TTT: Though on my TBR they remain unread

Top Ten Tuesday: Books on my to-be-read (TBR) list which remain unread, including my thoughts on why they remain thus.

1. Middlemarch by George Eliot---This classic has been on my TBR for years, decades probably. Why? I suppose it is the 904 pages that seems like such a daunting number.

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?

4. A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens---A few years ago, okay maybe more than a few, I bought the audio-CD set for this book. I have enjoyed every Dickens book I've read but this format is one I rarely use anymore.  I'll have to listen to the book in the car, where I still have a CD-player yet other books keep crowding it out.

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.

7. Anne of Avonlea by J.M. Montgomery---This is the second book in the famous Anne of Green Gables series. I own the whole set but haven't gotten past book one. Anne is calling my name. (Oh, it is my name!)

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?

10. 188 other choices on my 'want-to-read' list on Goodreads---I am pretty sure that I started the year with 143 books on the list. It seems like all I do is add books to the list at a faster pace than read them.

What about you? What books have you been avoiding?

-Anne