Top Ten Tuesday: Books on my to-be-read (TBR) list which remain unread, including my thoughts on why they remain thus.
2. Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry---This western-genre book went on my TBR after I watched the mini-series made from it and after I learned that it had won the Pulitzer Prize. I purchased a copy of it for my husband a few Christmases back but it still remains unread by both of us. Why? Once again, I am ashamed to admit, it is the length. This one weighs in at 858 pages.
3. East of Eden by John Steinbeck---This is starting to feel like "true confessions" from me. I started this classic piece of American lit last Spring and just couldn't make myself read it. The book sits on the coffee table right now with a book marker marker the spot where I abandoned it. As a Noble Book Award winner, I know it is good and I should pick it back up. Maybe this winter it will be time to try again?
5. Where the Bluebird Sings to the Lemonade Springs by Wallace Stegner---I am currently reading another book by Stegner, Crossing to Safety. As I was reflecting on how much I like Stegner's writing I remembered one of his books purchased years ago and never read, Where the Bluebird Sings to the Lemonade Springs. I am going to go scour the house looking for this book and move it to the top of my list.
6. A Long Long Way by Sebastian Barry--- This book has been on my Goodreads TBR list the longest. It was highly recommended by Seattle librarian, Nancy Pearl, so I added it to the list. I am not sure why I haven't gotten to it. Maybe the real reason is I don't actually want to read it.
8. Muse of Nightmares by Laini Taylor--- I loved the first book in the series, Strange the Dreamer, and I want to read the sequel but just haven't made the time. Now that I am retired I don't feel that urgency to read books before I make them available to students. I think I'll request the audiobook. That would force me to read/listen to it when it become available at the library.
9. Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones--- I'm not even sure why this book is on my TBR. I wanted to read it years ago, around the time that the animated movie came out and I've never taken it off the list. What do you think? Should I read it or just take it off the list?
What about you? What books have you been avoiding?
-Anne
I'm definitely guilty of putting off certain books if they're huge, like Lonesome Dove. they just take such a time commitment.
ReplyDeleteNowadays even holding a 800 page book seems like a chore after reading e-books.
DeleteI hope you get the chance to read Muse of Nightmares and Anne of Avonlea soon. They're both good!
ReplyDeleteI think I will try to get the audiobooks for both of them. If I can listen while I walk the dog or drive I can get to them.
DeleteYour "true confessions" were a lot of fun to read, especially #5. It's great that this prompt motivated you to move one of those books up the queue. And length is definitely one of my reasons for avoiding books too (except for me, "big" starts at about 400 pages).
ReplyDeleteBelieve me. I think 400 pages is a long book, too. Hence my trepidation about a 900 page book.
DeleteThe Anne series is still one I need to get to as well - I have the series too!
ReplyDeletewww.tbrandbeyond.com
We've all seen the TV series so it seems like we've read them.
DeleteI forgot Lonesome Dove. Great List. A Tale of Two Cities is on my TBR. The beginning is the longest sentence I have ever read and it scared me so I read a different classic. lol.
ReplyDeleteDickens books are so approachable from the standpoint that he wrote them to be published in chapters in the newspaper. There is always an uptick or cliff-hanger to bring readers back.
DeleteAnne of Avonlea is my favourite book in that series. I hope you do give it a try someday.
ReplyDeleteMy TTT.
LOL! Your number 10 is everything! And also the state of my TBR lol
ReplyDeleteI add to the list much faster than subtract from it.
DeleteYour list looks like mine, a few classics and long novels. I've read Howl's Moving Castle. I prefer Hayao Miyazaki version though.
ReplyDeleteI loved Crossing to Safety, Spectator Bird, and Angle of Repose, but I have heard Bluebird is the weakest of the Stegner books.
ReplyDeleteDon't miss Lonesome Dove. I don't like big books, and I don't like Westerns, but I loved Lonesome Dove. I recommended it to my niece when she was in high school and didn't like to read, and it not only became her favorite book, but it turned her into a reader.
Oh. What an inspiring story about your niece. I just read (last night) that Larry McMurtry was a student of Wallace Stegner. I think Bluebird is essays and short stories so it is probably a taste for type of writing that has caused that thinking about the book.
DeleteDefinitely do not waste time on Middlemarch, it's dreadful. I gave it up in high school and never regretted it.
ReplyDeleteYou know. I should probably drop it. I have seen the movie and it was pretty slow, too.
DeleteI haven't read Howl's Moving Castle but I'm good with the movie! I feel like you can take that one off if you loved the movie - blasphemy I know!
ReplyDeleteI'm leaning that way.
DeleteA very eclectic list. Anne of Avonlea is so good as is East of Eden.
ReplyDeleteHowl's Moving Castle! Definitely read it, it's a bit different from the Miyazaki adaptation but just as funny and just as good :)
ReplyDeleteMy TTT
With something like Howl's Moving Castle, if I haven't read it before I see the movie, it's not ever getting read. Hahaha.
ReplyDeleteHere is our Top Ten Tuesday. Thank you!
Good point. Since I saw the movie I likely won't go back and read the book.
DeleteI think it's a great idea to request the audiobook of Muse of Nightmares. I still haven't read the first book in that series. I think I'm going to do the audio when I'm ready to read it, too.
ReplyDeleteI listened to Strange the Dreamer. It was so good in that format.
DeleteThe only book I read on your list was the Anne book. No. 10 made me chuckle - I probably have at least that many not read on my shelves!
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure I've ever read a single 'Anne' book, but as I love the story, it's on my someday-reads list. Heard lots of things about Laini's books, but again, she's a popular author I've never read a book by...! Thanks so much for the Finding Wonderland visit, Anne.
ReplyDeleteI did enjoy Crossing to Safety, but I've never heard of the Bluebird book. Here's my list. https://speedyreadercom.wordpress.com/2019/09/10/10-books-on-my-tbr-im-avoiding/
ReplyDeleteI think it's funny we both have Howl's Moving Castle on our lists! Especially since my Goodreads want-to-read shelf has more like 800 titles on it. I adored the Anne books as a kid, but don't know how much I'd enjoy them now. I liked Lonesome Dove when I read it years ago, and I read Middlemarch in college, when 19th century lit was a pleasant break from nonfiction and even older lit. I love Muse of Nightmares, and Tale of Two Cities will always be my favorite Dickens. East of Eden went onto my to-read list after I was shocked to enjoy Grapes of Wrath as much as I did. I'm a little skeeved out by Stegner these days after hearing he basically plagiarized Angle of Repose.
ReplyDeleteYou should definitely read Howl's Moving Castle! It is really good. While similarities are in the movie, there are also key differences. A fast, fun read!
ReplyDeleteAh, the famous TBR lists. We have such good intentions and I am not surprised many of the ones that you don't get to are long ones!
ReplyDeleteI've seen Howl's Moving Castle on several of these lists. I've heard of that book and been curious about it, but you guys are putting it back in the forefront of my mind. :-)
ReplyDeleteNicole @ Feed Your Fiction Addiction
I loved Anne of Avonlea and Lonesome Dove.
ReplyDeleteI would also like to read your #2 Lonesome Dove & #3 East of Eden / I've avoided them since they are long. I just finished The Goldfinch ... so I got one long book out of the way. But maybe also The Night Circus ....
ReplyDelete