Five Books I'm Embarrassed Not to Have Read (Yet)




This evening after I'd finished a bout of revisions on my latest chapter of the second novel (to be posted tomorrow, or so...) I decided to indulge in a little blog crawl. Trolling down my blog list I came across an interesting list composed by Rachel Hartigan Shea at the Washington Post.com's Short Stack. The latest post consisting of a confession and list of Five Books I'm Embarrassed Not to Have Read.

Mulling over the choices I would confess to, I finally decided the idea was so fun I felt compelled to share it with you because I'm always interested in what others are (or are not) reading.

So, here's my shameful confession of books I've meant to read, but for one reason or another, have simply not yet gotten around to. Please leave a comment and let me know your own List of Shame....

Here's mine:

1. Any of the Harry Potter books, really.

- nothing against Harry, I hope someday to fall under his spell.

2. David Copperfield

- I even have a copy on my shelf at home. It sits directly below my TV, so I stare at it every night and yet it remains unread....maybe I should turn off the TV.

3. War and Peace

- Even though I waited a year and a half for the Pevear and Volokhonsky translation, I have yet to read it. Does it count that I have read the first page in all available English translations?

4. Proust's "In Search of Lost Time"

- I have no good excuse, maybe the scary size when all SIX volumes are placed side by side?

5. Anything by Thomas Pynchon

- He's so brilliant I am intimidated. However, I have recently purchased The Crying of Lot 49, so there's always hope.

6. Middlemarch

- John Irving praised it and included a passage from it in one of his novels (A Widow for One Year). I've picked it up and given it a quick once over, but never further than that.


Now it's your turn....

Reblog this post [with Zemanta]

Comments

Anonymous said…
Ok, I'll confess. I've never read:

1. Moby Dick: Yep, me too. I, on the other hand, don't enjoy a good sea yarn. Most of the time I just figure if I haven't gotten to yet, it's because I haven't had time. I'm pretty sure I'm never going to make an effort to get to this one & I'm okay with that.

2. Lolita by Nabokov: I haven't read it yet, but I swear it is on my "to read" list.

3. Anything by Kurt Vonnegut: Many people have recommended him, but I just haven't brought myself to even pick up one of his books to read the description.

4. Any Cormac McCarthy

&

5. The Sound & the Fury by Faulkner: Honestly, I just have a hard time getting into southern literature. I know that's bad, but it's just me. So, McCarthy & Faulkner just haven't been on my "to read" list.

6. Anton Chekov: Actually, I have read a couple of his short stories, but I feel like I should read more.

7. Books 4-7 of the Harry Potter series: I liked 1-3, but I just haven't gotten around to the others. I keep having to remind people I haven't read them, so don't spoil the story. But then again, I've see all the movies, so maybe I should stop complaining about that.

8. Much of what is on the current NY Times Bestseller List: I have this weird thing where I don't like to read books that get a lot of hype. I may go back to them after a couple of years and read them, but I tend not to read what is "hot" at the moment. I really love wandering around independent bookstores and finding the more obscure books put out by small presses that don't get the attention or hype.
Camellia said…
H'mmmm. For some reason I'm not embarrassed any more about not reading books, though I would like to wade through Durants' History of Civilization. But if anything I'm reading makes me feel real tired, I figure I've passed the chance to connect with that one.
Southern Girl said…
Hmmm.

1. The Bible. I've read bits and pieces in sporadic attempts and even in literary settings, but not as much as I probably should as a so-called CHRISTIAN.

2. Jane Austen, anything. I'm an English major, for pity's sake. I've seen every movie ever made based on her novels and OWN the anthology of her works, but I just haven't brought myself around to reading them.

3. Anna Karenina. I'm just a bad, bad person.

4. Bleak House by Charles Dickens. This was assigned by a college professor, and I never read it. She passed me anyway, andI still feel guilty to this day.

5. The Kaplan GRE Preparation Book. I've bought it every year for the past three years, thinking "this is the year I take my GRE." Not so. (:
Vodka Mom said…
This is a great idea! Let me get rid of my headache - and I'll be back to post!!!!!!

love it....
heidi @ ggip said…
The only one on your list that I have read (and I read a lot) is Middlemarch.

I TRIED to read War and Peace, but it is way too depressing.
Jessie Weaver said…
1. The entirety of Pride and Prejudice, and more by Jane Austen. Whom I claim to like, and I do, but I've read very little of her actually!

2. Something by Faulkner. I think I've had a copy of The Sound and the Fury for years.

3. As above reader stated, the entirety of the Bible.

4. More nonfiction.

5. Anything by C.S. Lewis! Why haven't I read them??
marsupial said…
Aside from Hills Like White Elephants, I have never read a single thing by Hemmingway.

I haven't read The Sound and the Fury, but coincidentally, I pulled it off my bookshelf to begin reading on the subway yesterday. But on the subway, I opted to play Texas Hold'em on my iPod instead.

And I've only read the first Harry Potter, six years ago, and I can't recall one detail about it now.

Popular Posts