Top Ten Tuesday: The Last To Know
This week's topic is : Top Ten Books...I feel everyone has read but me :/
10. Khaled Hosseini, The Kite Runner
I saw this one on some lists as I was going through my reader today. I'm still interested in reading it, although I feel that the moment may have passed.
9. J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter, books 2-7
Yep, I read the first one, started the second one, and I couldn't get past the recap of the first one. I know that I could just skip it, but that is my general complaint about series- and one of the reasons I love TiVo, consequently.
8. Any Historical FictionI've always been kind of embarrassingly bad at history. I also have moments sometimes where I think that I might learn something if I were just read some historical fiction, since I love fiction. I think if I start somewhere, it will be with Wolf Hall.
7. Markus Zusak, The Book Thief
I'm not sure why I haven't read this, as it is sitting on my shelf, I figure it will be a pretty quick read, and lots of people seem to love it. Maybe it is my historical fiction phobia, which might also be why I haven't read Maus.
6. Any Stephen King: Again, I'm not sure why. For the past few months I've been on a horror buying spree. Every time I am at a thrift store and I see a King or Straub in good condition, I pick it up and put it on my shelf. I have yet to read them.
5. Stephanie Perkins, Anna and the French Kiss
I know why I haven't read this...the cover. The cover makes me cringe. I think it would have even when I was a teenager. But, I hear nothing but gushing about it, and I do like contemporary YA, and it seems fun. Maybe someday.
4. Suzanne Collins, Mockingjay (The Hunger Games #3)
I read the first two books (actually devoured them is more accurate) and then let a year or so pass, and this is still on my shelves. I think I just don't want to be disappointed, or I don't want it to end, or something like that.
3. Yann Martel, Life of Pi
This is another that I would put in the same category as The Kite Runner (or Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime, but I read that earlier this year). I know people that teach these books, and students like them, and they are good reads, but I haven't read them yet.
2. Long Russian Novels
I have read Dostoyevsky, but in high school, and I can't guarantee that I read it all. Plus, Crime and Punishment isn't very long. I've never read the big boys:
Anna Karenina, War and Peace, The Brothers Karamozov.
1. David Foster Wallace, Infinite Jest: A Novel or Thomas Pychon, Gravity's Rainbow: I don't actually think everyone else has read these books; I just really feel like I should read them. Whenever I say anything about postmodern literature, I have a little naggy voice in the back of my head reminding me I haven't read either of these titles.
So I would recommend the full Harry Potter series, I loved the image of someone fast forwarding through parts of a book, a la TiVo.
ReplyDeleteBook Thief would be my answer also and exactly what you said.
ReplyDeleteMy immediate thought to this was because I don't want to read them.
Ha! You named your blog after a book I haven't read, and considered including in my Top Ten this week! I seriously considered putting Wolf Hall on my list, but ended up putting Elegance of the Hedgehog on instead as I want to read that much more. Although I did pick up a copy of Wolf Hall for $5 last year, so don't have all that many excuses. I haven't read HP 2-7 either, always thought that I would read them when my son wanted to, but he never got interested!
ReplyDeleteThe Book Thief is really worth reading. Steven King on the other hand is not. I used to feel like I should read Infinite Jest, then I came across a copy at a book sale. Flipping through it I knew immediately that I would NEVER even bother to start.
Funny--Kite Runner was the first on my list, too!
ReplyDeleteI can't read scary stuff, so King is on my list as well.
I loved the Hunger Games Trilogy, but have to say that Mockingjay was my least favorite of the three. All in all, though, it's a good book. Definitely one to check out.
ReplyDeleteLaura @ The Traveling Owl
great list of prospective reads. I am actually reading War and Peace right now--it is a year long read-a-long group. I actually like the book. thanks for stopping by.
ReplyDeleteRussian novels are on my list - I'm especially interested in Tolstoy. And I have not read Anna and the French Kiss either, but it's been catching my attention too.
ReplyDeleteI'm a King fanatic... I love the way he writes people, not the horror or the monsters or the ghosts (although they certainly add to the *fun* and put the people to the test). He has all kinds of fiction actually not just straight horror. :)
Ps- thank you for the kind thought when you visited my blog :)
Ok, so I'm reading MOCKINGJAY right now and I have the SAME feeling about not wanting to be let down. I read the first two books in a whirlwind but with this one... I leave it for five days after reading a chapter. I suppose I'll finish it eventually... haha
ReplyDeletewow, you have some hard core ones on there! I've read a little bit of Holmes but need to finish it. Thanks for stopping by!
ReplyDeleteI never would have read The Kite Runner if my book club hadn't read it. I wasn't impressed but I'm pretty picky. I also gave in to all that everybody-else-was-doing-it pressure and read Life of Pi. It was pretty entertaining.
ReplyDeleteI haven't read many of the Russians either but I didn't put them on the list because I wasn't sure if most people have read the,...so long, sad, and depressing. HA!
ReplyDeleteI recommend you read The Kite Runner and The Book Thief. I love the Harry Potter books but it isn't for everyone.
ReplyDeleteRead Stephen King, read Stephen King! I love that you're buying his books and not reading them because that's completely what I did a few years ago- and part of the reason I'm trying to read them allll now!
ReplyDeleteOh, The Book Thief! I've been meaning to get to that one. But, y'know. Jewish sadness. One does not seek it out.
ReplyDeleteI've ignored Long Russian Novels because I've been told by everyone "OMG THE NAMES IN ANNA KARENINA THE NAAAAAAAMES." And that has frightened me.
Also -- ALSO, obviously HP is amazing. Full-on amazing. But one of the main reasons it's amazing is because one loves the characters so much, and if you're not feelin' that, I don't know how much you'll like it. If you've seen the movies, maybe start with 4?
You must read The Kite Runner. Don't delay! It's so beautiful. And since you've never read Stephen King, I would highly recommend Different Seasons or The Green Mile. Enjoy :)
ReplyDeleteI'm about 10% of the way through War and Peace and I feel like I'm lost somewhere in the Sahara Desert. I wish I'd never decided to make this trek.
ReplyDeleteI read 6-10 and loved them all. The Book Thief if great and pretty fast. The Kite Runner is powerful and interesting. I love the HP series- and to be honest the 2nd one is my least favorite of them all (still I read it all in one sitting). I highly recommend that you give the series another try- the audio tapes or cds are out of this world. You are missing out! :)
ReplyDelete~Jess
Oh, I forgot about the Harry Potter books! I haven't read those either, but I intend to. I'm reading War and Peace right now. :-)
ReplyDeletePs - I love your "spell check yourself" blinkie. :-)