The Crimson Petal and the White:)

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Thanks for letting me know your thoughts on it. :) I almost hope that I dislike it; that way I can remove it quickly from my TBR pile and move on to something else. :)

I was the same, it is more non-fiction in how it reads and very dry. However I know many have liked it and found it interesting. Only one way to find out! :)

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The rest of 'The Southern Reach' Trilogy, I read the first book and did not enjoy it at all unfortunately, so I have put aside the two books in the series, I will probably go back to it at some point. :)

Edited by Weave
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The books I've been putting off reading:

 

 

Because of size:

- Hugo, Victor: Les Miserables - Have actually given the copy away... :blush: 

- Seth, Vikram: A Suitable Boy

 

Because I fear they might be too intellectual for me:

- Bulgakov, Mihail: The Master and Margharita - Have actually given the copy away...

- Danielewski, Mark Z.: House of Leaves

- Gaarder, Jostein: Sophie's World - Have actually given the copy away...

- Rand, Ayn: The Fountainhead

- Rand, Ayn: Atlas Shrugged

 

Because I feel I might not 'get' it:

- Acker, Kathy: Blood and Guts in High School - Have actually given the copy away...

 

Because I fear I might not like it as much as other members on here:

- Gruen, Sara: Water for Elephants

- Thackeray, William Makepeace: Vanity Fair  This one I've actually read :D 

 

Because I've tried it once or twice but couldn't get into it:

- Atwood, Margaret: Alias Grace - Did manage to read it but didn't like it much :( 

- Maurier, Daphne du: Rebecca

- Radcliffe, Ann: The Mysteries of Udolpho

 

Because I haven't felt like it:

- Allende, Isabel: The House of Spirits - Have actually given the copy away...

- Blixen, Karen: Out of Africa - Have actually given the copy away...

- Cunningham, Michael: Flesh and Blood - Have actually given the copy away...

- Cunningham, Michael: Specimen Days - Have actually given the copy away...

- Eco, Umberto: The Name of the Rose - Have actually given the copy away...

- Kostova, Elizabeth: The Historian - Have actually given the copy away...

- Lewis, Matthew Gregory: The Monk

- Roy, Arundhati: The God of Small Things - Have actually given the copy away...

 

Because I want to like it so bad that it makes me fear I won't

- Dickens, Charles: Great Expectations - Have actually given the copy away...

- Dickens, Charles: Hard Times - Have actually given the copy away...

- Dickens, Charles: Nicholas Nickleby - Have actually given the copy away...

- Dickens, Charles: The Pickwick Papers

 

Because I know it will make me too sad:

- Jones, Aphrodite: All She Wanted

 

Because I'm afraid of Virginia Woolf:

- Woolf, Virginia: Mrs Dalloway

 

 

Acker, Kathy: Blood and Guts in High School - Have actually given the copy away...

Allende, Isabel: The House of Spirits - Have actually given the copy away...

Danielewski, Mark Z.: House of Leaves

Dickens, Charles: The Pickwick Papers

Hugo, Victor: Les Miserables - Have actually given the copy away...

Maugham, W. Somerset: Of Human Bondage - Have actually given the copy away... 

Segal, Erich: The Class

Shakespeare, William: Romeo and Juliet

Solzenitsyn, Aleksander: One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich Have actually given the copy away...

Thoreau: Walden and Other Writings

 

 

Pretty pathetic :D 

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frankie:  We had to read Dickens' Hard Times at secondary school.  You had a lucky escape by giving your copy away.  I've never read such depressing dirge.  It's the kind of book that can put a schoolkid off reading for life! 

 

Oh wow :lol: Thanks for that! I did have a feeling it would be depressing... The title at least implied it :D Poor Dickens. His A Tale of Two Cities was so wonderful! :wub: 

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Frankie, I put off reading for Water for Elephants for a while too, but when I did read it (think it was a book group read) I loved it!

 

I agree that Rebecca is a bit difficult to get into, the first part is pretty slow, but once they get to Cornwall it gets much better.

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This one I have put off reading Torvill and Dean Autobiography Our Life on Ice.  I started reading a few pages, then read a few more but unless I can commit to a book it is best to put it to one side and read it later.  Will get round to it eventually.

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That makes me feel a little less apprehensive! Maybe I'll give it a go sooner rather than later. ;)

 

I did get around to it eventually, and ended up loving it! (Capital by John Lanchester, just to save anyone trawling back through the thread if they were interested :D)

 

The most put off book on my TBR at the moment is a travel book I had on my wishlist for ages, then it came up on offer so I bought it, and have since then had little interest in actually reading it!  Must get around to it this year.

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I did get around to it eventually, and ended up loving it! (Capital by John Lanchester, just to save anyone trawling back through the thread if they were interested :D)

 

 

Capital was a great read! Loved it from beginning to end. :D

Edited by bobblybear
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Did I seriously miss all these comments on Crimson Petal??  :doh:  I do hope to get to it later this year, although there is an Immersion version... 

 

Pretty pathetic :D

I suggest Atlas Shrugged over The Fountainhead.  Atlas Shrugged is good, it shouldn't be too hard, they are actual stories, so you don't have to quite get into the philosophy.  And One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich is great!  It'd probably only take you a few hours.

 

Now I am daunted by The Scarlet Letter, as my mom has been wanting to read it with me for ages.

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