"Top Ten Tuesday" is an original feature/weekly meme created on the blog "The Broke and the Bookish". This feature was created because they are particularly fond of lists at "The Broke and the Bookish".
It is now hosted by Jana from That Artsy Reader Girl.
Since I am just as fond of them as they are, I jump at the chance to
share my lists with them! Have a look at their page, there are lots of
other bloggers who share their lists here.
This week, our topic is Books From My Past Seasonal TBR Posts I STILL Haven’t Read
I just did that when we put together our Summer To Read Lists and incorporated all those.
Which means I have to come up with another twist.
So I thought maybe I should list the books on several top lists that I haven't read and probably never will. They just don't belong to my favourite genres. And I have read plenty of others from that type of books to know I won't enjoy them. Except for "Sophie's Choice". I have seen the film and thought it was the most horrible thing one could ever think of.
So, no pictures of the book covers today.
Brown, Dan "Angels and Demons"
Evans, Nicholas "The Horse Whisperer"
Herbert, Frank "Dune"
Le Carré, John "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy"
Le Guin, Ursula K. "The Earthsea" (Trilogy)
Pratchett, Terry "The Discworld" (Series)
Pullman, Philip "His Dark Materials"
Ransome, Arthur "Swallows and Amazons"
Sebold, Alice "The Lovely Bones"
Styron, William "Sophie's Choice"
Tolkien, J.R.R. "The Lord of the Rings"
There are many, many more books that I know I wouldn't read but these are all on "the 100 best books … blah blah … everyone should read … have sold most … blah blah …" lists. I read plenty of them as you can see here.
Good for you for knowing your limits!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Lydia. I know I wouldn't enjoy them and I have read similar books to be sure of it.
DeleteI made a list about eight years ago of books I said I would never read. It's been eight years, and I've only changed my mind and read one book from the list, War and Peace. It's good to know what you like and what you don't.
ReplyDeleteGood choice, Deb. I bet you say the same as I did, War and Peace is totally worth the time spent.
DeleteAnd I think we both have been reading long enough to know what kind of literature doesn't give us any pleasure.
I actually saw Angels and Demons and I'm certain I'll never read a Dan Brown book.
ReplyDeleteIt's kind of funny but I keep mistaking Nicholas Evan's as Nicholas Sparks which I don't care to read either.
Dune - another one where I saw the movie and just nope, not going to read the book.
I did try to read His dark materials and find it quite boring.
The lovely bones - just hated part of the ending, okay, maybe the whole ending - seriously, I think it's one of dumbest thing I ever read.
I just recently finished read The lord of the rings and I must admit, it's the slowest book I ever read. It's not a trilogy, it's one long book that is divided.
For some reason I do find the more popular a book is, the less likely I'll want to read them.
Have a lovely day.
I read "The Da Vinci Code", Lissa, because someone from church put it into my hands and said I just had to read it, I definitely would enjoy it. Guess what, I didn't. LOL
DeleteNicholas Sparks, I think I read a book by him once but it didn't leave a lasting impression. Again, it was one of those books where I was almost sure I wouldn't like it.
I can agree partly with you, the more popular a book is, the less likely I'd want to read it. Lately, I've been thinking that a few times but I have been surprised often and, especially with the classics, there usually is a reason why a book is popular.
Your idea for this week's TTT made me laugh. I have some books on my "never going to read" list, too, like War and Peace, Fifty Shades of Gray, Ulysses, etc. (And I made it all the way to the third book in the Lord of the Rings trilogy, and then just couldn't finish it; I watched the movies instead and called it good.)
ReplyDeleteI'm happy that I made you laugh, Lark, that's always good. I have read both "War and Peace" and "Ulysses", they are real tomes and I have enjoyed reading them, I must say.
DeleteI really should have added "Fifty Shades" to the list, I am sure I will NEVER EVER read that. Or watch it.
LoTR, fantasy just isn't my thing, I read "The Hobbit" decades ago and didn't like it, I didn't watch a single one of any of the movies though we have it at home and hubby and the boys must have watched it a hundred times (at least I feel that) but it really bores me.
Angels and Demons was a great audiobook to listen to. The narrator that does Robert Langdon is fantastic. I also liked listening to The Lovely Bones even though it was a really sad, dark read.
ReplyDeleteAre you talking about Tom Hanks, Deanna? He has a good voice, so I wouldn't be surprised if he read it well. There are actors who can read the phone book to me and I'd listen. Like Alan Rickman or Hugh Grant, I just love their voices and their way of reading.
DeleteBut I really, really can't deal with audiobooks, my mind always wanders and then I have to go back several "pages" which is never as easy as in a real book. LOL
The Lord of the Rings is really amazing literature though, very metaphysical actually - forget the movies.
ReplyDeleteHave you read The Hobbit? If no, start with it, and then to the Trilogy
I have read "The Hobbit", Emma. Fantasy really isn't my thing. Everyone in my family has read all the books and watched all the films (hubby says the LoTR ones are quite good, the best adaptations to a book he has seen) My eldest son read it when he was eleven and went on from there to all the other Tolkien books, you can probably call him an expert on it in the meantime. Anyway, I was happy that hubby liked that kind of literature and he took over accompanying the boys on their voyage into the land of fantasy so I wouldn't have to.
DeleteI love this twist on the topic - it's definitely okay to NOT read certain books if you know they won't be for you, too little time for that :)
ReplyDeleteExactly, Lindsey. Why read books that bore us if there are so many fantastic ones? Thanks.
DeleteI've read most of these but there's no rule that says you have to read something just because it's on a 'top ten' list. Just do you!
ReplyDeleteMy TTT post is here: https://wordywitterings.com/2022/07/26/ttt-books-that-have-been-lingering-on-my-tbr-pile-for-far-too-long/
That's exactly what I think, Claire. I see we understand each other. Thanks.
DeleteI don't think I'll ever read Lord of The Rings either, those books are WAY TOO DENSE for me.
ReplyDeleteMy TTT: https://jjbookblog.wordpress.com/2022/07/26/top-ten-tuesday-378/
It's not the density or the fact that they are huge books, Jo. After all, I did read "War and Peace" and "Ulysses", for example, as I mentioned above ^^. I really love chunky books but not fantasy.
DeleteThe Lord of the Rings is one I will never read either. My husband has the whole set and the movies, he loves them.
ReplyDeleteSame here, Cindy. Hubby, sons, they love it. But I have never watche a single of those films. I have read "The Hobbit" years ago and decided that this is not for me.
DeleteI didn't care for Dune and never finished it. I wouldn't read Brown either.
ReplyDeleteI just wrote a reply to you, Greg, but somehow my PC didn't publish it before I moved on to the next blogger. Aaarrgggh!
DeleteI said something like I think Brown writes for certain readers and that's not us.
Dune, I only heard about it when they made the film. My son loved it, though, he even wanted and received the book for Christmas.
Dune does get a lot of love. For whatever reason I just couldn't get into it. Maybe it was the quasi- religious elements and it just didn't work for me? I'm not even sure! :)
DeleteI think that's well said about Brown.
Well, if you couldn't get into Dune, I certainly couldn't. I'm not a fantasy reader. So, thanks, Greg.
DeleteMy husband loves Terry Pratchett, but it's not something that I ever intend to read. And he's okay with that. Good for you knowing your limits!
ReplyDeletePam @ Read! Bake! Create!
https://readbakecreate.com/books-i-still-need-to-read-from-previous-tbr/
I think there are certain books that "talk" more to guys. Not that women wouldn't like it but the majority of the readers are probably male. Terry Pratchett has also been read widely in our household, though not by me.
DeleteOh, do read Swallows and Amazons!! You won't be disappointed!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Cleo. Maybe I should. I once saw a trailer or commercial or whatever for one of those films from the sixties or seventies and thought it looked so boring. But I'll investigate now.
DeleteGood idea. I have read a couple of the books. "The Horse Whisperer", Le Carré, John "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy" (I think, or maybe just saw the tv-series!!) Saw the movie Dune and have no wish to read the book. Have read several of Dan Brown's books, but think that is it. I am no SF fan but would like to read Ursula Le Guin, maybe because she is supposed to be the best. I have seen Sophie's Choice, but will not read it. Tolkien a no as well, although I have seen some of the movies. I am not so familiar with the others, so probably no.
ReplyDeleteEarlier I always thought I had to read books that are famous, people love or other reasons, but, these days I just go for what I want to read.
We all read books that we don't like from time to time, Lisbeth. Either, because we don't know in advance how we will like it or it can be a book club book. I have told my online club, though, that I will refuse to read another sci-fi book because we just read too many lately. Ursula Le Guin was one of them and I didn't like her book (The Left Hand of Darkness) at all.
DeleteI absolutely love classics and always say, you can't go wrong that has been loved by so many people for such a long time but, yes, indeed, you can. Because we all have a different taste. So, I might pick up the next Nobel Prize winner and be disappointed. Or even a book by one of my favourite authors. You never know.
Thanks for all the comments to the different books. Tinker Tailor, I saw part of the movie, just not my thing, even thouhg there were a few great actors that I quite like. Horse Whisperer, did you like the book?
There are many, many more books I would never touch. The list here is just the tip of the iceberg but they are generally loved, that's why I put them on here.
I've read:
ReplyDeleteBrown, Dan "Angels and Demons"
Evans, Nicholas "The Horse Whisperer"
Herbert, Frank "Dune" (twice)
Pullman, Philip "His Dark Materials" (three times)
Tolkien, J.R.R. "The Lord of the Rings" (twice)
But I know what you mean. There are some books and some authors I will *never* read. But with SO many books that are readable around 'missing out' on a few - even popular ones or some that are considered 'must read' or 'classics' won't make much difference to your reading life or enjoyment. I'm a read what you want/like kind of person really.
Definitely, Kitten. We all should read what we like. And I usually do like those kind of popular books, just not from all genres.
DeleteInteresting. There are several books on this list that I really liked (LOTR, THE HORSE WHISPERER, THE LOVELY BONES, etc.) and some I will also never read (DUNE, although I did enjoy the movie that came out recently). Isn't it interesting how our tastes change over the years? There are definitely books on seasonal TBR lists from years ago that I would never read now.
ReplyDeleteHappy TTT (on a Thursday)!
True, Susan. I have removed books from my TBR piles that I really wanted to read back then but have "grown out of". The good thing about other readers is, no matter whether they like exactly the same books or hate the books you love, there is always something to talk about.
DeleteWhile I LOVE Dune, His Dark Materials, and The Lord of the Rings, I understand why you won't read them. There are a lot of books on people's top ten lists that I'll probably never read either. We all have different likes and that's okay. :D
ReplyDeleteMy TTT
Thanks, Jenni. You are so right. There are a lot of books on other people's lists that I would never read but if they enjoy them, that's alright with me. And it's good that we all have different tastes, otherwise life would be sooooo boring.
Delete